Roleplay

[size=2]@Yinny[/size] [center] [img]https://i.pinimg.com/736x/04/02/bf/0402bfaab49e2dd0a5549de21316b23a.jpg[/img] [img]https://f2.toyhou.se/file/f2-toyhou-se/images/41870999_LjLrRGJXCNNzdJE.jpg[/img][/center] [size=4][b]Near Lake Wenatchee: Hidden Lake Trail [/b][/size] Morning was dawning upon the Cascades, gradually raising the temperature to a comfortable spring. It was relatively quiet out here, compared to the human-populated areas of Washington. A peaceful escape from the bustling. The only business shared was that of bird calls. - Returning to consciousness within the shelter of his vaguely-hidden cave, a cryptid uncurled from their moss-bed. Once on all fours, his stretched his long limbs in a manner similar to that of a large feline before getting up on his two feet. He groggy... Like usual. There wasn't much sleep to be had when Bouche decided to stay up at very late hours to stalk around for some entertainment... And maybe scavenge some human camps for a snack. The woodland critters that made up his diet usually hid away during the night, so hunting during the day was a must. He may have been a little faster than the larger members of his species, but his still-towering height made it difficult to sneak around. Even if he were on all fours... He was a large being. Everything would have been easier if he had a group. He was planning on traveling along the human trail to an area he knew to be well populated by ungulates... And campers. Maybe, if he was lucky, they would throw something out to their canines. It was pretty common to see those smaller variant of wolves follow the humans around... Spoiled creatures. After waiting for the sun to rise a little higher, the cryptid left the cave and began trekking down the path that cut its way through the pine trees.

[img]https://picrew.me/shareImg/org/202204/257476_f9RtmVJD.png[/img] Rosalio wiped the sweat off his brow. It was a warm day and he was wearing 3 layers of clothing because for some reason, getting on the road while it was still dark seemed like a good idea at that moment. Don't judge him. The camper circled his newly set up tent, making sure everything was connected properly before throwing his stuff inside along with his coat and outer shirt. His lumberjack shirt was more than enough. Next, he quickly made a circle with stones he found around and build up a small fire for breakfast. "Dolly!" he whistled "C'mere girl!" The said St bernard who was bashing in the sun next to the lake they build their camp on lazily trotted over to him. Saliva dripped down her jaw as she watched Rosalio open the little backpack strapped to her back filled her bowl with wet dog food, a quill egg, and some raw meat. He placed it in front of her and then get inside his tent, he still had a lot of unpacking to do after all.

Now that he was getting some actual sun, Bouche began to warm up and wake up, but only a little bit. He was still sleep deprived, like usual. He knew it wouldn't feel that way in an hour or two though. His hunting trip started out broad, he cut through the forest at some point, but returned to the trail and tried not to deviate from his original plan.

Even if there were no deer drinking at the area he was heading too, he could still catch some fish. He'd be satisfied with that at least. Though more was on his mind than just deer and fish.

-

Eventually, he made it to the area he went to rather often. Not many campers decided to camp near here together, it was first come first serve. Which was good for him... Lone campers most likely were not going to try and kill him. There had been too many times where a group from multiple, large shiny boxes attempted to gang up on him, all for just borrowing a piece of meat- Okay, maybe it wasn't borrowing when he ate it.

Still, he was kept on high alert.

As he deviated from the path and began cutting through the trees for better camouflage, he picked up on something... The first thing he sensed was raw meat... Then egg... And some other oddly familiar smell. He couldn't figure out what it was yet. He could also sense a human and some animal, probably one of those little canine things. He began to head towards the scent with caution.

He got down on all fours once he reached the treeline, partially hiding behind the bushes and peaking his head over to take in the view. A small camp set up by the lake, just what he was hoping for! It could have been seen as lazy to want and steal some excess food from humans but... They had some really tasty treats. Deer meat and squirrel got really tiring after a while. He may as well spice things up for himself.

What he didn't expect was the absolute size of the canine. This dog was just as big as a real wolf, possibly even bigger, though it may have been an illusion from the fur. Either way, that was a big pooch. Nothing he couldn't handle. He didn't even seen the human outside, there was movement in the tent.

He made his move, deciding he'd try to scare the canine. Very carefully, he creeped to the very edge of the bushed before leaping out and into the clearing. He stopped a few feet away from Dolly, rearing up and standing fully up on his back legs. He spread his stance in an attempt to be intimidating and let out a terrible shrieking noise, similar to that of an elk call.

Rosalio smoothed out his sleeping bag with a low hum. Sleeping place? Check.

Hmm, food? Check. Flashlight, solar panel to charge his phone, a shotgun, flare gun, rope...all check! The camper sat back for a moment to relax then hung up his small lamp. Maybe he could read a book after breakfast? Wait, what should he eat? Dammit, he should have planned a little better, well, at least he brought a fishing rod in case...



Dolly chomped down on her food faster than a crocodile could swallow.

It was a beautiful day and Rosalio didn't bring the slow-eating bowl that she hated. She paused a moment to chew and trotted over to the lake, sipping the cold water as a rather nice breeze ruffled her thick fur. She trotted back to the bowl of food, panting as she did so.

