Forest Disturbance? (Job/Calathes)

What was it that drew Ahote to the forest? Was it the sweet and gentle kiss of the breeze against his white cheeks, or maybe the endearing sound of leaves rustling up against one another in groves of trees and bushes on windy days? Ahote never brought himself to think about these questions, much less find answers to them, and enjoyed the beauty of nature in its fullest. Every rock submerged in dirt, patch of green grass, and even the wet moss that covered the vegetation. If anything, forests were places where the boy felt more at home than he ever did. Him and the critters and insects that scurried around, him and the pleasant noise of nature's busywork. Of course, this meant that he jumped on any opportunity to visit any sort of wooded area besides what Ahote considered his backyard, Mt. Hakobe.

Ahote was particularly excited for this mission for a reason that would be expected of a boy who enjoyed animals, as it was to catch some critter that had been disturbing the forest. The spooky forest, specifically. He was unsure if he had ever been there before, but any wooded area felt strangely familiar to him. It was a frequent feeling of déjà vu that the boy could never seem to shake off. Maybe any forest looked similar to him? Regardless, he felt equally excited to explore this new area that was conveniently close to Mt. Hakobe, making the trip theoretically possible by foot but even faster by train or carriage. Like any boy, he decided to take a train in order to have a swift commute. He did need to be home by a certain hour before he suspected that someone would notice his absence.

It was an early morning when Ahote would hop off the train and into what would be called the Spooky Forest, which did not seem very spooky from the looks of it. It was quiet, and light filled the area. The chirps of small birds and the scratching of other critters, but the woods seemed strangely desolate. Despite the noise, it seemed very dead to the boy. But regardless, he was eager to get to it.

These secret missions made the boy feel rather good about himself each time he risked going out, as he was not supposed to leave the fortress grounds by himself. The first time he did it was only but a few months ago, and was a nervous wreck! His sense of integrity made him loathe his dishonesty and going against his mother's wishes, but couldn't resist exploring the world he was entitled to. But now after going on several independent expeditions, Ahote felt much more comfortable leaving the fortress in secret. If anything, it made him feel good about himself. Sometimes being rebellious made him feel clever, even if no one was watching or knew about his defiance.

Originally, Ahote got this particular request from travelers seeking help. These travelers were rather old and cranky, and none of the settlers were interested in resolving what would seem to be a trivial and unimportant problem, and sent it Ahote's way instead since they were well aware of his eagerness to leave Mt. Hakobe. Unfortunate for him, he found the home of the old couple and knocked of their door only to be answered with silence. It became clear that they had no interest in speaking to him despite why he was there, and decided to pacify whatever was causing the disturbance and head home. If anything, he was relieved that he didn't need to deal with a cranky couple! Well, so he thought. Truth be told, he enjoyed any human interaction outside of his family any day.

Ahote wore swamp green shorts and a pine green tank top with a butterfly net hanging over his shoulder. He was clearly expecting something around the size of a squirrel, apparently. The boy searched through the bushes, climbed the trunks of trees and peeked into large holes that went through the wood and even checked under rocks, but nothing seemed to be disturbing the area. He could only be out for a few hours before he suspected someone would notice his absence back home, and didn't have time to camp out all day for what he thought would be some mischievous critter and him not finding anything out of the ordinary within the first hour was already discouraging.

Ahote sat down on a patch of grass, tired of actively searching without any catches. He exhaled with a deep sigh and wiped the sweat from his brow with his wrist, looking up at the sun through the grove of trees. "Ahh. . . this is nice. Wonder if it's really just that old couple out there. . ." Ahote spoke to himself, feeling himself drift into a quiet slumber. It was hard to stay awake being exhausted, hot, and comfortable and eventually succumbed to his deep desire to nap, and did so. The boy, leaning against the trunk of a tree, surrounded by bushes, seemingly had fallen asleep deep in the Spooky Forest.

WC: 853/1,250

How typical of a kid to fall asleep on the job. These tranquil woods and warm, autumn winds set a scene too irresistible. However, his nap was very brief, not even reach thirty minutes. But for such a short time, the boy quickly fell into a satisfying slumber, as he woke up early and went to bed late. It was only expected that he'd crash when he got the chance. - Perhaps he was a workaholic in the making?

Slumber was always a pleasant thing for Ahote to experience, as dreams followed close behind a good night's rest. Dreams of faraway places, an imaginary canvas of colors he didn't know he could perceive, colors he's never seen before. Deer frolicked together in tall, green grass across what looked to be endless plains with large, magnificent mountains and hilltops standing tall across the horizon. The sun painted the sky all colors warm with it's rays of light, and warm summer winds brushed through the landscape, through the trees, through the grass, to kiss his cheeks. Flowers bloomed, birds chirped, it was simply a place where all things good existed in harmony. Sometimes his dreams would let him escape to this wonderland on one of his better days, let him run from reality. Run from the fortress, run from his parents, run from his loneliness, his sadness, his despair. Escape from himself.

