forum Another O/O ig, come and get it!!

Started May 18, 2019 by @Shuri-the-Floof-Doggo

tune

He could smell it, just over the clearing, and started to trot over.
He could hear humming.
So it was himan.
Or humanlike.

The shadow bird hovered closer to him and grabbed the strap of his satchel in its talons, urging him in a different direction. That wasn't the way to the path, but he guessed there was something bad further ahead and his little friend was going to find a way around. He kept humming as he continued to follow the shadow. "Not the pretender, find your way through this noise. You're the defender of your heart's one true voice…"

He peered through the bushes, and found a weird looking man carrying something off.
Hopefully not his clothes, which were hidden over there.
He came out of the bushes, ears flat against his head, tail straight up in the air, and hackles raised and bristly.

The shadow turned around sharply, not even giving Marcus a chance to ask what the problem was before it flew behind him and hissed. The faun turned around, peering through the darkness. He froze, and every hair on his body stood on end when he saw a silhouette accompanied by a pair of eyes. The shadow went to the ground and shifted into a bigger animal - a wolf, or some other big predator, from what he could tell - and stayed between him and the silhouette.

He sniffed, shifting back immediately.
In a few seconds it was over, bones had cracked apart and reformed, muscle slid into dofferent places roughly, things grew, shrank, and changed, and suddenly he was human again.He had managed to crawl behind a tree as he'd shifted to cover his modesty.
"Do you have my clothes?" Ge demanded.

Marcus blinked and swallowed a lump in his throat. The silhouette changed form, so they must be some sort of shifter, but he couldn't tell what. And…clothes? The only clothes he ever carried with him were his own. "U-um…no? Wha- why don't you…h-have them yourself?" He asked.

"I gotta take them off, can't have them ripped when I shift." He replied. "Clothes are expensive." He saw his hidey hole and walked over.

Marcus nodded absentmindedly. "Right." He watched the guy move, and the shadow stayed between them, just in case he got too close. "Um…w-were you…following us?"

"Yeah. But only because you smell so unique and I didn't want you stealing my stuff." He admitted.

"I…what?" A quiet trill came from Marcus' throat as he tilted his head. "I-I wouldn't steal anything from anyone."

A bit of crinkling came from the hole, and he retrieved a large plastic bag, with multiple different fabrics in it.

The shadow narrowed its eyes, backing up and nudging Marcus with its hind leg. He backed up with it, still watching the man hidden in the foliage. He guessed the shadow was ready get away from this stranger. Marcus agreed once he realized that the blood scent was coming off of said stranger. He must be a predator, and the last thing any faun wanted was to be so close to a predator at night.

He stepped out in a pair of loose, form-fitting jeans, low-slung on his hips, a pair of clean-cut work boots, and a fitted flannel.
He eyed the shadow behind the stranger, grabbing the moose, and lifting its lean, single-ton bulk off the ground.

Marcus cringed, drawing his shoulders up. Dead animal. Blood. Predator. Gotta get away. The shadow made a whispery sound at him and nudged his leg again, sensing his discomfort. He took another step back, pulling his sweater sleeves over his hands and covering his nose. "O-okay. We gotta, um, w-we need to go home now…"

"I won't keep ya." He replied, taking the carcass in his shoulders.

Marcus patted the shadow's side, glancing past the predator. It would take longer for them to get home if they took a different path, and the longer they stayed out, the less Marcus was willing to deal with that. The shadow shook its head, but Marcus was just ready to get home. "Can we…get past you? P-please? I don't-…there's a shorter path to our home back that way a-and I don't really want to be out here much longer."

Nero could sense his nervousness, and stepped aside, walking past them.

The shadow growled lowly as the stranger passed, Marcus averted his eyes from the carcass he was carrying. The shadow then trotted off through the trees, and Marcus quickly followed without another word. Once they figured they were out of the predator's sight, they stopped. The moon was higher than it was before, finally giving them some light. "Th-that," he pointed behind them, "is why I never stay out too long." He exhaled shakily and shook his head, trying to get the smell of blood out of his nose. "Okay, now can we please get home?" The shadow made another noise at him, then shifted into a bird again and started heading towards the path.

(Hey sry my internet sucks and I haven't been on much

The shadow growled lowly as the stranger passed, Marcus averted his eyes from the carcass he was carrying. The shadow then trotted off through the trees, and Marcus quickly followed without another word. Once they figured they were out of the predator's sight, they stopped. The moon was higher than it was before, finally giving them some light. "Th-that," he pointed behind them, "is why I never stay out too long." He exhaled shakily and shook his head, trying to get the smell of blood out of his nose. "Okay, now can we please get home?" The shadow made another noise at him, then shifted into a bird again and started heading towards the path.

Nero carried the moose carcass, keeping it high above the brush, and stepping over it himself.
He could still hear the others heading off behind him.

Marcus was more than relieved when they'd finally found the right path, and they were soon pushing through the foliage that hid his little home - a rather sturdy burrow in a hill at the edge of a small clearing. He moved the vines from the entrance of the burrow and laid his satchel and flute on the handcrafted table resting against the dirt wall, then immediately dropped to the bed of leaves, hay, and cotton that sat in one corner of the dim room. The shadow, now in its usual cat form, sat next to the bed and pawed at the faun's sweater, tilting its head. "Right, okay." Marcus huffed and sat up, only to tiredly remove the sweater, toss it into the bucket of other clothes across from him, then flop right back down, his back to the room.
He wouldn't have seen it, but the shadow rolled its barely-visible eyes. Then, it hopped up onto the stone ledge near the bed and curled up, watching over Marcus as he fell asleep.

(what if a group of hunters finds one of them the next day and they get hurt, and the other runs to help)

Mmmm maybe