Bark river neck knife

First Prev
Patreon Arxur POV of the Cradle Series wiki Official subreddit Discord
---
---
Memory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, United Nations Fleet Command
Date [standardized human time]: January 15, 2137
It wasn’t my imagination; our triangular shuttle was sinking like a stone. Water bobbed up against the cockpit windows, entombing us beneath the waves. Hull integrity would eventually give out and allow water to flood the compartment. The predators were just watching it happen, with not nearly enough panic showing in their binocular eyes. They made no attempt to inflate a life raft and escape, while we could still get the doors open.
The craft had tipped forward at a slight angle, and the airborne vehicle began to sink nose-first toward a watery grave. A feeling of immense claustrophobia gripped me, as the nightmare scenario came to fruition. My claws wrapped around Samantha’s arm before I could stop myself; the human looked at me with sheer disbelief, and pushed me away. Her nose was scrunched in an obvious sign of distaste. Carlos would’ve definitely been more amenable to my desperate outreach for support.
Samantha heaved a sigh. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just fucking do that, but it better not ever happen again.”
“Please! We’re sinking!” I croaked.
Onso snickered. “Sinking? You don’t feel the engines running? It’s a submersible aircraft.”
Upon closer listening, I could feel the quiet hum of the engines. Somehow, the combustion drive was still running underwater, and pushing us in a controlled manner further into the ocean. There were no signs of leaks seeping through the walls, despite being encased in the depths. I’d never heard of a plane that could fly underwater, but I should’ve gleaned our safety from the predators’ calmness.
If a human is running or terrified, that’s when it’s time to assume our deaths are imminent.
Sam wasn’t the least bit amused by me latching onto her arm, but Tyler and Carlos were both masking smirks. I dipped my head in shame. How had the Yotul known of technology which was unfathomable to the wider galaxy? Until today, I wouldn’t have thought such devices would ever have a use. It was embarrassing that the primitive kept his head better than me around novel technology, though I tried to push that egoistic thought out of my mind.
“Do the Yotul have this kind of technology, Onso?” I prompted the reddish-furred marsupial to answer, though I knew the reply would be in the negative. “I’ve never heard of such things, so I’m surprised it’s old news to you.”
“Well, I took it upon myself to read up on the specs; they were included with our briefing notes. Never know when shit’s gonna break, and someone’s gotta fix it. The Yotul have a saying, ‘Everything can break, so assume it will do so today.’”
“That’s valid. Every spacecraft crash is due to a ‘one-in-a-billion’ mechanical failure; unlikelihood upon unlikelihood. Uh, anyhow, I’m a little out of my element here, clearly nothing like you.”
“I don’t mind the water, Sovlin. Mama had a sailboat, which she’d take around the harbor. It was a little disappointing to hear human water activities involve hunting. There’s so many beautiful things to see; it’s the last untamed frontier. Even after space is explored, the oceans still hold so many mysteries and unique lifeforms!”
“Plenty of humans agree with you, even ones who enjoy fishing like Tyler. We’ll go snorkeling or scuba diving just to explore reefs and view marine life,” Carlos chimed in. “No boat, nothing but a basic breathing apparatus.”
“There’s water sports too. Surfing, where you try to ride massive waves on a board.” Samantha made odd gestures with her hands, as though conveying a series of hills. “Parasailing, up in the sky tied to a boat. White water rafting, where you go down turbulent, rocky rapids in an inflatable.”
I groaned. “Why…are any of those not mortally dangerous?! What is wrong with you predators? I thought you evolved from the fucking trees!”
“It’s all in the spirit of fun, a memorable experience. Don’t tell me none of it sounds like something you want to try once.”
“No, those stunts sound horrible. This is horrible. I can see the depth meter going up…it’s double digits! I can’t see the sky!”
“Quit being a baby.”
“Quit being a predator! I hate humans; I can’t stand you! Onso, back me up.”
“The surfing sounds totally badass. I can imagine riding a wave up to its crest, and trying not to fall,” the Yotul answered. “We should try it together, old man. Conquer your fears, do things you think you can’t.”
“I am not doing that. No way on the cradle.”
Tyler sported a devilish grin. “Hey, it could be worse, Sovlin. You could be doing shark cage diving.”
I offered the blond human a blank stare. Through the cockpit behind him, I noticed orange-striped fish swimming clear of the aerosub. There was a dark shadow in the murky depths below, which filled me with palpable unease. What if it was some sort of massive predator which hid in this oceanic range? Chewing at my claws with anxiety, I tried to parse through what he said.
Cage diving? That can’t be what it sounds like; locking yourself in a cage and jumping into the water…not trying to escape. What’s a shark?
We moved closer to the ambiguous shadow within the turquoise ocean, which I tried to ignore. The humans would freak out if there was reason for alarm; I couldn’t make a fool of myself again. Plastering a look of confusion on my face, I flicked a claw at Tyler for an explanation. His blue eyes twinkled with amusement, and my former guards watched with interest.
“Ah, you’re wondering what that is.” Officer Cardona tapped his fingers against his holopad, and noticed that his Yotul exchange partner was intrigued too. He showed a picture to Onso first. “I’d say it’s self-explanatory. Oh, and, yes, they have side-facing eyes, but sharks are predators. Humans have movies about them eating us, even though that’s uncommon in reality.”
Tyler turned the device toward me, and I flinched away with disbelief. Sure enough, a pack of Terrans were suspended in a metal cage below the water. “Sharks” circled them with predatory intent, serrated teeth visible. From what I’d learned about Gojids being omnivores, I’d trust the primates on binocular eyes not being necessary to eat living food. However, deciphering human behavior was a maddening endeavor. Was this some twisted way of reasserting their dominance as apex predators, against animals that dared to prey on them?
“You just said it was in fucked-up human movies…it’s CGI! That’s not a real fucking thing!” I screamed. “I thought we were keeping it professional, huh? You all are definitely saying, and making up, predator nonsense on purpose, at this point!”
Tyler flashed his teeth. “It’s real. We don’t need to make anything up; humans will go to great lengths for thrills.”
“That seems to be tempting fate. I’ve always believed in respecting nature, though it would be cool to see these animals up close,” Onso said.
“Good news: you can see them in aquariums too.”
I thought humans would think water decorations were stupid…wait, what did he just say?!
My spines were bristling. “You have aquariums, like the Kolshians on Aafa?”
“Yep,” Tyler affirmed.
“And instead of sea plants, you keep dangerous predators in them?”
“Yeah? They’re cool to look at, man.”
“Protector, I don’t care if we’re in the middle of the ocean. I want off this sinking boat!”
Carlos stifled a laugh. “Well, your wish is about to be granted. This puppy isn’t meant to dive deeper than 100 meters. The UNS Deep Core is up ahead.”
The foreboding shadow had grown larger in my periphery, and my eyes swiveled back to the viewport. It was a submersed ship, but one that was so large, its breadth faded into the murky distance. There was no way this wasn’t in the triple digits of meters long; the all-black, undecorated exterior would cause an observer to mistake it for a shadowy patch of water. There was a tower affixed to its spine, which perhaps housed an equivalent to a bridge.
“The humans must’ve snuck this ship here days ago. How long has it been lurking?” I murmured to myself. “They couldn’t have airdropped it from too high up either…I don’t think.”
Samantha rubbed her hands together. “If you think this is the only one sent, think again. We’re told as much as we need to know, Sovlin, but it’s a blast to fill in the blanks.”
Our aerosub glided down to the bottom of the Deep Core, before flipping over and latching onto to a watertight door. It was similar to how a spacecraft would dock for boarding; my concerns were assuaged a little, noticing some familiarity. Packing such a large crew into a metal tube must be stressful for any land-dwelling species, but the humans were insane enough to tuck their senses aside. There could be enough predators aboard to compose a small village.
I disliked the fact that I was hanging at a ninety-degree angle, though I didn’t voice my complaints. The humans awkwardly dismounted, with Tyler helping Onso down. Carlos hoisted me to my own two feet, and I took a steadying breath. Our own watertight hatch, which I mistook for an emergency exit when I thought it was a sane vehicle, was on the right exit. There was a click, as human personnel opened the circular door from the other side.
The five of us were helped up through the threshold into the submarine, and we admired the metal inner workings of our surroundings. The tunnels were narrow, with small doorways leading between compartments; many required a slight step up to clear. One Terran greeted us at our docking point, though he wore a different uniform than the getup I was used to. I wasn’t sure what to expect from land predators who operated underwater, but the ample facial hair checked out with my mental image.
“Welcome aboard the Deep Core. I’m Commander Fournier; your presence is requested on the bridge,” a gruff voice greeted us.
I blinked in confusion. “May I ask why…sir?”
“First aliens to step foot on a submarine. You’re VIPs; it’s a good photo-op, you could say. Follow me.”
Of course, the humans are worried about optics as we’re descending to an outlandish location. Sometimes, they’re awfully predictable.
Claustrophobia threatened to flare up, with the cramped passages and lack of direction. Onso showed no such uneasiness, forcing Tyler to ensure that the Yotul studied objects with his eyes, not his paws. The primitive seemed enamored with any machinery or design quirks, even basic things such as hinges. I was really trying not to look down on him, but when he was gawking at simplistic nails, it was difficult. At least his dimwitted curiosity was a distraction from our present environment.
The bearded commander led us to a steep stairway, and communicated for us to follow his lead. There was a thunderous bark of “up ladder!” before the human-in-charge popped open a hatch. Tyler waved a hand at me and Onso, signaling for us to climb after Fournier first. I ensured that my balance was steady, hustling up the rungs. There was a railing surrounding the hatch, along with a safety chain that our guide was unclipping.
“Sir, may I ask how much air we have left?” I couldn’t resist asking, despite being out of breath from the short ascent. “I presume you’ve been submerged a few days. Even spaceships can only carry a few weeks of oxygen, and I don’t see any tanks, um…”
Fournier issued a throaty laugh. “Scared of submarines, Gojid?”
“A little, uh, yes…sir.”
“Don’t be. We have as much air as there is water in the ocean.”
Onso bounded after us. “The Terrans use electrolysis to separate the hydrogen from the oxygen in seawater they collect, then use that O2 to ventilate the ship.”
“Why, I like this one!” the commander bellowed. “Read up on subs, haven’t ya?”
“It drew me in…like a vortex of knowledge. I always liked machines.”
“Then I take it you’re an engineer? I can see that kid-like glee in your eyes.”
“A rocket engineer. The unchanging rules, the complex order, the concreteness and the planning: it speaks to me. Having a new class of machines to study really lit that fire, for the first time since the Federation killed my passion. Not even studying your weaponry truly scratched that itch. It’s just, I never dreamed I’d discover a new alien boat!”
“Well, well! I’m no engineer, but I’ll be happy to share what I know. Feel free to ask any questions; we love talking about what we do, to someone who really wants to hear it.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Commander Fournier led us into a stout compartment, where a vast array of gadgetry and screens covered a wall. Humans were examining a green circle on display, with a rotating line and labeled angles. Data feeds were also listed there, which led me to conclude it was a sensors equivalent. Navigations was at the front, at least from the appearance of several control columns. Some predators appeared to be acting as officers or supervisors, peering over others’ shoulders and issuing commands.
This isn’t that dissimilar to a starship, but where is the viewport? How can they see?
I cleared my throat. “Sir, where is the viewport? There’s no windows!”
“We don’t need windows,” Fournier explained. “We use sonar, because sound travels further in water than light. Glass or transparent materials are just a weak point in the hull, and a potential source of leaks if we take a hit.”
“Okay. Then why did the submersible craft we took here have windows?”
“Because it needs to be a spacecraft too, and you need to see when you’re flying. It’s useful enough to outweigh any concerns,” Carlos chimed in.
“This is so cool!” Onso bounced on his digitigrade hindlegs, and the commander fortunately didn’t take offense to his excess excitement. “The sonar doesn’t need to see at all. It just…listens.”
Fournier nodded. “Precisely. I saw you examining the bearings on our machinery, and I’ll impress upon you the importance of noise reduction down here. We keep everything detached from the hull frame to avoid vibrations…even dropping a wrench can give you up to an enemy. Sonar receptors pick up the slightest vibration, and then, they know you’re there.”
“That explains why your engines have to be so quiet. I was reading about how you try to avoid cavitation…you know, where the vacuum pressure caused by the propeller makes water boil. The bubbles pop and give off noise.”
“You don’t need a rundown at all, Yotul; you already know everything. We have a speed range where we can operate silently.”
I was growing bored of the technical explanations, and Onso, a primitive, was outshining my knowledge to the humans. Perhaps the Yotul was desperate to prove himself as an academic equal, but he didn’t need to prattle on about science like he was reading a textbook. While there were impressive feats of engineering on display here, I agreed with Samantha’s assertion of naval obsolescence. What good was fighting in the water, except in this extraordinary circumstance?
The predators can hide far away from any targets or locations of value forever. How ingenious. They’d be unseen altogether if the other human tribes realized this theater was irrelevant in a war.
I suppressed an irritated huff. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”
“Granted,” Fournier replied, a curious twinkle in his eyes.
“Respectfully, sir, I do not see the purpose of putting all this time into submarine development, at least for military aims. You’re a spacefaring species, and you’re incredible at ground assaults. What use is it to hide so far away from civilization…from the action? Maybe you sink a few ships that are using an outdated method of moving resources, but I don’t get it. You have better weapons.”
“You really don’t know? To use your word, these ships are masterful predators; nearly undetectable, capable of hearing the slightest sound, and able to surface anywhere in the world. But it goes far beyond that. The destructive power housed here is a hell of a deterrent. That’s why we’d never actually trade nukes like ya Feddies thought we did.”
“Nukes? I’m not following.”
“There’s tens of nukes stuffed onto just one of these things. We can hang off the shore anywhere, and fire missiles while underwater. Not that we have to be close to our target; we can shoot ICBMs halfway around the world. You never know where we are, if it’s right down your neck or prowling distant shores. We’re waiting to strike, anywhere and everywhere, with the technology to end civilization itself, even after command is destroyed on land. Obsolete, my ass.”
I gulped with discomfort, wishing I could recede into the ship walls. That declaration was so calm yet predatorily destructive; there were chilling implications for the extent of human aggression. It suddenly made sense why Earth tribes were intent on sniffing these predators out of the ocean’s recesses, and why the subs tried to remain undetectable at all costs. Should the current battle go awry, Talsk could be devastated by an unseen arsenal of epic proportions.
As Commander Fournier took his post, I tried to understand why humans would devise such machinations, for use against their own civilization. The Federation’s “irradiated Earth” could’ve been a reality; these capabilities shouldn’t exist in any culture. I didn’t understand why my kind-hearted friends would even think of such predatory weaponry. Surely, understanding the apocalyptic consequences of these vehicles should’ve convinced them not to build them.
My therapist could’ve elaborated further on the full heights of Terran aggression. Humans didn’t enjoy killing, yet they brainstormed and actualized the optimal ways to kill every human in existence? It was a paradox. Perhaps their predator nature factored into their decision-making in a manner they didn’t understand. Orders were issued to begin our descent, and for all sailors to report to battle stations. I felt the submersible tilt down, so I tried to clear my head of what the primates were capable of.
I have to believe that they will never actually do something like that…that their goodness will prevail. They didn’t snap after Earth, right? I trust their better judgment.
“W-well, if there’s really a base at the bottom of the ocean, the Farsul are fucked,” I murmured to my posse.
Samantha’s fist tightened, as her smirk returned. “I’d say they are.”
The numbers on the depth meter continued to escalate, as the submarine navigated the ocean which spanned below us. Locked inside a steel tube with predators, and knowing the potential of its onboard weaponry, my nerves were anything but quelled. The submarines somehow eclipsed even the worst starships in its dastardly capabilities. The Farsul wouldn’t be prepared for this predatory contraption, should we stumble across any of their flotilla.
I was glad that the humans were on the same team as me; there was no telling where their capacity for annihilation ended.
---
First Prev
Patreon Arxur POV of the Cradle Series wiki Official subreddit Discord

For a woman in today's world, being strong and accomplished is something of great pride. You juggle so many obligations and do so with amazing ability and grace. Career, home, family, friends, personal interests--they all compete loudly as they pull and tug and place demands on your talents and time. Without being constantly in control you feel as if everything would fall apart. As a result, you feel as if you are falling apart. isSubmsiveness is your outlet to sanity and has restorative, rejuvenating powers.
The majority of men seeking a discreet submissive miss the mark entirely. They write about what they will do to you. How they will bark orders. How they will use and degrade you. How they will stick their dicks in your mouth, spank your ass, and call you their whore as they fuck you good and hard. None of this is about you. It's all about him and focuses primarily on the physical...and fails to realize that submissiveness is a mental need you need satisfied to feel whole.
While being that juggler you need to be, it is easy to lose touch with that ultra feminine woman who shares a body with you. She's there. You see her ghostly reflection in the mirror with sad eyes that beg to be freed and celebrated and be allowed to become alive. She has gone into deep hiding from your present, sexual partner. You are reluctant to introduce her to him. He wouldn't understand, or it would be awkward to make the introduction. Your submissive is not part of this relationship at all. He sees and treats you as the "I have my shit together" woman you project to the everyday world. That is your history with him.
You secretly desire to nurture and explore this intense and extremely personal part of who you are as a woman. Perhaps this would be easiest to share with an as yet unknown and understanding man. With him you'd have no history or secrets, and if the connection feels right you could express yourself this way with him. If you find him, he could tap the pent energies and curiosity you would bring to an affair. He is not a bully--just with the proper mixture of possessing both a firm and gentle nature. He would debauch you. Lead you. Grasp your hand as he takes you on that journey where under his guidance and trust you can surrender your control. You are his when together. Given freely. You need to see and feel and hear exactly how turned on he is by you. Pleasure given is pleasure received ten-fold. You want to feel his hot breath as he places his kisses upon your neck. You want to feel his hands slide beneath your skirt or roam without reservation across your blouse. You want to hear him tell you what to do, how to do it, where to do it...without thinking.
You don't need experience if you are willing, as there is something deliciously sexy about that shyness and innocence of a novice ... but if you've read this twice then you must reply.
I know what I want and am not afraid to ask for it. I am a 39 BM,straight, intelligent, attractive, D/D free and I do take personal hygiene and my appearance seriously. Age and race are open...and women of intelligence and sincerity will immediately capture my attention.
No One Liners. Type "Yubba Bubba" in your reply so I know you read the ad, just too many bots out there ...

