Chapter Text
You grabbed your backpack and placed it down on the table after opening it up, you then walked over and grabbed some supplies, stuffing them inside along with plenty of food and stuff to drink, and just overall the things you knew you’d need for the little trip you had been planning, you had been planning to go camping in the forest for so long now. After packing everything up you looked at the clock, there was still plenty of time before sunset so you weren’t in too big of a rush.
You looked around before spotting your camera, you quickly grabbed it and placed it into the bag as well, there was no particular reason you were taking it in all honesty, maybe just to film some of the beautiful scenery, after all… That’s what this particular forest was known for, its beautiful scenery and the views, after packing your camera away you then grabbed another bag, this one would be used to gather any items found via foraging because you didn’t want to get your backpack dirty after all so this bag would do to hold anything found that you may want to take home.
After making sure everything was in order and changing into some gear that’d better suit the camping in the forest, you grabbed your backpack and headed out the door, walking over to your car you then quickly loaded it into the trunk, you were already getting very excited, the thoughts of what you could find in the forest, what you might see, and well you honestly just loved nature very much so why wouldn’t you be excited?
As you got into your car, you began to think about the forest, there was o n e thing you had just neglected to think about and that was the supposed rumors of some kind of humongous beast roaming around.
…Not like you believed that anyways, the way people described the supposed creature was absurd, no way anything like that could exist! You didn’t believe it one bit in all honesty nor did you care about looking into it either, no, you were honestly just out here for the views, you weren’t out here for some folktale or weird stories.
You then began driving, luckily for you the forest wasn’t too far away, you began thinking of all the stuff you wanted to film out there, the river and waterfall was one of the many you wanted to capture and then you began to think about the field full of wildflowers, many people had described this forest as the one that has it all!
…Eventually you got to your destination, you pulled your car into a spot that’d be easy to get out from and made sure it wouldn’t get stuck because that’s the last thing you wanted, and then you were quickly getting out and almost tripping because of your excitement to get to your trunk, you then opened it up and grabbed your stuff, you closed the trunk and then began walking, you didn’t want to set up camp directly right beside your vehicle but also didn’t want to stray too far from it either so you decided to find a nice balanced spot, not too far and not too close to your vehicle, once that was done, you began setting everything up.
It took you a long time to get the tent set up and it had honestly began to frustrate you but eventually you managed to get it set up, you sighed and decided to take a break after that was done and reached into your bag to pull out your camcorder, you turned it on and pointed it at yourself giving it a wave “I uh, this isn’t gonna be much, just a nature documentary I guess?”
“Who knows, might find some cool shit, pretty sights, et-cetera… Really excited to just get away from it all, be out here… It’s nice and peaceful” You then pointed it at your setup and then toward the trees “Woah… Holy shit, those trees are huge, a lot bigger than I thought they’d be…” The trees had to be over fifty foot at the very least, after filming the surrounding area you then waved goodbye to the camera, saying you’d film more later and then switched it off and set it back in the bag. After that you went off to go gather some rocks and other things and then some sticks for the campfire tonight, this was only day one, the setup day where you get everything in order.
Tomorrow would be the day you’d be going hiking, filming, and of course foraging as well…! By the time you got enough sticks and rocks the sun was on its way down, descending into the earth or well, that’s what it looked like anyways of course. You went ahead and got the little makeshift fire pit ready to go and then you got out the matches you had taken, you struck one and threw it onto the sticks and sure enough.
There was your fire, you smiled, taking a deep breath and looking toward the sunset, it looked so gorgeous out here, you decided to pull out your camera again and filmed the sunset, commenting on how nice this was and then you let the video linger, watching the sun go down a bit more before shutting it off and putting it away again.
You were just so excited! You couldn’t help it, you wanted to go out right now and explore if you were being honest but you knew better, going exploring at night in a forest wasn’t the safest, too many predators come out late at night to hunt, you then heard your stomach growl and looked down “Oh… Right, food”
You chuckled a bit before grabbing some of the food you packed, you prepared that and got to cooking, once your food was finished you finally took a seat and begun to chow down, drinking some water and listening to the sounds of the forest, the slight breeze was causing the trees and bushes to rustle but only slightly.
You heard birds chirping and even a mourning dove, this was really nice… After finishing your food, the sun had finally gone down, the moon slowly began to rise and at that point you made sure to put the containers you had brought some of the food in away and of course the pot you had cooked in was put away as well, you didn’t want to go attracting any wild animals to your campsite after all and then you headed into your tent for the night, you turned the lantern on to crawl into your sleeping bag and then turned it off once you got situated, you took a deep breath and then slowly closed your eyes.
. . . During the night, you slept fairly well until loud sounds had woken you up and admittedly startled you, there was a gunshot and then a cry but it definitely didn’t sound human but also you had never truly heard a sound like that, either way, you figured it must’ve been some kind of animal so you decided not to go and investigate it and instead laid back down and closed your eyes, the rest of the night went undisturbed and you slept until morning, your eyes slowly opening and you stared up at the ceiling of the tent, had you been at home you would have just continued sleeping in but you wasted little time is raising up, rubbing at your eyes and letting out a yawn.