But most times, he couldn't gain entry to that wonderful place, no matter how much he wished it. His hunger to explore the world he felt entitled to swelled, and his childlike wonder for the anything beyond Mt. Hakobe grew. He couldn't resist letting himself go, freeing himself from the fortress, even if it was only but a few hours each week.

Other days, his dreams were not so pleasant. They became more depressing, more morbid. It explored parts of himself he did not wish to explore, told him things he did not want to be told, showed him things he did not want to see. Landscapes started out beautiful and endearing, but was soon swallowed up by darkness, and he returned to a void he was so familiar with. A part of himself that was broken, unfilled, and was left there to think. To listen. To question. For what purpose, he did not know. He did not wish to know.

Why do I exist? What am I to do with my life? This world is too cruel. . . too unfair. There is so much to know, so much I don't know. . . when I die, will I really be so ignorant? Of. . . of course I will. I barely know myself. . . it's. . . I'm. . . I'm. . . Ahote thought to himself. But before his thoughts could lead him to a darker place, he felt the abrupt nudge of a figure thrust into his belly, causing him to jerk and flinch and come to a sudden awakening.

"Wha- . . .!!" Ahote hugged his stomach and grinned, as he was quite ticklish. - Ticklish to the touch, actually. But what didn't help was before him, no, above him was some sort of animal. Some sort of beast. The raven haired boy briefly went pale as a ghost, and swallowed what saliva he had held. "O-Oooh. . . you must be. .
. you must be what's disturbing the place. . . I think." He mumbled to himself before his skin returning his natural, healthy color.

At first, Ahote was frightened, too frightened to speak. But realizing that it was simply an animal, a seemingly docile one at that, he returned to himself. . . or so he thought. The boy quick came to his feet and held his butterfly net out as if to threaten the creature. "You are way bigger than a squirrel! Hey, hey now! D-Don't bite me,
don't you dare!" He sputtered nervously. Although he loved animals, this had been a tad too much for him. The boy trembled anxiously and had a strong but strange desire to pet him. Oh, he was far too much of an animal lover for it to not have crossed his mind.

WC: 1,553/1,250 (completed)

There was little Ahote felt he could do in the situation he was currently in. He’s seen bears, lynxes, and other somewhat large animals but the beast before he really was the icing on the cake. Knowing this, he was able to understand that perhaps the butterfly net was not enough to defend him against those strong jaws, sharp claws and even sharper teeth. That being said, who knew what else this beast had yet to show him, what strange abilities it was capable of? For his own safety, Ahote did not want the beast to show him in this particular moment, but was curious.

Ahote and the beast stared at each other in silence for what seemed to be an eternity, the boy not looking away in order to protect himself and the beast staring for reasons he did not know. In fact, it came to mind that the beast was rather docile despite the moans and grunts of aggression that slipped passed its tongue. It did not strike him despite being much larger than Ahote, much less snarled or anything of the sort. Understanding this, Ahote then became confused.

Well, that’s strange. If it isn’t going to hurt me, then why is it. . . Ahote thought to himself before realizing that perhaps the grunts of aggression were really grunts of distress. With that in mind, Ahote began to lower his guard in order to figure out what to do. But quickly following that train of thought did his butterfly net, or weapon, snapped like a twig and flew out of his hands with a layer of saliva coating it. Briefly, Ahote went pale again before regaining composure and giving the beast his undivided attention.

”Alright, uhm. . . I get it, no butterfly nets, heh. . .” he snickered nervously before taking a single, cautious step to his right in order to better view the beast’s body, discovering something lodged high up on his shoulder, ”. . . are you hurt? That explains a lot, I guess. You’re pretty big, though. I wouldn’t think that something as big as you would walk around to people for help. . . a smart one, I guess.” By this point, Ahote had been speaking more to himself rather the the animal in front of him, vocalizing his thoughts since it seemed that the beast wouldn’t understand anyway, but hoped that his voice had soothed him.

Suddenly, Ahote slowly extended his hand to the beast with a weak smile and furrowed brows. He was quite nervous in doing so, but he wouldn’t be able to make much progress if he hadn’t done something. ”Well, I don’t have any bandages or disinfectants on me, but we at least get that thing out of your shoulder, right? So. . . I won’t hurt you or anything. Uhm. . .” Ahote spoke quietly and softly, further extending his hand in hopes that the beast would what most animals did and find trust in the boy by investigating him. That to be said, he was gigantic. He didn’t know whether he’d bite it or. . . worse!