So, this is going to be about a different “TTI” I went too. I don’t remember the name of it, but I remember quite a bit.
This “TTI”/wilderness was an “optional” adult version of a kid version. I don’t remember the name, which is why I’m putting it here. A few on the list has scratched some itches, but I can’t for the life of me remember.
Memory issues relating to trauma for the win /s
Now, some context: In 2018, I was living with my brother abusive best friend in Oklahoma. It was a horrible situation and it’s own fucked up story, but long story short, she was collecting food stamps off me and when I wasn’t complicit in it she got a judge to rule me a danger and I was “recommended” (read: forced) to go to a program. To this day, I cannot remember the name of the place.
It was a wilderness program. It was one of those “optional” adult wilderness programs. What no one tells you is that once you’re court ordered, it’s no longer optional. The only good thing that happened was that it cost my brothers bff tens if not hundreds of thousands and I ran away from her the moment I got out.
They started us off like how my old “therapeutic group home” (others words, that thing was the least therapeutic thing i’d been in until this one) would punish us: By having us sit and live in a stone circle. This was the case for idek how long, but it’s something that everyone had to do, some (like me) multiple times for “acting out”. We had one pot, one cup, a sleeping bag, some string, and a tarp. Everything else was either something we brought with us here (the “lucky ones” who knew ahead of time) or we had to make it from things in the wild (it was a densely wooded area, even if it was around winter).
The temps got cold. Like cold cold, at least for a California native. I don’t know where they took me (it was dark out when we got off the plane, and they told me that if i looked at any of the boarding stuff or anything then i would be “punished”. As a at-the-time DV Victim, this scared the crap out of me), but it was around March or April and cold enough at night that if you didn’t have the right position your fingers and feet froze overnight. There was a fire, but it was built far enough away that the heat never made it to the circle.
Everyone would do their own camping, and their own solo thing with the rocks when they first came here. As you were there longer, you were allowed more “privileges” in the form of chores. This would include digging what we called “the shitter” (a 7-8 foot hole that you would dig and then someone else would pull you out of), setting up the fire, and if you told them that you knew how to shoot a gun- hunting for the food yourself. When i would come back without any food, I would be punished by being put back on the solo.
(Note: I don’t think there actually was any wildlife, cause in my weeks of hunting i never even saw anything wild. Also the staffs only weapon was a BB Gun and a pocket knife)
Solo people would have to build their own circle and set up everything themselves. We were allowed to make one fire a night, and however long we kept that fire going until morning we could keep it in the circle. The staff would purposefully stop the good fire makers from keeping their fire by throwing water at us and claiming it was an accident while the others shivered.
We would have to hike for hours on end, though we made sure to never get too far from a river near us, since according to staff it was our “only drinking source”. Sometimes we would go a few miles(?) away where there were higher trees with sturdier branches. If we weren’t “relaxed” enough, they would have us climb those trees until we were exhausted.
Food was minimum, as a few had EDs that made them overeat. Because of this, we were given about 3-4 small portions. The only ones who didn’t go through this were the diabetics, and the staff would brainwash us into hating them because they got to eat more.
Unlike other “TTI”, these were all adults. Either their family had wanted to give them some sort of “help” (quite a few drug addicts), there were some there were there as a “temporary” measure from the courts (the longest time through that I had heard was 3 months, with a release date of the next day. The next day he was sent off to an “RTC”. I think they said Equinox? But I’m not sure. I know he had been moved to the “adult” one from the kid program because his parents didn’t want him home, and then he was transferred after a week. That’s the gist of what I got, but I was fighting for what felt like my life so idk).
Of these adult “TTI” “campers” (idk what the adult name is), about 6 of the 10 I talked too were from teen programs and sent here after “aging out” of their original program. I remember that scaring me that I’d be forced through more of this horror, but they assured me that as an adult, they can’t force me somewhere else without telling me. The court order was “special” because it was just that: ordered.
I remember going in around March and ended up getting out on May 4th, 2018. I remember this because my brother had flown out to come get me, and we stopped at a hotel just on the outskirts and one of them refused to let us check in cause I was “one of those mentally challenged people” and because they were fully booked due to the discounts of “may the 4th be with you” (I watched someone walk up with a lightsaber and get 4% off their hotel room.)
There’s more, but m hands are shaking, so I’ll leave it at that. Hopefully someone knows the name of this place so I can get closure. I feel like I can’t close this chapter without knowing, or at least having an idea. I know there aren’t many “Adult TTI” programs, though. I wish I had the paperwork and all the stuff, but me and my bro burned it all when he took me to his place as a celebration and to leave all of that behind.

I grew up within a small village on the edge of a relatively small but still thick and often dark forest under the hand of my late grandfather. For the sake of privacy, I wont share neither his name nor my own. The exact location of where we live also sadly does not matter for reasons that will hopefully be apparent later as I go on.
After my supposed "father" left us behind and my mother died during childbirth, my grandfather took me in and raised me. I've known him my entire life because of this and I came to know him as a strict, reclusive but fair man who cares more than he would like to let on to.
At night, he would often call me to the warm fireplace within our livingroom to tell me a new horror story. He did this ever since I was a small child and while, for some, this may Sound questionable, I'm certain that this is where my love and interest for all things creepy originates from.
As a child, his stories would terrify me and haunt my dreams, centering around strange and malicious entities that stalk you from within the darkness around you until it is time for them to make their move and drag you to wherever they came from. My grandfather would often tell me the same collection of stories, but always adding more details as I got older and older. As a child, I sometimes tried to avoid listening to his stories, but he insisted that I would have to hear them. Later, I began to doubt his stories but he insisted that they where true, much to my annoyance. Back then, I did not know how right he truly was.
The story I remember the most vividly is that of an entity called the "Birchwood-Creeper". For some context on the name, we unofficially refer to our local forest as the "Birchwoods" due to the abundance of beautiful birchtrees that make up most of the forest. The "Birchwood-Creeper" is an ancient local folktale, speaking of an entity residing in our forest.
According to my grandfather, the Birchwood-Creeper is a tall, lanky humanoid creature with leathery skin as pale as chalk draped tightly around long, thin bones. It's arms and legs are almost as long as an average person can be tall, and it's fingers end in razorsharp claws. It's feet end in sharp talons and upon it's neck sits the featherless head of an owl, complete with soulless, black eyes as dark as the deepest void. It blends in with the sorrounding birchtrees and can move at unseen speed and nearly without just the slightest sound as it stalks it's chosen prey throughout the months to come before finally dragging them into the deepest parts of the forest.
Admittedly, the details for his story are oddly specific and precise, which is why I first started to doubt my grandfather's stories when I got older. But he promised he would reveal everything to me once, in his own words, the time was right. I did not know what He meant by that and I doubt i'll ever learn, as he died three years ago due to a heart-failure while I was away for the weekend. He died and his secrets died with him.
After his death, I stayed in the Village for a few years to follow, beginning to drown my grief from his loss within criminology research, with cases of disappearances especially peeking my interest. And as I learned during my research, there where a lot of known disappearances, both recent and decades ago, within and around Birchwood and my village.
Growing curious, I started to notice that I never actually went into the woods and decided that it would be a fun adventure to just go into the forest and explore. Of course, I wasnt really expecting to encounter or find any missing people or paranormal entities within. Planning to be back by daylight, I only took a small backpack with me, carrying a small knife, a flashlight, some food and some water. I also decided to leave my phone at home, as I wanted to retreat, still griefing, and didnt really want to be disturbed during my trip. And with everything packed up, I ventured into the woods as soon as sun began to set.
I wandered for hours, coming across various areas within the Birchwoods that seemed almost totally undisturbed by humans, almost making me question wether I was the first person to venture to them. The most interesting sight for me thus far, however, was a large boulder with deep scratchmarks within it. At the time, I simply chalked it up to a deer attempting to either sharpen or shorten their antlers.
For most of my time, I was undisturbed. The cries of owls nearby keeping me company as I ventured forward, enjoying the trip more than I honestly thought I would. As I kept walking, I couldnt help myself but joke about how the supposed owls may just be the faint cries of the Birchwood-Creeper my grandfather told me about. And although I almost laughed out loud a few times, these jokes brought valuable memories back to me.
Sadly, all the joy was interrupted when I came across a disemboweled deer that, somehow, was hanging on a taller tree by it's antlers. I will spare you the gruesome details, but the animal was half-eaten and almost left there as a trophy of some sort. It first, I was horrified, then more confused. There where no animals in these woods that could have done this, and even for a human this would have been hard to position!
Ultimately, I decided to make a report to a local wildlife protection service once I got home, and continued onward for the time being. I was slightly on edge now, confused as I tried to wrap my head around how what I found would be possible. It was almost like a silent jumpscare to me and now that im writing this, im left to wonder why I didnt see it sooner from afar.
Seeing a deer, even if dead, however calmed my nerves when I started to hear fallen branches break and plants move into another around me as I continues my path forward. The deer was the prove that there are animals in this forest, and so where the constant cries of the owls, and that put me at ease when the sorrounding sounds startled me. And suddenly, the noises found an end.
It was silent. There was nothing. No insects chirping in the grass, no branches cracking, not even a squirrel jumping between trees. It was as if everything but me either died in an instant or hid itself as best as possible to avoid such a fate. Then, again, the silence was broken by the cry of an owl. An owl, that sounded though as if it was sitting right next to me! Yet when I looked around, I saw nothing but a thick cluster of trees around me. And, besides the occasional cry of the owl, the silence persisted. I grabbed my knife, even if just for comfort, and continued onward. I do not know why, but continueing deeper into the forst felt both right and wrong at the same time, as if something wanted me to go further and further while something made me feel like as if I should have run home long ago. The cries of the owls persisted, feeling as if following me. I did no longer feel alone. I felt watched, I felt followed. And I was hoping it was just the owl. And to some extend, I was right.
My adventure came to an end as I came across a large, thick tree unlike any other I came across within this forest. It was taller than anything else within these woods, thicker than any birchtree I've come across. And for a lack of a better description, it felt wrong. There was something off about this tree, something foul and dark. Something sinister and malicious.
The cries of the owls fell silent, leaving me alone with what I came across. I do not know what compelled me to do so, but I looked at the knife within my hands and began to cut off a tiny piece of bark from the tree. It came off easily, as if rotten away, and smelled terrible. And I learned where the smell came from. Within the tree, somehow, a decomposing human hand was sitting within a tiny hole. The hand appeared loose, yet almost as if this hole was made specifically for it! I turned my gaze away and almost vomited, unable to handle what I just came across as the knife dropped out of my hands. The feeling of being watched grew more intensely as I trembled in shock, before finally gaining my composure. I took a deep breath, the foul smell entering my nostrils, and turned around to once again face what I came across. What I saw was right. A severed and decomposing human hand within the giant, rotting birchtree, somehow beneath it's bark. Then, the familiar cries of the owls came onto me again, sounding as if sitting right above me on the tree. I looked up, somehow hoping for answers or comfort from the bird. But all I received was shock.
Within the branches of the tree, looking directly at me, the creature my grandfather described to me so often, sat gently nesting above me. It was almost positioned like a spider of sorts, it's long limbs all grabbing onto a different branch. It's head moved in all sorts of positions as the creature slowly crawled around the branches above me, approaching me. I was in shock. I couldnt move, couldnt scream. The creature my grandfather told me about, warned me about, was despite my doubts real and it's black, empty eyes where staring directly at me!
Finally breaking my fear, I started to run deep into the forest and back the way I came from! Looking over my shoulder for just a second, I could see the creature stare at me, then leap off of the rotten tree and land onto the floor several feet away on all fours before jumping up into the other trees, following me from above. I ran as fast as I could, almost tripping over roots and rocks as I kept my eyes forward. I attempted to avoid gazing upwards, scared of seeing the creature jump at me at any moment if I do. But I didnt have to look up just to see it. It was faster than me, far more agile. And it got past me. I almost ran straight into it as I made my way through the birchtrees, the creature's stature and skin camouflaging it almost perfectly. I quickly turned sideways, narrowly avoiding it's grasp as I heard it make the familiar cry of an owl once more. The chase had not ended, for neither of us.
I do not know how I made it, but somehow I got out of the forest and back to the village. I dared to turn around one more time as I came into the light of a street lamp, glaring in fear at the edge of the forest I ran out of just mere seconds ago. It was standing there. The Birchwood-Creeper was standing there, almost hidden within the trees and the shadows but barely visible. It stared at me, the dark and empty eyes bleeding shadows darker than the darkness of the night itself. For a second, I thought myself safe underneath the streetlight. Then, I remembered the disappearances and how they werent limited to just the forest itself. I slowly stepped backwards, attempting to catch my breath before running home as fast as I can. The creature slowly stepped out of the darkness shrouding it and I began to run once more.
I made it home, unlocked my door, threw myself in and locked it as fast as I could. I ran around the house, making sure to lock every door and every window on both levels. While doing so, I caught glimpses of the creature through my windows every now and then. Finally, when I was done, I retreated myself into by bedroom on the upper level and, much like I did as a child, hid myself under my blanket. Everything grew silent and, after a while, I decided to take a slow look out of my window. The creature was standing there, looking directly at me. Then, it slowly dissappeared back into the woods. I sighed in relief, thinking I escaped it, but did not dare to sleep the following three days.
I decided to not share this story with any locals as of yet, due to not having any evidence. I dont expect they'll believe me when I tell them that a local folktale is actually true. So I just sat around, feeling helpless and useless. Occasionally, I would catch glimpses of the Birchwood-Creeper again. I would see it standing at the edge of the forest, observing me. Another time, while getting a few things from my local grocery store, I could see it staring at me within a dark alleyway. One time, I even awoke at the middle of the night to see it hang on my bedroom window, staring through it directly at me!
I would find scratchmarks on the outside if my walls, windows and doors and occasionally hear the familiar cry of what I just assumed to be a regular owl. I plan on moving out of my area as soon as I can afford it, but I do not know how much this will help. I feel that any area that has birchtrees and forests may be within this being's territory. If there even is just one of them. I do not know how far I actually have to run to be safe, nor do I know if I can ever feel comfort at the howls of an owl ever again. What is worse is that it doesnt just have one victim at any given time. Local news reported last week about a school a few miles away that was enclosed within a thick metal fence. Apparently, someone or something slashed itself through that fence and since then, two children have gone missing.
I am sorry for ever doubting my grandfather and I deeply hope that no one who is reading this has to suffer at the hands of this creature.

