It was early that following morning when the sun was just barely past its rising point that Noah had found himself downstairs pulling on a pair of boots, he'd been able to scrounge up with the help of Liora. As per the usual, they were hand me downs from the passed Harv like all his current clothes were.
Liora herself was still upstairs completely unconscious sleeping off a night of restless sleep due to a certain blistering scar and uncomfortable squeezing sensation dashing her arm. He wasn't expecting her to wake up any time soon. And that was time he now had to do a bit of exploring to hopefully find something of worth to help her out.
Picking through the doorway and into the dawning farmstead Noah thought, "this is a stupid idea," his feet halting right outside the now closed door to palm his face. "I know nothing about these forest except there are women shaped bee's in it. I don't even know the terrain, let alone the threats. Ohhh, I am so gonna get lost." Noah grumbled and talked to himself, forcing his feet to stride down the porch and past the gate to roam down the path towards the wall of trees that was the Aldergreen forest. The name he'd learned after a bit of chatting with Liora yesterday.
"I don't even have a compass!" he turned to the sky, taking in the direction of the sun, "okay, so that's east, I think." He pointed to the rising run with his right hand head searching around pointing in the direction he believed to be north, which was right into the depths of the forest and over the mountain ranges he could see over the treeline. "So, plan, keep going north, keep the farm to my back which is south, and I should be able to get back if I don't get mauled by werewolves." If there were human shaped bee's, why not human shaped wolves.
Soon finding himself stood just inches from the imposing treeline which could possibly be his destination. Sighing out he psyched himself up, cheek twitching as he continued to think how idiotic and rash this decision was, but still, if it held a possibility of helping out Liora just a teensy bit, it was a risk he was willing to take.
Which was not something he had ever thought he would think, especially for a lady he knew for less than a week at this point. "You were so confident last night Noah, now you're a coward," he snorted and shook his head. "Nope, that's just the sane, rational portion of my mind finally coming out. Welp, it's now or never." He cracked his neck, arm, and knuckles, stretched his muscles and groaned in pain for doing so.
"Into the fray I go!" He animatedly pointed into the forest and stepped forth into the unknown.
***
Exactly thirty, or well, what felt like thirty minutes later, Noah was left still. Standing in the middle of the forest, blankly staring at the canopy of green that left no gap for him to get a view of the sun. "Right, forest, no fucking sightlines to the sky… I should have brought a bloody knife," using that he could at least leave markings on the trees leading him back to the farm.
Turning around, Noah attempted to ensure he was still walking with south to his back but as the tree coverage was so thick it was hard to properly know that. "Why didn't I think about bringing a damn knife! That's like, forest exploring 101!"
Kicking at dirt Noah continued grumbling to himself and continued his trek just a little deeper into the forest. Though mumbling things about how he didn't even know what this supposed treasure was supposed to be. Was it inside a trapped ruin? Was it some metaphysical treasure like that nonsense about friendship? He certainly wasn't hoping it was, there wasn't much physical worth in such concepts. A gold bar at least could be sold for the buckles Liora was going to need to keep herself afloat for a bit longer.
Clambering across the podzol soil, Noah's boots swiftly became caked in mud and crumbling bits of aging leaves that crunched beneath his soles. The forest was silent… for the most part, the wind would sweep the leaves raising oceanic noises from the canopy. Most unnervingly he found was the lack of any real sounds of life. No bugs, no birds, no deer, he hadn't even witnessed one of those Saborian honeybees coming out of the woodwork.
It was disappointing honestly
"What was I thinking," his arms swung, often grasping the bark of a passing tree, not taking notice to the odd white and burgundy flowers that rose at the base of many of the trees and how they wilted and retracted deep into the earth whenever his eyes were not upon them.
Gradually, Noah's breath picked up, a strange shiver coming to course down his spine that sent every bit of hair on his hackles on end. His stride halted and he let out an unnerved grunt and shook his body. His head rapidly swivelling around, searching the forest depth for what it was that was rending his nerves to such a degree.
