|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:23 am
It was a pleasant day. Not too hot despite being the height of summer, and not too cold despite the high altitude. But despite the warmth there were clouds brewing on the horizon. It was probably going to rain that night, and most of the hikers and campers who had come to explore the protected wilderness were trying to get off the mountain as quickly as possible. The animals, too, were making their way back to their shelters to wait out the summer storm.
There was one inhabitant of the forest who did not run away from the clouds, though. The strange being stood amidst the trees as the dappled sunlight slowly dimmed under the clouds. It would be a warm rain, and he could already tell that it would not be a serious storm. Moss green eyes stared up through the branches at the patches of blue sky that were slowly becoming covered by gray.
He was a strange creature, one that no human had set eyes on for hundreds of years. His skin was the color of tree bark and covered in strange markings that could have been paint, tattoos, or may have been natural. From amidst unruly dark hair emerged a pair of antlers. Not as large or impressive as a stags, but antlers none the less. From the knee down his legs were covered in long fur and ended in cloven hooves not unlike those of a deer. His clothing was made from scraps of hide and woven grass, though often he went without.
But with the storm coming he did not want to risk being seen by a human in such a state. The mortal creatures were shy enough around him as it was. This was the first storm of the season, however, and it was likely a few of the ones who visited his home would, in their haste to escape the rain, wander off the marked paths. He did not like to see them get lost, so always made an effort to lead them back.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 12:47 pm
It would have been a lie if Gabriola had told someone that his favorite place was anywhere other than here, and Gabriola had already been to and seen many of the most amazing and remote destinations the world had to offer. But something about this place seemed different, somehow more distinct and separate from the others. He wasn't sure what it was, but somehow when gazing through the lens of his camera the whole world around him seemed to come alive with ancient magics that human beings had long since depreciated and forgotten.
The day had gone by in such a rush that Gabriola had hardly felt it pass. By the time he realized it, his companions had already agreed that it was time to head back down the mountain and return to camp before the weather decided to turn on them. Gabriola turned to them with a look of dismay and disappointment.
"But its the magic hour," he called to his long time friend and adviser Erik, who responded with a roll of his eyes and wave of his hand.
"Look, I'm not going to wait up here and listen to you cry and complain about this, so just make sure you get back down to camp before it gets dark out. I don't want to have to come back up here to save you from Bigfoot," he returned.
"Yeah, yeah," Gabriola chuckled. "I just wanna get a few more shots in and I'll be down. See you in a bit."
Erik had already turned back onto the trail and gave his last reply; the wave of his hand over a shoulder. Gabriola smiled and took up his camera and set off further away from the trail in order to relocate a good shooting spot he had found earlier that afternoon. It was easy enough for him to find the place again, however, just as easily the young photographer was distracted by a bounding fox with her young and quickly set after her in lieu of the shooting spot.
The boy was agile on his feet but wisely kept at a safe distance from the mother and her young. Already, the sun was beginning to dip behind the ageless, towering pines and birch when the air about the place began to darken and gray. It was the sudden crack of thunder that finally struck Gabriola from the sound of his clicking camera.
Startled, he jumped to his feet and looked towards the sky. The clouds he could make out in the thickening darkness looked threatening. It was time to get back to camp, though there was now one rather unavoidable problem. He had absolutely no idea where he was. When chasing the fox, Gabriola had never once looked up to take in his surroundings and now that it was beginning to get harder to see, he was beginning to regret his negligence.
The wind was picking up as sprinkles of rain began to mist towards the forest floor. Gabriola was moving too quickly to be walking, but too slowly to be running and in the direction he thought he came in. After ten minutes of seeing nothing recognizable let alone anything at all, he stopped. He was by this time getting soaked as the rain now poured and wind pelted painfully against him. <********," he muttered to himself. By now it was completely black and seeing anything was, by his standards, impossible. The other campers had taken all of the gear with them, so all he had now was his camera, which he huddled close to him in hopes that he might save it from the water. He was panicking now. Turning in another adjacent direction he began to run.
Crack!
That was the sound he heard just before he began to tumble down a large, rocky, sapling sprouted ravine. He rolled and flailed uncontrollably for ages it felt like until he finally barreled to a stop when he hit a large tree. For just a moment he was able to keep his eyes open before they blurred and went black.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 2:26 pm
Tohopka knew everything that happened in his forest. News reached him through the trees and the animals. This was how he learned of the fallen hiker. It was something that did not belong, especially in a storm when all the other animals were taking shelter, so it was easily noticeable.
The immortal creature had not been face to face with a human for many decades. He did not know how much their society had changed, though he knew how much it had grown. Every year their roads and buildings came closer to his land. It made him all the more nervous to see one again. But though he might not be fond of the humans, Tohopka knew that they were just another animal when they wandered into his forest. And he would leave no animal lost and injured.
The unique forest creature left the post from which he had been watching over the forest during the first summer storm, and headed toward the fallen hiker, lead by the silent messages of the trees to the ravine down which the man had fallen.
It was not difficult for the sure-footed guardian to climb down into the ravine, nor to find the unconscious human. He knelt down slowly to check on the state of the human. The man was unconscious, and likely had a bad wound on his head. Even if he had not, staying out in the rain would only make him ill.
So Tohopka collected the unconscious man into his arms and began heading back toward the cave where he made his home.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