You then stretched before finally beginning to stir, unzipping your tent and crawling out of there, first thing’s first, you made yourself some breakfast and chowed down on that before finally grabbing your bag and pulling out your camera, you turned it on and smiled, waving into it “So uh, last night was… Relatively good, I heard a gunshot and then a weird ass sound though… Dunno how to describe it, it sounded like a cry but it… It wasn’t human, either way, I’m gonna try and uh, not think about it too much… Time for some foraging …And of course filming, so let’s go” You stood up from your seat and quickly headed off, almost tripping over your feet again because honestly your excitement had begun building up already.
You couldn’t wait to get out there and see all the gorgeous sights, maybe even find some fun little things lying around that you could take back home, you headed down one of the trails that were in the forest, there were a few trails winding around the place but you didn’t necessarily plan to stay fully on the trail the entire time, you stayed on it about halfway into the forest or what you felt was halfway anyways, just filming some of the trees and sounds, occasionally commenting on the scenery, you filmed a few animals that ran by or ones that were just playing around.
And then finally you deviated from the trail, you did have a map with you, you weren’t just gonna go running off into the forest without one, you had pulled it out of your bag when you deviated from the trail to take a look at it, you were heading to the river, the waterfall first and foremost because you wanted to get that on camera before anything else so you began heading the direction the map showed it to be in.
The sounds of birds chirping and the breeze blowing the plants was calming, peaceful even, but you still couldn’t get last night out of your head no matter how hard you tried, you remembered that cry, no… Maybe it was even a wail of pain, it made you frown, thinking about what happened because you knew it must’ve been hunters. You sighed and shook your head, just continuing on until eventually you heard the sounds of the river, the water roaring and rolling, you wasted little time and ran toward the sounds, excitement getting the better of you.
Eventually you saw it, you saw the river and then… The waterfall… You gasped in awe, it really was beautiful, you slowly filmed it, starting from one end of the river all the way over to the waterfall “...Wow… So… Beautiful…” You commented but other than that you remained silent, letting the sounds of the river and waterfall do their thing, that was more than enough sound, you didn’t have to speak, after filming it for a bit you then shut your camera off and put it back inside the backpack, you took out the other bag “Time for some foraging…” You then began walking off in the other direction, there was a bit of a clearing not too far from there so there wouldn’t be as many plants or things obstructing you from gathering stuff.
Eventually you made it there and smiled, it looked cute, the sun shone down on that spot since the trees weren’t obstructing anything here, the grass wasn’t too tall either, it was just perfect, in fact it was the perfect spot to take a break in after you foraged… Which you quickly got to work, you found some cute little mushrooms, some of them you couldn’t take but you admired them nonetheless, then others you found and stuffed into your bag.
You found some plants that could be useful, you knew which were bad and which were good, you took some of the plants around, some roots, nuts, some seeds, and even some cute little rocks that were strewn about, and then you saw the berry bushes, you definitely began picking those and even snacking on a few of them, you did of course leave some behind for the animals and then you sat down in the clearing, taking a deep breath and pulling some water from your backpack.
You took some sips and then looked around, this was nice, this was peaceful… You just listened to the sounds of the forest, sitting there with your eyes closed and occasionally taking a few sips of water, however you jumped slightly upon hearing the nearby bushes rustle, this caused you to quickly stand up, you quickly put your water away and looked over to the rustling bushes, it was coming from those berry bushes that you had just been at, you grew slightly nervous, worrying it might be a bear or something so you quickly grabbed a large stick and something to create a loud noise out of your backpack, if that didn’t work you still had some bear spray you packed.
However nothing came out of it, your curiosity was getting the better of you but you had your items if need be so you took a deep breath and slowly began walking over to those bushes, you felt tense as you stopped at the bushes, hesitation showing in your face, your brain told you to just walk away, to get away from those bushes but something else was telling you to investigate… Being curious, you slowly peered over the bushes and your eyes widened at what you saw, in fact… You weren’t even sure if what you were seeing was real right now because this didn’t look like ANY creature you had ever heard of before.
…The creature was about one foot, if even that tall… Completely white and seemed to be fuzzy all over, the fuzzy fur looked frazzled in all honesty and it had a long pointed nose, you saw its eyes were almost… Squinty, maybe it couldn’t see…? You didn’t know, you had no clue what this fucking thing even was!
You took notice of the toe beans and then finally the fluffy and stubby little tail it had but then you noticed something even worse, red… Red on its fur… Something red and sticky, that… That looked like blood, in fact the closer you looked you spotted a wound on its body and you couldn’t help the gasp that escaped your mouth, that’s when its eyes shot open, beady little eyes looking up at you.
The thing that weirded you out the most is the look of pure terror in its expression, it felt human, too human but it… It wasn’t human… “Pi!” It began crying, just saying ‘Pi!’ over and over again it sounded like it was crying out for something and you noticed it looked like it was in pain, you quickly set your items down and put your hands up in defense “H-Hey hey…! S-Sh sh… Shhh! It’s okay…! It’s okay, I-I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise… O-Oh my gosh… Oh you poor thing…”
You got a little closer and it began struggling, crying out even louder, trying to get up which only made its pain worse “H-Hey please, please… It’s okay…! It’s okay…! I-I don’t wanna hurt you, I-I want to help… Help” You repeated to which it somewhat quieted down but it looked at you in a very untrusting manner.
