The woods were dark and deep, but Longheat nights were cooler by far than the scorching days and if Jigano had to be outside, he preferred the cool of the evening now that summer had truly set in across the land. Besides, it wasn't as though he was unused to moving around in the dark; he was a man who preferred to stay up late and sleep in late as well, avoiding dawn as much as possible regardless of what form he wore.
But his fox form was the one he had known since birth, comforting and as much a part of his soul as his name and desire to learn, and that was the one he wore now as he trotted through the dark underbrush with sure steps, dainty feet familiar with the ground he had been traversing for most of a year.
Two other foxes trotted on either side of him, their red coats blending into the nightbound forest even as Jigano's pure white fur picked up stray moonlight like a ghost as he led the way to a small clearing, ignoring the small creatures they stirred up with their passage. He had let his assistants for the evening eat their fill already, and even though he knew they still wanted to chase and hunt and play with the prey that skittered and hopped and tunneled away from them he kept a light geas on their thoughts, coaxing as much as compelling, and testing how light his control could be before they slipped it.
The trio spread out around the clearing, forming a foxy triangle so that the white one could see both of the red ones as he sat and tilted his head to the side, sending out a trickle of thought to test how well he could convince - or control - their actions as he urged them to pick up a pair of sticks and place them into an X shape in the middle of the clearing, seeing how much of his own will he needed to exert to get them to follow his mental instructions.
Patton
05-27-2019, 01:57 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-27-2019, 02:00 AM by Patton.)
The moonlight coated the world in a ghostly glow and the creatures of the night took control over the environment. One of which glided silently through the trees, her dark feathers causing her to disappear against the canopy. Even the dapples of moonlight that broke through seemed to become engulfed by her dark form. This was her world, her element. Even if she was a stranger in a strange land, night was still the same, and the moon welcomed her in its cool embrace.
Suddenly, a flash of bright on the forest floor caught her perceptive gaze. Patton landed gently on a high limb and gazed down. A white fox? Well that wasn't entirely impossible, but it was followed by two red ones. The young owl knew that foxes were solitary creatures. Why on earth were they traveling together? Not only that, but they weren't nearly as silent as foxes usually were. They were traipsing through the underbrush, stirring up numerous rodents, reptiles, and other creatures of the undergrowth. And oddly enough it didn't look like they were hunting. Were they that well fed? Well she certainly wasn't. As a vole was stirred out of it's hiding spot, Patton swooped down, following it a short distance from the wolves before striking, carrying the small creature up to a limb of a tree on the edge of a clearing.
As the owl began to tear into her meal, she kept an eye on the foxes. As they entered the clearing, the white one stopped and the other two walked opposite of it, facing back to the white one. What kind of fuckery was this? Leaving her half eaten meal under her claw, her attention turned fulling to the trio of foxes as the two red ones wandered off. This was far to unusual to not pay attention to.
The foxes were not naturally inclined to pick up sticks and cart them around, much less to place them with precision under his mental urging - a little to the left, no, the other way. Down a bit. There! - and he had to focus his will to get them to obey. The trick was to impose his will lightly, just enough to get them to do what he wanted, without completely overriding their instincts or sense of self. What he wanted to get a feel for was just how much he needed to push that force with actions that were progressively less natural, though harmless enough to his test subjects. He didn't like forcing them... but he had run into enough dangerous situations to know that someday he might have to in order to save his friends and family, and when that day came he needed to know exactly what his limits were, and how much he could ask - and how much he could compel.
Somewhere nearby he heard the sounds of some small creature being torn apart. An owl or some other nightbird hunting, he assumed, since the sound came from above and behind him. Large white ears flickered back towards the sound, but it was a natural enough noise that for the moment he had no reason to question it. Instead he turned his attention back on the foxes who sat on either side of the sticks, regarding him with golden eyes in the night.
Tilting his head the other direction he ordered both foxes to begin digging a hole behind the sticks, pushing with his will to nudge them into action as he sent them a mental image of what he wanted. Without hesitation the pair went to work, small paws working swiftly to tear into the grass of the clearing and then the dirt beneath, sending volleys of it flying behind them into the dark.
Patton
What kind of fuckery was this?! Her eyes widened when the foxes gathered the sticks and then placed them, taking time to create a perfect cross. They then began to dig a hole next to it. While a fox digging a hole wasn't necessarily unusual, everything else certainly was! And the whole while the white fox remained still, sitting and watching the other two go about their work. Was it some kind of spirit? Was this some kind of ritual? Patton had no idea. But she was going to find out.
