Fauns, Foxes, and Freerunners

[Leona Stevvains]

Leona Stevvains walked carefully through the trees of Concordia Forest. The prophet knew that one wrong step would be the difference in her making it out of the place unscathed, and her being mugged for her possessions. The Berevar Witch knew that even though the large environment had dropped crime rates since Ixian Knight occupation, that said crime still existed here. Those who managed to avoid the ever watchful eye of the IK were more than a force to be reckoned with.

With each step, the fallen leaves crunched underfoot. The birds sang mating calls to the opposite sex in hopes of attention by night’s fall. Leona’s eyes shifted overhead, cautious to make sure she was not being eyed for her goods. She clung the soccer ball under her left arm a little tighter, her right hand placed upon the deck of tarot cards beneath her cowl. If either of these things were taken from her, she knew she would become distraught.

She treaded carefully through the foliage, ungraceful snaps every time one foot lead another. She was almost to Akashima, almost to where the cards were guiding her. She could see the suns rays as they expanded out of the autumn terrain and into the open travel roads of Corone. She was so close to being out in the open again, so close to safety.

The crunch of another gave her movements pause, and the sound of someone sniffing the air caused her head to turn. Her eyes met with a brown animal fur, the rough shape of a human being, and a pair of the strangest horns she had ever seen.

“Is...is that a goat-man” Leona said with a crack in her voice. She looked down, her right hand growing warm from the faint blue aura emanating from the tarots. She had found another chosen one, but was it really this half-man, half-beast?

Before she could approach the creature, a quick blur whizzed past the form of Leona, and she very quickly realized her left arm was now completely at her side. Her ball had disappeared. She frantically turned left and right in an attempt to find the culprit, and only caught a tuft of emerald green hair as it rounded a large family of oaks.

“HEY!” Leona shouted and gave chase, “THAT’S MINE, GIVE IT BACK!”

(Closed to Fox and Leaf)

[Leaf]

An idle stroll.

That was all it had been.

One, long, beautiful idle stroll, through the woods of Concordia forest. Leaves of varying green hues, from emerald to lime to forest to mantis, rebounded the light around their company. When seen through Cookie's eyes the shades of the colours simply became more vivid, their differences vibrant and pungent.

"Oh my dears," Leaf murmured as he gazed around them, lost in the simply beauty that was nature. "Is there anything so magical?"

A clear image of the three pigs, all in piglet form, was shoved in Leaf's mind. He blinked, then sighed.

"Yes, thank you. Yes, you are all magical of course."

There was a collective oink of agreement, and a sense of final satisfaction. The faun could not help but smile. Despite these matters, and the short tempers that sometimes frayed, their comapny truly was a marvellous one. It was peaceful. The day was peaceful, the world was peaceful.

Why then did fate seem it so necessary to interrupt the perfect wonder?

There was a yell, a scream.

"HEY THERE. GIVE IT BACK!"

At once every pig was on high alert. Leaf was thrown out of his glorious paradise. Being him he did not get angry. He controlled that part himself that created temper and settled for mildly annoyed. Instead he turned, staring in the direction of the shout as Thor and Cookie began to get riled up. They heard a rustling of leaves to the left; Thor being the largest immediately dispatched himself, snorting like a wild warthog and disappearing into the foliage. Cookie sauntered forwards on his tender trotters, then squealed high as if to say, "Hey, who are you?" Leaf just blinked, bent down to gather into his arms the startled remainder - gentle-hearted Popsy - and strode forwards on his hooves to see what all the commotion was about.

"Hello?" he asked, peering into the greeness surrounding them. "Hello, are you alright?"

[Fox Owen Xavier]

“HEY! THAT’S MINE, GIVE IT BACK!” came the shout echoing throughout the forest catching a certain kitsune up in the tree off guard. The words poured into the fox-man’s sensitive ears, stunning him, and causing him to lose his footing from high up a giant oak tree.

“DAMN IT!” was the herb collector’s answering scream as he regained a bit of his senses and felt the air rapidly moving around him. It might have been the poor merchant’s death but fate had it otherwise as his landing was softened by landing on another unfortunate person.

“Ouch! Who was that damn person who nearly killed me???” Fox tried to shout as he tried to rise amidst the stars that flew across his vision. However, the impact was apparently a bit too much to simply get up and the kitsune ended up doing a very ungraceful backflip as he landed hard on his back. If the other victim was still there, the merchant knew not. All he could do was try and keep himself from screaming as the full extent of the pain hit him.

Very sorry for taking so long. Just been lazy and tired lately. Hopeful I'll be able to be a lot more active in the near future and get over this 'writer's block'.

[Leona Stevvains]

Her eyes moved to the being before her. Most people would be more than a little freaked out to see a half-boy, half-goat stand before them holding piglets; others might have chalked it up to a bad trip. Leona reached to her side for a moment to reach for an item not there. Once it was confirmed she did not weild a flask and was therefore not drinking, she responded to her would-be savior.