“O-Okay… U…Um… Okay, so, uh…” You began, noticing it tilted its head “...C-Can… Wait…”
“...Y-You can understand me…?” When it somewhat nodded at you, you began to question if this was even real, was this real…? …Maybe those berries were out of date or maybe you had somehow mistaken them for edible berries, but either way, you felt bad, this creature… Whatever it was, it was hurt, and hurt pretty badly. “O-Okay… I-I want to help… Y-Your wound… It looks bad, w-will you uh, um… Will you let me help you?” The creature looked toward its wound and cringed, whining in pain when it saw the wound for itself and then it looked back at you, still distrusting but could you really blame the lil guy?
There was a long pause before the creature slowly nodded, still giving you a distrustful look “I-I promise, I-I’m not gonna try anything, no funny business” A pause before it nodded “...Pi!” You then took off your backpack and began digging around inside of it, the creature looking between you and it cautiously, you then pulled out a bottle of water and a med-kit and showed it off “Med-kit… To help, with… With your wound, s-since you can understand me… I-I won’t sugarcoat it… I-It’s gonna hurt a bit but I promise, but this will help… Very much” The creature whined but nodded “P-Pi…” You took a deep breath “...I need to get closer to you, to help so please… Please don’t bite or scratch me…” The creature nodded its head and you felt relief.
“Okay… The water, I should say… I-I have to use some bottled water to c-clean the wound a bit… T-The river’s too far away and I don’t wanna risk you bleeding out …Er… Any more than you have already” A ‘pi’ for confirmation and then you got close enough and inspected over its wound, your eyes widening… That was a bullet wound and then it struck you, this… This was what you heard last night! You heard a gunshot and then some kind of weird cry you had never heard before, th-this had to be it! You looked toward its mouth and noticed there was some blood on its mouth “...O-Oh sweetheart… You… Poor thing… Di-Did a bullet get lodged in there?” The creature weakly nodded “Pi…” And then you sighed, you felt so bad for this poor little guy.
“...Did… Did you manage to get it out…?” The creature nodded MUCH to your relief because if it hadn’t gotten it out, you honestly didn’t know how you’d go about removing something like that but then you shuddered upon thinking about how the other must’ve went about getting said bullet out, you shook your head and took some cloth out of the med-kit “This is g-gonna sting… I-I’m sorry, but… The wound needs to be cleaned or uh, it might get infected” The creature huffed but nodded and you wasted no more time in dampening the cloth and you pushed it against the surrounding area as gently as you could, the creature hissed but otherwise didn’t try to bite you or anything.
“I’m sorry little one… I’m sorry, just shh… It’s okay, I’ll get this cleaned up and patched up in no time…” After managing to clean as much blood as you could away you then grabbed some other items out of the med-kit, a wrap bandage and then some ointment that would prevent infections, you were very lucky the creature had managed to get the actual bullet out but also it caused itself to bleed a bit more in the process, but if it still had the bullet in there well… You didn’t exactly know what animal hospital would take a creature like this, that and also you were hours away from one too, and what’s worse, looking at the wound, that bullet could have easily done a lot more damage had it shot just a bit over to the left.
“Okay, this is gonna sting some more, this ointment though will stop the wound from becoming infected…” You gently rubbed some on there, the creature hissing and whining “Shhh… Shshsh… I know, I know it hurts but you’re alright, you’re okay… I got you…” The creature whimpered but tried to stay still as you finished applying the ointment and then you gently wrapped the bandage over the wound.
It seemed to make the creature a bit uncomfortable as it wasn’t used to this but other than that you noticed the creature begin to somewhat relax “P…Pi…” You smiled gently “There you go… Do you uh, have a name?” It tilted its head before just saying ‘Pi!’ again and then you sighed “Ah, r-right… You uh, can’t… Actually talk… Okay um… H-How about I call you… Pipi or… Pip?” The creature seemed delighted with that.
…Even though it’s not the most creative name, you smiled nonetheless as you placed the med-kit back into your backpack “Alright… Pipi it is… Uh, are you thirsty? Or hungry?” Pip nodded enthusiastically “Pi! Pi pi pi!” It cheered and tried to get up, only to begin wobbling so it laid back down, you smiled and chuckled “Don’t move around too much, silly… You’ll agitate your wound, here”
You gave Pipi the water bottle and it looked over it for a few seconds, it was holding onto it in such an awkward way but at the same time it didn’t necessarily have thumbs, in fact its hands or paws just looked kinda stumpy but either way Pip began gulping down the remains of the water and at one point it tried to eat the water bottle which you quickly snatched away.
“No no! Th-That isn’t for eating…!” Pip pouted and crossed its arms “Pipi! Pi!” You sighed and rolled your eyes “Look, I have ACTUAL food if you want, this is plastic, if you eat it, it’ll hurt you” Pip was still pouting but it looked curious as you pulled out a container of leftovers, you opened it up and held it out to which Pipi sniffed curiously at before sticking out its tongue and making a little ‘blegh’ sound you blinked in surprise and sealed the food back up
“O-Okay… U-Uhhh… Here then?” You then pulled out some berries that you had gathered and held them out to which Pipi once again sniffed and then swatted away and you narrowed your eyes “...P-Pipi… Ya gotta work with me here lil guy… I dunno w-what you uh, what you even are so I dunno what you eat”
Pipi looked at you curiously before sniffing the air and then he pointed to your pocket “Pi! PI PI PI!!!” He began frantically to which you were completely lost, you looked down at your pocket before slowly reaching inside and then you pulled out… “...W-What? …That… That’s my wallet, that’s not-” Suddenly Pip motioned you closer, you came closer to him and then he snatched your wallet from your hand
“H-Hey!” You watched as he dug through before seemingly finding what he wanted and then he pulled out some of your money “Wh-What are you doing…?! That’s mi-” And before you could even finish your sentence, suddenly Pipi gulped down the dollar, didn’t chew it, in fact it looked like a dollar getting inserted into a vending machine.