There was so much she didn't know about this world. Locke had always been so reserved with everything. There was so much he had never told her. He always said it was to protect her, but she knew that was bullshit. He only ever wanted to protect himself. But from what, she didn't know. However, she had encountered the occasional spirit growing up. They had always been violent and angry, but they could cause the local fauna to behave oddly. It was the most obvious way to know that a spirit was in the area back home. Patton was preparing to be extremely cautious, she didn't want to invite a spirits wrath.
Gently picking up her half eaten meal, she stashed it in a small crevasse in the trunk of the tree she was sitting in. Opening her dark wings, the owl silently glided through the air. She drifted over the group, looking at the trio. It was just so strange. What could make them behave in this way? After a circle above them, she continued on to the other side of the clearing, gracefully landing on a branch in a tree opposite where she had been before. From here she could see the front of the white fox. If it was some kind of spirit, she hoped to be able to find out from here.
He urged the foxes dig for a little bit, having them adjust their positions slightly so the whole was deep rather than too wide. He had a glimmer of an idea as to what he wanted them to do, but he could already tell from how he had needed to direct them in placing the sticks that he would need to oversee such an activity personally, rather than giving directions and letting them do it themselves. They were clever, these foxes, but they were still just animals, and abstract thought wasn't their strongest suit.
He had just called a halt to the digging and ordered them to collect more sticks when a dark shape flew silently by overhead, only noticeable from the way its dark silhouette momentarily blocked out the moon-and-starlight above. He cocked his head up to watch its flight and landing, blue eyes narrowing in slight suspicion. Not that he didn't see the occasional owl out hunting at night, but little barn owls didn't usually linger around foxes. Healthy owls might be safe, but the young, sick, or injured occasionally fell prey to hungry vulpines. This dark-feathered adult looked sleek and in its prime, though, so its curiosity was equally curious to the fox. He left a light order on his 'assistants' to keep gathering large sticks, and turned his attention to the owl.
Who? he asked dryly, his mental voice soft and still tentative as he forced himself to reach out to this potential stranger... who still might just be a normal owl. But at least no one would be around to see him making a fool of himself if it was!
05-27-2019, 08:04 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-27-2019, 08:31 PM by Patton.)
They were done digging, and began gathering sticks again. What the actual...?
"Who?"
The voice startled her. She hadn't heard it with her ears. It had reverberated from some deep confine of her mind. Something she had never experienced before. She fluffed up and looked back to the white fox, seeing him stare at her. No, that wasn't possible! Unless... holy shit it was a god! Eyes widened in terror. Spirits were dangerous, but gods? Gods could rip you from existence and tear your particles apart. Patton quickly turned and jumped off the limb, beating her wings hard to gain as much speed as she could muster. She had to get away form here, now.
Locke had warned her about spirits, but he had been even more adamant about gods. Gods had powers beyond imagination. They could seep into your mind and overcome every fiber of your being, turning you into some grotesque shadow of who you once were. They played with mortals for sport and enjoyed taking people and toying with them. Patton wasn't going to have anything to do with a god. She didn't even care about the half eaten vole she left behind. Her life was worth more than a meal.
Well, that was unexpected. Jigano tilted his head the other direction in bemused bafflement as the owl startled and took off - startled by his voice in its mind, something that a normal owl wouldn't have been able to hear. I didn't mean to startle you... he called after her, his mental voice plaintive and a touch guilty. It was the same thing Remi had done to him when the hawk had seen the fox for the first time, and the bard had been angry and upset over the unwanted mental intrusion. He couldn't blame the owl Attuned for feeling the same, and chasing after her would only scare her worse...
And he didn't want to repeat Remi's mistakes.
A regretful sigh drifted through the Attuned mindlink, if she was still close enough to hear it, but he made no attempt to shift forms and go after her. Ravens didn't fly well at night anyways, and she would easily outpace him in the dark. Instead he turned his attention back to his foxy minions, who had gathered enough sticks for him to begin directing them to place the long ones over the hole, using their noses to nudge them together before placing the next, creating a trap, of sorts, albeit a very obvious one. They didn't understand what they were doing, their minds restless and bored with these seemingly useless, repetitive, unnatural tasks, but he eased his mind into theirs and coaxed them to continue, gently correcting them when they needed more guidance and leaning a bit harder to get them to keep at it when they tried to break free of the compulsion.
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