Havu

Setting

Havu lives deep in the forest, in an abandoned cottage by a small lake.

Physical description

Havu is a medium-sized black-and-white hunting dog with short and thick fur. She has pointed ears, brown eyes, black nose and pawpads, and a long tail with white tip curled over her back. She's been given a brown collar that matches her eyecolor. There's a small scar on her left ear.

Havu's movements are swift and silent. She has a tough body and is and capable of taking hits; however, she prefers to avoid fighting and flees quickly if threatened. Once she starts really running, it's difficult to catch up to her.

Personality

Havu is a loyal hunting dog who's devoted the rest of her life to protecting the cottage that belonged to her deceased owner. She doesn't trust strangers easily, and if she sees a human or another dog in the forest, she leaves quickly. However, anyone entering the cottage will be faced by a fierce fighter who does everything in her power to drive the intruder away... even if it means a fight to death.

However, Havu is actually quite peaceful by nature, and those who manage to befriend her get to see her friendly and wise side. She has more knowledge than she usually lets on, and she prefers to solve problems on her own rather than leave them for others to handle. However, she isn't very social, and even those closest to her may not see her for weeks at times.

Back story

Havu was born to a small village. She was bought by a local hunter who had two other dogs as well. The man and his dogs treated her well, took good care of her and taught her to hunt, and it didn't take long before Havu considered them a family.

However, Havu's life was soon to be riddened by bad luck. When Havu was one year old, one of the dogs died due to old age. Soon after, the other dog was killed by an agitated moose during a hunt. Havu was the only one left with her owner.

The man didn't take the loss of his two dogs well. He was eating less and less each day, and he stopped hunting, fishing or even taking walks in the forest. Whenever Havu wanted outside, the man simply opened the door and let her go by herself. Havu never left for long, though, and she returned to the man quickly.

Finally the man seemed to be getting over his grief, and Havu was happy to see that he wanted to start hunting again. However, he wasn't physically well after having neglected taking care of himself for so long, and he overestimated his strength. They walked very far away from home, but he was slower than before, and when they reached their usual spot, the man was already tired. It didn't take long before he decided it was time to start heading back. However, it got dark before they were able to return home, and the man led them down the wrong path. Havu trusted her owner too much to doubt his decision.

Finally the man collapsed on the ground. Havu realized her mistake immediately and, as much as it pained her to do so, left her owner behind. She ran through the forest and once she reached the road, she headed towards the village. Soon a car stopped before her, and she ran back and front frantically. Fortunately the people understood her message, and they followed her to the forest, where the man was still laying on the ground.

However, Havu didn't understand what the people were saying. They recognized the man and knew he was living somewhere in the forest. They asked the man if he wished to be brought to the hospital, but he said that he simply needed some rest and wanted to go back to his cottage. Foolishly, the people accepted his decision, and helped him find his way back. It took them over an hour to get there, and by the time they helped the man inside, he seemed barely conscious. They asked once more if he would be okay, and he assured that he would be fine after getting some sleep. The people seemed satisfied with his answer and left, ignoring Havu's distressed barks.

Next morning, the man had barely enough strength to get up from his bed. However, he wasn't eating and he looked very pale. Havu was extremely alarmed and began to whine and bark at the door, determined to get some help. The moment her owner opened the door, Havu dashed outside and ran to the road again. This time she ran all the way to the village, but none of the humans she found understood what she was trying to tell. Finally she grew too worried of the man and headed back.

When she arrived back to the cottage, she noticed immediately that the door was left open. She went inside and found two strange men rummaging over her owner's belongings. Her owner was laying on the floor, unmoving.

Rage took over Havu's senses. She attacked the men, growling and biting and fighting relentlessly like a demon risen from hell. She wasn't sure if these men had killed her owner or if they'd found him already dead, but it didn't matter. When they finally left, beaten and severely bleeding, Havu turned to her owner and laid next to him to guard his body.

Several hours later, two men entered the cottage, but they weren't the earlier intruders. They were policemen who had arrived to check on the man, notified either by the earlier intruders or people who'd seen Havu running loose in the village. However, Havu didn't see a difference between these two and the men she'd fought earlier. She growled and barked, standing between the policemen and her owner's body. They had no right to touch him. They had no right to be here!

One of the policemen took out his gun, but the other one told him not to shoot the dog. He gave a warning shot, but the hunting dog was used to the sound and didn't flinch. The policeman shot again, this time scraping Havu's ear, and she startled and fled outside. She regretted her action immediately, but the policemen slammed the door shut and didn't let her in anymore. Havu kept circling around the cottage and barking until she heard more cars approaching. She turned and ran deeper into the forest, afraid that the humans would capture her and take her away. She'd lost everything except for her home; she couldn't bear to lose that, too.

Havu returned to the cottage the next day. Her owner had been taken away, along with what little belongings he'd had.

Now Havu lives in the cottage and protects it with her life, as it's the only thing that remains from the happy life she had with her family. She can be seen occasionally wandering through the forest, along the familiar paths she used to walk with her owner.

• Some of Havu's favorite places are the sauna where she tends to sleep and the lake dock.
• Sometimes Havu climbs up on the roof to watch the night sky.
• Havu hunts mostly birds, rabbits and little rodents. She also likes to eat plants and berries like blueberries.
• If a human gets lost in the forest, Havu leads them back to the road and then disappears again. However, she won't let any human get near to her.