WC: 2,076/1,250 (completed)

Ahote felt his qualms ease away when extending his hand. He knew that there was a large possibility in him being attacked, but assumed the creature was docile based off of it's behavior. Never had the boy encountered a beast so large and so dangerous that showed no particular interest in the boy, at least not from a predator-prey standpoint. In marveling at it, Ahote ended up asking many questions to himself regarding the beast. What was it? Was it male or female? Where did it come from? Was it sentient? The onslaught of questions fed his eagerness, but was quickly reminded of the task at hand.

Ahote watched as the beast jerked back in shock when he extended his soft hand out to it, a smile cracking his face in looking up at it. It became easier in maintaining composure when Ahote stood still and waited for the beast to feel somewhat comfortable in the boy's presence instead of forcing that some of trust. Though, the boy did not want this procedure to take too much time, realizing the beast was in some sort of distress. It groaned, grunted and hummed its stress, a plausible idea to assume it was those cries that disturbed the forest, not the beast itself.  

Brief moments in between the physical exchange Ahote offered, his eyes drifted back over to the beast's shoulder. Poor thing, who knew how long that thing had been stuck in there? Turning his attention back over to the figure before him, Ahote quickly felt its snout brush against his palm. Ahote was humbled in feeling its softness, a texture he longed for in an animal. Abruptly, however, the boy was pushed towards the beast, clearly impatient. The raven haired boy squeaked in its sudden movements before regaining composure and investigating the wound above him.

"Boy, oh boy. It's really lodged in there, huh? We should be able to pull it out if we give it a few good tugs. . . might hurt a lot, though." Ahote rambled on to himself, trying to create solutions to the problem. It seemed as if there was only one way out of this given the circumstances, it seemed. His orangish-gold eyes darted between the beasts' and the wound, wondering if it understood what he meant. "The sooner the better,
right, big fella? Lets get this thing out of you. - But, it'll hurt a lot, so prepare yourself. It'll be over quickly, though!" Ahote reassured it, rubbing his hand along its strange body in hopes it would soothe it.

"Okay, I'm gonna climb on your back, alright? Don't toss me off, now. . ." He continued, proceeding to make his way up onto the back of the beast, who stood tall and strong. Or, it was how it seemed, at least. Ahote didn't quite understand its physical state at the moment, but didn't underestimate its power regardless. Upon lifting himself to its back, Ahote got a clearer view of the wound. An already broken spear deeply lodged within the shoulder of the beast became more apparent as Ahote would crawl over and coil both hands around the shaft of the weapon. "Are you ready? I'll pull at three. One. . . two. . . three!" Ahote cautioned before giving the spear one big tug, feeling the wood and metal slip between muscle and tissue, slowly but surely making way through its body.
WC: 2,646/1,250 (completed)

It was certainly a challenge to get the spear out of the shoulder of the beast. If the pain was nonexistent and the beast would stay still, the boy felt as if the process would go much smoother. Well, that went for most injuries, really. There was not much Ahote could do about the pain the beast was experiencing besides get the deed done quickly. But to his surprise, the spear had been lodged in the muscle and tissue enough to be more difficult than he had anticipated.

Geez, this thing is really lodged in there! Ahote thought to himself, having to tug longer and harder and more than once than what he had originally anticipated. Though, it shouldn't have been any surprise. If the beast itself couldn't remove it by normal means, it was understandable that it had been a difficult task for both of them! But in moments of Ahote's forceful and stressed tugs and pulls, the once idle beast broke into a fit of panic and agony, releasing boisterous, screeching cries that sent flocks of birds scattering into the atmosphere, husks of hares scurrying into their burrows and nests of mice darting across the grassy surface. Just as quickly as the nearby forest critters panicked did the beast begin to jerk and thrust about, Ahote struggling but ultimately unable to maintain his balance and in the brief moments in between did he feel a once soft surface below his feet now no longer there as he was jerked off and tossed into a nearby object, hitting his directly in his back with one large thud.

"Gyah. . .!!" Ahote grunted, feeling himself quickly drift into a state of unconsciousness, the soreness of his back spreading across his body until he felt an unpleasant numbness, and all things faded to black.

Before Ahote knew it, he had begun to wake up from his unconscious state in the arms of a stranger. - A beautiful one, at that. A warm, brown skin tone accompanied with chocolate threads with a teasing crimson highlight hugging at its loose ends. It had the same rich, golden eyes that the beast had wore so beautifully, but with a stoic, unapproachable expression and demeanor. With wide, topaz eyes fixated on the brown haired beauty, Ahote had only been a a few seconds late in realizing he was being carried by a stranger, in who knows where, after what he thought as fainting.