And then Pipi made some very happy sounds, he was chirping and he handed you your wallet back to which you quickly took and placed it back in your pocket, you sighed and ran your hands down your face “...Jeez… Thanks for that…” And then you looked at him, his happy little smile and noises, you wouldn’t deny, it brought a smile to your face even if you had just lost some money “...At least you're full now I guess…? Jeez… I don’t know what you are, you make the strangest sounds, you don’t look or act like any wild animal I’ve ever seen before…”
“...And you uh, e-eat… Eat money apparently… …Say, yo-you aren’t like, some kinda weird experiment or just a person in a costume, are you?” Pipi was still happily chirping before tilting his head “Pi…?” It seems he didn’t know what you meant by that but you hadn’t seen any kind of zipper or anything noticeable making it a costume, so no, this was real, this was a real living being in front of you and you had no idea what it even was, and then you began to think about those rumors you had heard before, about there being some kind of strange creature in these woods.
…But those rumors, everyone had said the creature was massive and this? …This one wasn’t massive at all, you didn’t understand but you didn’t have much time to focus as you looked up to the sky, it’d be sun down soon, not soon enough to where you were worried about getting back before dark but the sun was on its way, making its descent so you looked over to Pipi “...Okay, so… You can’t walk can you…?”
Pipi shook his head sadly and looked down to which you sighed at, a look of sympathy on your face as you leaned closer and gently patted his head “Hey… It’s okay, just… Here, let me pick you up, I uh, you can’t ride on my back because of my backpack so…” You placed said backpack onto your back so you wouldn’t forget it in the long run.
And then you gently placed your arms underneath him, scooping Pipi up as carefully as you could you then stood up and turned around “Alright lil guy… I’ll take you back to my campsite, you can… Stay with me until these wounds heal up, you still seem kinda young so I wonder… I wonder if your mama or papa is looking for you”
You then shuddered, you really hoped they didn’t find you right now, not with their baby in your arms because you’d surely get torn to pieces… Pipi chirped loudly and happily as he nuzzled into you, you smiled at this “...You know, you’re really cute… I dunno how or why someone could have ever hurt you” Pipi looked down sadly at that “...P-Pi… Pi…” You frowned, you already felt so protective over this little one.
“...Well don’t you worry Pipi… Nobody’s going to hurt you again, I’ll make sure of it, you can bet on that one” Pipi looked up at you and you swore you saw him smiling back at you, he chirped even louder at that and nuzzled into you, even yawning slightly “...Just try and rest up while I get us back to camp, okay lil buddy?”
He nodded and his eyes slowly closed and you began your walk back, he was a little heavy and coupled in with the weight of the backpack you were carrying made it a bit difficult but you could manage, you thought about last night as you began walking back to camp, thinking about that gunshot and then hearing that wailing cry, you looked down to Pipi who was sleeping in your arms and you swore you heard a faint snoring sound.
…Poor thing, who could be so cruel to such a cute creature? …Sure, you had no idea what he was exactly but he was adorable! And he didn’t seem to mean any harm, sure he did eat your money just a few moments ago which you really didn’t like still but either way, he seemed content now, he wasn’t in as MUCH pain thanks to you tending to his wounds and he seemed full so you’d let it be this time around.
Eventually you made it back to campsite, actually just by sundown thankfully, you quickly walked over and gently set Pipi down in the tent who started to stir, stretching out his legs carefully, he yawned and looked at you before looking at the thing over him.
Pipi looked somewhat nervous by this new thing but you smiled “It’s my tent, it’s where I sleep at night… It uh, helps me from predators I guess in a way… Did you have a nice nap?” Pipi nodded at that, chirping happily again to which you smiled at “Well I’m glad… It’s already sundown so, I gotta make myself some food, you just stay here in the tent okay…? It’ll be safer that way”
Pipi nodded and then you placed your backpack down in the tent, getting out some leftovers and then walking over to the campfire, you began heating up your food, after that was done you got to chowing away and looking at the sunset, just watching it go down so slowly, it was beautiful like always.
After finishing up your food, you placed the pot away again and then headed back into the tent. Inside the tent Pipi was just looking around, not really moving because that bullet wound still hurt like hell but he was so curious, he wanted to explore around so badly… You could tell as you sighed “...Don’t worry little one, once that wound heals you’ll be able to walk around again I’m sure”
Pipi nodded, looking at you and you noticed the sad look on his face so you scooted closer to him, gently placing a palm on his cheek “Pipi…? What’s wrong?” Pipi made some sad sounding noises, he almost sounded… Like he was missing something …Or someone and then it clicked, you looked at him, feeling heartbroken for the little guy “...Oh sweetheart…”
“...You miss your parents don’t you…?” Pipi nodded sadly “Pi…” You leaned down and gave him a kiss on his forehead “...Listen, I promise, when your wound fully heals, I’ll help you find your parents” Pipi then suddenly looked nervous, eyes wide as he shook his head “Pi! Pi! Pi pi pi pi!!!” He cried to which you looked confused at “You… Don’t want me to help you find them?”