I have a quote stuck in my head and I'm hoping someone can help. I remember an episode where James goes off about the war. Jeremy quips "not James May on the War". James replies "I'll tell you another thing." Then Clarkson says "not with a kitchen knife sticking in your neck you won't" or "not with a knife sticking out of your neck" something along those lines.
Thanks for the help

PART SIXTY-FOUR
[Previous Part] [Beginning]
“What the fuck is that shit?!”
“The more important question is how?” Thalien cut in, staring at me in utter disbelief. “You’re well aware of what chain-lightning looks like.”
“But it’s not supposed to do that hand-to-hand bullshit,” Shay-Lee argued. “That shit goes from hand to whatever the fuck you want dead.” As she spoke, she pointed to her palm and flicked her finger outwards at an imaginary target. “Not bouncing between your fucking hands like a goddess-damned rubber ball in motion!”
“It’s the Acropolis,” Lanna said, and although her tone was to answer her husband, her expression asked me to confirm it and fill in the specifics.
“No, it’s me actually. But I’m more than just doing it. I see the source of the magic,” I explained. “It’s floating in the air all the time, like specks of dust, waiting to do whatever the mage or sorcerer requests of them.”
“That’s why you asked me what I saw,” Thalien said thoughtfully.
I nodded. “I wondered if all mages saw it like that, but you said no. Emphatically no,” I reminded him. “From what you said, you merely gesture or speak, and the magic happens … which is true for a given definition.”
“What do these dust dots look like?”
“As I explained to Tarq, they’re like a pinhole-sized dot, not unlike the grains of the Acropolis key, only smaller. Much, much smaller. And just like the key grains, they connect to others to create different patterns, like a deck of cards. If you divide it into four, you have the houses. If you only want the sevens, only four stick together. On their sides, they’re three inches long and barely visible. From above, they become two inches. Just by that explanation alone, the combinations are endless, but when you’re really describing something that can change shape like we’ve seen the key do, there are no limits to their capabilities.”
I gestured to my hand. “When Milo healed this, I watched the dust dots gather along the injury and pull it back together, somehow fusing the two sides to make it whole.”
“And how long have you known this?”
“Since the night we got to Tetorli. I scryed Polly by myself on that lookout and asked her how many other Shadow Emperors wielded the power that had been bestowed on me.”
“And you screamed most emphatically, ‘none’,” Milo said on my behalf. I nodded again resolutely.
“So what exactly are your limitations, magically speaking?” Lanna asked.
“I’m not sure I have any. Not only that, but I don’t need to incant or gesture or have ingredients to make things happen. I’m directly … linked … to the magic via this.” I rubbed my left shoulder.
“And Harmony already said that thing probably can’t be neutralised, even if it was cut off you…” Shay-Lee commented, scowling at my shoulder like it was the source of all her problems. In her head, it probably was.
“Those two days I was unconscious, it wasn’t because of the cold. Or at least, not totally,” I amended, because falling over half-frozen had undoubtedly been part of the issue at the time. “This…” —I rubbed my shoulder— “…is now everywhere. I felt it spread out inside me. Bonding with me. Honestly, I don’t think the brand itself matters anymore, except to let the people know who I am.” My hand moved to the back of my neck and up to scratch across the top of my scalp, indicating it had somehow travelled into my head … and through my limbs, all the way to my toes. “I’m not going to try and do anything I haven’t seen done or can’t envision happening because that is a disastrous line of thought.”
“What other things can you do, Uncle Em?”
I wasn’t interested in doing a show-and-tell, but if a couple more examples were enough to keep them happy, I stuck with the ones I knew. Curling my right hand into a cup, I formed a snowball-sized fireball. Ironically, I didn’t feel the heat because more dots had lined my hand like a protective glove.
It was amazing how much I had folded into the word ‘magic’ when common sense was right there in front of me. Fire was fire, and when it was said aloud, magic fire that didn’t burn the caster was just stupid.
I heard a gasp that was not part of our party and clenched my fist to extinguish it as everyone swung towards the sound. With a wall of trees at our back and Felipe and Gimweren’s people in front and on either side of us settling in for the night, there was no reason for anyone to be back there. At least, I had assumed so, given I’d put up a sound blister to keep this conversation private.
That meant our observer was right up against the protective barrier, just as Felipe had been last night. Except no one was there. It wasn’t snowing so hard that we couldn’t see three feet into the darkness, but by the time we snatched up our weapons and reached the protective wall, our visitor was long gone.
A dwarf couldn’t move that quietly, nor could they do so without leaving a trail in the fresh powder, which made our unwanted visitor a snow half-orc. We’d be tracking one lone snow half-orc with countless numbers of them around us while it was snowing.
Oh, this is going to be fun … not.
Thalien dismissed the protective dome that would’ve dumped the better part of a foot of snow on top of our camp (not to mention ruin my meal prep) if I didn’t throw another one up six inches inside his. The difference being mine was more like a cave, complete with an opening we could all rush through.
Only Thalien seemed to notice. Or maybe he was the only one who truly understood what I’d done. Magic in his eyes was uncompromising. Specific gestures and specific words moved a specific number of dust dots into a specific formation that couldn’t be modified. In contrast, I mentally commanded the individual dust dots to form whatever pattern I saw fit, including a protective barrier with an open doorway.
“Milo,” I called, for we wouldn’t get very far if we didn’t know what direction to head.
Milo was already pushing past Tarq, searching the ground. He quickly surmised the same thing I had and held out his hand, palm down. I’d seen him do this trick dozens of times before, but with my new insight, I saw the dots gather into designated sections on the ground and condense into six-inch footprints that turned a pale blue for everyone to see.
“It’s a kid,” I said before Milo could make the announcement, tossing my weapons belt back inside the campsite (since I hadn’t buckled it into place yet) and charging after our pint-sized runaway—a snow half-orc. Felipe would have a fit if he knew one of the kids had followed us after all, though it did beg the question of how they’d evaded two hundred snow half-orc warriors plus however many Felipe had following us from the shadows.
The frantic pace of their footsteps … the way they bounced off a tree, went down onto one knee, and scrambled up to run once more was proof of their panic. I wouldn’t add to that fear by drawing a sword on him. Worst case, I still had a dagger and a zot-shot tucked into my boots.
Tarq and I ran at full speed, assuming we were leaving Milo and the others to trail behind us (except Thalien and Lanna, who almost always remained with the camp due to the amount of magical gear we all carried. That stuff was expensive).
However, it was times like this that I was forced to remember I was approaching sixty, and we had kids less than half my age with us. Liab charged between us on all fours, running half as fast as us again and in my peripheral vision, I caught sight of our resident half-elf thief converging through the snow on our right.
Less than a minute later, I heard the thump of someone impacting the snow, followed quickly by Liab’s sharp, breathy grunts of victory. As we ran up on the scene, Liab was sitting on the ground with one of his long arms around the shoulders of our runaway child, his other hand cupped securely over his mouth. He had the boy sitting on the ground before him with his legs hooked over the kid’s thighs to keep them secured.
Shay-Lee was kneeling beside them, her dagger out but folded back along her wrist and forearm. Any wrong move on the boy’s part would have that dagger finding a new sheath in his throat. To my surprise, Harmony was on the other side of Liab, rubbing her hand across the child’s head while her other hand pulled a blanket from the shoulder tote she was almost ever without. Another reminder that the younger women were faster than Tarq and me when they wanted to be. I made a mental note to lecture them both about taking unnecessary risks, given we still knew nothing about this child and how danger came in all forms. There was a reason Tarq and I went first, followed closely by Milo.
Straight away, something felt wrong. The child’s deflation as he realised there was no escape was to be expected, but something else was way off. Back at Tetorli, the kids were playful and curious, only to be chased by their elders with smirks and snowballs. More stringent discipline was sometimes necessary, but this boy’s reaction was another level of defeat.
If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say he was ten, maybe eleven. I declared him male since he only wore a loincloth, though truthfully, it was hard to tell at that age. I wasn’t a specialist in the age development of half-orcs.
Apart from the loincloth, something else that struck me as odd. As soon as he saw me, his gaze went to my covered wrists and then dropped to the ground between us. His shoulders also curled forward as much as Liab would let them. I got the distinct impression he would roll all the way forward with his brow to the ground if he were released, and that was definitely not the way of the snow half-orcs.
And then it hit me.
The boy’s head had been shaved, and very short white bristles, more common amongst my soldiers, barely penetrated his pale grey scalp. Even the youngest child at Tetorli wore their hair long with some manner of weight tied into the end to familiarise them with the handy weapon they’d use as they got older.
Which meant the boy wasn’t from Tetorli or any other native snow half-orc settlement… and we were less than a day’s march from Cerro Nexo, only hours from Jinis Ridge.
I really didn’t like the picture I was putting together in my head.
The poor kid trembled when I came forward, took the blanket hem and lifted it to cover his head … and stopped with a wordless gasp when I saw the back of his head had been branded with a series of letters and numbers that went all the way into his skull. It wasn’t a square brand and had been rolled across the contours to go from ear to ear. And it was old.
Fuck me.
My stomach fell into my feet, and I felt all the blood drain from my face.
“What the fuck is that?” Shay-Lee demanded, which galvanized me into moving.
I took complete control of the blanket from Harmony and quickly covered his upper body, telling her to grab out a second one. We wouldn’t get back to camp without being discovered, but I wanted to limit the spread of this knowledge. Our saving grace was the camp was in the middle of being set up, and most eyes were busy doing other things.
Regular half-orcs were known for fits of rage that would make them both deadly and loud, and I had no idea how the snow half-orcs, their intelligent brethren, would handle this. I needed to be smart. I needed my army to stay smart and not get swept up in blind fury. I needed to return this boy to our campsite and bring Felipe in on our discovery. I would also need to change the arrangement of my protective barrier to hide the chief’s reaction from his people, who would be watching.
To quote our thief … shit just got real.
Tarq took Shay-Lee’s place and slid his hands between the boy’s shoulders and Liab’s chest. “Sit still, lad,” he said quietly, then lifted him just enough from Liab that Harmony could wrap his lower half in the second blanket, completely hiding him from view. Cradled in Tarq’s large arms, the boy’s general shape would only come across as humanoid, including an adult dwarf or a young human, which was just what I’d hoped for. Harmony stayed at their side with her hand on the blanket near the boy’s head, her presence keeping him calm.
And to ensure we didn’t have any curious observers, the rest of us formed a loose, defensive circle around them, with me at the front and Milo in the rear, and we made our way back to the campsite.
I knew snow half-orcs preferred the cold of the elements, but in this instance, he would just have to deal with the human conditions. I modified the dome to give it a milky pigmentation that would blend in with the snow but not allow anyone else to spy on us; at the same time, I closed the opening to give us complete privacy. There was little doubt word would get back to Felipe, but I wanted to question the boy while ensuring he had something to eat before I brought in the snow half-orc chief. Felipe was going to be emotional enough as it was without making things worse.
“The fact that you can change its composition after the spell’s conclusion defies all logic,” Thalien said, lifting his eyes to the structure around us.
I understood how it looked from his viewpoint. Magic cast was then set in place. Another spell could replace it only if more powerful magic were cast or the original was dispelled. Whereas for me, it was a matter of having the amassed dust dots make a quarter turn to the left, no different than barking out the same command to an assembled army.
“This is not the norm,” I reminded him. “We’re presently at war, which has changed our dynamics temporarily. Very temporarily. Once we’re out the other side of this, should we be permitted to live with what we know, it will still be your job to create nightly cover when the weather turns against us and mine to cook dinner for you and Lanna. Just as it always has been.”
I wasn’t sure if he believed me; honestly, we had more pressing issues anyway. I had Shay-Lee gather up my comforter and ball it on the ground at the farthest point from the fire against the tree line, and I had Tarq deposit him on it while I fossicked through my bag for my canteen and some beef jerky that would give the kid a much-needed dose of protein.
The boy never moved as Harmony gently tugged the blanket from his head. “You’re safe now,” she crooned as his eyes met hers briefly, then jerked away to the floor. Unfortunately, when I stepped in front of him and squatted down, he gasped and curled into the tightest possible ball with his face pressed into his knees, covering his head with both hands (but not the brand, leading me to assume he’d been taught never to hide his identity) and proceeded to wet himself. The acrid stench meant he was severely dehydrated, but that too was the least of our worries.
I sighed and silently passed Harmony the food and the drink, then shuffled back a few feet without rising to give her room to work.
He’d been nervous around Harmony, but the sight of me terrified him. I sat on the ground beside the fire and crossed my legs, giving him time to settle. It amused me immensely to watch Lanna’s nose screw up as she approached them from Harmony’s side to not frighten the boy any more than he already was. With a few mumbled words, she cast her cleansing spell that took care of the comforter and the blankets (and knowing Lanna, the boy himself). Then, she moved around in front of the boy and knelt, leaning forward to peek through a gap in his arms. “What’s your name, honey?”
“SHO-8-1-4-3,” the boy barely whispered.
The same letter and number combination burned into his head—literally. I closed my eyes and breathed out slowly, refusing to call him that. My brain immediately started playing with the combination, shifting emphasis and accents. Until he selected a new name for himself, we needed to call him one that brushed up against his designation for the sake of familiarity but still sounded like a name. I opened my eyes and used a stick to write it out on the ground. By turning the 8 into a B, and the 1 into an I, it became …
“…Shobi,” I said, lifting my eyes to everyone. My friends were looking at me. The boy hadn’t moved. “SHO-8-1-4-3, from now on, we’ll call you Shobi. Nod if you understand.”
It made me sick to fall back on this mentality of barking orders at a frightened kid and watching his head wiggle forward and back under his hands, but soft words of comfort wouldn’t cut it. The boy would never believe them from me. I reminded him too much of what he had escaped from, and humans hadn’t been kind to him in that place. Augustus Morales, you need to survive long enough for me to get my hands on you. Then, and only then, will you be made to pay in full for all this.
“Alright, Shobi. I need you to eat the food and drink the water my friend is trying to give you, and to do that, you need to sit up. So, sit up.” I barely infused my words with command, but Shobi shot up so fast his head and shoulders knocked against Lanna and Harmony, who were both bowed over him, trying to coax him out. He still wouldn’t look at me, but he searched for the supplies, shoving the first jerky stick so far down his throat that he gagged.
Harmony tightened her grip on the rest and gently fed them to him in small, bite-sized pieces, intermittent with swigs of water. Thalien passed Lanna a short length of fabric which she wrapped around Shobi’s head like a bandana, covering his slave brand. He gasped and tensed, his hand reaching to drag the material away. Harmony did her patented shushing croon that took much of the fight from him. “It’s going to be okay, sweetie,” she whispered, feeding him another piece of jerky.
I watched their interaction, and knowing he was in safe hands, I twisted away from him and stood up to avoid frightening him. “Where are you going?” Tarq asked, also rising. I glanced over my shoulder to answer my friend but found the way the boy was staring at Tarq like he’d lost his mind much more interesting. It wasn’t hard to guess that he wasn’t used to an alternate race speaking that way to a human in authority.
“Word of our young friend would have reached Chief Felipe by now.” I used the honorific for the child’s sake, and sadly, he made no reaction to the title of his people’s leader. I wondered if he knew what chief even meant. “He might want to keep the boy close, or he might want to send him back to Tetorli with some of the fighters to keep him safe.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“Tarq …”
“You’re about to tell the snow half-orc chief that our enemies have been enslaving his people without his knowledge or yours long enough to have a man-child with no clue of his heritage. If you think I’m not going to stand between you and him while he rages, you have clearly forgotten who you’re dealing with.”
I raked my fingers through my short hair and sighed. “Very well.”
Unfortunately, Felipe took it about as well as I had expected.
* * *
((All comments welcome. Good or bad, I'd love to hear your thoughts 🥰🤗 ))
For more of my work including WPs: Angel466 or an index of previous WPS here.
FULL INDEX OF WE PLAN, GODS LAUGH TO DATE CAN BE FOUND HERE!!