Their campsite was the perfect temperature with big tree leaves partially blocking the sun, golden rays of sunshine boring down on them without too much heat.

Her ears twitched as a bush made a little noise and her head excitingly shot up. Squirrel? She tilted her head to the side and looked around.



Only to let out an embarrassingly terrified howl at the loud screech. Forgetting she was supposed to be a guard dog, she whined and leaped back, covering for a second before starting to growl and bark loudly. Trying to alert her human even tho the screech was probably more than enough.




"F@ck!" Rosalio shot up so fast that he accidentally hit his head on one of the metal support beams on his tent. 'Elk-' he quickly got his flare gun to scare it away.

It was breeding season and a male elf would have NO problem trampling his barely one-year-old Saint Bernard. He got heads up from 4 different people about the elks. He'll, even the weird guy who tried to warn him about a 'giant with only teeth on his face!' That 'Feast on human flesh!' He paused to stare at his shotgun before quickly strapping it to his back. He would DEFINITELY get a ticket for killing an elk in the breeding season but did damn them. It was in self-defense.


He jumped out of his tent, glancing at Dolly before quickly aiming at where she was barking at and...freeze in horror.


WHAT THE F*CK IS THAT THING!?

The brunette man stared at the tall figure, his body refusing to respond to him. It was, tall, so damn tall with gigantic teeth and, and-

Dolly's barks were even louder now. She had moved closer to him.

Damn it, it ate most of the food already...

Bouche was disappointed by there being less than half of what he sense left in the bowl. That canine looked meaty... Surely it could spare some food...? Though as expected, it didn't seem to want to give it up. Even some of the tiniest canines he came across would bark at him. Some even tried to bite his ankles. Now those were animals with guts.

The whining was very irritating to the cryptid, even if his own call had been several times louder. He hissed loudly at the canine, saliva spewing from his mouth as he did so.
I really am hungry, am I not..?
He did not plan on fighting this dog, he just stood his ground until it was backed away from the bowl of food. With a couple of long gated steps, he approached the bowl and picked it up, dumping the rest of its contents right into his mouth. Half of it tasted like crap, but whatever. Food was food.

As this happened, he could hear some movement in the tent. He planned to just leave after stealing the food and maybe giving the canine a piece of his mind, but he too, was frozen to the spot as the human came out from their nest. They were wielding something dangerous. Something that he never forgot about from the last last region where he had mistakenly called his home.

He may have not looked it, due to not having any eyes to convey fear, but he was terrified that something was being aimed at him. He should have just bolted back into the woods when he could... Too late now. Some humans had terribly good aim.

There was something a little different about this human, their appearance did not look of someone who would hunt for sport... Or dedicate their life to killing a solitary creature who poses no threat to them at all. He expected large bulky males, their hair short and hidden beneath little splotchy caps of hide, their face covered in fur that varied in length greatly. But no, this human looked completely different. Honestly? A nice change... But Bouche still had a gun being pointed at him.

Last time he'd been shot, it took ages to heal up, nearly killed him a few times before well, he had no clue how to treat a gunshot wound. He'd prefer not to go through that agonizing pain again or possibly just die of this tiny chunk of food.

Keeping his movements slow, he lowered his posture and got on all fours. He got down to pretty much the level of the canine, then lower. He hated doing this, seeming so submissive and weak. It made him seem like he was living up to the harassment he'd received when other Mautilore were still around him. He had to do it... He'd done this before, one or twice. It vaguely remembered the humans becoming confused and just running away, but he wasn't sure.

Rosalio let out a breath he wasn't aware that he was holding. His long brown hair slapped his cheeks with the wind and he suddenly remembered he had a gun on his back.

The only problem? He was scared to shoot now.

If it was only 3 minutes before now, he would have no issue outside of being terrified but now that the...creature was...what was it doing again?


It slowly crouched down lower and lower until even Dolly stopped barking with the flare gun following its movements. It looked...calm, at least. So, the flare gun could startle it and make it attack and it could get aggressive while he was switching to his shotgun.

Goddammit, why him?


His eyes scanned the area as Dolly stood guard right next to his legs. Trying to look intimidating but sadly, her intimidation was thrown out the window the second he cowered from the screech. There weren't any other tall figures as far as he could see, they could hide with that posture, could they?

His green eyes spotted the food bowl. It was empty but if his dog was the one who emptied it, it would be filled back up with drool. Also, he didn't put the bowl there and Dolly was trained to not move his bowl, so...it was just hungry?


Expect from the call, that it didn't show any signs of aggression.


Rosalio hummed uncertainly and reached for the backpack strapped to Saint Bernard. Keeping his eyes on the creature as he carefully unlocked it and held up a chicken breast "You hungry, boy?" The camper's already uncertain voice got even more insecure while saying, boy. This better not be one of the things that taste fear, or whatever.


He there the chicken away from them, towards the bush "Yeah, um, go after it! Uh, back to the forest you go, c'mon!"


He was getting the F*CK out of here and NEVER coming back. Never.

