"Hey! You don't snarl at me." Rodent snarled back at the Wolf after dumping a pile of branches and sticks before the beast. It still glared at him with intent. "I'm a stranger and have no clue what I'm doing here. If you want me to stop snapping branches for you—say something."
The Wolf looked at him.
"Okay. Fine." Rodent threw up his hands and leaned back. "Give an appropriate gesture that tells me what you want me to do."
The beast only looked away.
"I give up." Rodent waved dismissively and turned to Stick. "You got more than enough to patch yourself up and do what you gotta do." He started toward his weapon—earning the Wolf's gaze and growling again. "Hey. I just helped you heal. Stop thinking I'm just going to kill you for some random reason."
The Wolf still growled, but Rodent didn't care, coming and grabbing the pole, heaving it out from the ground. He shook the attached dirt off as the Wolf raised and stared down at the man. Its muzzle—and anger—were pointed at the weapon.
"You're mad at this? This is Stick." Rodent tilted it from side to side to show that it was harmless and little more than an item. "You don't have anything to fear from Stick." The Wolf brought its muzzle closer and growled louder in return.
Rodent stepped back—holding his friend behind him. "Hey. Stick didn't hurt you. I used Stick to hurt you. Stick is just a stick. You don't need to be so uptight. Here." He stepped beside the beast and, cocking back his arm, threw the pole as far as he could. "Go grab that and bring it back."
The Wolf watched the action with aggression but came to lose it as it looked confusingly where the pole had been tied. It stared there for a while… before looking back at the man.
"The stick. You're supposed to grab it." Rodent gestured in its direction. "Ideally. You're supposed to chase after it and bring it back to me so I can throw it again."
The Wooden Wolf stared at him.
Rodent sighed, rolling his eyes and head, heading toward the item and coming to grab it, then coming back to the spot, dropping it, waiting for a second, and then picking it up again. Looking at the Wolf directly, he threw it once more—expectation in the air.
The Wolf still seemed to puzzle.
"Stick. Get the stick." Rodent's shoulders lowered. "Try it."
The Wolf, though remaining still for a moment, then turned and went after the stick—coming to bite, raise, and almost try to crush it. However, Stick was too strong for such a thing to occur, so the unnatural animal returned to Rodent—coming to drop the stick.
Then, the two lingered.
"Maybe we'll try to play fetch another time." Rodent bent over and picked up Stick, which shivered in his hands, causing Rodent's face to clench. "Sorry. Should have thought how that would have felt from your perspective."
Just then, the Wolf started to turn, walking back to the bundle of branches, sticks, and other wooden pieces, coming to lay its injured paw upon it—the wood, caught in a green glow, morphing into the paw to repair its shape and thicken what was there.
The beast raised its paw and turned and looked it over, though it seemed tired and disinterested as it did so, resting the paw back down and staring at the man. Rodent, worried that they might fight again, found that the beast turned and began to walk away instead.
And Rodent, though allowed to leave, couldn't help but follow the creature.
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"The hell is all this?"
Rodent spoke aloud and almost regretted doing so, keeping a decent distance behind the Wolf as they passed through the woods—broken, shattered trees all around. The black splotches seemed to remain where they were or would move away from Rodent.
However, Rodent was more focused on the trees, the lines formed across them, and the depths of the failed shapes that tried to emerge. The tops were blown on all the trees, as though it felt like there was moisture or something above that was starting to dissipate.
But Rodent recognized the shapes, the small ones of birds that all appeared together in a clutter—some with their outlines formed, others just oddly carved out holes. On other trees were cats and smaller wolves, a few of them upside down, seeming like they needed a bit more energy for their forms to fill and to break out from the tree and become their own entities.
This area. Was all the life here born from the trees? It seems like it.
Rodent noticed a clearing ahead; the Wolf started to slow.
How come none of these animals were already out when I arrived? Do they return to the trees when they're done doing whatever they need to do while they're out here? What caused them to come out in the first place—and what caused them to fail to come out this time?
This was different from how Rodent expected his adventures to go, and though his expectations were somewhat betrayed, he decided not to let that ruin the vibe of being in another world. He entered the clearing, where the ground was hard and bare beneath his boots.
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The Wolf did not turn upon his approach; it simply sat there, its large size no longer feeling intimidating. It stared forward at the center of the clearing: a towering, slanted totem staked into the ground. It looked composed of ancient woods, and most of its material seemed chewed through by the black splotches that had slithered upon it.
Rodent knew better than to speak in that sombre moment. Cooler winds were blowing through, and the clacking of the man's steps was the only other sound there. On the totem itself, it seemed like there were supposed to be branches at its various heights—though eaten holes were all that remained of such things.
All that was left was a wooden plate at the top of the totem, which bore the sigil of a howling wolf with what appeared to be winds at its sides. There was text that Rodent could read and gleam at, though he could not bring himself to talk about it.