PART SIXTY-FOUR
[Previous Part] [Beginning]
“What the fuck is that shit?!”
“The more important question is how?” Thalien cut in, staring at me in utter disbelief. “You’re well aware of what chain-lightning looks like.”
“But it’s not supposed to do that hand-to-hand bullshit,” Shay-Lee argued. “That shit goes from hand to whatever the fuck you want dead.” As she spoke, she pointed to her palm and flicked her finger outwards at an imaginary target. “Not bouncing between your fucking hands like a goddess-damned rubber ball in motion!”
“It’s the Acropolis,” Lanna said, and although her tone was to answer her husband, her expression asked me to confirm it and fill in the specifics.
“No, it’s me actually. But I’m more than just doing it. I see the source of the magic,” I explained. “It’s floating in the air all the time, like specks of dust, waiting to do whatever the mage or sorcerer requests of them.”
“That’s why you asked me what I saw,” Thalien said thoughtfully.
I nodded. “I wondered if all mages saw it like that, but you said no. Emphatically no,” I reminded him. “From what you said, you merely gesture or speak, and the magic happens … which is true for a given definition.”
“What do these dust dots look like?”
“As I explained to Tarq, they’re like a pinhole-sized dot, not unlike the grains of the Acropolis key, only smaller. Much, much smaller. And just like the key grains, they connect to others to create different patterns, like a deck of cards. If you divide it into four, you have the houses. If you only want the sevens, only four stick together. On their sides, they’re three inches long and barely visible. From above, they become two inches. Just by that explanation alone, the combinations are endless, but when you’re really describing something that can change shape like we’ve seen the key do, there are no limits to their capabilities.”
I gestured to my hand. “When Milo healed this, I watched the dust dots gather along the injury and pull it back together, somehow fusing the two sides to make it whole.”
“And how long have you known this?”
“Since the night we got to Tetorli. I scryed Polly by myself on that lookout and asked her how many other Shadow Emperors wielded the power that had been bestowed on me.”
“And you screamed most emphatically, ‘none’,” Milo said on my behalf. I nodded again resolutely.
“So what exactly are your limitations, magically speaking?” Lanna asked.
“I’m not sure I have any. Not only that, but I don’t need to incant or gesture or have ingredients to make things happen. I’m directly … linked … to the magic via this.” I rubbed my left shoulder.
“And Harmony already said that thing probably can’t be neutralised, even if it was cut off you…” Shay-Lee commented, scowling at my shoulder like it was the source of all her problems. In her head, it probably was.
“Those two days I was unconscious, it wasn’t because of the cold. Or at least, not totally,” I amended, because falling over half-frozen had undoubtedly been part of the issue at the time. “This…” —I rubbed my shoulder— “…is now everywhere. I felt it spread out inside me. Bonding with me. Honestly, I don’t think the brand itself matters anymore, except to let the people know who I am.” My hand moved to the back of my neck and up to scratch across the top of my scalp, indicating it had somehow travelled into my head … and through my limbs, all the way to my toes. “I’m not going to try and do anything I haven’t seen done or can’t envision happening because that is a disastrous line of thought.”
“What other things can you do, Uncle Em?”
I wasn’t interested in doing a show-and-tell, but if a couple more examples were enough to keep them happy, I stuck with the ones I knew. Curling my right hand into a cup, I formed a snowball-sized fireball. Ironically, I didn’t feel the heat because more dots had lined my hand like a protective glove.
It was amazing how much I had folded into the word ‘magic’ when common sense was right there in front of me. Fire was fire, and when it was said aloud, magic fire that didn’t burn the caster was just stupid.
I heard a gasp that was not part of our party and clenched my fist to extinguish it as everyone swung towards the sound. With a wall of trees at our back and Felipe and Gimweren’s people in front and on either side of us settling in for the night, there was no reason for anyone to be back there. At least, I had assumed so, given I’d put up a sound blister to keep this conversation private.
That meant our observer was right up against the protective barrier, just as Felipe had been last night. Except no one was there. It wasn’t snowing so hard that we couldn’t see three feet into the darkness, but by the time we snatched up our weapons and reached the protective wall, our visitor was long gone.
A dwarf couldn’t move that quietly, nor could they do so without leaving a trail in the fresh powder, which made our unwanted visitor a snow half-orc. We’d be tracking one lone snow half-orc with countless numbers of them around us while it was snowing.
Oh, this is going to be fun … not.
Thalien dismissed the protective dome that would’ve dumped the better part of a foot of snow on top of our camp (not to mention ruin my meal prep) if I didn’t throw another one up six inches inside his. The difference being mine was more like a cave, complete with an opening we could all rush through.
Only Thalien seemed to notice. Or maybe he was the only one who truly understood what I’d done. Magic in his eyes was uncompromising. Specific gestures and specific words moved a specific number of dust dots into a specific formation that couldn’t be modified. In contrast, I mentally commanded the individual dust dots to form whatever pattern I saw fit, including a protective barrier with an open doorway.
“Milo,” I called, for we wouldn’t get very far if we didn’t know what direction to head.
Milo was already pushing past Tarq, searching the ground. He quickly surmised the same thing I had and held out his hand, palm down. I’d seen him do this trick dozens of times before, but with my new insight, I saw the dots gather into designated sections on the ground and condense into six-inch footprints that turned a pale blue for everyone to see.
“It’s a kid,” I said before Milo could make the announcement, tossing my weapons belt back inside the campsite (since I hadn’t buckled it into place yet) and charging after our pint-sized runaway—a snow half-orc. Felipe would have a fit if he knew one of the kids had followed us after all, though it did beg the question of how they’d evaded two hundred snow half-orc warriors plus however many Felipe had following us from the shadows.
The frantic pace of their footsteps … the way they bounced off a tree, went down onto one knee, and scrambled up to run once more was proof of their panic. I wouldn’t add to that fear by drawing a sword on him. Worst case, I still had a dagger and a zot-shot tucked into my boots.
Tarq and I ran at full speed, assuming we were leaving Milo and the others to trail behind us (except Thalien and Lanna, who almost always remained with the camp due to the amount of magical gear we all carried. That stuff was expensive).
However, it was times like this that I was forced to remember I was approaching sixty, and we had kids less than half my age with us. Liab charged between us on all fours, running half as fast as us again and in my peripheral vision, I caught sight of our resident half-elf thief converging through the snow on our right.
Less than a minute later, I heard the thump of someone impacting the snow, followed quickly by Liab’s sharp, breathy grunts of victory. As we ran up on the scene, Liab was sitting on the ground with one of his long arms around the shoulders of our runaway child, his other hand cupped securely over his mouth. He had the boy sitting on the ground before him with his legs hooked over the kid’s thighs to keep them secured.
Shay-Lee was kneeling beside them, her dagger out but folded back along her wrist and forearm. Any wrong move on the boy’s part would have that dagger finding a new sheath in his throat. To my surprise, Harmony was on the other side of Liab, rubbing her hand across the child’s head while her other hand pulled a blanket from the shoulder tote she was almost ever without. Another reminder that the younger women were faster than Tarq and me when they wanted to be. I made a mental note to lecture them both about taking unnecessary risks, given we still knew nothing about this child and how danger came in all forms. There was a reason Tarq and I went first, followed closely by Milo.
Straight away, something felt wrong. The child’s deflation as he realised there was no escape was to be expected, but something else was way off. Back at Tetorli, the kids were playful and curious, only to be chased by their elders with smirks and snowballs. More stringent discipline was sometimes necessary, but this boy’s reaction was another level of defeat.
If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say he was ten, maybe eleven. I declared him male since he only wore a loincloth, though truthfully, it was hard to tell at that age. I wasn’t a specialist in the age development of half-orcs.
Apart from the loincloth, something else that struck me as odd. As soon as he saw me, his gaze went to my covered wrists and then dropped to the ground between us. His shoulders also curled forward as much as Liab would let them. I got the distinct impression he would roll all the way forward with his brow to the ground if he were released, and that was definitely not the way of the snow half-orcs.
And then it hit me.
The boy’s head had been shaved, and very short white bristles, more common amongst my soldiers, barely penetrated his pale grey scalp. Even the youngest child at Tetorli wore their hair long with some manner of weight tied into the end to familiarise them with the handy weapon they’d use as they got older.
Which meant the boy wasn’t from Tetorli or any other native snow half-orc settlement… and we were less than a day’s march from Cerro Nexo, only hours from Jinis Ridge.
I really didn’t like the picture I was putting together in my head.
The poor kid trembled when I came forward, took the blanket hem and lifted it to cover his head … and stopped with a wordless gasp when I saw the back of his head had been branded with a series of letters and numbers that went all the way into his skull. It wasn’t a square brand and had been rolled across the contours to go from ear to ear. And it was old.
Fuck me.
My stomach fell into my feet, and I felt all the blood drain from my face.
“What the fuck is that?” Shay-Lee demanded, which galvanized me into moving.
I took complete control of the blanket from Harmony and quickly covered his upper body, telling her to grab out a second one. We wouldn’t get back to camp without being discovered, but I wanted to limit the spread of this knowledge. Our saving grace was the camp was in the middle of being set up, and most eyes were busy doing other things.
Regular half-orcs were known for fits of rage that would make them both deadly and loud, and I had no idea how the snow half-orcs, their intelligent brethren, would handle this. I needed to be smart. I needed my army to stay smart and not get swept up in blind fury. I needed to return this boy to our campsite and bring Felipe in on our discovery. I would also need to change the arrangement of my protective barrier to hide the chief’s reaction from his people, who would be watching.
To quote our thief … shit just got real.
Tarq took Shay-Lee’s place and slid his hands between the boy’s shoulders and Liab’s chest. “Sit still, lad,” he said quietly, then lifted him just enough from Liab that Harmony could wrap his lower half in the second blanket, completely hiding him from view. Cradled in Tarq’s large arms, the boy’s general shape would only come across as humanoid, including an adult dwarf or a young human, which was just what I’d hoped for. Harmony stayed at their side with her hand on the blanket near the boy’s head, her presence keeping him calm.
And to ensure we didn’t have any curious observers, the rest of us formed a loose, defensive circle around them, with me at the front and Milo in the rear, and we made our way back to the campsite.
I knew snow half-orcs preferred the cold of the elements, but in this instance, he would just have to deal with the human conditions. I modified the dome to give it a milky pigmentation that would blend in with the snow but not allow anyone else to spy on us; at the same time, I closed the opening to give us complete privacy. There was little doubt word would get back to Felipe, but I wanted to question the boy while ensuring he had something to eat before I brought in the snow half-orc chief. Felipe was going to be emotional enough as it was without making things worse.
“The fact that you can change its composition after the spell’s conclusion defies all logic,” Thalien said, lifting his eyes to the structure around us.
I understood how it looked from his viewpoint. Magic cast was then set in place. Another spell could replace it only if more powerful magic were cast or the original was dispelled. Whereas for me, it was a matter of having the amassed dust dots make a quarter turn to the left, no different than barking out the same command to an assembled army.
“This is not the norm,” I reminded him. “We’re presently at war, which has changed our dynamics temporarily. Very temporarily. Once we’re out the other side of this, should we be permitted to live with what we know, it will still be your job to create nightly cover when the weather turns against us and mine to cook dinner for you and Lanna. Just as it always has been.”
I wasn’t sure if he believed me; honestly, we had more pressing issues anyway. I had Shay-Lee gather up my comforter and ball it on the ground at the farthest point from the fire against the tree line, and I had Tarq deposit him on it while I fossicked through my bag for my canteen and some beef jerky that would give the kid a much-needed dose of protein.
The boy never moved as Harmony gently tugged the blanket from his head. “You’re safe now,” she crooned as his eyes met hers briefly, then jerked away to the floor. Unfortunately, when I stepped in front of him and squatted down, he gasped and curled into the tightest possible ball with his face pressed into his knees, covering his head with both hands (but not the brand, leading me to assume he’d been taught never to hide his identity) and proceeded to wet himself. The acrid stench meant he was severely dehydrated, but that too was the least of our worries.
I sighed and silently passed Harmony the food and the drink, then shuffled back a few feet without rising to give her room to work.
He’d been nervous around Harmony, but the sight of me terrified him. I sat on the ground beside the fire and crossed my legs, giving him time to settle. It amused me immensely to watch Lanna’s nose screw up as she approached them from Harmony’s side to not frighten the boy any more than he already was. With a few mumbled words, she cast her cleansing spell that took care of the comforter and the blankets (and knowing Lanna, the boy himself). Then, she moved around in front of the boy and knelt, leaning forward to peek through a gap in his arms. “What’s your name, honey?”
“SHO-8-1-4-3,” the boy barely whispered.
The same letter and number combination burned into his head—literally. I closed my eyes and breathed out slowly, refusing to call him that. My brain immediately started playing with the combination, shifting emphasis and accents. Until he selected a new name for himself, we needed to call him one that brushed up against his designation for the sake of familiarity but still sounded like a name. I opened my eyes and used a stick to write it out on the ground. By turning the 8 into a B, and the 1 into an I, it became …
“…Shobi,” I said, lifting my eyes to everyone. My friends were looking at me. The boy hadn’t moved. “SHO-8-1-4-3, from now on, we’ll call you Shobi. Nod if you understand.”
It made me sick to fall back on this mentality of barking orders at a frightened kid and watching his head wiggle forward and back under his hands, but soft words of comfort wouldn’t cut it. The boy would never believe them from me. I reminded him too much of what he had escaped from, and humans hadn’t been kind to him in that place. Augustus Morales, you need to survive long enough for me to get my hands on you. Then, and only then, will you be made to pay in full for all this.
“Alright, Shobi. I need you to eat the food and drink the water my friend is trying to give you, and to do that, you need to sit up. So, sit up.” I barely infused my words with command, but Shobi shot up so fast his head and shoulders knocked against Lanna and Harmony, who were both bowed over him, trying to coax him out. He still wouldn’t look at me, but he searched for the supplies, shoving the first jerky stick so far down his throat that he gagged.
Harmony tightened her grip on the rest and gently fed them to him in small, bite-sized pieces, intermittent with swigs of water. Thalien passed Lanna a short length of fabric which she wrapped around Shobi’s head like a bandana, covering his slave brand. He gasped and tensed, his hand reaching to drag the material away. Harmony did her patented shushing croon that took much of the fight from him. “It’s going to be okay, sweetie,” she whispered, feeding him another piece of jerky.
I watched their interaction, and knowing he was in safe hands, I twisted away from him and stood up to avoid frightening him. “Where are you going?” Tarq asked, also rising. I glanced over my shoulder to answer my friend but found the way the boy was staring at Tarq like he’d lost his mind much more interesting. It wasn’t hard to guess that he wasn’t used to an alternate race speaking that way to a human in authority.
“Word of our young friend would have reached Chief Felipe by now.” I used the honorific for the child’s sake, and sadly, he made no reaction to the title of his people’s leader. I wondered if he knew what chief even meant. “He might want to keep the boy close, or he might want to send him back to Tetorli with some of the fighters to keep him safe.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“Tarq …”
“You’re about to tell the snow half-orc chief that our enemies have been enslaving his people without his knowledge or yours long enough to have a man-child with no clue of his heritage. If you think I’m not going to stand between you and him while he rages, you have clearly forgotten who you’re dealing with.”
I raked my fingers through my short hair and sighed. “Very well.”
Unfortunately, Felipe took it about as well as I had expected.
* * *
((All comments welcome. Good or bad, I'd love to hear your thoughts 🥰🤗 ))
For more of my work including WPs: Angel466 or an index of previous WPS here.
FULL INDEX OF WE PLAN, GODS LAUGH TO DATE CAN BE FOUND HERE!!

So last night I had a bottle of vodka and went to bed. In my dream after this bottle I was feeling suicidal and decided to pickup a knife sit down at a table and cut my heart out. I layed it on the table and pulled it into 3 pieces. After this I start freaking out that I’m going to die and realize I don’t want this. I walk outside and there is music playing and a party outside, I quickly run to my uncle (whom I live with) and tell him of the situation and that I need a ambulance. After this I can’t recall accurately but we went in the car and no one really seemed too botherd, except I’m freaking out. We end up at this bonfire with a house on the river. I’m constantly unable to climb up the bank to join everyone and I look at my chest and only a scar remains.
Don’t know what or if it means anything but figured you guys might have a greater insight. Thanks for taking the time to read this if you made it this far.

I was beyond excited as we drove through the front gates as I knew this was a once in a lifetime experience. My girlfriend Chloe was practically bouncing in her seat as we moved slowly along.
We drove past a number of animals ignoring them as we were trying to spot our friend. We finally spotted Dave standing along the side of the road who motioned for us to follow him. He had started working here a couple of months ago and promised to give us a guided tour at night.
He got us to park in a secluded area and told us to wait until he got back. The next few hours flew by as we sat around chatting and laughing. My best friend Greg and his girlfriend Emily spent most of the time getting a little frisky. Chloe's best friend Lisa rolled her eyes everytime they did this as they were a little over the top.
It was practically pitch black outside when Dave finally returned. He was carrying flashlights which he hastily distributed to us. He told us to leave our phones in the car, as he didn't want us taking pictures and possibly getting him in trouble.
We were all giddy with excitement as we started our exploring. We had been walking for almost a half hour and I could feel the tension in the air as we hadn't seen a single animal.
I was about to say something to Dave when the ground beneath our feet began rumbling. Chloe screamed it must be an earthquake, moments before we were all flung in all directions.
I pushed myself to my feet as the shaking slowly ebbed. I froze in place as I watched a huge monolith emerging from the ground.
I shone my light upwards and stared in wonder at the giraffe who towered over me with a thrashing lion trapped in its mouth. It bit down through the lion's body and cleaved it in two. The lion's body fell to the floor twitching for a few moments before going deathly still.
I shone my light around as more than half a dozen giraffes emerged from the dirt. I almost screamed as something bumped into me but was relieved to discover it was just the others who were huddling together.
We were pinned from all sides as the giraffes stood there peering down at us. I barely had time to dodge as they began darting their necks down towards us.
I felt a cold breath on the back of my neck and knew that one of them had almost gotten me. I heard a scream above me and looked up to see Lisa being hoisted up by the arm.
Blood was pooling down her arm and I could see the unbridled fear etched on her face. Her screams became manic as another one of the giraffes latched onto her leg.
They began pulling her in two different directions and I almost vomited as her leg was torn from her body. The giraffe then flung it in the air before catching it in his mouth and swallowing it. I was able to see the arm slowly making its way down the long neck.
Lisa began pleading with someone to do something as we all stood helplessly. Her cries were cut short as her head was bitten off and spat towards us. I let out a shriek as it landed at my feet and Lisa seemed to be staring up at me with an accusatory glare.
Chloe's hand latched onto mine and began dragging me along. We dodged between the giraffes' bodies as they lunged downwards with their necks or attempted to kick us with their long necks.
We barely made it through and I felt a sense of relief as I looked back and saw they weren't following us.
We slid to a halt a few minutes later to take stock of things. Emily had a small cut on her cheek from where one of their kicks had grazed her. We huddled under the trees trying to decide what we should do.
I suggested we sit tight until the morning but Dave pointed out they were closed tomorrow, and no one would be back until the following morning.
I started getting the feeling we were being dodged and darted the light in all directions to try and spot them. Everyone else must have got the same feeling as their lights quickly joined mine.
My heart was pounding in my chest as I heard what sounded like dozens of things being unfurled.
I spun around after hearing a gasp to see Dave's headless corpse standing there. He walked around aimlessly for a few seconds before collapsing to the ground.
Emily began shrieking uncontrollably while pointing upwards and I raised my light.
My eyes were practically bulging out of my skull as I spotted dozens of crocodiles hanging from the tree branches by their tails.
They were slowly unravelling their tails and inching closer to us. We were once again forced to flee and had to practically crawl on the floor as their snapping mouths hovered directly overhead.
We regrouped a short distance away in an open clearing as it meant nothing could creep up on us.
I craned my neck to the side as I heard barking in the distance. Emily almost jumped for joy as she said that if there are dogs then there are probably people.
She dragged Greg in her wake as Chloe and myself reluctantly followed.
We reached the edge of a lake and stood there in confusion as the barking was right beside us but we couldn't see where it was coming from.
A pair of red eyes emerged from the lake and a feeling of dread overcame me as I watched the enormous hippo emerge from the water.
It opened its mouth and my eyes widened as it began barking at us. None of us had a chance to react as it suddenly charged forward, throwing Greg to one side.
It began circling Emily who was shivering in terror. She tried to lunge away but it blocked her escape.
Our eyes met for a second and I could see the realisation that she knew she was dead. The hippo moved forward with lightning speed and pinned her to the ground.
I watched in awe as it jumped up and down on her body pulverising it beyond recognition. Her eyeballs came flying out of her skull as its massive weight caved in her skull.
Chloe ran off as I helped up a bruised Greg and we hobbled off, while the hippo continued jumping up and down.
We followed Chloe's moving flashlight as we struggled to catch up. I could feel the blood on Greg's shirt and knew that he needed medical attention.
I began to slow down as Chloe's flashlight was no longer moving. I rounded a corner to see her sitting on the grass just ahead of us with the flashlight clutched in her hands. I called out her name a few times but she didn't respond and her back was to us.
Her head was twitching as if she was having a seizure. I got Greg to sit down as I cautiously moved towards her. I knew something was wrong but wanted to check if she was okay.
My legs slid to a halt as I finally faced her. Something had torn open her belly and her intestines were spilled all over her lap.
I began backing away as her head once again began twitching. I tripped over a tree branch just as a meerkat clawed its way out of the top of her skull. He stood there proudly on its hind legs glaring towards me as I lay in a puddle of my own urine.
Almost a dozen more meerkats crawled out of her and began devouring her flesh. They didn't even seem to care about my presence as I made my way back to Greg.
Tears were flowing down my cheeks as I helped him to his feet and we began moving. Neither of us said a word as we spent the next few hours trying to avoid being killed by the park's inhabitants.
I was practically carrying Greg at this point as his clothing was saturated with blood. I almost cried tears of joy as I spotted the exit sign directly ahead. The sun was just rising so it gave the effect that the exit was bathed in sunlight and looked heavenly
We were maybe d hundred metres away from the exit when Greg went stiff in my arms and began pointing behind us. I followed his pointing finger and felt my legs grow weak.
Hundreds of animals were watching us and every single one of them was standing on their hind legs.
They moved forward until they had formed a circle around us. We cowered inside as they seemed to be waiting for us to do something. I looked into Greg's ashen face and knew that he was going to die anyway.
He let out a momentary protest as I pushed him to the ground and backed away. I pointed down to him and then to the animals. Greg looked up at me in despair moments before they converged on him.
His screams were brutally cut off as they tore the flesh from his body. One of the giraffes nodded at me before turning his head towards the exit. I took the hint and ran out as quickly as my exhausted legs could carry me.
I honestly feel terrible about doing that to Greg but knew that one of us had to survive. I have begun to worry if it might have been better if I had died, as animals are constantly following me and standing me when no one else is around.

