"I am not the one who is afraid." He snarled.

He brought his head down low to confront Trout. She seemed to be spouting nonsense, but he couldn't tell through her bleating. Well... More like he chose not to. Oduvanchik had a long history of losing his patience with anyone who was not as articulate as he is, though his recent affinity with Tan had lessened his frustrations.

"I don't know how, but you managed to make Tanpopo think I was going to die..?" He growled. Their connection always broke when Tan's fear overwhelmed her. For the time they had been together, he had been draining the fear she created as sustenance but that did not mean he wanted her to reach that state of mind as often as she did. Where Trout took pain away as an aid to other beings, Oduvanchik did so to fuel his own power. The more fear, despair, or pain caused to a living thing, the more energy he gained. It worked with positive energy too, but that was nearly impossible for a demon to obtain. It had to be willingly given.

"Why did you follow us?" He asked, his face crackling into what appeared to be a morbid grin. The legs he had buried into the ground were now sprouting up around Trout's legs as if to entangle her.
-----

Tanpopo hopped along the banks for what seemed like forever. She kept looking into the woods in hopes of seeing her friends walk into the light. The fawn bleated loudly and waited for a response.

Her ears flattened as the quiet forest only gave her distant sounds of birds and the incoherent babble of the river as an answer.

She turned to continue down the path and saw the figure of Mother's statue come into view. Someone else was standing next to the crying idol.

Trout screwed up her face into an imitation of the monsters snarl. She did not know why she did this, and she did not have answers to his questions.

She bleated once more, tossing her mane and brandishing her horn at him incase he moved any closer.

"No-o-O-d-u. Yo-u-u-st-o-op. We-e-wi-i-illl fi-i-nd he-e-r."

Trout had not come after them to find him, but rather to rescue Tan. SHe was at a loss now to find only the beast here, and a very very brave little squirrel.

She shot a quick wink at the squirrel, as if to agree that they did not have to fight. In fact, Trout believed that fighting Odu would be a losing battle.

She held onto a tiny spark of hope that his bond to Tan might outweigh his rage. "Co-o-o-m-on O-o-d-u. Le-e-e-t-s fi-indhe-e-r."

With that, Trout slowly turned, keeping her ears trained on the two behind her as she slowly walked a few paces away, making very sure not to make any fast moves, before turning to look over her shoulder at him. She tried to give him a warm and encouraging smile, despite her fear at the pickle she was in. That fear she felt, she let go very deliberately. If Odu wanted it, it was his. Though she didnt understand how it worked entirely, she could recognize that when she had taken Tans fear, that was when all the trouble had begun, and she believed that Odu may be somehow dependant on that negativity. What was a balm for others, could be hurtful to him, and so what hurt others... may be the poultice this monster needed to be soothed.


(Im sorry I vanished for a couple days guys!!! I got a new computer and had to set it up. Plus work=busy. <3 <3 <3)

Trout walked slowly, she had an uncomfortable inclination that if she should pick up to even a trot, that Odu may simply decide to devour her rather than follow. She wished she could strike up polite conversation to keep tabs on him, and to perhaps alleviate some tension like she had seen other creatures do as they strolled along the river.

But she couldn't... Not well enough to sate Odu's eloquence. Instead, the little unicorn simply looked over her shoulder occasionally, to check his progress, and if he met her gaze with his eyeless countenance, or if the light upon his breast seemed honed upon her, she would smile gently and continue on her way.

She was headed back to the river, it was a central location. She did not know what consequences leading a monster to a public place would cause, but she did not think he would have calmed enough for her to move away if she had not invited him to find Tan with her. He was so inexplicably bound to her friend...

The squirrel jumped off of the tree and landed on Odu's back as they started to walk away. It would be easier to distract him from here if he tried anything. Somehow, she thought she owed it to the forest to help in this endeavor. She knew what Odu was and understood his pain, but did not agree with his method of handling the situation.

Watching the unicorn walk ahead trying to stay calm, she decided to speak to Odu. Perhaps she could help to calm him down. He obviously cared about this 'Tan'. She decided to try to get him talking about her.

"So, vot is this 'Tan' to hyu?"

Trout made a difinitively awkward face when La asked her if she was okay. In fact, it looked like she aught to be asking that to La... She did not speed up her approach as they neared the river, only continued to approach slowly, not even daring to look over her shoulder now.

Keeping her eyes fixed on La, she was able to keep her calm until she reached the doe. She dropped her nose to her broken limb and her nostrils flared. This was not a wound she could take on for La, it was too much for her little body too handle. She furrowed her brow and lifted her head again to scan for Tan.

