[Ghouligan]

It’s noon.

The Sun above is covered by a blanket of clouds as the breeze rustles the forest branches. It’s accompanied by a howl that the unfamiliar would attribute to a beast — a mighty wolf on the prowl for its next meal. The coinciding thuds, reminiscent of heavy footsteps, add to the illusion. But it’s nothing more than the trick of an oncoming storm.

But there is a beast in the woods. A few brave souls returned from their expedition with countless stories of an imperceivable creature. It’s more accurate to say they all saw it but it was different for each of them. One saw a large humanoid covered in fur with grotesque appendages and hands and feet ill-fitting of their body. Another saw a serpent with eight heads and eight tails wrapping itself around a tree. The third saw a snow-white stallion with a long, spiraled horn grazing by the meadow.

The rumors spread until they eventually found Antoine. He perused the woods as best he could before getting lost — not that he’d admit he was lost. He was on the hunt. This creature was a shapechanger or altered people’s perception. Either way, they were dangerous. Someone needed to get to the root of the matter…

And it’s not like the heroes bought into the ordeal.

Not yet, anyway.

---

Chiharu | harukor

[harukor]

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[attr="class","puppycat"]Ghouligan Chiharu

[attr="class","lemonsoda"]

[attr="class","puppycat"]your notes here

Harukor grunts as he hoists his pack onto his shoulder, the worn leather groaning with the weight of the supplies he had spent the last evening preparing. A diligent mind was always required before venturing into the wilds, even if you were highly experienced— by heart, he could rack off what he needed for a week. A first-aid kit, a splint, matches, a tarp, light bedding, dried food, rope— it went on and on, but despite its variety, all twenty kilograms could fit in one small bag. It pays to be prepared, right?

The price of being prepared is sore shoulders. He sighs.

Dawn is only just rising over the hills, brilliant golden rays filtering through the trees and drawing patterns on the pathway to his and Chiharu's house, the hunter silent as he follows the worn passageway into the woods. More and more he's heard about a beast infiltrating the reserve, not unlike the one that he had killed with that hero student, Freja Helt, if he recalled correctly. He had the scars to prove that quirked monsters were nothing to scoff at, and he certainly did not want another one present in his backyard— and with strange things came attention, and strangers themselves.

Harukor wants to get rid of it quickly. The Satporopets don't take kindly to strangers in their territory, friend or foe.

It's noon now. No sign of anything, and he's about to turn around and suggest to his daughter that they should set up camp soon when he spots it. Tracks on the forest floor, broken branches. Harukor kneels to inspect the tracks. Someone around six foot. He looks at his daughter. "Got any ideas on who it could be?"

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[Chiharu]

[attr="class","AudenContain"]

[attr="class","AudenHidden"]the wilds

[attr="class","AudenBody"]

Chiharu

"If it's too much, I can carry it." Chiharu would glance at her father, trying to give a reassuring smile. He wasn't old by any means, but he also wasn't as nimble as she was. Carrying most of their supplies with him, she was tasked to carry a much lighter bag for their travels.

They had been travelling for a bit, but not long enough that she was worried that they couldn't make it home before nightfall if they had to. When you were so close to the forest, it was vital that you knew how to get back home, or to make a temporary one from the dangers that lurked around you, watching. Her eyes were fixated on watching the solemn bird fly past them, to looking back to see their house slowly disappear in a crowd of trees. Times like these with her father had become a bit more rare, but still frequent enough that they weren't nostalgic.

Stopping to see tracks, her eyes flickered at their presence on the ground before them. "I'm not sure. I have not met anyone with feet that big." She thought back to the girl she met, and two a few others that had graced the forest around her house. None of them would able to make steps like that, nor would they still be this fresh. "Perhaps it is what we are looking for, or someone in search of it alongside us?" It was her only true guess, but it was as good as any given the total lack of information they had on the creature they sought. "It couldn't hurt to follow it, at the very least. I'd like to know if we are to get ambushed if we light a fire ahead of time."

Notes

⥋ Red attus.

Chiharu harukor Ghouligan

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[Ghouligan]

The footsteps grew fainter, then smaller.

At this point, he couldn’t tell which was true. Was the creature changing shape as it delved further into the brush or did it notice Antoine tracking him? If it were the latter, then he might not be able to trust the very reality before him. Then, the footsteps stopped. But not before the final prints changed structure entirely as they became talons.

There were still two, very distinct realities. One where the shadow circling him was actually there and one where it wasn’t. He never put mind games above his opponent. However, at some point, you’re forced to make a decision. And if reality itself was lying to him, then who’s to say this altered perception wasn’t a real threat — manifested or otherwise.

As he looked at the sky, he saw a giant chicken with butterfly wings flying above. And as he looked up, it dove, striking with its talons.

Antoine dove out of the way, pulling on his chain and transforming into an umbral husk. Now that he knew there was a threat, he could do what needed to be done. Nearly extinct species be damned.

---

Chiharu harukor

[harukor]

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[attr="class","puppycat"]Ghouligan Chiharu

[attr="class","lemonsoda"]

[attr="class","puppycat"]your notes here

"Let's do that." Harukor agreed.

They trudged further into the forest, Harukor occasionally stopping to check left over tracks left behind. Eventually, he happened upon an overlaying set of footprints varying in size. One, the same from before. The other, horizontal in shape and reminding him of bird talons.

"Chicken scratch?" Harukor joked. Nothing like a dad joke to get under his daughter's skin.

Smaller birds not belonging to the giant set of talons fled from the treetops some paces in front of them. Whatever had made it was still around— wasting no time, Harukor sprinted out into a pursuit with stray branches and twigs tearing at his skin, gesturing for Chiharu to follow. The trees broadened enough for him to see a man in a suspicious state of array seemingly in cahoots with this giant chicken... with butterfly wings. He doesn't know why he's surprised. It's a common occurrence at this point. He wants to see Bambi next.

Harukor makes no move to help him, being unhelpful as ever. "Oi!" He calls out to him. "Who are you and what are you doing to that chicken?"

MADE BY MIZO

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