So, I’m writing this on my phone because I figured I should share my experiences. I’ve shared one already but I figured I should share more as I have had quite the run-ins with some odd things in the woods of the Pacific Northwest.
I live in Oregon, but I do tend to travel on my off time in the wilderness, despite my run ins I love the forest, nature, and all I just tend to be much more careful now.
This first story takes place in my home state. I have a buddy who is a park ranger and he shared me a story of his own. He works at Crater Lake National Park and was patrolling one of the trails that was reported by hikers who said they heard a bear in the area. He went out with a tranquilizer to move the bear out of an area that was close to a campground. He was walking as usual when he felt eyes on him…he began to hear movement in the woods, and he shouted out “anybody out there?”
No response.
He got his tranquilizer ready and proceeded toward the noise. But as he approached, he heard another noise behind him.
Now he was thinking, “Oh no there’s more than one out here.”
Not sure what to do he prepared for the worst but then to his relief it was two deer. He sighed in relief thanking God that he wasn’t going to be mauled that day. But suddenly he noticed blood on one of the deer’s antlers and next to it behind the bushes it came out of was the carcass of a black bear. The two deer just stared at him and returned to feasting on the bear. He wasn’t sure what to do, tranquilize them or risk being a victim? He decided it was best to take the shot and hit both. They didn’t even budge and just walked off into the forest.
He reported the dead carcass of the bear and just had a team remove the remains. Still gives him the Chills thinking back to that day.
The next story was when I went on a fishing trip with a friend in Washington.
We had set out to fish along this river that was calm that day.
We caught a few fish and even some crawdads. I love seafood so I wanted us to stay out longer to catch a few more fish. My friend ended up taking a nap while I continued to fish. All was well but I suddenly noticed something in the distance, something dark moving along the river. I thought it was some sort of log that was stuck and got free and was floating along the river, but its movements didn’t appear normal. It would move back and forth getting closer and closer. I began to get nervous; I can’t really explain why it just felt like I needed to get away from whatever this thing was.
I turned to my friend who was still asleep and heard a splash.
I looked back and the thing was just gone. I looked around wondering where it went, and I saw it. Perched on top of a tree, I thought it was a cougar, I grabbed my binoculars for a closer look, and it was crouched but was tall, lanky and had milky white eyes but covered in black feathers and wearing some sort of animal pelt. I felt a sudden sense of dread and fear I never felt before. I looked back to my friend to wake him but before I could I heard another splash and saw it was back in the water now headed to the boat. I said “F this “and then turned on the motor and hauled ass out of there. My friend woke up yelling at me and asked, “What the hell are you doing?” but I didn’t respond. When we got to the loading dock, I anchored the boat and told him to get in the truck and he protested about leaving the boat and I said, “We will get it later get in now!”
The car ride back I explained everything, and I saw how pale he got. He’s part Native American and explained to me that what I saw was a Skinwalker.
This next story takes place in the Canadian Wilderness. I was on a hunting trip with my buddy who has a cabin in Canada deep in the wilderness, off-grid type of deal. It was the beginning of winter so the snow wasn’t so bad to where you just couldn’t move. He had this goal to get a mountain lion. So, we headed out to a ridge where you could see out to a clearing where he said he saw this specific mountain lion every year. It always came to the same spot, maybe its home was nearby I don’t know. So, its nighttime, and we had a small fire going, I went to go take a piss when I noticed something or somethings… 3 humanoid figures were in the clearing, I quickly put the fire out, and my friend told me “Dude why did you do that?” I told him to shush, and we observed the 3 beings. The thing was this was way out in the middle of the wilderness, there’s absolutely no way that anybody else knew about this spot. Also, the 3 figures looked human, but I could tell they were much taller than normal and their arms, skinny and just moved unnaturally. They were circling something, but I couldn’t tell what exactly. Then one of the figures stopped and looked directly at us. We rushed to cover and didn’t really know what to do. So, we decided to not sleep that night and have our rifles ready just in case. The following morning, we went down to the clearing to see what those figures were circling and sure enough we saw footprints much larger than a normal human and the beheaded mountain lion that my friend wanted mounted in his cabin so badly but now not so much…
This story still comes across my mind to this day. Me and my buddy from our hiking club were going on a hike one day, it was a beautiful hike along a river, and we were looking for places to set up camp. We saw a campground with food and trash everywhere and at first, I was upset that someone just left this much of a mess here. But the longer I looked around the weirder things got…Their trash bag was still hoisted up on a tree branch but ripped open, the food was still there and if a bear or another animal got to the food, they would of ate everything. Also, there tents were still set up, but ripped as if from the inside, clothes still around and even 2 pairs of boots. The whole campground looked as if whoever was there was immediately in a rush to get out of there and just left all their belongings, not even bothering to take their shoes. The hairs on my neck stood up and both my buddy and I decided that we should call it a day and just hike back to the car. I reported the incident to the forest rangers, but they said they weren’t aware of anybody camping in the area and did not receive any reports from the area. Still freaks me out thinking what could have spooked these people so bad they left their tents, not even bothering to use the zipper and leaving their clothes and shoes behind.
This next one comes from a solo hike. I was doing a 3-day solo trip somewhere in Washington near the Canadian border. I was literally way out there no facilities or normal campground. I was just hiking along, and dusk was approaching, my campsite was already set but I just went for a stroll when I thought I heard a child’s voice calling for help. I thought it was my imagination, but I heard it again. I began to follow it and then I saw the child. He looked dirty; clothes still intact but his back was facing me. I called out to this kid, and he turned around but before he could speak, he was pulled by someone or something down on the other side of this hill. Then I heard a loud crash as if a metal down shut. I ran to where I saw the kid and saw nothing but the same clothes, he was wearing neatly folded and his shoes right next to them. After a few minutes to no avail, I made my way back to the campsite gathered all my things and headed back. I went to the forest ranger station and told them about what I saw. Never found out if they found that kid or not.
Now this story comes from my close friend in Oregon, but this happened in Washington. So, I was hanging out with my friend who has pretty much grew up in the outdoors all his life and I asked him what his most creepy experience in the woods was. He told me he didn’t have a lot of experiences like that aside from hearing weird things at night when he went camping. But, this one time he was out hiking with his dog, they usually are a pair for hiking with friends but this time he was out hiking with just his dog in the deep woods of Washington on a trail that had very little traffic, like you wouldn’t expect to run into anybody. So, his dog is off leash, roaming a little in front of him and as they come to a corner the dog just stopped and his hair stood on the back of his neck, did a single bark moved up one step and then just ran behind my friend, not behind his legs but down the trail behind my friend, about 25 yards behind him. My friend pulled out his firearm and aimed forward, considering this was an area where black bears are he thought maybe his dog saw a bear but after a few minutes he didn’t find anything, no animals, nothing. His dog refused to go near him even after he kept calling for his dog. He eventually left the trail with his dog and got back home in one piece. But he said he never saw his dog act like that, his dog and he have hiked plenty, and his dog has been spooked before, but he never acted that way and he would always come back to my friend even when spooked.
This last story I have for now occurred when I was hunting with my buddy in Washington. The area still had trees but was on the dryer side with us being closer to the desert.
We had a deer blind set up near a clearing and scanned the area for some deer when we noticed a big elk with a couple of doe. They were grazing and we just watched since we didn’t want this deer.
What was odd though was the weather began to get rainy and fog rolled in as evening was approaching. We noticed that the elk began to showcase defensive behavior, going back and forth making grunting noises and huffing as it began to set up a defensive area around the doe who were now cowering in a small area. Kind of like “Back up these are mine” This elk was staring at the tree line, and we thought, “oh shit maybe it’s a bear”. But to our surprise it wasn’t, it was another elk. We got a little excited thinking we were about to see these two elk go at it to see who gets to take the herd of doe home, but I stopped once I put it together. Why did the doe seem so afraid then?
Then I saw another elk and another and another all just staring at the protective elk.
But then to our shock all the elks began to stand. On two legs.
Now sometimes deer will do this as a protective or displaying behavior of superiority, but these elk were not.
The protective elk began to show more aggression attempting to scare them off.
My friend whispered to me. “What the hell is this, I’ve never seen this before in my life.”
My friend has been hunting for over 15 years from Alaska all the way to Colorado and parts in the East coast. A seasoned man who didn’t scare easily but I could tell this freaked him out.
The group of bipedal elk just stood there and then they all bolted towards the Elk and the elk charged them at the same time. Managing to impale two of the elks but he was outnumbered, and the elks didn’t use their antlers but began to bite the elk with what looked like jagged sharp fangs.
It was horrible. They then they circled the elk and just looked up to the moon and made these god-awful gurgling noises
It looked like some sort of F’d up ritual.
We decided that we should leave and began to grab our things to leave. I’m positive that we were too far for anyone to hear but I sweat as soon as we moved one of the deer stopped and looked right at us.
And that’s when we nopped out of there, we ran all the way to the truck hoping we didn’t run into those elks or whatever the hell those things were. I have seen deer display hostile behavior but never like that.
We were rushing to throw our stuff and sped out onto the dirt road. We got about 1/4 a mile away when we noticed a giant log blocking our path that wasn’t there before.
My friend said: “dammit we have to move it”
Luckily, we had a chainsaw in the back, and he cut some of the log away so we could move it. But God those logs were heavy, when we got to the last of the log my friend said, “help me move it!” I joined in, and we both lifted the last of the log out of the way out we noticed something on the road. It was one of those deer. Just standing looking at us. We backed up towards the truck my friend not even caring to grab the chainsaw and I swear it opened its mouth and said “hhe hhe-hel-help me moo-move iiiit”
It was distorted but sounded exactly like my friend.
We just ran to the truck from there and we hit the gas and this deer just ran towards the truck and hopped on the front and then the top of the truck and I’m just shitting bricks at this point and attempt to grab the shotgun from under the seat when my friend says “hang on” and just hits the brakes hard and this deer just goes flying off the truck and he quickly speeds around it .
We stayed at a hotel after driving 2 hours straight back to civilization.
Honestly, I believe deer just have some messed up ways, but I really don’t know what they were but I’m positive they weren’t deer, I don’t know what they were.
Part 2
I figured I’d mention this since I didn’t add it to my previous post.
These experiences I had forever changed my perspective on the woods and I questioned whether I should ever step foot in the woods again. I don’t know why I attract these experiences but part of it motivates me to keep going to share what I see.
This other story was a time I went out with a friend to explore. We were in the backcountry just exploring and I suddenly saw this weird structure. My friend decided we should check it out and we saw this stone-like structure covered in moss and it must have been there for decades. What was weird though it had this rectangular structure that had a door, the door was perfectly preserved as if someone just installed it. No rust on the door handle or any weather damage, it’s like it came fresh out of the store.
I went to get a closer look and I was about to try to open the door when my internal gut feeling was screaming to me that something was wrong and we should not be here, and extreme sense of fear flooded my entire being and my hair on the back of my neck stood up.
My friend told me “What’s wrong?”
I told him “Maybe we should just go”
And he said “we can’t just leave now let’s at least see what’s inside”
Just as I fought my fear off and went for the handle the door began to creak open and I felt something was just VERY wrong, and I think my friend just instinctively knew we had to run, and we just got the hell out of dodge.
We returned with more people and armed to the teeth to try the door again.
But we couldn’t find the structure anywhere despite me marking this area on my map before we even attempted the door.
I always wondered what would have happened had I opened that door….
This next one I was camping with my old roommate, and we were enjoying the night and headed to bed soon after our fire was put out.
Around 3 am I had to piss so I went to the tree at the edge of our campsite
I heard movement after I finished and thought it was my friend having to do the same as me. A few feet away I gave him the okay hand sign and he gave it back
But the way his fingers moved just looked …wrong
I thought maybe I was just tired and headed back to my tent.
The following morning, we made breakfast and I mentioned to him how I drank too much the night before and don’t like having to piss at night but at least I wasn’t the only one who had to go.
My friend looked confused by that last part and said “what do you mean only one? “
I told him: “you don’t remember? We went to pee at the same time.” Then I showed him the okay gesture that I gave him last night to jog his memory and he just told me: “dude I didn’t get up at all last night…”
A chill ran up my spine and I just played it off that I was dreaming.
I don’t know who or what that was last night, we never saw anybody out there and I checked around the campsite after breakfast for footprints, saw mine but nobody’s where I thought I saw my friend the night before.
This next one is like the previous one, but I was camping with my girlfriend at the time. We had a great night doing you know couple of things and then in the middle of the night I had to piss. Did my business at a nearby tree, and then I heard my girlfriend calling my name, in the woods. I figured she had to go to and just wanted to have some privacy. Maybe she needed toilet paper and forgot, as I went to the tent to grab a roll, I heard her call my name again then said help me.
I thought about going over to her but went to grab the roll anyway because I didn’t want to go out there then she tells me she needs the toilet paper. As I opened the tent, I just stood there surprised, my girlfriend was sound asleep still. So, who was calling my name?... I heard my name again but louder and my girlfriend's voice saying “COME HERE NOW”
I just decided to go in the tent, and just laid there silent, not sure what to do. I didn’t hear anything for the rest of the night and passed out after the surge of adrenaline just put me out.
I didn’t tell my girlfriend about it, and just told her we had to cut the trip short because I forgot I have a paper to write.
This Last one happened in 2019. I took a drive on a forest road about 45 mins in. Parked near this trailhead and took off to the trail.
I was admiring the flora and fauna and just going on a normal hike when I noticed my vision completely changed as if I was looking through prescription glasses that weren’t mine. The vegetation changed and it was daylight when I was hiking but now it was dark as if sunset just passed.
This happens almost instantly. It was like I was in a completely new environment.
I then felt something graze my shoulder, it was a hairy arm, like the one you’d see from an ape or Bigfoot, and it was about to grab me, but I managed to take a step back, and I just see the hand grab where my neck would have been. I felt this sudden sense of dread and just began to backpedal and after a couple of steps, my vision went back to normal. The sunlight returned as well as the flora and fauna. I just saw a fuzzy-like outline in a circular shape in front of me from where I just stepped out of, and it eventually disappeared the more steps back I took.
I just stood there completely shocked about what just happened and came to my senses as my internal red flags were going off and I just turned around and ran to my truck and got out of the area. I never had this happen to me before and it thankfully hasn’t happened since. Since this happened, I have never gone hiking alone again.
To end this off, I just want to add that I enjoy the woods and nature it is full of beauty and wonder. But there are things out there…things even the natives knew to stay away from. There are things out there, that don’t care about you, or that you have families, or loved ones. I still go out to the woods, but after that last experience, it took me a long time to get the courage to go out there again. I never go out for solo hikes anymore, and if I can’t go with someone, I always take my dog. Thanks for hearing my stories and I’ll be sure to share any future experiences I have.