When he tried to move, he felt the soreness in his back and neck become much more apparent than they had been when he was still. He winced and grunted, remaining idle before opening his mouth to speak, "Uhm. . . hello. Who are you. . . why are you. . . uhm,
carrying me? Helloooo?" Ahote queried, not having the energy to be frightened or panicked by the situation. If anything, he didn't have the physical means to do so. His back ached, knowing it was lightly bruised, and having just woken from unconsciousness, he was still rather weak. He wore the expression equivalent of a clueless puppy.

Ahote had been very confused by this point. None of it seemed to really add up. Or maybe it did? Ahote could remember only the events that took place before he had been seemingly knocked unconscious. He recalled coming across a rather docile, unidentifiable creature with a spear lodged in its shoulder. The beast made it quite clear that he wanted the raven haired youth to assist him in removing the spear, and so he did, but as expected, the creature did not respond well to the pain. It was similar to hanging onto a furious bull in a rodeo, but lasted less than a dozen seconds before he was tossed off of the back of the creature and into a harder surface from behind, which he assumed to be either a stone structure or tough tree, judging by the scrapes and bruising he felt cover his back. They were all minor injuries, but kept him from the thought of moving and remained idle within the stranger’s arms.

It had took numerous greetings and calls from Ahote before the man had finally spoke, not so much as giving him a glance. But as slow as he was to respond, his quickness to scold the boy was that of fish darting in a pond. Frankly, he had been more shocked by the man’s swift transition from dismissive to unadulterated cheekiness.

The boy had a lot of questions. Really, he didn’t know how to respond to the situation. What was he to say? Ahote’s brows furrowed at the man’s impudent response to his calls, ”Well, okay smart one. I was here on a job, for you information! And what are you doing here? I’d hardly call being taken to only God knows where by some stranger who just goes around spooky, desolate areas picking up kids lucky!” Ahote ranted, clearly the man lighting a fuse. But as the boy spoke and fumed, he realized that he was more clueless than he had suspected. "Wait, who even are you? Where-- Where are we going?! Are you kidnapping me? Is that what this is?! Oh my god. . .” He fretted, beginning to panic and start speaking his thoughts out loud. From the back of his head, the boy new that he was possibly just a man helping a kid out, and just happened to have a bite, but he was far too puzzled to think straight.

Ahote felt himself descend into a state of panic in letting his mind drift to conclusions of how things ended up like this. Clearly this man was suspicious! What kind of guy wanders in a spooky forest and picks up kids? Some kind of pervert, that's who! But the boy had never experienced a situation like this, so he was unsure of what to do besides see what happened.

I didn't think things would end like this. . . I'm far too young to go like this! But I can't exactly. . . move. So. . . Ahote thought to himself, knowing that his only option was to continue nestling in the man's arms, as questionable as it was.

But just before Ahote could continue, the man had burst into a fit of rage, leaving the boy speechless. Frankly, he didn't expect such a bold tone and words from this seemingly dismissive man. The raven haired youth stared at him in awe, all qualms he once held for the man briefly nonexistent as he marveled.

The man was quick to apologize, however. Followed by a brief introduction, Ahote sighed and smiled nervously, lifting his thumb and index fingers to his raven locks to toy with them between the two digits, "No, it's alright. Sorry I was so quick to judge. . ." he apologized, realizing that perhaps he should've been more grateful than questionable or frightened, "Name's Ahote, nice to meet you, mister Theo." the boy had smiled weakly. It was a lovely name, really. It rolled off the tongue nicely, and sounded like a name given to men from faraway lands. Lands that Ahote has never even heard of before, grand places, magnificent places, but hesitated to ask where the man had come from considering the tension the had filled the air.

Ahote's topaz hues met Theo's golden ones when he had mentioned the boy's job.
It would make some good small talk as the older man would carry him out of the forest.
"Job? Job. . . well, I came here to pacify whatever was disturbing the forest.
But I couldn't find anything, so I ended up falling asleep while looking for it, and then. . . and then. . .? Suddenly, the boy jerked up in a sudden realization. Instantly, he had recalled the massive beauty he had encountered however many minutes or hours ago. "The lizard! Where did that thing go? Ow, ow, ow!" Ahote yelped as he felt a jolt a pain rush through him when he jerked up, immediately lying back into the arms of Theo, followed by a groan.

"Yeah, I ended up finding this thing that had a spear lodged in its shoulder.
I didn't think people still used spears nowadays, so that was interesting. Anyway, I ended up getting the spear out, but it knocked me off and I guess I hit something and passed out. I think the lizard-thing might've went its own way after that, but such a shame, right? You should've seen it, it was beautiful. I didn't think things so endearing could wander here in a spooky
forest. It was far from spooky!" Ahote rambled on about the creature, a bit disappointed that he didn't get to enjoy it more.