Bouche continued to stare the human down, watching as it reached for something from the pack on the canine. Was it getting another weapon? Wasn't two of those loud metal tubes enough?

Thankfully, he was proven wrong a second later. It looked like another piece of meat. He didn't expect the human to start talking to him like he was a dog himself... It was weird. Why wasn't it just running away? Or killing him? This confused him.

A tongue came out and swiped over his teeth and lips. He'd prefer not to drool all over the place, but he was still so hungry... And yet he still didn't move. He was stuck.
You pathetic little hatchling, your pride went down the drain so quick... His mind mocked.

All of the spines along his back and accented around his limbs began to length, like they were fishlines casting out just a little farther. They then began to curl with embarrassment.
Grow a spine! You should have just snuck into the tent and killed the human. Why is that so difficult for you, runt?

"STOP."

The cryptid froze. He hadn't meant to say that aloud. His spines only curled up more... What was he doing? Why was he so bad at being one of his own species?

He slowly began to stand back up, again, not making any sudden movements. He could see the chunk of meat in his peripheral, but he did not go towards it.
Maybe I can reason back?


"Do not... Shoot... Please..."

Admittedly, he sounded very hoarse. He hadn't spoken in a long while.

"Put the hurt sticks down... I will not hurt you. I am just starving."

Rosalio's hand quivered when the...feathers? He'll just call it feathers. The feathers began moving. Growing and curling, while he was fishing on that, his free hand innocuously grabbed Dolly's 'collar' if you can call a bandana that. The camper's hand squeezed the white bandana with pink rose details on it so hard his already pale hand turned white from the force.

Good thing he did too, cuz he jolted in place so hard when the creature firmly yelled that the only reason Dolly didn't go crazy barking and trying to attack the creature who would most likely bite her head off was that Rosalio was keeping her back.

His hands shook as the creature got up, albeit slow enough that Rosalio didn't feel the need to defend himself.

WAIT HOLD UP DID IT TALK-


As the hoarse voice continued by asking him not to shoot, his mood slowly calmed down to a confused state.

Okey, it definitely f*cking talked.



"You can...you can talk..?" He said the only thing his scrambled mind could put together at the moment. Both of his hands lowered slowly, putting the flare gun down as he pulled the saint Bernard even closer to himself just in case.

Bouche's lip curled as he could see the canine badly wanting to come at him. Thankfully, the human held it back. He really didn't feel like being bitten and having to maul a creature who was just trying to defend its friend or whatever.

"Yes." The cryptid responded plainly.

He remained still until the flare gun was on the ground. Once it felt relatively safe enough, he began sidestepping with a hunched-over stance towards when the meat had been thrown. With out taking his attention off of the human and dog, he reached a long arm down and picked up the meat. It was kind of dirty now but... Eh, he ate plenty of grass and dirt.

The meat disappeared in only a couple of seconds. The hole in his stomach felt a little better but... He really should have just tried to fish or something. He felt a little bad for freaking this human out over some mere scraps of meat. Maybe he should have waited to come in the dead of night anyway.

Very cautiously, he returned to a midway point from where he stood versus where he had been standing before. His instinctive curiosity was making the tent practically beckon him to look through it, but he wasn't stupid. That would surely make the human mad if it saw him doing that, right?

"Thank you for not trying to kill me on the spot, human."

Telling that the human was just too terrified to probably even to actually shoot him, let along aim properly, the cryptid decided he would be fine... He was actually interested in being able to speak to someone since well, this human didn't seem like much of a hunter.

"That pet of yours sure is loud... Surprised a nothing has snatched it up."

Of course, it would need to be a massive creature for that large canine to be picked up. A larger member of his species probably could but... He had no idea if any lived here due to how popular it was to campers.

Rosalio watched the creature with a stunned fascination "So, you are aware. Like, you are intelligent?" His talk was more like a whisper to himself, a thought that his scrambled brain accidentally let out.


Okey let's list the facts:

He is in the middle of nowhere, his phone is out of battery, Dolly is going crazy in his grasp, there is a gigantic creature that is just casually talking to him and he realizes he didn't bring anything to make smores with, the only reason he decided to camp out there was to eat smores thanks to nostalgia hitting him like a wet bag of possums just a few days ago.

"Damn..."


He tilted his head up to look at the creature's...face? I guess that counted as a face "Ah," He looked at the enormous teeth for a second before continuing "Thank you for...not 'feasting on my flesh'?" The town weirdo was actually right, isn't that how horror movies always started anyway?


He looked down at his saint bernard, tugging on her bandana and shushing her to calm her down. He should have done it a long time ago. Poor puppy, she must be terrified that he just froze like that.

"I'm...lucky I guess? She is...pretty heavy so it is hard to carry her." The saint bernard sat down on her back legs after finally calming down, panting as she stared at the large creature.

"I know it's a bit cliche but...what, what exactly are you? Heh, I mean, maybe asking why you are not attacking me since that large guy with the short hair was so adamant about coming with me for protection and sh*t is better. I thought he was hitting on me for a sec..." Was he kinda brooding because he wasn't hitting on him? Maybe, yes, no, what are you? A cop?