Pipi huffed, looking frustrated as you clearly weren’t getting what he was trying to say and then you thought about it “...Do they not like humans…? Is that it…?” Pipi nodded fast at that before opening his mouth, pointing at you then into his mouth and then he chomped down, he looked very nervous and you admittedly got a chill down your spine “O-Oh… I… I see…” …You were a bit nervous now, what if his parents came looking for him and found you with their baby?
…You shuddered, trying not to dwell on that thought “...W-Well, still… I’ll let you stay here until your wound heals up so no predators get you… And then you can go find your parents, b-because uh, heh… If I’m being honest with you, I REALLY don’t wanna get eaten”
Pipi nodded sadly and nuzzled into you, it seems he’s taken quite a liking to you but you knew his parents definitely wouldn’t feel the same if you encountered them, and you wouldn’t deny you’d hate to see the little guy go, you had already felt so bonded with him as well but even then you sighed, suddenly Pipi seemed to get startled by something to which you quickly looked over at.
Your backpack had fallen over and your camera had fallen out, you noticed Pipi’s fur standing straight out, almost like hackles on a dog and he was even growling a little, you chuckled at that, petting his head “...That’s just my camera sweetheart, it’s not going to hurt you…” You reached over and picked it up and brought it closer to which Pipi growled even louder at before looking at you then looking at the camera and sniffing it, you then turned it on and turned it around, smiling at it “I got a new lil buddy it seems” You then turned it around to Pipi who looked confused before leaning somewhat closer, he was sniffing at the camera and way too close to the lens that it probably looked silly.
“This uh, camping trip has definitely… Gotten a bit more interesting, I’ll say that” You chuckled, somewhat pulling the camera back “Go ahead, wave hi to the camera, Pipi” The creature blinked, looking back to you before looking back to the camera, he used his other arm to wave into the camera
“Pi!” He exclaimed to which you laughed at and then turned the camera back around “...He’ll be staying with me, until his wounds heal up and then I’ll send him off to go find his parents” And then you said goodbye to the camera, until next time and you told Pipi to do the same to which he happily chirped into the camera and then you shut it off.
After that, the two of you settled down for the night, you slept right next to Pipi, a hand gently placed over him and he snuggled up very close to you, his fur would keep you extra warm so that was a plus, the night was pretty peaceful …Until… You were awoken by Pipi making some distressed sounds, you quickly shot up and looked around before looking down to him.
He wasn’t hurting but he was pointing outside the tent and that’s when you noticed, hearing some rustling sounds in the distance, you quickly shushed him “Sh sh sh shhh… Pipi… Be quiet, don’t make a sound, and don’t… Please don’t poke your head outta this tent unless I tell you it’s okay, do you understand?” Pipi nodded and quickly quieted down, placing a hand over his mouth.
You quickly grabbed some of that bear spray you had with you and slowly began crawling out of the tent, you poked your head out, looking around and then you saw a light in the distance, you slowly climbed out of the tent before zipping it back up a little ways and then you stood in front of where the firepit stood and watched as the light got closer, you saw them, two hunters and you had to hold back a glare, they put their arms in the air, waving to signal they seemed to mean no harm so you put on a friendly smile, waving back, still keeping the bear spray close to you just in case they tried any funny business.
“Hey! We don’t mean any harm, we come in peace hahaha!” One of the hunters spoke up as they drew closer, they did stop by one of the little benches so they didn’t get too close to you thankfully “Pretty late at night to uh, be hunting, isn’t it?” They laughed at that “Oh yeah, we figured we’d try and get one more target in before heading on back… That’s all” You nodded, you didn’t wanna risk being rude to them, you just wanted to keep it short and to the point so they’d leave “And what are you doing out here if we may ask?” You somewhat laughed “Oh, you know, just camping out, seeing all the sights, filming and foraging” They nodded at that, one of the hunters speaking up.
“Sounds like a mighty fun time, well uh, we don’t want to take up too much of your time, seeing how late it is so you know so we’ll cut to the chase, you might think we’re crazy but, you ain’t seen no lil critter run by here that’s got white fur all over, squinty lil eyes, and just… Well, it don’t look like no normal wild animal, it might have a bullet wound too”
They laughed at that, it took every fiber of your being not to spray this bear spray in their eyes right now but you took a deep breath and shook your head “No, I haven’t seen nothing like that but I hope you find what you're looking for…” …You really didn’t, meanwhile Pipi just couldn’t help it, he crept a bit closer and unzipped the tent just enough to where he could see, he was worried about you after all!
. . .
Pipi’s eyes widened as he saw those very two hunters that had shot him, they had just began to walk away when he made a bit of a startled noise sheerly by accident then quickly hid himself back in the tent, this caused you to look over to the tent and the hunters to stop and also look over, they got a much more serious look in their eyes at that as they looked back at you, turning back around and then pointing.
“...Did that noise just come from your tent?” You laughed albeit a bit nervously “Oh probably my camera, the damned thing gets… Loud when the battery’s low, I must’ve left it on” You walked over to the tent and pretended to look inside momentarily before turning back around, not moving away from the tent however.
