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When Travellers Meet

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When Travellers Meet

Honey was padding along the foliage enshrouded paths in the Eastern most reaches of the West Forest. The morning had dawned clear and bright, with the promise of another beautiful day in the cheery orange glow. Seeing this, Honey had decided that this would be a good day to set off early and roam further from her den than usual. There were a few friends of hers to the far east that she hadn’t visited in a while so after a quick breakfast of blueberries she had set off in that direction.

Her meandering path took her to the bank of the shallow brook she normally walked. However today, instead of turning and following the stream deeper into the woods, she went to where broad flat stones in the creek bed formed a perfect path to the far bank. Carefully, Honey leaped gracefully from stone to stone, following the stepping-stones until she reached the opposite shore. Turning her back to the stream Honey padded into the forest, slipping between the massive trunks of the ancient oak trees that made up the heart of the West Forest.

She continued her brisk pace for several hours, stopping every now and again to talk to the various forest folk she encountered. By this point her path had taken her out of the heart of the forest, she noticed the slow change in the tree type from that of oak to a mix of aspens, beech, and chestnut. The forest was thinner here, and the trees not as tall. The gaps in the foliage allowed the warm sunlight to fall to the forest floor, heating up the grass and flowers, releasing a soothing warm scent into the air.

Honey paused and sat in a golden shaft of sunlight. She perked her large ears, listening to the sounds of the forest around her. Birds sang in the highest branches, the soft breeze rustled the leaves on the bushes and ruffled the long grasses. Listening more intently she could pick up the sound of a woodpecker far distant as well as... she stopped, and let out a soft yip of surprise. Honey closed her eyes and focused on what she heard. This was a male voice, the voice was singing and humming alternately. More importantly, the voice was coming closer. She opened her eyes. This was someone new, she thought, she didn’t recognise the voice. Curious she decided to wait in the clearing to see who was coming her way.

She sat, waiting for a while, given the range of her hearing whoever it was had still been quite a ways off. The singing was closer now though, she could hear the words. The voice was singing something about a quest and adventure, occasionally interspersed with something about a fine looking young explorer. It didn’t make much sense, she thought to herself. 

The voice was just on the other side of the bushes she was sitting behind when it stopped. Whoever it was continued talking to himself, she could also hear the grassing rustling as he settled down to rest in the clearing. Honey was a bit nervous now, she liked meeting new individuals, but she was far from home and alone. Plus, this was much farther East than she usually went. The humans lived in the central and Eastern areas of the country. Not many ventured into the West Forest, deterred by centuries of folklore about strange happenings in the deep woods. Although whoever was on the other side of the shrubbery was not a human, he was speaking a strangely clipped dialect of Common Canine, he still obviously came from where humans lived. That could at times lead to strange attitudes and behaviours. Particularly towards the native inhabitants of the Forest.

All the same, Honey was curious now, besides, maybe being new to the area the owner of the voice might be lost and needed help. Unlike Sandy who was always simply curious, Honey always had to try to help if she thought someone might need it. Silently standing she steeled herself, she took a breath, reached out a slender black paw and pulled aside the shrubbery in her way. “Hello?” she called, “Who’s there?”

 

            Foxy McWolfington was talking to himself as he settled down into the long grasses of the clearing. It wasn’t because he was crazy, well, not entirely because he was crazy anyways. No, he was talking and singing because he wanted to be noticed. He had been traveling for a couple of weeks now, which meant it was starting to get into fall.

The leaves of the trees hadn’t started to turn yet he noted, but there was no denying the nights were not as warm as they had been a month ago. This was not helped by the fact that ever since he had set off from that village where he had acquired his lovely pocket watch there had been a distinct lack of inns to stay at. It had always been that way in Tekil though, he thought. The farther West one traveled, the less permanent inhabitants there were. Most folk didn’t like the West Forest, preferring instead the well-travelled trade routes of the interior and the East to set up shop. The rumours of the strange happenings in the Forest didn’t help either. Oh well, he thought, that was why he was here. He wanted to find out more about the rumours of the strange happenings in the Forest, and he wasn’t going to find that relaxing at an inn! So as he walked further West into the thickening trees he continued singing, humming, chattering, and attempting whistling to attract the attention of any locals he might come across.

He had just approaching this grassy meadow when he heard a faint yip of surprise. Careful not to let whoever it was know he had heard them, he continued into the clearing and sat to rest, keeping up his singing. He decided that he would let whoever it was approach him on their own time, hopefully giving them a chance to see he meant no harm. Sure enough, soon a single black paw tentatively pulled aside a branch on a bush across the clearing from where he had entered. A slender, golden, female face gingerly peered through the created opening. “Hello?” she called out, “Who’s there?” McWolfington turned to look at her, careful not to make any sudden movements.

“Good afternoon” he said with a smile, “My name is Foxy, Foxy McWolfington. I am a wanderer and a story teller, travelling the land of Tekil. But enough about me, who are you?” The golden fennox paused, looking him over carefully before replying. Then, seeming to make up her mind she stepped fully into the clearing. “My name is Honey,” she told him “I live here in the forest, I wander around here a bit myself, I don’t think I’ve seen you before though.”

“No,” Foxy chuckled, “I don’t think you would have. You are still young, and it has been many a season since my last visit to the West forest. You say that you live and walk the forest though? That could be most helpful, seeing as it has been such a long time since my last visit I could use a guide to help me travel though the deep woods.”