"I'm fine, but that guy stole something very important to me!," She explained and pointed in the direction of the culprit. The area at the end of the girl's finger now bared nothing but falling leaves and crunched footprints in the ground. She growled and started to run in the direction the nimble crook went, but gave a brief pause. Visions instantly flooded her mind of the faun that asked of her safety. One line of fate saw him as King of Concordia, another dead at the end of his sister's blade. It was a thing that typically happened when Leona did not do prior research on people; she gathered all of their possible futures at one time.

She fell onto her bottom for just a moment, her head dizzy from the information absorption. She could hear the gentle crunch of leaves come up behind her; a piglet no doubt. She reached back and patted the animal on its head to hear an excited squeal in return. Interacting with the animal reminded the girl just how much she missed bacon back on Earth. Not that Althanas did not have decent bacon, but the quality was always questionable when most homes didn't even have the luxury of an electric stove.

She got up quickly at the sound of someone talking. While the voice was muffled, she knew that such speech was spoken low enough to not be far. She took off in the direction of the voice, her training as a former futbol player aiding her in closing the gap to her target. She didn't know if faun-boy was following, but something told her that if he was not, he probably would soon. Most Chosen ones seemed very inclined to follow the Judgement Card.

She arrived just in time to see her assailant rise, their face cloaked in a wrapped up black shirt. The mysterious figure looked to Leona, and the two locked eyes. As the athlete stared, she couldn't help but feel entranced by the emeralds that seemed outright installed into the crook's face. The rest of the thief's body was covered in all black, save the hair and ears, the latter of which were pointed upwards. Elf, she thought, freaking great.

The being ducked between the trees once more and Leona looked to his latest victim. The cards glowed again at her side as if to inform her another Chosen was selected. She noticed the fur like hair that caressed this man, and once again reached down to check for a flask. Upon once again being ensured that no liquor existed on her being, she spoke to the poor sod. "Hey, what were those herbs that guy just had?"

[Leaf]

Leaf turned his head to the side, finding this very curious. The human girl continued on, just smiling as if it was all normal and she had expected to see a faun and his three pig companions in the wood. Popsy seemed infatuated with her and followed her closely, ever since she had been singled out to have her head patted. Like she was a dog. Like she was some stupid pet.

How many times would Leaf need to tell people that they were not animals - they were his family?

Popsy tottled forwards, before the rest of the company, on her edgy trotters. Through her bright sense of hearing, so delicate, there was a shuffling of leaves, a sprinkling of more shouts. More disturbances, more thinks to upset the wonder of this magical day. Apparently this human was alright, but clearly there was another in the vacinty who had suffered. Broken twigs, calls of hate, a set of rushing footsteps with the whisk of a cloak. By a root Thor and Cookie were snorting, looking for some form of tubers, but when these sounds were communicated, they looked up. Straight to where their sister and the human had gone.

Of course, Leaf was immediately hesitant, but Cookie was desperate to run in and save Popsy. Before the faun farmer could say anything the two boars had picked up their trotters and charged straight ahead. They snorted, roared, loud and rearing, declaring a challenge to be answered.

In a shake of their curly tails they disappeared into the foliage, leaving Leaf all alone. For a moment he stood there, alone, confused. Then he sighed and walked forwards, only a few metres and found where the human blonde had stopped. Beside her feet Popsy was sitting, oinking happily up and begging for another pat. Another man, now, had joined her, looking frightfully more ginger than was normal. The boys had continued on, clambering after the apparent enemy, away into the dead of the wood. With a twinge of concentration Leaf could see they were headed after the whisk of cloak, a stranger in ... black.

Leaf just blinked, then gently leaned down to pick Popsy up. She let out a light squeal but did not struggle. As he did he addressed the two beings with him now.

"Cookie and Thor have gone after the being. Now who are you again?"

[Fox Owen Xavier]

Fox looked at his two new companions that had just arrive through his hazy vision of pain. One seemed to be a female human while the other was a farmer with pigs? There was definitely something strange about this farmer other than the pigs but Fox had other issues that he needed to sort out first…

“The name’s Fox,” wheezed the kitsune as he tried to get the air flowing naturally into his lungs again. “I’m a potion crafter and herbalist.”

Reaching down to his side for proof of the later and for a remedy for his wounds, Fox realized his was lacking something very important, namely his herb pouch. Apparently the thief had taken the opportunity to grab the pouch probably thinking it had money or something valuable. Well, too bad for him, it was just a bunch of smelly leaves, roots, and fungus. On the other hand it was valuable to Fox…

“Damn it! That thief stole something valuable from me. ” Fox finally got to his feet. “Are those… pigs going to be able to catch him? I can help find that robber if you need help following but I’m not as gifted in fighting.”

[Leona Stevvains]

“No offense Mister Fox,” Leona spoke while her mind reflected on the ironic name, “but none of us seem too terribly suited for combat. I mean, maybe with our powers combined…” the prophet resisted the urge for a Captain Planet reference, as neither of these creatures would get it. She turned her attention back to the faun who seemed very confident in his pigs.

