[BROWTOBER] Browtober - Day 5-9

DAY 5 - The Hunt
(MYO-Painted-Satyr-121, Companion-404)

It was one thing to try and find Danny on a normal day, but the storm and all the rain it had brought with it seemed to make the task a lot more daunting than usual.
The ghost talonfish was playful and mischievous like it's goofy owner, but Consus couldn’t help but wonder where it had gone off to.

Consus pulled on his raincoat and tugged the hood over his head; the hunt was on.
He stomped out through the mud, following Danny’s little footsteps until he reached the edge of the forest. Much to Consus’ dismay, the ghost talonfish’s trail continued off down the path. Swallowing the rising feeling in his gut, the satyr trudged down the path to continue the search.

The trees prevented most of the rain from pelting Consus, but a few stray raindrops sprayed him in the face. The satyr rubbed at his eyes, causing him to trip over a stray tree limb. He slid on the mud and proceeded to slide down the hill until he was nearly soaked and covered in the wet earth.
At the bottom, Consus let out a loud groan.

“DANNY, WHERE ARE YOU? YOU STUPID FISH!”
Suddenly, a few birds took off from the trees, leaving Consus to cover his head from the fright. Realizing that it was only a few harmless forest natives, the satyr did his best to stumble back to his feet.
He only managed to get a few steps in before a bush rustled. Bracing himself, Consus put his arms up, prompting Danny to jump out of the bush to land in them.

At least the hunt was over.

END. 274 Words.

DAY 6 - Found Footage -> CONTENT WARNING: Includes mention of death.
(MYO-Browbird-354, MYO-Painted-Satyr-121, Browbird-618)

Consus knew there was a reason to fear that strange forest pathway Boingo had wanted to show off.
For a little while, it was a normal day. Vatos and Consus were leaning up their shared living space when Boingo burst through the doors, waving a strange camcorder type of item in his hand. He seemed more than eager to watch whatever was recorded on the thing, but Consus seemed hesitant. Attempting to figure out what might be backed up on the device, Consus questioned its origin, to which Boingo informed him that it came from within the forest, at the end of the strange trail.
The satyr immediately turned to the larger browbird, insisting that whatever had been found be cast back into the forest from where it came, but he couldn’t help but allow his own curiosity to bubble.

To reach a happy medium, the three sat outside and watched the footage through the small screen on the camcorder.
What they saw was nothing short of concerning: the device had belonged to someone investigating the same trail. On their own, they had managed to reach the end of the trail, yet there was nothing present. Before the individual could react, a large, monstrous creature was caught on the camera. It appeared to tear into them, only for the creature to slink back off into the shadows.
The only thing that they could see on the screen were two piercing eyes from the darkness.

Safe to say, the three ended up tossing that camcorder back into the foliage and avoided the trail at all costs.

END. 265 Words.

DAY 7 - Secrets
(MYO-Painted-Satyr-121, Browbird-618)

It was raining again; another dreary autumn day.
Consus sat on a cushion by the fireplace, the smoky smell and warmth offering a little comfort. He loosely draped a blanket over his shoulders while a mug of hot cider steamed off to the side of his leg. With all of the crazy things that had happened over the past few days, Consus didn’t want to think about anything even remotely connected to the forest beyond the walls, but fate had other plans.

Vatos walked through the door and made his way over. He took a seat next to the satyr and sat in silence before he brought up what he’d been thinking about.
“Hey, Consus? Can I ask you something? I, um, I was just wondering why you’re so… hesitant? I think that’s the word I want to use - hesitant to go anywhere near that forest? I know we found some pretty weird stuff in there recently, but I realized that you’ve been like this for a long time, even before all of the ‘weird’ things happened.”

The satyr let out an exhale, almost like he was stifling a chuckle. He allowed himself to take a sip of his drink before turning to look at Vatos.
“Can you keep a secret?”

With a look of confusion, Vatos nodded his head.
“Of course I can. Is everything okay?”