PACKGOD: Bro you ugly as shit, what the fuck? GOD DAMN bro you don't got waves on yo head, bro you got a god damn tidal sequence on yo head, yo ass ugly as shit. Bro look at yo emo ass bruh, if you don't get yo "IM AT BURGER KING WITH MY BURGER QUEEN, CAN I PLEASE GET A LARGE FRY" lookin ass, and look at yo nipples! boy you look like you shoot laser beams out of yo nipples, (pepe-pew, pew pew) pointy ass nipple ass garden gnome nose lookin ass nipple boy you ugly as shit, shut yo dirty ass up bro, say something bro ISHOWSEX: who the fuck are you? PACKGOD: WHO THE FUCK AM I? BITCH WHAT THE FUCK? if you don't get your ishowspeed dried out weed body built like an anal bead headphone wire deflated tire farted on the mic and called it fire chicken pox dirty socks "AYO EVERYONE GO AND FOLLOW PARADOX" crypto scam orange crayon peanut butter jelly jam, dirty toe sloppy joe "CRISTIANO RONALDO!" lookin ass up you ugly as shit, shut yo stupid ass up you dirty as hell bruh, if you don't get your slightly below average 22 savage moldy cabbage, went to therapy to quit yo habit of having unprotected butt sex with obese rabbits refrigerator is filled with maggots father abuses you with his tennis racket, school gave you a chromebook you tried to hack it, semiautomatic soy sauce packet, roaches inbreeding inside yo attic, BUST DOWN GRAMMA, let me smack it lookin ass, boy you ugly as shit, if you dont get your half a fry cherry pie BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY lookin ass back, bro you dirty as hell, you look like you were born inside of a handicap parking space, stupid ass boy you dirty as shit bro- ISHOWUNDERWEAR: SHUT THE FUCK- SHUT THE FUCK UP BRO, hey chat he probably is a messi dickrider PACKGOD: mess-, messy dick? BITCH WHAT THE FUCK? WHAT THE FUCK? YO MOM LOOK LIKE WRECKITRALPH WITH ESTROGEN IMPLANTS "IM GONNA WRECK IT" lookin ass momma boy you dirty as shit you downloaded pirated FL Studio and made a bass boosted nightcore remix out of yo parents sex tape, that shit was like "AH AH AH AH WA WA CHICHICHICHICHI, BAWAWAWA, "OH YEAH HAROLD" BAWAWAWA," look at yo stupid ass boy you ugly as hell bro yo eyebrows look like boomerangs boy you ugly as shit look at yo nose yo nose look like a goomba off mario bros "YA HOO!!!! LETS A GOO!!" stupid ass bitch (ishowspeed starts barking) (unintelligble) LOOK AT YO HEADPHONE yo got a wire connected earphone what the fuck? you was in yo basement last night and you said "BLOOD DEMON ART MUSICAL PRECISION" and started playing black ops 3 with a fucking clarinet "HOO WOO HOO BOO WOO" (ishowspeed starts screaming "shut the fuck up) (unintelligble) PACKGOD: YOU EAT BRICKS FOR BREAKFAST, you look like you brush yo teeth with a pickle, at thanksgiving dinner you picked up your moms vibrator jumped on the kitchen table, pulled yo pants down and and yelled "ALL HAIL THE MAGIC CONCH WLLWLWLWLWLWLWLWL**"** stupid ass nigga look at yo neck yo neck look like a windex bottle (spraying sounds) and look at yo god damn dirty earrings them shits look like a drop of sperm on each of yo ears, you look like a termite with scoliosis, you bitch boy you ugly as he- ISHOWNOBITCHES: shut the- shut yo ass up, you shut the hell up who the fuck you talkin to (stands up) PACKGOD: BITCH YO, LOOK AT YO PANTS!!!! LOOK AT YO PANTS, LOOK AT YO MOTHERFUCKIN WEINER THAT SHIT STICKIN OUT OF YO PANTS, AYO WHAT THE FUCK? (unintelligble) BITCH YO UNDERPANTS SPONSORED BY COCA COLA, look at those nasty ass pants bitch you dirty as hell, bitch you better get yo "WORLD CAHHHHUP, WORLD CUHHHP, WARLD CAAAAAAUHP, WURLD CAAP" stupid ass nigga sounding bro, you ugly as shit bro, yo ass was getting motherfuckin fucked by anna ross, that shit was like "EVERYDAY I BA BA BA WA BA BA BA WA WA" and there was like "HGRUP GRUP RRUGBP BRUHT BRRT RRGBHT DRRGCP" and you was like "EEH EEH EEP EEH EEH E E" you stupid ass, what u gon do? what u gon do bitch? (ishowspeed angrily flexing muscles) look at yo arms, scrawny ass cheese nigga arms, what the fuck you built like a staple, you the fuck built like a paperclip, what u gon do? yo gon start crying? "WHOOH BOOH HOOH (crying noises)" bitch you ugly as shit you like shaggy from scooby doo "RUH ROH RAGGY! ISHOWSPEEDS GETTING MAD!" bitch ass you ugly ass bro, what you wearing right now you got adidas shorts, bitch tell me why you built like an autistic traffic cone, fuck wrong with you buddy now SAY SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING (unintelligble noises) PACKGOD: -CABBAGE BASKET, SHUT YO UGLY ASS UP BITCH YOU DIRTY AS HELL, you built like a fucking cucumber with eyeballs, you ass ugly as shit, on my momma you stupid ass bro, you dusty musty crusty ugly ass, dirty bag motherfucking ugly rag, motherfucking where's my dad, motherfucking "OH SHIT" fortnite lag, you ugly as shit, say something bro you do nothing bro.

What is the recovery like from an emergency trach following neck trauma? When would they wake the person? When would they take out the trach? How long before the person can eat on their own?
Edit: more detail 😊
This is for a story I'm writing inspired by the case of Alison Botha. Throat cut with a very sharp knife severing the trachea. There was muscular damage but the main blood vessels were intact. Trach was inserted below the cut to allow it to heal and avoid the trauma.

My friend did something recently, now I'm questioning what to do next.
Recently, I was standing around with a friend. We were just joking around and having a good time. Eventually, while I was distracted talking to my other friends, he thought it would be funny to go up to me, grab me, pull me back, and hold a knife to my throat. (The dull side, but I couldn't tell at the moment) when he did that, I almost had a panic attack. I was honestly scared. I gasped out of fear when he put his arm around my neck. I could still breathe, but it felt like my lungs refused to expand. When he let me go, I took a minute to process what happened and he said something like "what? It was just the blunt side. I wouldn't actually do that" I want to tell him off, but I hate confrontation. This was on school campus BTW. What should I do?

Claws and Bullets
Context: The Listener is a newly fleshed werewolf, and they were getting hunted by werewolf hunters. After a long trek of running, they end up just barely escaping death. They make their way out of the forest only to feel fatigued, they fall to the ground hard before turning back into their human form. That was shortly before Tyler has stumbled upon them...Shocked and Amazed at how they are still alive. He radios for help and hopes for another life to be saved...Only to hear the echo of a howl...The werewolves have found them...Now it's time to run.
Usage and Monetization: This script is up for usage and recording! Please make sure this script is credited and gender swaps are ok as well! Changes are acceptable only if myself is known about it and approved by me!
P.S, the previous script; The Prince's Pride, is also up for usage and recordings! Please let me know beforehand if both scripts and/or one of them are going to be handled!
Scene 1
(The Listener just got injured by a group of hunters. In doing so, they lay down on the side of a designated road, bloodied and tired.)
\ SFX: Fast footstep sounds through woods then falling to the ground, leave a few seconds before making the bone cracking sound effect for transforming\**
\Leave a little window of silence before woodsy footstep sound effects\**
*Distant voice effect; Your tone hard to make out\* I think it went this way; the blood trail is fresh on the trees.
*You understand what is told, but you act a bit lazily as you speak\*
Yeah, yeah...understood, I’ll scout ahead. I’ll radio in if I find anything new.
*Your voice is noticeable; the footsteps are clear\*
*To self or thought in his head\* To think they are more werewolves than there were a few years ago…It feels more tedious now having to eradicate more each year. Then again, Headquarters is having a field day with all the werewolf sightings recently, and that means for us to have longer scouting shifts…*He sighs\* God, what I wouldn’t give to be home right about now…
*You try to make out what it is as you speak, more footsteps\*
Hold on…What…? What is that?...
*Slow footsteps, you just found a bloodied and bruise body, your voice trembles in a bit of shock\*
Holy sh*t…
*Hurried breaths\* Hey! Hey! Oh god, that’s a lot of blood…
*The Listener groans, Indicating their alive. Your voice is surprised and astonished they're still breathing\*
Holy hell, you’re alive! *Radio crackle\*
I got a civilian wounded on 37 route, Hollow wood Drive! They’re bleeding badly and I need an escort, immediately! Hey, it’s gonna be ok, I’m not gonna leave you here. I need you to stay awake, ok?
*While looking over their body more, \*
*Immediate howling, you look around a bit frantically\*
Huh? Oh, just perfect! Of course, I had to jinx it! *He sighs begrudgingly\*
*Ruffle cloth sound, him picking them up, you attempt to coo them again\*
Just keep your eyes on me, ok? I’m gonna get you outta here…
*Howling, rushing footsteps into the forest, you go on a tangent that you always end up having bad luck as you run\*
I jinxed it! I always jinx it! What’s next? Werewolves just gonna appear out of thin air?!
*Large thumps, snarling, you look up before complaining angrily\*
I just had to ask…
*Hurried breaths, running footsteps along with snarling, barking, fades away cutting into next scene\*
Scene 2
(The Listener and Tyler find an inconspicuous cave and find refuge there; it soon starts raining.)
***Fades into heavy breaths, scrambling into hiding, the sound of passing footsteps, then sniffing, you hold your breath before the werewolves run away to another area from outside of the cave\*
God, Today just HAD to not be my day! First my crappy shift, then it starts f*ckin raining?! And now this?! *He whispers harshly, groaning\* At least the rain should mask the smell…Blessing in disguise I guess…Now how the hell am I gonna get you outta here?...
*SFX: Rummages through his bag\*
*Talking to himself as he goes through his bag, complaining angrily once more\* No…No…Man shouldn’t they have more medical supplies with us at all times?! Werewolves are f*cking killing machines, a few bandages aren’t gonna cut it for severe wounds like this! *He sighs\* Whatever…Better to have something than not having anything at all…
*SFX: Cloth ruffles\*
…Jesus, you’re cut up pretty good…Ok, this is gonna hurt, so bear with me…
*SFX: Pouring of liquid\*
*The Listener groans in pain, you try to coo them, but you aren't used to doing so\*
Just hold on a little longer, I’m almost done…
*SFX: Bandage wrapping\*
*He sighs\* There, that should hold for now. Help should be coming soon. But I don’t think we should go out right now. We’re deep in the forest, and those things could be prowling nearby…
*The Listener is attempting to talk, but you cut them off a little\*
You shouldn’t be talking right now…You’re injured pretty badly, so I think you should be resting while you can before help arrives.
*The Listener speaks a little, you shot their words down and insists that they don't talk\*
Little stubborn, aren’t ya? Still ain’t gonna cut it, no matter how much you sweet talk your way outta it.
*The Listener attempts to continued, you cut them off before spitting facts and won the conversation\*
You’re all bloodied and bandaged up and can’t even stand. So, for now, don’t even bother talking.
*After a small silence, The Listener speaks again, you defeatedly speak as you sigh shortly\*
*He sighs\* You don’t know when to quit, do ya? Alright…What are your questions?
*The Listener asks why you are all the way out here; you give a short answer\*
Well, I’m out here because I’m trying to protect people, like you, from the recent werewolf activity.
*They continue, You're a bit surprised at their obliviousness\*
You really don’t know? *He sighs\* Werewolves have been terrorizing nearby villages, towns, you name it. It’s been going on for at least 4 years till now. Even though only a select few know that the werewolves exist, they have been more noticeable day by day. So, they send us in to stop these ongoing invasions.
*You give a hesitant tone, a short but sweet answer\*
Our official name is…confidential, but few call us “werewolf hunters”. Pretty simplistic.
*You are slightly impressed by them, so you give them a little praise\*
You’re holding your weight more than I thought, usually people who get attacked by a werewolf and survive, tend to pass out from too much fatigue.
*You answer them with a little tint of impress in your voice\*
Is that so? Hmph, well aren’t you lucky…
*You give a non-chalant tone, basically telling on past experiences\*
I’m telling you all this because you’re confused and dazed. I doubt you would know what a werewolf is without panicking the next morning, worrying about if it’s gonna attack someone else next. Which, in truth, could happen.
*You find their question normal, so you give a slight chuckle\*
I have no filter? Heh, Yeah, I get that a lot. Gotta tells how it is, can’t leave room for stalling the inevitable.
*You also find this question normal, as if confident in the insults that has been given\*
*Chuckles\* A jack a**? Pfft, been called that many times! Doesn’t faze me…
*They poke fun at you, you give a slight annoyed tone, as if you are already tired of what they might say\*
Ok, ok, I get it, I’m a bonehead, a**hole, and all the colorful words that describe my persona. You don’t gotta spell it out to me when I already know the answers to my own equation.
*They say something a bit on the dot, so you give a slight annoyed tone\*
Well then, what about you? Since you’re so interested in who I am and what I do, let's see yours. How did you end up battered and beaten on the side of the road?
*They go quiet, so you end up ushering them on to speak\*
What? Quiet all of a sudden? Seems like someone is reluctant to speak.

• they do a cover up story, so you are a little suspicious, but you forget it and a little angrily blame yourself for no getting to them sooner\*

Hm…Is that right? You ran into a werewolf as you were on your way home up the hill… *He sighs\* If I was a little faster, I could’ve stopped it from…
*They reassure you; you feel yourself have a little warmth in you, you playfully answer\*
Well, aren’t you surprisingly sympathetic! *Chuckles\* Look at you, all cuts and tears and you still manage to be kind to someone like me!
*They tell a witty liner; you laugh a little at that and then you stop your speech as you get a call on your radio\*
*He laughs a little before getting a call on his radio\*
Me and the civilian are a few yards from the dirt path. A few werewolves found us and chased us. But, we took shelter in an empty cave. I managed to bandage them up for now, but I think they need to get—
*Pause, SFX: Placed hand on his arm,\*
*Confused but compliant\* To someplace safe…
*You carefully hang on to their words, waiting for them to finish\*
Yes…Yes, I understand.
*The person on the radio is telling about how they can't get you two at the moment, so you are a bit pissed\*
Wh-But-.... understood…I’ll stand by and get them to the medical wing…Got it. Raven out.
*SFX: Radio beep\*
F*ckin hell, the others had to go deal with another attack in the town near us…Damn it! *He groans annoyed*
Why did you ask me to say, “to take you somewhere safe?” Wouldn’t you want to go to a hospital instead?

• The Listener sprinkles in a little white lie, you're wondering why but you go with it even though you're annoyed\*

But—*Sighs begrudgingly\* Fine, but you owe me an explanation. Got it?
*They agree to it, so you calm down\*
Good…
*They ask for your name\*
My name? It’s Tyler, Tyler River…Yours?
*You give an honest compliment, then gives off a playful tone\*
Hm, nice name…Although introductions are a tad late since you and I, are stuck in a cave, hiding from blood thirsty werewolves, while there’s rain pouring just outside.