“Last I checked, piglets were not exactly known for their speed,” she commented, and bit her lower lip, “if I could have a moments of silence please.”

She closed her eyes and concentrated, even under duress, the Berevar witch could still use her precognitive abilities with enough focus. Now that she had seen the culprit that stole their goods, she knew she could see all the timelines involving the would-be thief. It was just a matter of statistics as to which way the crook would take and where their end game would be. The leaves on the ground seemed to gently rise ever so slightly off the ground, only to fall when Leona opened her eyes.

“Mister Fox, I need you to head eastward and don’t stop. Mister Leaf, I need you to head North. Don’t ask me why, I just need the two of you to trust me.” She hoped that her sudden knowledge of Leaf’s name would not raise even more questions from the faun. Time was, after all, not on their side, and if the criminal made it to his or her destination, there would be no hope for regaining her pilfered items.

[Leaf]

Leaf's face went glum. In his arms Popsy stopped struggling, though she let out a squeak every so often to show her unamusement at being held so. His brows furrowed, he tilted his head a little, looking at the human blonde girl and opened his mouth to ask her the one question in his mind.

"Why do you want me to head North? Cookie and Thor will catch the culprit."

He did not ask why she knew his name. In his mind he assumed she had met Philomel before, or something, and heard about the truffle farmer with the three little pigs. Leaf was not a name someone would forget, and the faun man was quite used to being known because of his sister. Somehow she had already displayed her beauty to Radasanth in her years of being a whore, and in that same time all the brothels and pubs had some sort of recollection of her. Being connected to her had its faults, but also its benefits. He had a good place to stay because of her allies and relatively the pigs and him were not bullied anymore by any men of larger standing.

His absolute trust in the abilities of the two male pigs was shown on his face. He let his lips curl up into a smile and he stood with a straight back, nodding an extra ounce of determination. His mind briefly connected with the two, and found them to be snuffling a way that was due north-east, between the directions this human was wanting the two of them to go in.

"I can see where they are going," he annouced to the one who smelt of fox and the woman who smelt of ... fate. "In my mind." He sniffed loudly, shifted his hold on the sow so that she might be more comfortable. He also made no move to go where she asked him. "Why do you want me to go north?" he asked again.

[Fox Owen Xavier]

“Sorry, but I do not trust you madam. How do I know you aren’t working with the thief and trying to send us away so you can look over the stolen goods?” Fox replied now that his brain was finally working again. He didn’t sense any ill intent from the woman but she was definitely hiding something. He knew that she had used some kind of magic. There was also the fact she smelled like she didn’t belong here which was even more apparent by her outlandish clothes.

While waiting for an answer, the merchant quickly looked over the farmer and the surrounding area. The kitsune had heard of fauns before but this was his first time actually seeing one. Half beast, half man. Similar yet different than his race. “Wonder if Fauns can transform to fully human or beast? Or is their race inferior to ours in that respect?” Fox idly wondered.

As for the surroundings, they were at the trunk of that large tree he had fallen out of. Given how tall it was, the ground was relatively clear due to the lack of light. However, the way eastward was a different matter. It was a tangled mess of overgrown bushes, vines, and weeds. If Fox turned into his smaller form, it probably wouldn't be too troublesome to rush through other than all the scratches and cuts. As for the faun-man and strange woman, he could see them having a bit of an issue.

[Leona Stevvains]

The woman brought her hand up to her face, and rubbed the bridge of her nose tightly between her thumb and her forefinger. She hated when people questioned her; she knew more than they did and knew how the future would turn out if they would just listen. Of course, rather than be competent, the two of them decided to doubt the soccer player’s abilities and not take the paths she deemed for them.

“Fine,” Leona said exasperated, knowing she did not have time to sit down and explain things and knowing that Leaf’s pigs would never be able to catch up to the nimble crook, “Don’t go the directions I sent you. We would have cornered the thief between the three of us and the piglets had you listened, but since you took this route, we’ve missed the opportunity. You may as well follow me now, but you should know that you’re not only put us in more danger than what was necessary, but now it’s a race to save the lives of ‘Cookie’ and ‘Thor’.”

The sound of thunder began to roar in the distance. She could hear rain droplets as they tore through leaves both in the tree and upon the ground. The sheer sound of the torrent would be enough to mask their culprit even further. She gasped and ran towards the south, away from the approaching tempest as fast as possible. She no longer cared if her two companions followed her; she would return their items to them once she caught the thief.

She just hoped she would be able to avoid all the dormant traps still left by the Bandit Brotherhood in her rush.

((Alright guys, your choice; follow Leona or just go in another direction. A storm is a brewin really fast towards us though so time is of the essence. Either way, now that you guys decided to ask Leona to explain after she just specifically told you she did not have the time to explain, we’re going to have to do a 500m dash loaded with booby traps now. If you guys need to create some traps as you follow to add meat to your posts, be my guest.))