Despite being as tall as a tree and slightly thinner than one, the totem seemed to be all that remained of these woods. The Wolf, sitting there and gazing at it, had a sad, lonely air about it, which caused Rodent to feel a mixture of things.
He staked Stick to the ground, took out his notebook, and flipped to a blank page, drawing a rough sketch of the scene and ensuring it would not be forgotten. The piece's title was then called 'The Wolf before the Totem' before the notebook was shut and closed and slotted back into his pocket—grabbing Stick again.
The Wolf then rose after a time and started toward the totem, causing Rodent to be confused as the giant beast turned its head at its base, taking it into its maw. Rodent watched, slowly approaching, hand slowly raising and extending—though he held his voice.
The Wolf then bit down and started to chew, a terrible, crunching sound coming from the unknown bark, with flashes of murky green magic appearing from inside the totem through its various holes. The Wolf gnawed at the thing as those very same flashes were happening within its core—its light becoming both brighter and fainter as the moment clicked for Rodent.
"Hey! Hey—HEY!" Rodent approached the left side of Wolf's muzzle where it could see him in its peripherals. It did not pay him heed as it tried to chew and break through the totem. "I don't have a full idea of what you're trying to do, but—KNOCKED IT OFF!"
The Wolf, however, continued to chew on the totem.
Rodent, having no choice, bonked the Wolf with Stick.
The Wolf growled and stayed in place, and Rodent did not bonk him again until the Wolf sneakily tried to chew the totem without appearing to do so—with Rodent bonking him again. The Wolf growled harder and louder as it snapped through some of the dense material—with Rodent smacking him with Stick harder and faster each time.
"Knock. It. Off!"
The Wolf, bonked but not hurt, eventually got mad enough to unhinge from the totem and do a sideways sweeping bite at the man that had been annoying it. Rodent, ducking out of the way, then came to bonk the Wolf again with Stick—causing the Wolf to lunge and bite at Rodent again.
Rodent, once more, ducked through the slow attack meant to scare him off. Now, he stood before the totem with the Wolf at its full size and height across from him. The Wolf raised its head and growled down at the man. Rodent, however, glared back at the creature.
"Look. I won't pretend to know what's happening—only that I have a feeling what you're doing isn't right." Rodent spoke without knowing if his ability meant if animals could understand him or not. He was the sort to talk anyway—hoping for the best. "And I'll hit you with Stick for as long as I need you to stop trying to destroy this thing."
The Wolf growled more, angry, but not advancing in the slightest.
And Rodent, glaring at the animal for a few moments longer, turned to the totem and the black splotches upon it.
Once again, he grabbed at them, the things leaping away before contact could be had, slithering across the ground away from the side. He even stuck Stick into the ground and did his best to climb the thing—getting off the black splotches higher up on the pole.
And the Wolf, though angry, watched as the man removed the things that had destroyed the totem.
Once he was done, he came to slide back down, though he let go of the totem too much and started to fall—wincing as he braced for impact. Instead of such, he connected with a strange, small surface that lowered along with him as both went to the ground.
Rodent blinked. The Wolf had caught him with its muzzle and gently lowered him to the ground. Sliding off onto his feet, Rodent looked up as the creature returned to its height. It looked at him with an indecipherable air. Rodent's shoulders lowered as his guard did the same as well.
"I take it these woods used to be something more back in the day, right?"
The Wolf gazed at him.
"I'm guessing you weren't always alone?"
The Wolf stared.
"Look, I… don't have a clue what's going on here." Rodent softened. "I just got to this world, and it's all been one crazy ride that I'm nowhere near figuring out. I'm just trying to find a village to get my footing—get a sword, even." His hand raised. "I came here looking for a good time but… I think I might have gotten too ahead of myself with that."
He then stared directly into the Wolf's eyes. "I don't want to make promises I can't keep." His hand lowered. "But I don't think it's a good idea for you to destroy that totem until we've tried everything. I won't say it can be repaired—that we can undo what's happened to these woods."
The Wolf watched.
"But at least let me try to figure something out," Rodent pleaded. "Let me talk to people or whatever lives in these lands. Give me time to see how things work here and know what's possible. At the very least—I'll try." He nodded. "Think you can stick around long enough for me to do that?"
The Wolf was motionless and silent. The wind was blowing through here again, and the black splotches on the ground were moving further from the scene. It took seconds longer than it should have, but the Wolf soon lost all its hostile air, seeming to relax as well with the man.
And like that, the Wolf nodded, keeping at its full size.
"Thanks."
Rodent held up his hand to touch the side of the creature's muzzle, but instead, the large thing turned and started to walk off, coming to a few steps before stopping, glancing back at the man with expectation. Rodent, returning his hand and smiling, followed after the beast, trusting it to guide him through the woods.
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Warro Woods
Once luscious in a forgotten time, Warro Wood is now a decaying tombstone to what was once before.
It was once a holy, sacred land where the purity of heart was tested by different examples of nature.
Now, the woods have lost their will and magic and are waiting to be barren like the rest of the world.