Willow

Description: Willow, or as the humans call them, Forest Guardian, is an unknown mix of different animals. From a distance they look like a deer. But as you get closer you can see long ears, long chest fur and tail, and what looks to be the nose of a rabbit. Their appearance also completely changes when the sun sets. Their fur becoming various shades of blue, and the lightest shades of blue (ears, tongue, paws pads, tail) seem to appear bioluminescent and glow at night. Scientist have tried to get and exact height and have noted that they're roughly the size of a female Timber Wolf. 

Habitat: A large fenced in forest that spans over 200 acres. Where they sleep is currently unknown though. 

Scientist Discovery:

Sept 1970: Creature seen spotted roaming around a forest just outside of a town

Oct. 1985: Lost hiker returns safely saying how they followed a blue light; possibly two creatures? Called Forest Guardian

Jan. 1990: A scientist goes into the forest to do more research on this "Forest Guardian". Also put out some trail cams in case he couldn't get close. Found them just as the sun was setting and discovered they had a "night form". Named them Willow as he found them under a willow tree. Applied to have over 200 acres of the forest fenced off.

Jan. 1993: Fence was approved and built. More trail cams put out. Noted on later through cams that they don't seem to need food/water to live but will occasionally eat berries. 

Apr. 2008: Missing hunter found dead within the fence. It's assumed to be caused by Willow. More research needed. 

Jun. 2012: Successfully tranquilize Willow and inserted a gps tracker. 

Mar. 2015: Let a known poacher through the fence and watched the cams and Willows gps marker. Noted how fast they were moving towards the subject's location. and in the next instance was pounced on and killed. 

Aug. 2022: GPS marker goes dead, but scientist will often see a white or blue blur on the trail cams.

Sept. 2022: Scientist [REDACTED] noticed an uptick in poaching for one week. leading them to believe the forest guardian is sick or injured. Sent in a team about two weeks later to find said poachers dead. Instructed team to claim it a hunting accident like the past, clean up the bodies and leave berries for the guardian. 

Oct. 2022: Scientists [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] heard wailing/howling through the cameras and looked through the previous years notes, but found nothing as the last notes before 2022 where in 2015. Wrote it down as unknown but finally saw the forest guardian howling on one of the cameras. 

Feb. 2023: Scientist found a hole in the fence, making them belive and worry that Willow got out. As there is no gps tracker to find them. Quickly put an order in to get the fence fixed. And put together a team to search the forest while another two watch the cameras.

Apr. 2023: Still no signs of Willow, until they noticed them on cams one night. They were seen eating berries from one of the bushes by the pond. Noted to get a new gps tracker made. 

March 2026: Old gps tracker went dark back in 2024, never noted by previous team. Field team consisting of Scientist [REDACTED] and Field Tracker [REDACTED] to try and find where Willow resides within the perimeter. The two find a cave with a willow tree next to it, inside appears to be a nest made of moss and berries littering the cave floor. Marked down as possible den.