Only a sliver of red peeked out from the grass near the banks. And even that flash of red seemed to blend with the poppies growing along the bank. She cast a glance at Odu, and noted that he had spotted her too.

This time however, Trout did not think it would be good to intervene. She felt ages older now than she had that morning, the lessons she had learned seemed to be putting years on her with every passing minute now.

Speechless and weary, she too crumpled beside La. She was sorry she had not stayed put, and also sorry she had not moved faster. She could not help but think that if things had gone differently, somehow she could have helped, but alas, what was done was done. The look she gave the doe was complex, to say the least.

Trout laid her head gently across La's flank, watching Odu and tan as still as the river-statue that Trout had come to think of as "grandmother". However, she did not weep.

While Odu kept his face towards La, his keen eye was glued to Tan's location. He wondered how long she'd panic before finally caving. Begrudgingly, he sat a few feet away from the two females and fumed. He didn't quite know where to start. Oduvanchik's own feelings were new to him... Or maybe just very old. The words he wanted to use felt dust laden. "I am only here to claim what is rightfully mine." He growled instead. He'd had enough playing around.
--

Tears streamed over Tanpopo's cheeks. She wanted to run to check on her friends but didn't want to hurt Odu again by rejecting him. He never did scary things when they were alone. Why wouldn't he let her have other friends? Her face hit the dirt as she tried to muffle a frustrated shout and failed.

La listened to Oduvanchik as best she could. He was angry, fuming, annoyed, and distracted, and as long as La had him sitting she figured it was time to try a different angle with him.

"What is rightfully yours, Oduvanchik, and what makes it so?" she asked. She spoke to him more softly than she ever had before, both because she was trying to get to the bottom of his rage and because she was very tired. She accepted flowers from the squirrel and gave the small mammal an appreciative nuzzle before she looked up again at The Demon. "There are few things that are rightfully anyone's in The Endless Forest. We have the right to exist, the right to eat and sleep and seek shelter and families. But most of us have only a few possessions. We are not what you are used to, Oduvanchik."

Nothing he could say would make them understand. If there was any hope, he would have to start from the beginning.

The non-deer stag sneered at these creatures, remembering what happened last time he opened up to humans. Reaching out often resulted in betrayal and it was a long story. Oduvanchik thought about calling over Tanpopo, both for personal comfort and he believed she would eventually have to know.

She was creeping closer, inching forward on her belly so she could hear them better. She wouldn't stand out so much if she wasn't bright red and flapping her antler-wings as hard as she could as if they would propel her forward.

He sighed. "I..." How could he explain hundred of years of rejection and ungrounded fear. Lies he turned into truths for the sake of his existence. If he had not become what he now was, he would still be mourning the loss of his former life. "I was the guardian of a Forest." he finally said.

He told them about the living forest; Plants and animals and people who lived and spoke to one another with only love and understanding. There was no such thing as evil or cruelty and the only fear was death and the loss of those you could not protect. They were artists. The residents of his forest spread their message through crafts and music and welcomed strangers into their midst. That was their downfall. Outsiders didn't understand or want to.

They burned the forest, killed his family, and called him Devil; and after so long, that is what he became. His hatred for humans fueled thoughts of vengeance and he swore to make their nightmares reality. Every tale they wrote about him inspired new ideas of torment and trickery. He soon grew to love it as his once vibrant heart petrified, causing even more heinous means to flow through and tear apart many lives.

Before he came to these woods, he explained to the girls, he was fleeing from one of his own kind. Every heart he broke and every soul he stole still resided inside Oduvanchik's spirit. A constant reminder of that pain and despair. There was a way to free them, but he didn't want to. Every one of them deserved what happened to them and he refused to release them from that horror. The person that chased him into this world, who he referred to directly as his brother on several occasions, was trying to break those souls from his heart.

With no proper resting place, they caused him to degrade into more and more of a monster.

As his tale ended, he huffed again and looked at the squirrel. She was one of his kind as well, he could smell it off of her. His long tale flicked menacingly like a cats. If she knew he was here, how long until others found him?

Odu glanced at La. "I know that I haven't really answered your question..." he looked down as more of his shattered face repaired itself slowly. He was trying not to become overwhelmed again. "But you must understand that I have no intention of hurting the one soul who wants to be with me."

His long feathers grew back slowly as he gestured to Trout. "And you... Don't bite off more than you can chew." he said sternly. Her over willingness to absorb pain would only hurt her in the long run. Odu knew that from experience.