• They give an honest, playful response. Basically, tells how it is in a comic manner\*

*He laughs\* You aren’t wrong, we really might be stuck here…
*You attempt to relax, sitting upright, your voice sounds a bit tired as you look out\*
(After he gets comfortable, he looks out to the pounding rain just outside)
*He sighs\* This is really gonna be a long night…
(Raining continues and fades after a window of seconds)
-To Be Continued-

1-
The man ran down the alleyway as I gave chase.
I am Torrent, an E-Rank Hero with the Hero Association. My listed power is control over water, that includes vaporizing it and freezing it. It was a hot summer day, I was just finishing handing out water bottles for people who were suffering from heatstroke and getting them to safety, when I got the alert.
E-Class Villain, nearby Heroes alerted, I accepted immediately.
All it really took was popping the top off the bottle and splashing the villain before flash-freezing the water on his body, catching up to him, and unfreezing him before he could sustain any harm.
"E-Rank Hero, Torrent, reporting the successful apprehending of the E-Class Villain, standing by." I said. I looked at the man, he looked terrified and not at all threatening.
"Hands against the wall." I said, he shakily complied and I patted him down for any weapons.
"Powers?" I asked.
"J-just some minor telekinesis." He said.
Minor telekinesis? That was barely worth a cop, let alone a Hero. "What exactly did you do?" I asked.
He just kept staring at the wall, "I just needed a power boost, is all."
Power boost, that implied Psychaline, not the worst street drug, but still not worth me chasing him down and capturing him. "What were you planning on doing with this power boost?" I asked.
"J-just trying to survive, man. Please, just let me go, I won't cause any more trouble, honest."
"Sorry, there are laws for a reason, and I can't just ignore them." That being said, I was finding it less and less likely this guy was actually a problem, or a threat. Still, I handed him off, business as usual, and continued about my day.
Still, something about that bugged me, so I accessed the public record, looking for the man and his crime, but... I didn't find him. Maybe I was right, that he wasn't really worth the effort, so they let him loose with a slap on the wrist.
Still, that wasn't enough, so I accessed the report logs, finding the time that I answered and trying to find something that made sense- but there was nothing. I certainly answered an alert, but there was no record of the alert.
Maybe he was wrongfully accused of something, and the data got expunged?
Whatever, short of hacking into the mainframe, I wasn't going to get anywhere else with this, so I logged off.
Taking a load off, with my shift done, I took my suit off and securely locked it in a briefcase, which I then locked in a safe before leaving my house. I liked taking a walk, seeing the city from a civilian's point of view helped me keep perspective on things, let me know where I could do better.
My phone beeped, I checked it and saw an alert for a disturbance nearby. I always kept the incident tracker on, mostly to see who was doing what and being ready to jump in just in case they needed a little help.
I sat on a bench and watched as alerts went off and were taken, smiling at the efficiency of the system.
An alert went off close to where I was, and I was the only one close enough to respond. I tapped that I was going to check it out, that I was in civvies, and would do what I could without compromising my identity. I walked quickly, arriving near the scene.
Everything was quiet, I could feel this part of the city lacked any kind of humidity, it was honestly kind of weird. I reported I had arrived, noting the lack of humidity, and said I'd likely have to rely on hand to hand if necessary, that I was standing by to observe.
I received the affirmative, and was told a Hero was dispatched to my location.
Something felt off about the situation, I checked the incident report, but it was weirdly vague, like the remote viewers couldn't get a bead on what was going on. I walked around, looking for any sign that something else was amiss.
I felt a bead of sweat roll down my face and siphoned it off, holding it frozen in the palm of my hand.
I heard footsteps and looked to see another E-Rank Hero approaching me. "Target spotted, approaching." He said. "You there! Keep your hands where I can see them."
I blinked, confused. I looked behind me, but I didn't see anyone. I looked at him. "I'm sorry, what?"
"Just stay where you are." He said. "Resisting will only make it worse for you."
Yeah, he was definitely talking to me. "I'm not the man you're looking for." I said. "I'm on standby, I can prove it." I held up my phone so he could see, but then he snatched it from my hand and threw it against the wall.
"Reporting the target has drawn a weapon, engaging."
He rushed at me, fist raised, and I knew this wasn't going to be a fight I could avoid.
My listed power is control over water, that includes vaporizing it and freezing it. That meant anything with water could be frozen or vaporized.
"You understand you're full of blood." I said, catching his hand. Under any other circumstance, that would be an extremely strange thing for someone to say. But the way his eyes widened in sheer terror told me he knew exactly who I was.
"I am going to operate under the assumption that you're a villain in disguise." I said. "Stand down, do not make me get dangerous."
He immediately came at me with his other hand, aimed for my neck.
I shifted my foot, and two slabs of earth and asphalt sandwiched him.
"My listed power is control over water." I said. "What I really have is control over states of matter. Watch." I walked over to my phone and using my control over matter, I repaired it. It turned on, I'd held it so many times I didn't even need to think about it. I accessed the incident tracker, then I called the Association.
"This is Torrent." I said. "Is my aid still on the way?"
"Absolutely, he's not that far away." The operator said.
"Then I have our villain in front of me. A man dressed as an E-Rank Hero who attacked me without provocation. My identity is compromised."
I listened, amplifying my phone's speaker so I could listen in. There, just loud enough for me to hear, was a voice harshly whispering that the situation needed to be salvaged.
"Affirmative, Torrent. We'll have someone along to do pickup."
"One quick thing, before you go." I said.
"What's that?" She asked.
"What, exactly, am I being accused of?" The silence was deafening. "Well? I'm directed to a situation that perfectly counters my listed power, in civilian clothes so my identity shouldn't have been compromised, with nothing around that would indicate an incident. So tell me, why has the Hero Association deemed it necessary to force me into a trap."
The connection ended, the tracker went off, I looked at it, and saw that I was listed as having gone rogue, attacking a fellow Hero without provocation, that was before I lost access to the system.
"Alright, fine." I said. I released the man in front of me, who looked at me with sheer terror. "What did they tell you, to make you comply?" I asked. It was a gamble, but the way his eyes widened confirmed it. "I looked you up." I said. "But I couldn't find you. Is that what you did as well?"
"Y-yeah." He said. "They said if I captured you, they'd let me go."
I heard a loud thud, followed by feeling a tremor. Another E-Rank was after me. Before I could even begin to react, he grabbed the man in front of me and slammed him into the wall, killed him instantly.
"Fine." I said. I reached out and froze the man in front of me, killing him instantly. "If you're going to make me a villain, then I'll be a villain."
I strode away, knowing that I was going to need somewhere to lay low. I disintegrated my phone, turning it into its stable component elements, and put them in my pocket.
I could feel the tremors of the city, the footsteps of Heroes rushing my way, with only my grim warning to them being a frozen man, his hand still grasping the skull of the man he killed.
2-
It was reported that at 18:23, three weeks ago, the former Hero named Torrent had killed two heroes.
The official story was that I had snapped, that I'd attacked one, another arrived to stop me, and I managed to get him to kill his partner before freezing him solid.
I won't pretend what I did was morally just, I was forced into a situation I didn't understand where probability of my death was certain without dealing with the threat.
I could have tried trapping him between two slabs of asphalt, but a man who could casually pop another man's head against a wall likely had super strength, so that was out of the question. Suffocating him by forcing a vaccuum to form was a possibility, but I didn't have fine control over it. And fire is a messy way to kill someone, it was incidentally why I was often paired with a pyro if they were needed.
Flash freezing him was an instantaneous death, the water in his cells pierces through the cell walls, and the lack of signals due to total cell death meant he didn't even know what killed him.
I had vomited after walking away, mostly due to the stress of having just killed a man and having the entire Hero Association after me.
"According to our investigation, Torrent was formally diagnosed with Schizoid Personality Disorder, and is thus an extremely dangerous man." The Hero, Jackknife, told the reporter.
"Does this mean Torrent is an at-large unmedicated schizophrenic?" The reporter asked.
"No, SPD is a completely different diagnosis, a form of lack of empathy-"
"Affective empathy." I interrupted out of annoyance.
"-which does mean he is, nonetheless, and extremely dangerous man."
"I can't believe that Torrent's a fucking sociopath." One of the bar patrons remarked.
"That kind of reporting is going to get innocent people killed." I said, more than a handful of people shot glares at me. "SPD is a form of lack of affective empathy, but it's not a complete lack of emotions or ability to function in society."
I idly flipped a coin between my fingers. "People with SPD are perfectly capable of reading other people and understanding their perspective rationally, but have a difficult time feeling for them since any feelings they have are muted."
"Who made you the expert?" One of the patrons asked, spitting a gob of chewing tobacco onto the floor. I followed the path of the spit to the floor, then looked at him.
"You know, it's impolite to spit that in a public place." I said.
"Fuck you." He drawled.
"People with SPD have a difficulty forming relationships with other people." I continued. "Plus, when they are capable of feeling emotions, it's difficult to pinpoint what emotion it is, and have difficulty expressing it in words. This is called alexithymia. So no, that doesn't automatically make him a dangerous person."
"And why is that?" He asked.
"Because we're still capable of having a very strong moral code." I replied bluntly. "For instance, it's immoral to kill people unless your life is being threatened. It's also immoral to make a public place filthy because you can't spit in a bottle like a sane person."
He stood up, glowering at me. "Nobody talks shit to my face and gets away with it." He growled.
I wordlessly made every knife in the immediate vicinity float and point toward him. "Sit down and drink your beer." I said. "I won't kill you, but I'll certainly make you hurt."
He backed away, stumbling into his barstool, and sitting back down.
I had always wanted to be a Hero growing up, always wanted to do something right in the world. The muted feeling I felt when I helped someone was one of the few I could feel, and while I could never drop anything to exclusively help someone, unless there was some sort of incentive I actually wanted, I simply did what I wanted.
The absolute truth is, I felt nothing, killing that man. He was simply a threat to my existence, and he had murdered someone right in front of me. It is immoral to commit murder, after all.
But self-defense is an entirely different thing, it's not murder if you're protecting your own life.
The man was clearly terrified of me, but his anger had served a useful purpose, it allowed me to present as someone completely different, allowed me to showcase ferrokinesis.
There was nothing in the Hero Association's rules about threatening someone with bodily harm if one is about to be harmed.
Because the Hero Association was eager to punish me for some wrongdoing I was not aware of- there were no formal accusations, so it was clearly something illegal or immoral.
Thus, because they were dead set on making me a villain, I chose to oblige.
There was a Hero Outpost nearby, a kind of place for Heroes to rest and recover during or after patrols. I'd been busy all day setting up non-lethal distractions, things that would require a Hero's aid. And since there were relatively few Heroes in a given sector, I could do what I needed to.
My new phone's alarm went off, I dismissed it and got up, paying for my drink.
I had ordered the strongest drink on the menu, siphoned off the alcohol, and drank it. This left me with 200 proof alcohol, which I was going to need very soon,
As I walked closer to the Hero Outpost, I observed as various Heroes flew, ran, or swung out, leaving behind the one person I was expecting to see.
Hammerhead was a strongman, and I had been spying on him during the past few days. We was a well-liked public figure, and I would otherwise not care about him, if it wasn't for the fact that he had killed someone in cold blood.
They were not even a Villain, just some crook who stole a wallet. I happened to be passing by an alleyway, when I heard that familiar sound of a skull popping against a wall.
I of course immediately retaliated, attempting to freeze him solid while I had the advantage. Unfortunately, he's one of those few who are resistant to transformative powers, so I couldn't turn his blood into ice, couldn't kill him instantly.
I walked into the Hero Outpost, where Hammerhead was currently reading something on his phone. He looked up at me, opened his mouth to tell me the Outpost was not open for the public.
I moved the pure alcohol into his mouth and down his throat. He coughed, then ran after me as I fled. He quickly began to slow down, stumble, and the collapsed to the ground.
At least he was unconwscious.
I moved the earth to flip him on his back, then created an emetic, which I also administered in much the same was as the alcohol. I wasn't taking any chances with this man, the emetic worked, resulting in him vomiting, and subsequently choking to death.
I felt something run down my face and swiped at it, water, no, a mixture of lipids, water, and mucus. I wiped my faced again, huh, I'd never cried before. Yes, focusing on that faint sensation in my chest, considering I was crying, I must have been sad.
"This is annoying." I said as I walked away.
Murder was immoral, absolutely, and what I had done was just that. Cold-blooded and premeditated murder, but I reasoned that if a man like him was willing to kill people so carelessly, then refusing to kill him was murder by inaction.
I didn't add 'murdering people to prevent further murdering' on my list of moral things to do, I was fully willing to recognize I had done something truly heinous.
The news the next morning reported the death of Hammerhead, the perpetrator was unknown, but it was assumed some kind of mad chemist of some nature, considering the way he was killed.
That's when I saw him, on the screen, the C-Class Hero Wraithrazor. He was a moderately popular Hero, due to his ability to turn intangible and avoid harm. His was a power I truly couldn't counteract.
I'm going to need to observe him, I can't kill him if he's a good Hero.

[Content warning: mental health, self harm, depression.]
1-
Grauf was a nervous wreck.
The Caniti as a species were largely considered to be strong, powerful; and they took great pride in this distinction. For a Canician to be anything but was considered shameful, disgraceful, and even on a multicultural station like the Hedron, old biases died hard.
It had taken him having a psychotic meltdown for him to be put anywhere near a mental hospital, and for several months, all the doctors could do was sedate him, because the alternative was him tearing his room apart.
There weren't many Caniti who took a job as a psychologist, and those who did usually learned for the sake of being more efficient hunters, especially when Murder Planets were a factor. The few who learned for the sake of healing were often looked down upon as weak, the unfortunate fact that most who did so were runts of their respective litters did little to change this perception.
Thus, Grauf was a nervous wreck, and he wasn't getting the help he needed.
He was currently sedated, left feeling numb so that the overwhelming paranoia and trauma he suffered didn't cause him to lash out.
One of the doctors presiding over his treatment was a Transcaniti, formerly Human, accepting genetic therapy so he could better appreciate his mate. Grauf didn't bother to learn his name, barely spared him a look even as the doctor tended to his self-inflicted wounds.
He didn't want a Human's pity.
"You have a visitor, Grauf." The words barely registered in his mind, he'd lost any care or desire in the world, the only thing preventing him from walking into the wild to die were the doctors who insisted on him getting better.
Even if it was against his will.
The Canician who entered the room took a chair and sat in it with the back in front of him, he simply stared at Grauf. For several minutes, they sat in silence, until Grauf rasped out, "Are you here to put me out of my misery?"
"You mean, 'Am I here to put you out of my misery?'" The Canician asked. Grauf didn't respond, he didn't need to. The Canician sighed. "Do you know who I am?"
"Should I care?" Grauf asked.
"Yes." The answer was brief, matter-of-fact.
"Then go. I don't care." Grauf answered.
There was a long pause, then the Canician sighed. "Bring him in."
The door opened, followed by a Human entering. He looked at the Canician sitting on the chair, who tilted his head toward Grauf. Nodding, he approached Grauf and- not bothering to ask permission- climbed onto the bed.
Grauf didn't register the Human's presence, there wasn't anything the Human could do to or for him that the doctors hadn't already tried. That was why he was mildly surprised the Human didn't do anything. He simply sat beside Grauf, not looking at him, not touching him, just sitting there.
"I could kill you, you know." Grauf rasped.
"I'm well aware." The Human replied. "In fact, you'd be doing me a favor."
"You... want to die?"
The Human held out his arm, it was crossed by several scars, including one long one across the length of his forearm. Grauf didn't have a response, but the Human did. "Nothing's helped me." He continued. "I've got nobody to live for, yet people keep insisting I stay alive."
The laugh was short, humorless. "I'm scheduled for assisted termination in a month, I've got all of that time for people to try to talk me out of it, so there's that."
"Wouldn't you rather die doing something you'd be proud of?" Grauf asked half-heartedly. Not even he felt any particular desire to die, so much as he didn't feel like he had any options left.
"Why don't you?" The Human asked pointedly. "The doctors wanted me to come in here, talk about why I've cut myself, why I want to die, they've given up hope on me, like they should, said in about an hour, you'll freak out and wreck the room." He paused, it was the longest silence Grauf had heard, and he was surprised in the complete lack of emotion in the Human's voice. "So, yeah. You'd be doing me a favor."
Silence fell again, and for several minutes, they didn't speak. Grauf raised his shirt and pointed at his side. "I did this to myself." He said. "The first time, I mean. Felt like something was crawling around inside me, had half of my intestines hanging out before anyone stopped me." He snorted. "It would have saved us all this trouble if they just let me die."
"Mine's already scarred over." The Human replied. "I couldn't point it out even if I wanted to."
Silence fell again, and the digital clock in the wall slowly counted down the seconds. It wouldn't be much longer before the sedatives wore off.
Grauf took hold of the Human, who closed his eyes, expecting nothing more than for sharp fangs to sink into his neck, but he opened them when he felt the Canician wrap his arms around him.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Waiting." Grauf replied. "I'm waiting for you to die first."
He felt it gradually growing, the wild beast within him stirring, the madness to take him once more, only this time the walls would first be painted with a Human's blood, rather than his. He waited, and waited, his embrace tightened around the Human, who reached up and clenched his fingers in his fur and pulled his head lower, his nose brushed against a bare and warm neck.
"Go ahead." The Human said.
The bite didn't come, rather, choked growling emanated from Grauf's throat, his body heaving as the weight of his condition crashed into him. Grauf wept, holding onto the Human as though he were grasping onto life itself.
"I said- I said I am waiting for you to die first." Grauf choked out.
The Human didn't respond, he simply loosened his fingers and gently pat the side of Grauf's face. Five minutes passed, then ten. Half an hour crept by, replaced by yet another, yet Grauf didn't go berserk, he simply held onto the Human, who simply allowed it to happen.
Finally, the doctor came in. "Mr. Hendricks, it's time to return to your room."
Grauf was resistant to letting go, but he didn't outright fight. Hendricks looked at the Canician and said, "It'll be a long month, you know."
Grauf nodded.
2-
Hendricks returned every day, at the insistence of the doctors. They said he wouldn't need to see the psychologist about his upcoming appointment if he did so, so he did. Days passed, and Grauf didn't experience any significant episodes, only brief moments.
On the tenth day since meeting him, Hendricks came in, only to see Grauf bleeding from a self-inflicted wound. Grauf noticed it was the first and only time he'd seen any kind of emotion on the Human's face, and it pained him to see.
The days continued, until it was time for Hendricks' last day in life. Grauf was well enough to accompany him. It was the first time Hendricks hesitated.
"We are legally required to give you one last chance to not go through with this." The Latra doctor spoke.
Hendricks glanced at Grauf, who stared at him with such an expression of deep sorrow, it was almost too painful to bear seeing. "I am waiting for you to die first." The Canician spoke solemnly. "I won't be far behind."
"Mr. Hendricks? Please respond." The doctor said.
"I-" Hendricks swallowed back the guilt he felt and looked at the doctor. "I think I might need another month. You know, just to be certain."
Grauf looked at him in shock. "But you've been waiting for this for such a long time!" He barked.
"And I can wait a little longer." Hendricks replied. "I don't think it's fair if you have to wait, I mean."
Grauf nodded, sorrowful that he was preventing the Human from doing what he wanted, yet nonetheless glad he wasn't going to be gone from his life just yet.
Less than a month passed before they were both discharged from the hospital, both choosing to share an apartment, at least for now, while they figured out how long it would be before they both finally died.
At least for now, they were looking at maybe a year at most, but maybe it would be a little longer.
3-
Grauf awoke to find his friend nestled safely in his arms. Such a small, fragile thing, yet he had single-handedly overwhelmed him, chasing away the madness that threatened to consume his mind. He buried his snout in Jason's hair, breathing in the soft, heady aroma that Humans tended to exude.
He didn't know why, perhaps it was that unique scent signature that Jason had, or the pleasant memories associated with it, but every time he was around, Grauf found it easier to come back down from his bouts of psychosis, had found it easier to speak of the things he'd experienced in his past.
He wasn't better, per se. Better implied a strict improvement, a lack of need for something external. But Jason helped manage it, even if that ultimately meant that he couldn't bear to part from him for too long.
Not that Jason really had any reason to go his own separate way.
The Human stirred in his sleep, eyes slowly opening in the transition to wakefulness. He turned and buried his face in Grauf's fur, breathing in deeply. Though he didn't have the keen sense of smell that the Caniti had, Grauf's scent was a comfort all on its own.
"One more day?" Grauf asked.
"Out of?" Jason asked, his voice muffled by the fur.
"Two years, eight months, and 23 days." Grauf answered. There was no longer and concern for Jason, he hadn't renewed his termination appointment in roughly two years. At this point, it was habit, and a reminder that they were still alive.
That they had found something worth living for.
It had come up, during a joint therapy session, that Jason kept postponing the appointment because he didn't want Grauf to be alone. Grauf, in turn, simply said if Jason was going to keep on living, he'd stay long enough to keep him safe. There were no more deadlines, no more hours counted to the end.
Now, they simply counted the days since they were discharged.
They both recognized it wasn't the healthiest of relationships, mutual co-dependence wasn't the most stable foundation for mental well-being, but it was a start, a stepping stone toward getting better. Already, Grauf was able to stay thirty minutes away from Jason, long enough to do most things, without feeling that panic rising in his chest. And Jason no longer felt like he had nothing to live for, had begun to enjoy things he used to, had found joy in new things.
"I love you." Grauf spoke softly. The Caniti didn't speak declarations of love, they hunted mighty beasts to show their strength, to show they were capable of being a protector, a provider, a mate.
Jason replied by wrapping his arms around Grauf and squeezing him in a hug. Strength was stronger than words, and though he was no longer as physically weak as he had been two years ago, it was still a far cry from what Grauf would normally expect.
He still felt pride in Jason's strength, and knew just as well that his mate loved him back.

