Kiritsune Valley
Aries laughed, "Heh, alright you guys, that's enough." Aries finally was able to look at the view in front of him. A lushes forest of unnaturally coloured trees and and the loud sound of whatever critters that reside in it. Aries stretches his arms, "Well then, let's get you to your family."
They walked through the forest, the fawn trotting in front happily. Aries gently reigned Torra, her hind leg is still in pain but she's managing through it like a champ. Aries took their walk as a time to actually look around the forest properly and analyse his surroundings.
The forest was filled with tall trees with leaves in colours of purple and blue. The grass looks like waves of the sea when it's dark. He could hear birds chirping just like in Orilon's forest but when theu flew over his head, he sees their long colourful tails.
What caught Aries's attention however, was the fact that the forest is surrounded by tall, towering mountain walls. It looks like a hidden paradise out of reach from the outside world. Aries was in awe. He have never seen anything like this before.
"Wow, your place is really pretty," Aries said to the fawn. The kiritsune yipped a reply. Suddenly there was a growl. Aries looked at the fawn. "Heh, looks like someone's hungry."
The fawn hopped around on his spot as his answer. He leads Aries and Torra to a river stream. It came straight from the mountains, making it clear and clean. Aries leads Torra closer to the water to let her drink and took his own bottle from the baskets on Torra to refill. The fawn trotted closer as Aries took out a bag filled with food. He hands feed a few berries to the kiritsune, who ate it happily.
They sat by the riverbend quietly resting. With such a new environment, there's seem to be a calling within him that gave Aries new inspiration to make a tune. He took out his flute, did a little tuning, and played a calming melody. His tunes echoed through the forest that had the birds singing along with him. The kiritsune fawn rested his head on Aries's lap, his eyes closed and his horn gleamed a gentle glow.
Aries played till he heard rustles of grass in the distance. His ears perked up and when he turned to face his back, a pack of kiritsune's had been watching and listening his tunes. Aries was in awe of the creatures as they were with his music.
The were bigger than the fawn, with scales adorning their body and shining under the soft sunlight that passed through the tree tops. Curious at what Aries was looking at, the fawn turned to see as well and was greeted with a yip from one of the older kiritsune. He waddled over to the pack without even a glance back to Aries. As the fawn disappeared into the forest with who Aries assume is his mom, so did the rest, leaving Aries alone with Torra.
Torra and Aries looked at each other. "Did they just left us in the forest alone?" Torra mooed an answer. Aries sighed, "It sure does look like it huh?"
He got up and packed back all the things into their proper basket. He helped Torra to get back up. "Guess we just gotta find our way back home, eh ol' girl?" Aries said as he petted Torra's head. She shook her thick bushy mess of a hair.
So the two went back on the track they first took, but the grass looked so different than the first time they arrived. In fact, a lot of the trees seemed to have shifted and placed in weird spots. Aries is well-versed in remembering forests, it's just one of his natural ability. But the kiritsune forest is definitely enchanted as the mental map of the forest that Aries had was way off from what he sees.
He scratched the back of his head. Torra and Aries are lost and they have no way of going back. "Maybe we should just go back to the riverstream," said Aries to Torra, but as he turned to retrace his steps, the forest have shifted again. Now it's for certain that the both of them are lost. But when all hope seemed lost, a familiar yip came closer and closer. Aries's little fawn friend came up to him seemingly out of nowhere from the trees. He tugged on Aries's pants, his excited yips muffled.
"Woah hey bud!" Aries wobbles with every tug. "I'll follow you, stop tuggin or I'm gonna fall, mate!" The fawn let's go of his pants. He bleps out his tongue and walks past the trees, nodding his head to have Aries and Torra over. The two followed their little fawn friend through the twisted trees. Aries swore he saw the trees shift for the fawn.
The kiritsune brought them to a large clearing field. In the distance, the pack of kiritsunes that they met in the river was grazing on the grass. A white kiritsune with golden scales overlooked the pack. She catches the three and trotted over with elegance. Aries was awe-strucked by the beauty of the kiritsune. Well technically, he had been awe-strucked since he got to the secret valley in the first place, but the kiritsune before his eyes was elegant and majestic that it reminded him of a Unicorn Woolyne Princess from his old bedtime storybooks.
As she came near, Aries was on his knees bowing. It was reflex that made him do so, but the majestic aura of the kiritsune was so strong, he felt like it was needed to be polite. The fawn rubbed his head on the kiritsune elder's leg, who in return nuzzled him. Aries thinks that the kiritsune elder is the fawn's mother. She looked at Aries with her golden eyes and bowed her head. She was thanking him for returning her son back to the valley.
"Aw shucks, it was nothin', ma'am," Aries said shyly. It was odd for him to feel so awkward, but then again, he is in front of royalty (probably?). "It was my pleasure to bring back yer kid!" The fawn yipped, "We should probably head back though, but we can't really find our way out of here."
The kiritsune elder nodded. She gestures at both Aries and Torra to follow her and she leads them to an overgrown tree that has fallen. It was huge, so huge that a whole caravan can pass through with ease. The kiritsune elder pointed her horn towards the tree and Aries felt a surge of magic pass through him. The tree's end that lead to nowhere suddenly lead to the same forest that Aries had passed through and escaped the chase from bandits, but it was closer to the outside field than the mountain's cave.
"Thank you for your help, ma'am!" he said. He took Torra's reign and began to lead her out but was stopped by the kiritsune elder. Aries turned to look at her as she walked over to Torra's wounded leg. A glow from her horn and a tap to Torra's leg healed the wound, letting Torra walk freely again. She mooed happily and shook her head as a thanking gesture to the elder.
Tej wasn't kidding when he said that kiritsunes have powerful magic. Aries gawked at the elder, "Gosh, ma'am! That's real nice of ya to heal my friend." The kiritsune elder chirped a reply. She gently nudged the two into the tree portal, telling them that it was time for them to go home. Aries bid goodbye at the kiritsune pair, the small fawn whined sadly at his departure.
Aries smiled and patted the fawn's head, "Don't worry bud, I'm sure we'll meet again some day!" In return, his small friend nuzzled into his pat. Aries couldn't help but hug his friend for the last time before he leaves the secret kiritsune field.
As he passed through the portal, he took a last look behind, only to see it was no longer the path that leads back to the open field of the kiritsune valley. Aries smiled to himself. He felt good helping his little friend get back home.
And boy does he have a story to tell Tej later.