La nodded to Trout. "Out spirit, yes. Our names." At the thought of her name, La's reduplicating circles and triangles glowed brightly above her head, pulsed a few times with her heartbeat, and dimmed back down until it would only be visible to those who were listening carefully for it.

Despite herself, she did sympathize with Oduvanchik. His life had been painful, but his reaction to his suffering had only caused more. She was quiet when the squirrel spoke.

"A person," La explained softly, "Cannot be a possession, Oduvanchik. You cannot treat Tanpopo like the souls that you keep prisoner inside of you unless you want her to join them in eating at you from the inside out."

Trouts eyes grew wider as Odu told his story, she nodded along a few times, to show her understanding. And at his admonition, she ducked her head and stiffened her jaw. She didnt know what to say. After La and the squirrel spoke up, Trout let the stillness linger while Tan made herself comfortable, and when Odu pinned the squirrel, she bleated loudly and popped back up to her feet in protest. She spoke up, stumbling over her words, and making quite a din as she did so.


"Yo-o--u D-o-o-nt li-i-ke be-e-i-n-g u-u-sed o-o-r fo-o-r-ced. Yo-o-our Bro-o-other Tri-e-ed to-o fo-o-rce. Yo-o-u-ur Fo-re-est wa-as u-used. Y-o-ou w-i-ill co-o-r-r-u-p-t T-a-an i-if Yo-ou d-o-o-nt le-et he-e-er lo-o-ve yo-o-u Wi-il- (Trout ran out of breath and took a deep gasp before continuing) Wi-i-lli-ingl-y. Yo-o-u a-a-re lu-u-cky to-o-o ha-a-ve he-er. Do-ont ma-a-ke th-e sa-a-me mi-ista-akes th-a-a-t de-e-stro-oyed yo-o-u a-and yo-u-ur fo-ore-est... (Deep breath) wi-i-th thi-i-s for-e-e-st and wi-i-ith TAN."

She blurted out the name of her friend without a stutter at the end. And turning, she nuzzled behind Tans ear, and then bumped the underside of La's chin, panting. Forcing out so many words was exhausting for her, and she hoped that her foreshortened statements did not simplify her reasoning so much that Odu would not give credence to her thoughts.

"Well said and well spoken," La told Trout with a nuzzle.

"Oduvanchik, crimes against you do not justify treating others poorly. I think that you have suffered such that you have a poor gauge of when you are hurting people. Or you simply do not mind hurting people that care about you. But you must trust me when I tell you that you won't get any of what you want in the long run if you don't let it come to you."

La glanced to Tanpopo creeping towards them, and gestured with her head that Tanpopo would always be welcome right next to her. The next bit of trouble was the squirrel. She breathed softly as she planned her action, and used what strength she had for a burst of energy. She leaned her head forward, tilted it sideways, and used one of the hands on her antlers to pull the squirrel out from under the demon's hoof and back towards her and the fawns.

Trout stuttered and her eyes peeled wide in terror when Odu brought his gaping maw to her face. She tried to flee, her muscles coursed wildly across her body, causing her flanks to shudder and her legs to tremble, but she could not budge an inch.

Her fear fueled the darkness swirling from her, and unlike her own experience of letting it slip away, having it forcefully siphoned out of her seemed to give the pain a gravity. She felt as if something icy were slithering through her veins , grabbing onto her from the inside out and dragging her closer to Odu.

She held her ground stubbornly, furrowing her brow and closing her eyes tightly as the last of it was taken from her. She understood what was happening, but the feel of it was very, very, dangerous. Still, she resigned herself when Odu closed his mouth, and she turned her head to the others, an awkward expression painted plain across her face.

"I-i-im O-o-ka-ay." She reassured everyone, and then gave Odu a meaningful look. He was walking that fine line alright, between Monster and Saint. She knew Odu's choices and interpretations of others, even in the smallest degree, could tip the balance one way or another. So she did the only thing she could think of in such bizarre circumstances.

Trout leaned forward and nosed Odu under the chin.

"I ca-are a-abo-out yo-ou to-o O-odu-u."

The squirrel gave La a nuzzle to thank her for pulling her out from under Odu's hoof. Then she turned to watch as Odu attempted to make things right by helping Trout. She knew he was helping, but could not help being on edge until Trout confirmed that she was alright. At this, the squirrel eased up until she noticed the look Tanpopo was giving her. So this was the fawn everyone was arguing over? She was certainly cute... And yet their was something different about her. The squirrel inspected the aura surrounding Tan. She had seen this aura before.