For anyone in town for the summer who's looking for events to enjoy this weekend, here's 25 local events you can enjoy and participate in on Saturday & Sunday.
1. 2023 Pulaski County Spring Flea Market New River Valley Fairgrounds, Dublin Saturday, June 3, 2023 and Sunday, June 4, 2023, 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM Admission: $2.00, Kids 6 and Under: Free The Dublin Lions Club presents the 2023 Pulaski County Spring Flea Market celebrating 48 years. With over 20,000 visitors and 700 vendors spaces, more than a dozen different food vendors offering varied food options and the chance to eat a few of the famous "Lion Dogs", you will not want to miss this event. Check out vendors with crafts, antiques and more at the semi-annual Pulaski County Flea Market. Although over 100 spaces are under roof, it is a largely an outdoor event. The terrain is varied from asphalt, gravel and grass. Parking is free. All proceeds go to the Dublin Lions and their numerous community causes such as eyeglasses for the needy and hunger relief in the community. The event is rain or shine. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708165
2. Kunga Fest 2023: Two-Day Donations Yoga Festival In Balance Yoga Studio, Blacksburg Friday, June 2, 2023, 4:00 - 10:00 PM and Saturday, June 3, 2023, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM Yoga classes and events are by donation. In Balance Yoga Studio presents their 10th Kunga Fest, a two-day Donations Yoga Festival with 100% of the donations donated to directly support the Homes of Hope Orphanage in India. Homes of Hope is a safe space for orphaned, abandoned, or trafficked young girls in India. In Balance Yoga is offering 15 donation-based classes throughout the two-day event. Hot yoga, ariel yoga, yoga classes with live music and gentle flow, are just some of the options offered. A silent auction will also be offered with bidding open until 6:00 PM on Saturday, June 3rd. Over 20 items are in the auction including a private ariel yoga session, a one-hour reiki session, an acupuncture session and more! Yoga classes and events are by donation though registration is required. Membership is not required to attend however new students will have to create an online profile in order to register. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708207
3. National Trails Day: Appalachian Trail Volunteer Trail Work Pearis Cemetary / Appalachian Trailhead Parking, Pearisburg Saturday, June 3, 2023, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM Admission: Free The Outdoor Club at Virginia Tech is hosting Appalachian Trail Volunteer Trail Work for National Trails Day meeting at the Appalachian Trailhead Parking at Pearis Cemetary. The first Saturday of June each year is designated as National Trails Day, a day to celebrate our National Trails. There are a variety of volunteer opportunities available throughout the Trail. Essential trail maintenance helps protect natural resources and improves the hiking experience. Activities planned for the day include removing tress that have fallen across the Trail and are obstructing its path, cleaning out water bars and other trail tread structures of debris so that they can effectively divert water from the Trail and continue to help reduce erosion, as well as trimming back woody bushes that might be encroaching on the sides of the Trail. This work will be taking place on Hemlock Ridge, the stretch of Trail between the Celenese plant and Clendennin Road. There will be a shuttle planned to allow for a 3-mile hike through, performing work along the way. No previous experience required and all ages are welcome. The club will provide tools, training, and personal protective equipment. While it is free to volunteer, registration is required to ensure enough supplies will be available. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708056
4. American Red Cross Blood Drive with Brunch Meadowbrook Public Library, Shawsville Saturday, June 3, 2023, 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM Admission: Free Meadowbrook Public Library and the Meadowbrook Center hosts an American Red Cross Blood Drive. Help save a life by donating blood. Brunch will be provided for donors and they may select a used book to take home. Books compliments of Friends of the Library-Meadowbrook Chapter. The blood drive is sponsored by Craighill Masonic Lodge and Meadowbrook Library. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708083
5. CIMA Open House Christiansburg Institute Museum and Archives, Christiansburg Saturday, June 3, 2023, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM Admission: Free Christiansburg Institute Museum & Archives staff will lead museum guests on a behind the scenes tour of our archives and explain the digitization process. Explore the history of Christiansburg Institute and African American history in Southwest Virginia. No registration is required. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708171
6. Survival Skills Workshop Series: Part 2: Edible and Medicinal Plants Pulaski County Library, Pulaski Saturday, June 3, 2023, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Admission: Free The Pulaski County Library continues their Survival Skills Workshop Series with "Part 2: Edible and Medicinal Plants". Learn about edible and medicinal plants and enjoy some pine needle tea. Join them to learn important survival skills from a Claytor Lake ranger. This is the second part of a four-part course that will help you to brush up our survivalist knowledge and skills. All are welcome but these will be gauged for adults. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=707463
7. 2023 Gospel Sing St. Luke and Odd Fellows Hall, Blacksburg Saturday, June 3, 2023, 12:00 - 4:00 PM Admission: Free Blacksburg Museum and Cultural Foundation presents the annual Gospel Sing. The afternoon will be filled with singing, dancing, and fellowship as six local groups including Simple Gifts, Indian Run, Glorylanders and soloists perform their favorite current and old-time gospel favorites. Food and beverage will be available for purchase. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708172
8. Historic Smithfield's June Crafters' Stitch Along Historic Smithfield, Blacksburg Saturday, June 3, 2023, 12:00 - 3:00 PM Admission: Free Historic Smithfield presents June's Crafters' Stitch Along. You don't have to stitch to participate. Bring whatever craft you would like to work on and feel free to bring your paints, pencils, hooks, yarn, needles or fabric. This event is free to attend though pre-registration is appreciated. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708189
9. Music at the Villa with Craig Vaughn Villa Appalaccia Winery, Floyd Saturday, June 3, 2023, 1:00 - 4:00 PM Admission: Free Relax and enjoy some great music along with great wine and food. Craig Vaughn is a musician that combines extraordinary musicianship with heavy-duty fun. His high energy blend of rock, blues, pop and acoustic music equals unforgettable moments for audiences. He seamlessly goes from playing Bob Marley to The Eagles to Johnny Cash to Tom Petty to Ed Sheering to Journey to Newgrass to The Steve Miller Band without missing a lick. Kids and well-behaved dogs welcome. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708180
10. Genealogy Saturdays Alexander Black House & Cultural Center, Blacksburg Saturday, June 3, 2023, 1:00 - 4:00 PM Admission: Free Ancestry experts will be on hand to assist you as you explore your family tree. Come with questions about research and discovering your roots. Join them on the first Saturday of every month for Genealogy Saturdays. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708173
11. Puzzle Swap Christiansburg Library, Christiansburg Saturday, June 3, 2023, 1:00 - 3:00 PM Admission: Free Bring your puzzles to swap for new-to-you puzzles. Please make sure that all pieces are there. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708134
12. June 2023 Cruiser Night Scoops Arcade, Pembroke Saturday, June 3, 2023, 5:00 - 8:00 PM Admission: Free Scoops Arcade continues their Cruiser Nights on Snidow Street in downtown Pembroke, VA. Show off your classic, modified, or new cars, trucks and bikes. Ride in style down the street and/or park and enjoy the atmosphere and oldies music. All vehicles and spectators are welcome. Hotdogs, corndogs, pizza, nachos, drinks and Scoops old fashion hand dipped ice cream and shakes will be available inside Scoops. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708196
13. Bobby and Blake Parker in Concert Rising Silo Farm Brewery, Blacksburg Saturday, June 3, 2023, 6:00 - 9:00 PM Admission: Free Rising Silo Farm Brewery presents Bobby and Blake Parker playing cozy folk music, blues and ragtime on 6- and 12-string guitar and more. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=707876
14. Chico and Willie in Concert Outerspace, Floyd Saturday, June 3, 2023, 6:00 - 9:00 PM Admission: Free Chico & Willie perform Americana music to make you smile outside at Outerspace. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708185
15. John McEuen & The Circle Band in Concert Floyd Country Store, Floyd Saturday, June 3, 2023, 7:00 - 10:00 PM General Admission: $38.00, Reserved Seating: $45.00 John McEuen has performed for 50 years worldwide with his banjo, fiddle, guitar, and mandolin. Often referred to as ‘the String Wizard’, he humorously weaves stories of his travels and family life (he has raised 7 kids), taking us on a multi-media show through where his musical path has taken him. A founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1966, John realized his teenage dream: to record with Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson. When he initiated the 1972 classic "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" album with his band the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Earl and Doc with Roy Acuff, Mother Maybelle Carter, Jimmy Martin, Merel Travis, Vassar Clements, Norman Blake gathered for an historic week in the studio. The album has been inducted in to the Library of Congress as "one of America’s most important recordings" and the Grammy Hall of Fame. John has continually performed since 1963, doing over 11,000 concerts, 300 television shows, 10,000 interviews and flown more than 4 million miles. McEuen’s rich history of creating, producing and preserving original and traditional folk music earned him the 2013 Charlie Poole Lifetime Achievement Award. He has made over 46 albums (7 solo) that have earned four platinum and five gold records, multiple Grammy Awards and nominations, CMA and ACM awards, an Emmy film score nomination, IBMA record of the year award, and performed on another 25 albums as guest artist. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=707453
16. The CC Coates Band in Concert Dogtown Roadhouse, Floyd Saturday, June 3, 2023, 8:00 - 11:00 PM Admission: $8.00 The CC Coates Band performs blues, soul and rock n roll. Sung by the real deal and backed by a hell of a band. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708190
17. 2023 Check Farm Trail Downtown Check, Check Sunday, June 4, 2023, 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM Admission: Free Floyd Country Tourism presents the 2nd Annual Check Farm Trail at seven participating farms and businesses throughout Check, Virginia including Lil Valley Farm, Weathertop Farm, Grateful Produce, I-Tal Acres, Seven Spring's Farm and The Soup Shop. This family-friendly experience is an up-close chance to learn about agriculture through demonstrations, tastings and farm tours and more. Food and/or products will be available for purchase at most of the farms and businesses. Times and available hours vary by farm and tour stop. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708205
18. 2023 Rotary Club of Floyd Dog Show Warren G. Lineberry Memorial Park, Floyd Sunday, June 4, 2023, 12:15 - 3:00 PM Dogs: $5.00 entry per class, Spectators: Free though donations encouraged The Rotary Club of Floyd County presents their 4th Annual Rotary Dog Show. Bring your dog, puppy, and/or faithful canine friend to compete in one or more of the dog show classes and ribbons will be awarded for each class. Classes for Dog Show include Best Tail, Best Treat Catcher, Best Smile, Best Owner-Dog Look-a-Like Contest, Best Trick, Cutest Puppy Under One Year Old, Best Bark, Best Mixed Breed Dog, Best Purebred Dog, Best Child Handler Under 12 Years Old and more. All dogs must should be on a short leash and up to date on vaccinations. The Humane Society will also have a table and possibly dogs to adopt. Adults and children ages 9 and older are welcome to participate with their dog in the various classes. Proceeds will be used to help build a dog park in Floyd. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708176
19. Music Jam and Car Cruise-In Wildwood Farms General Store, Floyd Sunday, June 4, 2023, 1:00 - 4:00 PM Admission: Free Enjoy a cruise-in with a variety of classic cars, motorcycles and other vehicles from 1:00-4:00 PM. All are welcome to bring their vehicles. And, bring your instruments and join in the music jam from 2:00-4:00 PM. Admission is free and all are welcome including non-musicians. The event is weather permitting. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708018
20. Clay Blevins in Concert Buffalo Mountain Brewery, Floyd Sunday, June 4, 2023, 1:00 - 4:00 PM Admission: Free Clay Blevins performs a signature mix of old and new country, pop and singer songwriter tunes. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708153
21. Book Club Meeting: Corkscrew Blacksburg Wine Lab, Blacksburg Sunday, June 4, 2023, 1:00 - 3:00 PM Admission: $40.00 Blacksburg Wine Lab presents their June Book Club Meeting featuring the book "Corkscrew" by Peter Stafford-Bow. Josh from Well Crafted Wine has picked this book specifically for the book club and will be hosting the event. The book includes a whole chapter on South Africa and Josh is inspired to share a tasting of his favorite bottles with participants from this region, along with a selection of crafted bites from Chef Bryan. The ticket price includes the wine tasting, book discussion and crafted bites to accompany the wine. RSVP is required. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708208
22. Matt Mullins in Concert Rock House Marina, Pulaski Sunday, June 4, 2023, 3:00 - 5:00 PM Admission: Free Matt Mullins performs multiple genres of music and now resides from Beckley, West Virginia after a stay in Southwest Virginia. A loud and sometimes profanity filled personality, you can't help but love to hate his shake, rattle, and roll nonsense. By spending the better part of the last decade creating songs with some of his favorite artists, (in particular The Boatmen) it has helped shape this songwriters methodology. Relating to back porch memories, and moving listeners to undoubtedly feel that he's got music in his bones. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708090
23. Sunday Mountain Music Series with Kris Hale Mountain Lake Lodge, Pembroke Sunday, June 4, 2023, 4:00 - 6:00 PM Admission: Free Kristopher Hale is a native of Roanoke, Virginia. Currently a Adjunct Professor of Music at both Radford University and Lynchburg College in Virginia, he also teaches guitar and music theory privately throughout the New River Valley and Roanoke areas. He is a sought after performer, appearing in public and private events throughout Virginia playing classical music to The Beatles. Stop by Salt Pond Pub every Sunday starting Memorial Day weekend through Sunday, August 20th for live music and delicious food and drinks. Perfect for relaxing with the whole family (furry friends welcome too). Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=707866
24. Open Mic Night (Family Friendly and 18+ Segments) The Beast of Blacksburg Pizzeria & Bar, Blacksburg Sunday, June 4, 2023, 4:00 PM - 01:00 AM Admission: Free The Beast of Blacksburg Pizzeria & Bar kicks off their Open Mic Nights with two segments offering a full evening of local talent. From 4:00-8:00 PM, family friendly material will be performed and then from 9:00 PM - 1:00 AM, the open mic is open to adult material for ages 18 and up. Note: Any group acts of more than two performers should message them on Facebook to make the necessary arrangements. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708201
25. Mist on the Mountain in Concert Palisades Restaurant, Eggleston Sunday, June 4, 2023, 5:00 - 7:30 PM Admission: Free Mist on the Mountain is an Irish Traditional Music group based in the New River Valley of southwest Virginia. From lively jigs and reels to heartbreaking laments and rollicking ballads, Mist on the Mountain provides great Irish music for any occasion. Reservations are not required, but recommended for dining area seating. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=708177
Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!