“Yep, the stupid camera is still on, battery’s gettin’ low so I’ll have to change that” …There was a tense aura in the air for the both of you now, the hunters turning fully toward you, their guns weren’t out but still “...And you’re sure you haven’t seen no lil critter?” They asked, you could feel the accusatory tone and this made your eyes narrow
“...Are you calling me a liar? Are you accusing me of something?” The hunters were quick to put their hands up in defense “Easy, easy…! We ain’t accusing you of nothin’! No need to get so hostile, we’re just looking for our target …If you’re sure that was the camera that went off, then uh, why don’t you open up that lil tent of yours and show us and we’ll be on our way”
Your hand gripped the bear spray tightly “...Like HELL I’m going to open up my tent and show two strangers any of my personal belongings, you two are mighty bold you know, because I am just one instance away of calling the rangers on your sorry asses, now I’m only going to ask you o n c e to please leave my campsite” The hunters both laughed and took a step closer
“My my, aren’t you just a feisty little thing, we just wanna make sure that beast ain’t in your tent!” You stood your ground, not backing down at all “There isn’t any sort of ‘beast’ in my tent, I won’t ask you two again to leave or else I’m calling the rangers” The hunters both looked toward each other before nodding, one of them got a bit too close to you and you immediately held up the bear spray, spraying it in his eyes which caused him to scream and collapse to the ground.
The hunter was rubbing furiously at his eyes, screaming and yelling profanities at you and then of course you then heard the sounds of a gun and looked over to the other hunter “Drop that damn bear spray” When you refused he pointed it right at you “NOW” You relented and dropped the bear spray, holding your hands up “...Now you just move away from that there tent and let me check it out, you’re hiding that thing from us, I know it! You’re hiding what we’ve rightfully hunted!” You sneered at the hunter, staying put in front of the tent
“You know, you aren’t hunters, I know your type, you're more like… Poachers if anything, but I am NOT moving from this tent…” The hunter then sneered at you “...If you don’t I’ll put a bullet through you right now” You somewhat faltered at that, meanwhile inside the tent Pipi was hearing everything and he felt terrified.
But even then you shook your head “...I’m not going to let you hurt him, I don’t know who you think you are, coming to MY campsite, threatening me, threatening an innocent creature, but I am NOT going to let you hurt him or take him” The hunter laughed and began stepping closer “You aren’t in a position to really protect anyone, yourself or that damned monster you got hiding in your tent, the thing ain’t natural! It needs to be put down!” He yelled at you.
“And I’m gonna put it down, even if it means I gotta put YOU down first!” And then before anything could escalate, you heard the loudest cry from inside the tent, it caused you and the hunters to cover your ears, it was Pipi and he practically screeched as loudly as he could physically manage more than like.
The hunter couldn’t do anything because anytime he tried to take his hands away from his ears it just caused him pain, he had even dropped his gun but even you couldn’t pick it up, and then all fell silent just like that, the entire forest fell silent but that didn’t stop the hunter from picking his gun back up and shoving you out of the way, pointing a gun at your tent.
“That’s it! You fucking little freak!” The hunter screamed, eyeing it up with the shadow he had seen in the tent, your eyes widened as you screamed out “NO!” You rushed over and grabbed his gun, causing him to shoot up into the air to which he pushed you down to the ground for but before anything else could happen a loud roar sounded off in the distance, this caused you and the hunter’s eyes to widen.
The other one was still down on the ground, not able to see a thing, he was still trying to rub his eyes free of the bear spray but he definitely stiffened up upon hearing the roar, but just then, loud footsteps sounded off, very loud, gigantic even… They were making the ground shake which caused the hunter to stumble and drop his gun, the sounds only got louder and the ground to shake even more the closer it got, it almost felt like a damned earthquake.
It didn’t take long for you to see trees falling in the distance, almost like they were being shoved over, another furious roar echoing throughout the forest, the hunter admittedly looked terrified “W-What the fuck is that…?!” And then eventually the hunter got what he wanted, to see what the fuck that was, or at least… The two of you saw the shadow standing amongst the trees, this thing was massive, it had to be thirty foot tall if not bigger.
The first thing you heard since the thunderous footsteps had stopped was the sounds of loud breathing echoing in the forest before its eyes opened, pink and yellow spotlights illuminating the forest as it stared straight ahead, that was until Pipi cried out again and that’s when its head snapped down, the spotlights lighting the three of you up, the hunter’s eyes widened “...H-Holy shit…” Your eyes were wide too, but the other hunter couldn’t see a thing.
But he definitely heard all that and he tried standing up even though he couldn’t see anything, but then all went completely silent again, the silence was deafening, you couldn’t even hear the sounds of the forest, there was nothing …Until… The beast roared, the loudest roar of all, the winds gusting all three of you over, you fell over with an oof as did the other hunters but unlike you, the hunters quickly scrambled to their feet, getting up and running as fast as they could physically manage.
But that didn’t seem to stop the monster as it growled, slowly walking after them, it seemed to know it could easily just walk and catch up with them no matter how fast it ran, you watched on, eyes widened at what you saw, no… The rumors weren’t about Pipi that’s for damn sure, it was about WHATEVER the hell that thing was! …And then it hit you, that… That must’ve been Pipi’s mom or dad!
Pipi’s cries must’ve alerted it! And then you heard the screams of both hunters but you didn’t get to see what happened, after all its back was turned to you, nor did you really want to see them meet their demise but you did take notice of the multi-colored wings on the creature’s back.
You heard some kind of crunching sound coming from the creature which you could honestly put two and two together in that moment of what had become of those hunters, not that you truly felt bad, it’s what they deserved, it was karma… After that, the creature turned back around, eyes quickly fixating on you who was on the ground and you felt your breath hitch in your throat as the spotlights shone upon you.