She had been collecting when she had seen this fawn playing with the squirrels in the forest. She distinctly remembered taking the time to play with her.

She gave Tan a small smile and then shrugged.

He grimaced. Odu was also aware of how awkward it was asking someone for such things.

Hi there! I'm a demon and you have some tasty looking energy. Mind if I relieve you of it?

If it didn't sound strange enough, he laughed at the thought of someone who understood his plight and still refused. Some souls NEED that pain in order to justify their hatred.

Just like him.

He made himself sad. His pelt darkened and wrinkled again as he turned to Trout.

"Why do you care?" Oduvanchik asked.

La's pride for Trout was immense. She'd spoken not only words but paragraphs today, and not only paragraphs but profoundly intelligent paragraphs.

She let Trout speak, believing that Trout's affection for Oduvanchik outweighed her own, and that he would be better off hearing news from a child. La formed her words carefully before speaking him. "You stayed in this forest for a reason when I met you. I think that you should look for what that reason was and look to live your life as peacefully as possible, as we do."

La could not help but feel a needling fear in her heart as Tanpopo drew near Oduvanchik. I don't know if I can save you again, she thought sadly. She didn't even try to stand up, knowing that would be a painful task for later in the day. Possibly tomorrow.

"For my part," she added in a less forceful voice, "I find happiness most nourishing."

La's brows raised with concern for Trout, not understanding the source of Trout's emotions at first and fearing that she was hurt. After a quiet moment of frozen surprise, she melted into a smile.

"Oh Trout, dear," La said chuckling, pressing her cheek against Trout's for nuzzles. "It's been a big day, hasn't it?"

The squirrel looked around the area observing these creatures. She admired them. They were so kind and understanding. They saw the good in Odu, even when he could not.

She watched, with great amusement, as the playful little red fawn hung off of the powerful 'demon'. Tan was so happy and unafraid of him despite the incident which had just occurred. It was amazing how quickly everything seemed to have calmed down. Until Trout had showed up, she thought she was going to have to truly fight Odu. She was glad it had not come to that.

Hearing all of them starting into their relieved, friendly conversations she turned to leave. She had never really spoken to the creatures of the forest before and was unsure of what they would think of her. She had only observed them while she was going about her daily tasks. Then she stopped and smiled at La.

"Should hyu ever need assisstance again, Hy am always around the forest."

Just as she was turning to leave again, the squirrel noticed Trout beckoning to her. She was slightly confused. She had never interacted with the creatures of the forest this much and did not expect them to react to her leaving. She moved closer towards the unicorn.

"Hyu want me to stay?"

She smiled. Not only did they know her, but they were now her friends. She skipped over and curled up on Trouts back.

Trout curled her neck over and played at the squirrels soft tail with her lips , flattening half of it into a neat triangle before carefully bending her knees to rest. She liked having the squirrel on her back, and did not want to topple the creature, so she seemed to drop to the ground in slow motion as she settled between La and Tan.

Her ear flicked back, overhearing La, but she did not say anything lest the Doe's tact and timing be disrupted. She wondered what La had planned for the little creature... No doubt it was a good plan.

When trout turned her head back to Tan and Odu, she caught a glimpse of a wide winged brown bird with white underbelly and pinions in the trees beyond. With a small cant and a blink, she realized it was not a bird at all! The book perched proudly overhead, as if it were observing the scene.

The squirrel smiled at La. She did not know what she would ask her to do, but she did not mind. She simply nodded in agreement. She was very comfortable with these people. She had not felt this comfortable around others in awhile. She did not even mind the unicorn playing with her tail.

It was then that she realized that she had never introduced herself to her new friends. However, as she open her mouth to properly make herself known, she noticed the strange look that Tan was giving her. Her body tensed up, not knowing entirely what to expect from the little fawn.

La smiled, but had to force it. Her leg ached. It wasn't broken or damaged beyond repair, but it certainly needed time. In between she wouldn't be able to play very much. She sighed very quietly and hoped that they wouldn't mind if she just watched.

The squirrel relaxed her muscles as she brushed some saliva off of her fur. She turned towards La and introduced herself.

"My name is Twist, und hyu may all call on me whenever hyu need help... Now, if hyu vill excuse me-"

Twist then turned towards Tanpopo and began running, stopping to see if the fawn was going to chase her like the first time they had met.

((thank you again for both pictures you did of Twist so far, Fairy! they are both awesome!))

La yawned and took advantage of the sleeping Trout by making her side a pillow. She snored. Loudly.

(This seems a good place to wrap up the whole thing.)