His voice remained locked deep within his throat as a rustle came from the thick underbrush to his right and drew his full focus to the moving bush from which he could see two faintly glowing blue orbs. Noah gulped, his hackles on end as he stayed locked on the almost animalistic orbs.
Now that whatever it was in the bush had realized Noah had noticed it, it began to move and step out of the bush. What extended first from the leaves was a large, dark blue fur clad hand. Descending from the tips of the hand were dangerous looking nails that easily cut into the earth as the creature pulled itself further into the opening in the treeline Noah was stood within.
As more of the figure became clear, so too did more and more fur finally ending around the shoulder where it thinned eventually shifting into olive tinted skin that made up the main body of the beast. Noah found himself gulping at the sight of it, it was clearly a woman, or, it appeared to be a woman as much like her dark blue glad arms, fur rand down her sides and engulfed the entirety of her lower half leaving a U shaped opening that her blank, olive belly was left furless. The fur running from her groin down to her unnervingly wet and matted crotch was a tint lighter in shade. The darker hued fur also took her legs before ending in large wolf-woman feet also tipped in burgundy nails sharpened to a knife edge point.
"I was joking about the werewolves…" Noah grumbled, his cheek twitching as he met the eyes of the woman who was clambered on all fours slowly moving to circle him in the clearing. As a bit of light flickered through the dancing leaves above and bathed the wolf-like girl in light, her blue eyes shimmered. Her face framed by her thick head of hair, messy and unkempt with strands flowing every which way from the waist length mane from which two-pointed wolf ears rose from the top of her skull.
And while her awfully animalistic appearance and very sharp and dangerous looking claws was a unnerving sight. Noah couldn't help but find his gaze wandering to the woman's two ample breasts, both full and fluffy and would most certainly feel good in the hand. Even the lighter hued pink nipples which stuck out like miniature mountains looked absolutely delectable.
His wandering eyes were quickly pulled away when the woman let out a guttural growling noise and licked her scarlet lips glossy, drool trickling down her chin leaving small droplets across the ground. She looked hungry, and something about the combo of drool, rigid nipples and moist, matted crotch fur told him it wasn't for food, but for something a whole lot more lascivious in nature.
"Uh, h-hi. Let's not get ahead of ourselves- ghg!" Noah lifted his hands up towards the wolf girl, a sign and attempt to seem not at all imposing to the muscled wolf-girl. Though it only seemed to bite him in the ass as the very moment his hands lifted, the woman lunged, her clawed hind legs dug into the earth sending her flying towards him.
Luckily, Noah had what could be amounted to a decent bit of hand-body coordination from his gaming days and was able to send himself clashing with the earth to the side. Rolling across the ground and onto his back about to shoot to his feet and run, complaining internally how he had been an idiot to think exploring a forest would be so easy.
As he came to learn the moment his hands clasped the earth and power was forced into his arms, wolf-girls weren't so kind as to let their prey get away.
When she had lunged and Noah had dodged, she was able to quickly land on all fours and spun around, once again pushing herself across the ground in a sprint to spring up and ram her full weight down onto Noah's back, forcing him flat onto the earth where he tried to flail and spin around to hopefully push the woman off.
He failed, completely. The woman was much too strong for his frail, skeletal body to handle. An example of her sheer power being when she gripped his side and flipped him onto his back leaving him airborne for a single second before landing back down with the dark skinned wolf girl straddling him leaving a portion of his pants a bit damp from her dripping wetness.
He swallowed spit stuck in the back of his throat, "Uh… down girl?" it was worth the try. Emphasis on the 'try' as all he got was a starved grin that revealed large white canine teeth hidden right beneath her plump red lips.
She wasn't going to go down. But something was certainly about to go down.
"I really should have thought this through…"
*****
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Holy shit, an actual new chapter finally comes out. Colour me surprised.