[Pouflon] Wild Wander

Trudging reluctantly up the hillside that lead to the dense coniferous forests near the north of the Ebony Wreath, Myth mentally steeled himself to face, probably, the only pouflon he truly dreaded needing to interact with. He could handle the boisterous Zephyr or the quiet yet headstrong Wisp on any given day but actually needing to seek out Vivian was something he always postponed as long as possible. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could catch her alone; that way he wouldn’t have to face her and her pack’s wrath lest she disagree with his proposal. Not even five minutes into the forest territory and a very unamused voice catches Myth’s attention.

“Get out.”

“You don’t even know why I’m here.”
“Don’t care, leave. I won’t say please.” Myth sighs heavily, rolling his eyes as he does so and turns his head to his right. He couldn’t see her but he definitely knows she’s somewhere in the trees.

“What if it’s a good offer?” He stands his ground. He’s interacted with her enough times to know that as long as you’re not actively threatening her or her pack, she won’t make good on her threats. At least, she hasn’t yet, that is.

“I really don’t want your shiny rocks, Myth”

“That wasn’t my offer,” he scoffed, “They’re crystals, by the way. Gems, some might even say.”

“Right… whatever. What do you want?” She stepped out of the trees on his left side; startled he almost tripped over his own hoof as he stepped to the side away from her. He was used to being much taller than most other pouflons but not so used to others getting into his personal space despite the height difference. That was simply a Vivian thing, he supposed.

“Have you ever been to Redwick Forest?” Vivian circled around him, regarding him with a suspicious expression.

“Yes…” Myth smiled, stepping away from her again when she got too close.

“Great! Then I would like to recruit you and your… pack. For a quest.” Vivian stopped again at his left side, having made a full circle around him. She hummed an acknowledgement of his request.

“So you’re saying you’ve never been to Redwick, then?” She smirked, always finding some reason to tease. Myth blinked and spluttered, caught off guard by her random question.

“W-well, no. I’ve been to other places though! I’m more concerned with the activity required I… I’m not sure I’ll be able to do it all on my own…” He trailed off towards the end of the sentence, not wanting to give her more ammo against him - she already doesn’t let him live down his spelunking ‘accident’. She let out a hearty chortle at his admission and slightly sheepish face. There was genuine mirth in her own as she bumped his shoulder.

“That look on your face was almost too good to be true! You need help? Priceless. What is it you need to do?” Myth sighed again, and it wouldn’t be the last time. He described to her the specifics of this berry picking adventure - having chosen somewhere on the northern end of Bellacoste instead of traversing the snow capped mountains of Snowhurst again (and potentially having Zephyr use some ridiculous secret method again). Vivian agreed to help, much to his relief. She let out a sharp, short howl and before he could react, her pack, four loupines, appeared in front of them from the bushes.

“So, which do you want to take?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Vivian gave him a look that screamed ‘seriously?’

“Unless you want the travel time to be double, we’re going to have to fly over the north lake and last I checked, my loups can’t swim that long.” Myth smiled tightly at the ground, not having the forethought to account for how the pack was supposed to get to Redwick. “Your choice really, we usually walk when we head up there in the summertime,” Vivian shrugged then tossed her head to the side, “Tell you what, you’re bigger than me and, hopefully, stronger; you take Thorn and River and I’ll take Sage and Henry. Good? Good.” Satisfied with her decision, she kneeled forward allowing two of her loupines, one of which being the white one, climb onto her back. The other two, the larger of the four, looked expectantly at Myth who grimaced inwardly but relented. If it meant a swift execution of this request then so be it; he only hoped subsequent mage quests would feature less errand running.

Vivian had been right, the travel time was not nearly as long as he thought it might be with their flight path over the lake - even with the added weight of the pack which, admittedly, weren’t all that heavy despite their sizes suggesting otherwise. Myth smirked to himself, thinking that Vivian’s size was what likely contributed to his believing the loupines were on the larger side in general.

“Here should be fine.” Vivian called from ahead of him. The group landed in a clearing near the edge of the dense forest, the loupines jumping off their backs and onto the soft grass almost immediately as they came to a stop. Vivian surveyed the area, Myth not entirely sure what signs to look for but standing at the ready just in case. Vivian shook herself off quickly, then gave a command to her pippets, all of them snapping at attention instantly before shooting off into the underbrush. 

“They’ll find sign of any wanderoot and we can just follow them to our quarry”

“That is… surprisingly convenient.”

“Oh, don’t be fooled. Wanderoot can be crafty once they start running so don’t be too at ease…” The two kept their heads on swivels as they slowly paced through the forest, waiting for a signal from any of the loupines. Soon enough, one of them gave a signal of three short barks.

“This way,” Vivian started off towards the sound with Myth close behind her, “Alright, stop.” She whispered and crouched. Myth followed suit, not quite sure what was going on. Observing the trees in front of them, Myth’s eye suddenly caught some movement. A wanderoot, perfectly disguised among the saplings and dense brush, full of berries. His spirits lifted at having found his quarry, he took a single step forward.

“No, wait!” Vivian hissed quietly. Whether from the sound of her voice or the following crack of a dry branch, the wanderoot startled and turned towards their noise before scuttling off into the woods. Vivian gave a frustrated grunt before taking off full speed with the loupines after it, letting loose a long howl as she went. Myth, bewildered and finding it hard to keep up - he was decidedly not made for hunting down slippery plant creatures in the woods - took off after her, hoping that they would get lucky with this one and not have to spend the rest of the day searching endlessly. He, one again, lamented the task at hand, wishing that he was instead simply asked to do things he was already good at.

The chase took quite a while, though it was certainly made easier by the presence of the loupine pack. A single pouflon would have trouble chasing and catching just one wanderoot, but two pouflons and four pippets were able to catch their quarry in good time. What’s more, their pursuit ended with two wanderoot falling into the pack’s clutches (unhurt, of course) for harvest. Having chased the initial one found, it’s attention was so focused on running from the chaotic group of berry hunters that it led them to and tripped over another wanderoot, gaining the group twice the berries for half the work. Myth was able to fill up his berry bag, something he hoped to do in the future at his leisure rather than for a quest, and Vivian received the excess as a thank you for her help - though she insisted that Myth simply ‘owes her one’ as payment. Their flight was longer on the way back as not only were they all tired from their chase but having no requirements besides packing up and sending the berries to Amaryllis, they took their time.

“Thank you, again, for your help.”

“I would prefer to not keep accepting your thanks, so stop thanking me, please.”

“I hope that we never have the displeasure of doing this again, then.” Myth smirked as he landed, back in the territory he knows well.

“Likewise. Now get out of my forest.” Vivian’s voice held a hint of playfulness as she stood beside him. All of her loupines dismounted and immediately ran off chasing a fallen berry knocked from the bag. She trotted off behind them, leaving Myth to roll his eyes and find his way back home to his tower, his crystals and a well deserved rest.