Alone in the Woods

Chapter 15 - Close Encounter

I had been worried we might run into the group of armed people that included someone who tried to kill me previously. I reflexively connected with every tree I came within eyeshot of to calm myself. They couldn't possibly sneak up on me if I was aware of everything around, or so my logic went. Wolf mom was also with me and she had super good hearing!

Wolf mom heard them before I realized they were nearby. We hid below an outcropping, while I grew some foliage to cover us. Wolf mom was considering charging at them and tearing the hunter limb from limb, but I talked her down from that. It had been fun and therapeutic to imagine retribution but when faced with actual death and suffering I just… couldn't.

Instead I wanted to spy on them, and hopefully they'd leave and not come back. I was very sneaky peering through a bush I had made before they got close enough to spot. I saw the four of them in single file, with the hunter leading them. It was great they were just on their way and not searching for me!

That was until they came across a moss path I had made oh so long ago. The stopped as the hunter inspected it. What followed was them having a conversation about it. It's just moss! It's not like they found the wreckage of our fight with the monster.

Whatever I guess my moss is interesting, so interesting they decided to follow it instead of their original direction. Fuck. Almost all my moss paths lead either to or from our den, and being the most unwelcome guests to the forest they could be they chose the direction that led to the den! I had even left my sword there.

Wolf mom was still on plan, rip the spine out of the guy who dare hurt by pup. The joy of her caring about me clashed with my fear of watching my mom murder four people.

I was losing sight of them. With my hopes of them just leaving dashed, we needed to make a decision confront them or hide from them. Wolf mom voted confront and I wanted nothing more than to hide. Unfortunately, there was a slim chance they were looking for me or whatever moved the root at the watering hole and made the moss path. So yea. If they were looking for me they might not just leave eventually.

Wolf mom then suggested stalking them and then ambushing them. While I was not at all in favor of ambushing them, following them might be useful. I told her that we can follow but no fighting. I got a 'no promises. If they come at us they are dead' I relented to this bad idea and we went to catch up.

Wolf mom could hear their clunky asses despite them having gotten a distance away while we silently communicated. So I had never snuck around before, and I couldn't grow new cover cause they'd total notice. This was gonna go great. I already had so many regrets.

The giant wolf walked me through how to stalk prey which was… interesting to say the least. Using natural cover aka the trees, we followed out of sight.

It was going great until they stopped, oh and me an wolf mom both lost track of the elf. Like my roots couldn't feel them, and she couldn't hear them lost track. This day was just getting better and better. They better not blame their disappearance on us, we didn't do anything.

The group started back tracking, probably to find their missing friend. So me an wolf mom were forced to hide. She still refused to let me teleport us further away, so we hid. I didn't want to get separated too much in case something happened to her. I hid behind a tree well away from the path, and wolf mom had to use a modest rise in the terrain sizable enough to hid her big body.

A shadow fell over me, so I looked up. The elf was standing over me with a smile that said they won the game of hid n' seek. Fuck. I froze. They said something in a language I didn't know.

Wolf mom heard them speak because she jumped out. They drew their spear placing themselves between me and the giant wolf. They were about to murder each other and the rest of the crew was on their way here. It was gonna be a bloodbath.

I had to do something. "Mom stop! They think they're protecting me." I moved between them before they got to the violence. I saw the look in her eye, if I wasn't between them she'd press the attack. The elf was actually taken a back slightly.

Of course the rest of the crew chose that shining moment to arrive. The hunter prick drew his bow to attack either mom or me, it was hard to tell. The other two both rushed in with their melee weapons but focused on mom. Mom decided to try and go around me to get them.

"STOP!" I yelled terrified but also pissed off. The forest writhed. Roots lashed out binding them all moments before bloodshed. A vine coiled around the hunter's bow crushing it like a python around its prey. Even mom was not spared the grasp of the forest. Plant life had restrained them all. I had restrained them all.

None of us were happy about this turn of events. Or at least I thought so. Before a barrage of complaints, most of which would be unintelligible, occurred the elf started laughing like they had just heard a hilarious joke. No one else was laughing.

So this was a mess.