Moonberry
Bitter and Sweet, do not eat.
The cold wind blew southwest. And from the north, the scent of a heavy musk drifted with it. At the entrance of the mine, a scene was beginning to transpire. The commotion that The Watching of Reflection had caused, brought out around four of the would-be bandits. They looked to be youthful beast kin of a variety. One young man had tawny hair and twitching bunny ears. Another had black hair with floppy black dog ears, and a tail that swished nonstop behind him. There was an old man among them with a white shaggy mane and beard. A pair of white cat ears twitching somewhere in the scruff, and a tail that twitched just as much. The one who seemed to be the leader among them was the second oldest, next to the old man. Not quite a youth anymore, but not quite what you would call a man. He had ginger red hair with a pair of large fluffy ears, and a twitching fox tail. They all looked to be covered in dirt and soot. Like they'd been digging for hours, and they looked tired.
< "What now?! We can't afford anymore distractions! We already lost half of the week's food supply."> The orange fox hollered as he turned about and scanned the area. The old man raised his hand and made a shushing noise.
< "Quiet down Haru. You want that bear t' come back? We ain' got no more salmon." > The old man heeded quiet, and they all complied. Quickly forming something of a defensive circle, each of their backs to each other. They fell silent for a moment, scanning the area, a couple of them gripping pickaxes tightly. It was the one with bunny ears that broke the silence and hollered.
< "Oi Oi! Look there! What's that?!"> He exclaimed, pointing above the mineshaft opening. There on the cliffs they could just make out something furry and purple climbing the cliffs and searching desperately. Scared and maybe a little frustrated, the bunny boy reached down and scooped up a rock. He chucked it as hard as he could towards the furry creature. <"Kill it!">
Aedrianna stared down at Hiruq in confusion. She seemed to be trying to piece together something complicated in her head, when Kota explained that a bear was coming. She shook her head. Hiruq was a very large wolf. He had lived in the paizu mountains before she'd met him. He wouldn't act like this for a bear. She watched him try to pantomime the imminent danger to Almeida, with the same concerned confusion. It wasn't until Rios came forward with his own concerns that she realized why exactly Hiruq was concerned. The area they were in was famous for dire beasts. Infact Nan Pass had just recently suffered a monster attack. This bear wouldn't be something to sneeze at. Hiruqs tail was swishing low and fast. His ears were flat against his head, but he stared very intently at Aedrianna. As if waiting. Rios suggested they find some sort of fish, and she couldn't help but blink and look pointedly at Noelle. Her eyes widening in fear as realization of the situation she'd put them all in slowly formed.
"Oh no...no no, you can't go fight that, it's much too dangerous! We should just go....back..." She paused and looked around, realizing that two of the original party were not there. "Where did Miss Lulu go?" She blinked, seeming to grow more and more concerned and fearful. Hiruq whined beside her, beginning to pace."And the Little purple buddy went ahead of us...oh no..." She started to look around, realizing that she'd never be able to live with herself if the corpse of a young woman and a purple floof were found after they ran. But she did not want to face a giant bear. She started getting flashbacks of the bug queen. Seeing Mr. Rios be thrown across the cave like a doll. She turned to look to Almeida, shaking her head as if to implore that she didn't go. That's about when the commotion of banging pots and pans could be heard in the distance.
<"Oi Oi! Look there! What's that?! Kill it!"> A voice in the distance could be heard, and more shouting following. Aedrianna looked at the others for a split second, her decision already made before she could really judge the intelligence of said decision. Her legs started moving and she took off. Breaking off the deer path they'd been walking, through the trees and back onto the main trail. She was running as fast as she could towards the entrance of the mine, where the noise was coming from. Hiruq whined, his tail still between his legs, but he took off at breakneck speed after her.
Those who'd decided they would brave the dire bear, followed the deer path with caution. The scene they crept up on was a gruesome one. A bear that reached nearly half the height of the trees around it, on all fours was lumbering through the forest. As the warriors approached, they could see and hear the dying throes of a deer, as its body was crunched in the massive jaws of a dire bear. Its hide had scars marring the brown fur, one eye seemed to be forever sealed shut, with infection oozing from it. It finished it's little snack, with one final sickening crunch, and slowly, lazily began to move forward, towards the noise that was being made South west. Near the entrance of the mine.
Those who followed Aedrianna to the entrance of the mine, entered on a scene of something of a stand-off. Four beastkin men stood in a small circle. Half of them glaring up at the cliffside, where The Watching of Reflection seemed to be attempting to climb and find something. They were trying to pelt the purple creature with rocks, yelling and shouting at it to go. Aedrianna didn't stop in her running as she arrived. She sprinted to the group of men and stood between them, holding her hands up defensively.
< "Don't Hurt it! It's not bad!"> Hiruq, had skidded to a halt at the sight of four of the bandits, apparently not expecting Aedrianna to keep running. When she passed by him, he let out a loud whine and a yelp. He started to run after her, when a rock came pelting at him. It met his head with a meaty thunk. He yelped and slowed his run, crouching down and growling at the circle of Bandit miners. For their part, they looked confused and angry. Between the purple creature on the cliffside, the girl and the wolf, they were on edge.
< "What the hell are you doing here?! We can't have people being here! No ones Supposed to know!"> The man with orange hair and fox ears shouted at Aedrianna. His arm stretched out to grab a hold of hers, and as he did Hiruq leapt. Snarling he jumped at the orange fox man. However his attack was intercepted by the man with black hair and floppy ears. He held his pickaxe up horizontally, catching Hiruqs maw in it and kicking the large wolf away. Aedrianna yelled watching her friend go flying back.
<"Please don't hurt them! There's a bear coming! We just want our friend!"> She cried, looking up at the man with pleading eyes.
< "Easy now, easy Haru. Don'hurt the girl. Last thing we need is the guards coming for a missing person."> The old white cat tried to diffuse the situation, eyeing the large white wolf that was slowly picking itself up.
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