You were enveloped in a pink and yellow glow and you were honestly terrified, you were too scared to even try running but you did back up when the creature began walking slowly toward you, you felt tears began pricking your eyes, oh this DEFINITELY wasn’t how your camping trip was supposed to go!
The creature continued walking toward you, even when it was just walking, its footsteps shook the ground beneath you and then it reached down, a clawed hand slowly engulfing you which immediately caused you to panic and struggle “N-NO NO! W-Wait please!” You cried out, trying to get out of its iron-like grasp it had on you but it was no use, it held you tightly in its hand and brought you close to its face, you continued to struggle.
Tears pouring down your face as you stared up at the creature, its nose was long and pointy much like Pipi’s, it had much softer fur, not as frazzled looking, you did notice the weirdly robotic looking part, it looked like the creature had some sort of armor on and you saw some sort of weird blue heart in its chest piece, it had eyes and razor sharp teeth and it was peering up at you.
You didn’t have time to fully look over the creature as it slowly opened its mouth, revealing two sets of razor sharp fangs and a long black tongue that dripped some sort of weird ink-like substance. You cried out as it began lifting you up to its mouth “W-Wait! No stop! P-Please don’t…! Don’t eat me…! I-I’m not a hunter like th-them I-I’m not even associated with them…!” You cried out, putting your arms in front of you, shielding yourself but it’s not like it’d do you any good…
Meanwhile Pipi heard your cries from inside the tent, his eyes widening as he knew exactly what was happening, he quickly leapt out of the tent despite it heavily agitating his wound and he practically screamed up to the creature “PI! PI PI PI PI!” He screamed over and over, flailing one of his arms that he could as fast as he physically could which caused the giant monster to stop immediately and look down, its eyes widening but it looked absolutely relieved rather than angry now.
It still kept you in one hand but used its other one to gently scoop up Pipi, there was a difference in how it was holding you compared to the other, you had squeezed your eyes shut just ready for the worst but all you heard was purring at first… The creature rubbing gently against Pipi who rubbed back somewhat but then winced in pain.
You were still absolutely terrified not daring to open your eyes just yet because you really didn’t want to open your eyes only to find an open mouth. Pipi continued to chatter with the creature, he was frantically pointing at you, the creature tilted its head as it watched Pipi, a bit confused before Pipis huffed and pointed at you and then at his mouth and then shook his head, puffing his fur out rather aggressively.
The creature looked taken aback to see Pipi’s glare but then noticed the wound, it leaned down, getting a closer look to which Pipi pointed over to you and then back to the bandage which the creature sniffed at for a moment before looking back at you, you were still trembling but you hadn’t felt yourself get lifted up or even moved in awhile so you slowly opened your eyes.
You looked back to the creature and oh man was it close, too close… You could hear it sniffing at you, in fact you could feel your hair moving around and then it exhaled, it felt like a strong gust of wind, if the creature hadn’t been holding you securely, you were sure you would’ve been blown away and it also made you blink your eyes rapidly before rubbing at them and then it somewhat leaned back, finally that mouth and those teeth weren’t too close for comfort, the creature seemed to sigh, there was a long pause before it opened its mouth again, hot breath ghosting over you but it didn’t seem to have any interest in eating you now at least…
“Y o u…” Your eyes widened and your head immediately snapped up to meet the creature’s gaze, you were in complete shock and your mouth fell agape, did… Did it just… “Y o u… Saved…” And then there was a pause, the creature didn’t seem like it had spoke in a l o n g time, more than likely years as its voice was raspy “S a v e d… Him…?” The creature then just held up Pipi who chirped loudly, looking at you with a smile but you were just in complete awe and then you realized the other had asked you a question so you quickly nodded and answered it “O-Oh yeah… I-I found him… O-Out in the clearing… He- He was hurt and so… I helped h-him, and then the hunters came…” The creature snarled which made you shiver.
But you could tell the snarl wasn’t directed at you, it seemed angry at the mention of hunters, nostrils flaring before it huffed “I… I didn’t want him hurt or killed, I… I protected him, even when they pointed a gun at me” This made the creature tilt its head, you could see the anger written in its face “...Pointing… G u n s… At… T-T h e i r Own k i n d…” The creature paused before growling lowly, the feathery wings puffing out.
“...Tch, c r u e l…” It sounded like it was in pain so it shortened its sentences down, clearing its throat but you were just, in complete awe, you had no idea the creature could actually talk! “...W-Wait… So… I-I just have two questions… If you don’t mind answering o-of course, I-I don’t want you to hurt yourself” The other looked taken aback by that statement.
You noticed instead of speaking, it looked down at you almost expectantly “H-How come… Pipi… C-Can’t uh, can’t talk like you…?” The creature tilted its head “...Pi…Pi…?” You pointed over to the other who seemed absolutely happy right now and relieved, it seemed to pause for a moment “...Pipi…” It repeated once and only once, it seemed to like that well enough, in fact it somewhat grinned at that before it seemed to think about your question and began chuckling.
“...Just… A… B a b y” …Well that should’ve been more than obvious but you continued on “...Do you have a name…?” You asked and the creature hummed at this, he seemed to give it thought before sighing “...Sneo…” You blinked in surprise “...Sn… Sneo…?” The creature then looked down at you quizzically and for a moment you were worried you stepped over the line, you quickly corrected “I-I don’t mean th-that it’s a weird name…! Just… N-Not what I expected …Then again I-I didn’t expect any of this” The creature nodded at that before finally he cupped both of his hands together, finally letting you free from the harsh grasp.