Consus sighed again and began to fiddle with his hands.
“Alright, well… I’ve been trying to avoid the whole ‘grove form’ thing that the other painted satyrs go through at some point in their lives. I’m still struggling a little bit with the idea that I might change, or find something new… I just think I want to take a little bit more time to better myself since I kinda’ feel like I’m not good enough yet. It’s silly, I know- and maybe it’s a dumb secret-”

Before he could finish his thought, Vatos grabbed Consus’ hands and sandwiched them between his own.
“That is not a dumb secret. I’ll admit that I have no idea what a ‘grove form’ is, or how that sort of stuff works, but I wanna offer my help if I can give you any. That, and I’m not going to tell anyone about what you said if you don’t want me to.”

That painted satyr smiled and wiggled his fingers a little bit, just to feel Vatos’ palms.
“Yeah… thanks, Vatos.”

END. 404 Words.

DAY 8 - In the Shadows
(MYO-Browbird-354, MYO-Browbird-363, Browbird-618)

“So tell me again, Vatos, we’re supposed to go into the forest by ourselves? Without Consus?”
Boingo bounced along the pathway into the cursed forest with a bag hitched over his shoulder and his guitar at the ready.

The taller browbird walked alongside the other with a sword strung on his back.
“Well, to put things in words, Consus wanted to stay back and let us go on our own adventure of sorts. I hope it’s alright that I let him keep Danny nearby.”

Pausing for a moment, Boingo looked back at Vatos with a smile.
“Oh… well of course! Anything to keep Consus a little company! Considering what we saw last night, we’ll probably be out here for a while, bwahaha!”
He happily turned away to continue walking down the trail as if they hadn’t seen some sort of monster on the camcorder they found.

Vatos could feel the tension rising in his gut, like they were being watched by something… or rather, someone.
“Look, Boingo. I know you’re excited to uh, find ‘something’, but I really don’t think this is a good idea. I’ve got this feeling that something is out there, watching us-”

“Oh, you mean like that thing?”
Boingo interrupted Vatos and pointed at some shrouded foliage. The larger browbird followed the gesture to a set of eyes that were staring back at them; unblinking.

The three beings stood still and stared at one another until Vatos drew his sword and stepped in front of Boingo. With the tip of his blade reaching into the shadows, the shrouded creature emerged into the light with its hands up.

“Alright, alright, jeez. It’s only me, Vatos.”
Naos raised his brows and waited for the armed browbird to put the sword back.
“A little trigger happy, are we?”

With an exhale, Vatos glared at Naos.
“Maybe I should have cleaved you in two.”

END. 314 Words.

DAY 9 - Full Moon
(MYO-Browbird-354, MYO-Painted-Satyr-121, Browbird-618, MYO-Browbird-363)

With the wind came chills… but the four friends didn’t seem to mind the cold at all. Instead, they sat around a campfire under the full moon. It softly cast its light upon them like the flames that licked at their forms.

“So… you three actually showed up. I’m almost surprised, considering that Consus is scared shitless and Boingo can hardly focus on anything. I guess it’ll be worth it a little bit.”
Naos laughed and gestured at the two, who folded their arms and looked around respectively.

“Look, Naos. I just don’t like to be outside when you start telling all of those ‘urban legend’ things. I’m just a little uncomfortable is all.”
Consus rolled his eyes and scooted a little closer to Vatos, who put his hand on the satyr’s shoulder. In the meantime, Boingo set his focus on the fire and poked at it with a stick.

“Yeah, uh huh. Anyways, I’ve got a good one for you… so settle in… hehehe.”
Naos moved his hands up in front of his face and wiggled his fingers.
“I’ve heard stories about those silly ‘werewolves’ and how they’re afflicted by a curse that turns them into something under the light of the full moon… but apparently there’s something similar that happens to some unfortunate painted satyrs. One night, they might enter a forest under the cover of darkness to meet the spirit of the wolf, all in hopes of becoming a hulking beast, like the halves…”

Vatos put up his hand after he noticed Consus press into his side.
“Alright, that’s enough now. Have a better tale to tell?”

END. 270 Words.