In truth, McWolfington would have had no troubles navigating the forest, he had a perfect memory for lands he had travelled before, no matter how long it had been. No, he asked this for an entirely different reason. When Honey had stepped into the clearing he made several observations in rapid succession. The first was he saw the Blue stone studded armband she wore. The second was him realising that this golden fennox, a particularly unusual colour, was about the right age to be the daughter of the elderly fennox he had met on his last visit. And finally, realizing that if she was indeed her mother’s daughter, she would be compelled to give help if she thought it was needed. It was a bit of a long shot to be sure, but from his quick analysis the pieces fit perfectly. 

“Maybe you could show me around?” Foxy suggested, “Perhaps introduce me to some of the other locals, being a wanderer, meeting new folk and sharing stories is indeed what I do.”

Honey looked slightly startled by the directness of his request, Foxy could understand that though, as most folk usually put their efforts into leaving the forest, not heading further in. But then she spoke.

“Of course I can help you” she said sweetly, “I can show you around and maybe introduce you to a couple of my friends. If you like learning and telling stories I know one fox in particular you should talk to, she know just about everyone in the forest and I know for a fact she has many good tales to tell.”

While McWolfington kept an intrigued look on his face, internally he was jumping with excitement. If he could talk to more of the citizens of the forest he may find out more about The Blue, and possibly see if there was any truth to it’s possible re-emergence.

As Honey continued talking though, a strange thing began to happen. The longer she spoke, the more a peaceful, easy feeling came over Foxy. It was almost as if… as if The Blue didn’t really matter? This feeling confused him momentarily, but the happy, foggy feeling quickly replaced any concerns that thought brought up.

Had he still had all of his usually sharp senses about him he might have noticed something peculiar. From the band around Honey’s leg a soft Blue glow was emerging. It wasn’t strong, in fact it was barely noticeable in the glare of the mid afternoon sun. If one was to look closely though, or if one knew what to look for, they would have seen a distinct internal light flowing from inside the polished Blue stones.

Foxy still did not have all his wits about him at this point though, all that seemed to matter to him was to be happy. He was suddenly filled with a joy to be here in this beautiful forest, surrounded by the lovely grasses and flowers. He noticed with intense clarity the sound of the birds and the gentle sigh of a fall breeze, but he did not see the glow. Why would he when there were so many nice things to be happy about?

“Indeed” he managed, trying to keep a goofy grin from his face, “I would like that, this friend of yours sounds great, and I’d love to talk to her. I am looking forwards to seeing more of this beautiful forest. Lead the way!”

 

    Honey stood listening to the strangely dressed fox. A story teller hmm? Although he was definitely a traveller, she could tell that much, something about him put her off. She couldn’t exactly put her paw on it though. He seemed nice enough, well-spoken and clean despite his long travels. Still, she though, he did seem to need help in the forest. The deep West woods was no place to be wandering unawares. It was likely if he went in alone he wouldn’t be leaving in one piece. Her mind cast back to that afternoon Magic had had to save her from a feral cougar. Yes, she decided, she would help him out. Besides, where better to keep someone you are unsure of than where you can keep an eye on them? 

    Her mind made up, she spoke to the strange fox, offering her help. She noticed something a bit weird as she was talking to him though. As she offered to guide him around a rapid shift of emotions crossed his face. His expression flickered quickly from excited to a careful neutral, before softening to a relaxed happy look. That was a bit strange, she thought, she had already gathered that he wanted to travel with her, but why the sudden relaxed look?

    It was only as they both turned to leave the clearing together that she noticed her gold arm band was once again warmer than usual against her fur. Her mind raced back to the last time that had happened. She remembered a similar encounter a few weeks ago where she had run into a new acquaintance who had been in a particularly bad mood. She had talked to him for a while and by the time she left he was laughing and joking with the best of them. She had noticed that the band had seemed warmer than it should have been then too. And this was only the most recent of several events like it.

    In fact, it seemed every time she was talking to someone whose attitude change for the better recently her band was curiously warm. She would definitely have to get Magic to take a look at the band when she got back, she had been meaning to do it for a while now but Magic had been so busy lately with his training with Aleya. 

    Anyways, she shook herself out of her thoughts, it was a nice afternoon and she had a new companion to talk to. Despite her misgivings he did seem like an interesting fellow. He was a traveler too and she had always been curious about what was beyond the forest edges. He probably had many interesting stories to tell about his life in the outside world. Who knows? Maybe he had even traveled past Tekil’s mountain boarders! That would be exciting, she had never known anyone who had been to the lands through the Trade Pass. Honey was looking forwards to learning more about the strange new fox. She had plenty of time to do it, it was a long walk back to the heart of the forest, and they had only just begun.  

 
                                                                                                                                       ~~~~~~~~~~


Foxy makes his appearance in the West forest! Finally getting the story arcs tied together. The information he has should provide a new look into the remaining existence of The Blue. Providing of course Magic is willing to cooperate with this strange outsider…

Hope you all like the world so far, I feel like I am starting to get a deeper grasp of the details of Tekil. Hopefully by the time I finish this story arc I will be able to re-write all these chapters into a coherent story line. I think I am going to start to work on a world map sometime, I kind of have a rough mental idea of Tekil’s geography but it would be nice to have a reference map. 

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