You felt so much relief at that and then you walked over to Pipi and gently hugged him, being mindful of his wound “Oh Pipi… I’m so glad you’re alright… Those hunters, ugh, I didn’t want them hurting you again” Pipi chirped happily at this and nuzzled into the hug, even beginning to purr a little which Sneo looked surprised and excited at, he had a smile on his face and he purred as well, leaning closer to the both of you, nuzzling you to which Pipi looked up at him.
“Pi pi pi pi…?” He seemed to question to which Sneo leaned back and chuckled at, he glanced over at you momentarily before nodding his head and then Pipi gasped and began cheering, you were a bit confused but it must’ve been a good thing, whatever just happened and then you looked at Pipi before looking back at Sneo “...O-Okay, last question, I-I swear… …When Pipi grows up… Will he look like you?”
Sneo didn’t speak this time but nodded to which Pipi perked up at “Pi!” He seemed confident all of a sudden, grinning even which revealed some tiny sharp teeth and you chuckled “Wow… You’re gonna be all big and scary one day, so you can ward off any more hunters that try to hurt you huh? …E-Erm I-I mean scary in like, a good way of course” You looked over to Sneo who seemed amused more than anything right now and then he lowered you down to his chest.
You looked confused but Pipi didn’t, in fact his tail was wagging in excitement and then you noticed, the armor, where that weird heart thing was in, there was a piece of glass that suddenly slid open and then before you knew it, you were plopped down inside and then you helped Sneo get Pipi in there safely without agitating the wound anymore and then.
Sneo leaned his head down, making sure neither of you got hurt as the glass slid back into place, it was kind of like one of those sliding doors if you were being honest and then you noticed the heart actually moved around, first it went over to Pipi and gave him some gentle nose nuzzles who nuzzled back and then it focused its attention on you and okay, yeah that was unsettling and weird, just what WAS Sneo supposed to be? He seemed organic and then strangely... Not organic.
The heart then slowly made its way to you, its movements almost snake-like as it opened its mouth, some yellow drool leaked out and for a moment you were scared as you scooted away, you noticed its eyes had black squiggles, swirling around inside them and as if Sneo could sense what was about to happen which, you don’t know why he wouldn’t be able to, it's HIS heart, a sudden growl echoed and you heard a muffled
“D o n ‘ t…” A warning in which the heart immediately backed off, looking almost scared, did the thing have a mind of its own or something, you didn’t really know, you didn’t understand Sneo’s anatomy if you were being honest with yourself but you leaned closer and gently pet the heart and it looked surprised at you before its smile widened, it seemed content with you now and even gave you a nuzzle, an apology of sorts you figured.
And you smiled back at it before looking over to Pipi, scooting closer to him and holding him close, you noticed the area began to shift and you looked down, you could see the ground but you weren’t falling, it seemed Sneo had gotten down on all fours all of a sudden, you weren’t sure why until you saw him gathering your things, he even gathered the entire tent up and then he stood up once more, well albeit he stood up very slowly as to make sure Pipi wasn’t jostled around with that wound.
You slid back onto a more stable surface but even with the glass you had honestly felt like you and Pipi wouldn’t break it, you probably weighed NOTHING compared to Sneo, the glass opened again and he placed the tent inside it, there was plenty enough room for the both of you, the heart, and even the tent.
And then finally Sneo began walking, you saw the trees go past, just watching out the window, letting Pipi sleep somewhat on top of you, he was purring and nuzzling into you and you had an arm over him and then you heard Sneo’s muffled voice “Get… Some rest… Both of you, we’ll be home soon enough…” …Home? Well you did sorta wonder just what kind of ‘home’ Pipi and Sneo lived in, what did he mean by ‘home’ exactly? ...You should probably question further into that as you also had a home to go back to but you were far too tired to care.
You yawned, you were pretty tired, today was extremely eventful and stressful, but you would be lying if you said this hadn’t been exciting, so those rumors were true! The only thing about it is, Sneo wasn’t as bad as everyone described him, he was just protecting his babies, that’s all...
Sure, okay, yeah, you were terrified he was going to eat you earlier but once he saw you as no threat, once Pipi had shown him that you meant them no harm, that changed entirely, and also you were very happy to meet Pipi today, you wondered if there’d be more like Pipi when you got back to Sneo’s home, you were excited to meet the rest of them if he had any siblings, you smiled and laid down fully, the heart had closed its eyes as well, you sighed, content for the night, you damn sure weren’t worried about other predators or hunters now.
“...Goodnight Pipi…” You heard a soft chirp, it sounded like Pipi was already dozing off, and then you wished Sneo a goodnight, you were unsure if he could hear you in here but you still tried anyways and you were also still questioning if this was real or not so you decided to test, you reached over and pinched yourself, you winced and okay, that hurt, a lot actually, so this was definitely not a dream or anything....
And in a weird sort of way, you were pretty happy it wasn’t a dream actually, you then finally closed your eyes, you’d be safe in here, you and Pipi both, and you were strangely enough okay with all this, you heard Sneo’s soft purring and even felt it rumbling around you and then the last thing you heard before finally falling asleep was a muffled “...Goodnight…”