Rey dozed in the bower of a young half-fallen redwood. It had been caught by a fellow, and now leaned at an angle, roots exposed and branches barren. The tree was long dead, but the shelter it had created was a welcome hideout.
Now the moon spotted youth rested there, eyes shut but ears twitching occasionally as sounds filtered from the forest. Chirring insects and the occasional bird call weren't uncommon, but it was the wind in the trees that filled his head most. That almost constant roaring had been his lullaby since birth, since before the sun went out. It was the sound of home. He sighed deeply, falling very nearly into true sleep.
His eyes snapped open.
A sound that didn't quite belong teased at the edge of his awareness. A vision of death-quick monsters flitted across his mind's eye before the thud of hoof beats registered. Not a rhythm he recognized from his family, though.
Lifting a head with short but sharp horns crowning it, he blinked the sleep from his eyes, hoping for a glimpse of whoever it was. A blur of paleness, maybe, threaded through what he knew would be tree trunks if he could see them properly. He frowned, wondering if he should get one of the adults. No time, he decided, a moment before his own voice broke the quiet.
"Who's there?" He hollered, doing his best to deepen his voice to something like maturity. He emerged from his twiggy shelter, hesitantly moving in the direction the blur had been moving in.
@[Honybee]
Now the moon spotted youth rested there, eyes shut but ears twitching occasionally as sounds filtered from the forest. Chirring insects and the occasional bird call weren't uncommon, but it was the wind in the trees that filled his head most. That almost constant roaring had been his lullaby since birth, since before the sun went out. It was the sound of home. He sighed deeply, falling very nearly into true sleep.
His eyes snapped open.
A sound that didn't quite belong teased at the edge of his awareness. A vision of death-quick monsters flitted across his mind's eye before the thud of hoof beats registered. Not a rhythm he recognized from his family, though.
Lifting a head with short but sharp horns crowning it, he blinked the sleep from his eyes, hoping for a glimpse of whoever it was. A blur of paleness, maybe, threaded through what he knew would be tree trunks if he could see them properly. He frowned, wondering if he should get one of the adults. No time, he decided, a moment before his own voice broke the quiet.
"Who's there?" He hollered, doing his best to deepen his voice to something like maturity. He emerged from his twiggy shelter, hesitantly moving in the direction the blur had been moving in.
@[Honybee]