Fantasy A Hike in the Wood's

[Ellensouler]

A horror rp with twists, turns, gore and all the good stuff.

 

[Ellensouler]

Rain was pattering upon the window-shield of Audrey's police cruiser, the streams dashed across the glass like an erratic meteor shower leaving streaks of tiny rivers, all fighting over which path to take. Audrey's sapphire eyes darted every which way, watching the streams race past each other. It was like watching his many life outcomes branches outward, he could admire each drop of rain yet he could never guess its given direction. He sighed, he was too deep within his own introversion as he closed his eyes, his giant radar-dish-like ears turning to-and-fro to the direction of all the sounds being emitted by the droplets of rain; he was very attuned to sound.

"Just hurry the hell up Eli..." the fox opened his eyes and then gazed at his clock; it was a shitty day to even go hiking, but at least there was a cabin not too far until the rain had subsided. However, it was getting more intolerable to stay in such a confined space with his thoughts and emotions. He tried distraction, peering into the murky forest being masked by the storm, but it only gave him vivid images of one's personal demons, dancing in a circle around the trees, taunting and prodding him with their rain-like tridents and glaring into his eyes with their own.

But it was all his fault, police brutality, he had a court hearing in two months. He couldn't leave the city but at least he could take a forced vacation. Then a loud beep, Audrey slammed his fist on the wheel of the car, "Fuck this...." he slammed the door and stood under the sign to the park which read: "Bright Falls." His eyes scanned the sign that was painted with embroidered golden frame working with an image of mountains and trees. "Fuck mountains and trees," the fox pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Audrey had never smoked before, never needed to, but he needed something. He lifted the cancer stick to his lips, lit it and blew a puff that followed after a wicked cough. It fell from his mouth and he whipped the carton to the ground, stomping on it in frustration as he crossed his arms, trying to repress his emotions again.

 

[PunkDawg]

Eli had never been the type of guy who have always been surrounded by friends. Ever since he was a puppy, he would spend most of the days inside. While other puppies were playing together, he would spend his time studying simbols and codes. Things didn't change in High School and they certainly didn't improve in College. The only thing that improved was his understanding of coding and computer language. He thought lines of codings were definitely less complicated than animals.

He did have a couple of friends, though by his definition they were more like partners in crime, literally. One of them was now with him, surprisingly on a vacation. It had been a stressful month for the Wild Dog and his partner Audrey seemed to be in need of a break as well. Unfortunately things weren't going according to plans. The weather had completely shifted and it was now showering. Normally Eli didn't mind rain, but because he was overly stressed, those wet drops of water were now starting to bother him.

"Alright, alright." Eli jumped in the car and shook his head slightly to get rid of some water. He looked at his partner and he could see he looked rather annoyed, so he decided to keep quiet for the time being.

"Hey man, chill out." Eli try to calm his friend down, but the fox didn't seem to listen to him, in fact he slammed the door and jumped out of the car. Eli followed him. "What the fuck are you doing now?" The Wild Dog asked with a frown. "I thought you didn't like smoking.".

 

[Ellensouler]

Audrey's absurdly large ears couldn't drown out the words Eli was barking at him, he had learned how to dumb down the overbearing noise his sensitive fennec fox ears endured by choosing the sounds he wanted to hear and simply drowning out the excess noise. However, Eli was more than the rain that beat on the drums of the earth below their feet, or the wind that cascaded the smaller trees in the forest, or even Thor's thunder above their head as he made his presence known inside the storm.

"I don't know what I'm doing Eli? I didn't fucking know what I was doing when I beat that god damn, fucking, panther that pulled a gun on my partner half to death didn't I??" Audrey's pupils grew wider as the fox grew even more livid. "In fact, what the fuck are WE doing Eli? This was YOUR idea. What, this is supposed to fix all this shit? My court date? Is this supposed to undo what I did? My entire life's work is on the line because it took me eighteen years to finally fuck up on the job!" the vulpine punched the sign to the forest, it only made him more aggressive as he felt pain string from his fist and dance up his arm.

"Damn it! And no, I don't god damn smoke but why not? You're not the fucking boss of me okay? OKAY?!" he shouted above the thunder. There was a clam in the storm for a moment and a clam in Eli's friend, he took a deep breath and pressed his paw palms to his face and sighed, "God I'm sorry...I just don't see going on a hike in this stupid forest will fix anything."

 

[PunkDawg]

Rain drops were constantly falling from the sky. Eli had to squint his eyes constantly to be able to see. It was ridiculous to stand there, catching the rain and what was worse was that his friend was having a breakdown. In another situation the Wild Dog probably wouldn't have cared about the rain. For example if he was engaging a kiss with some hot canine... But that was not the case and feeling wet was not pleasurable at that time.

For a few seconds, his first thoughts were just to yell back at Audrey and push him against his vehicle to make him shut up. He imagined the scene in his head and took a deep breath to gain back control of the situation and his emotions. He stood there. Silent. Just looking at his friend with a blank expression. He knew it would have been pointless to yell back at him. Violence would have only made things worse. He knew it by experience, so, with a big effort, he just let his friend vent, knowing he would have eventually cooled off.

In fact the fox did, after punching the sign forest he started to slowly calm down. Eli could read the signs. There was a loud thunder and a final burst of anger from the fox, who finally cooled off and apologised for the fuss.

Eli walked sowly towards his friend and put a paw on his shoulder. "You're right." He said, in a calming voice. "Going on a hike won't fix a damn thing." He continued. "But focusing on what happened won't certainly make it better." He stated. "This stupid forest will distract your brain and the physical workout will make your body and mind feel better and at the moment, that is what you need."

 

[Ellensouler]

The pale white snow fox took a deep breath in, Eli's paw on his shoulder was inviting yet Audrey's extreme introversion said otherwise. He shrugged his shoulder away, physically but not verbally telling the wild dog, "Don't touch me." Audrey was not accustomed to displays of affection, all his life he'd rather just push his friends away, after all, it would be better that way. The fox peered up with his piercing baby blue eyes, they were filled with angst. But after hearing Eli's words his pupils decreased in size as Audrey seemed to have finally simmered down. "What I need is a time machine so I can kill myself before I beat up that guy, after all when I die I want it to be my fault," the fox chuckled a little, trying to lessen the mood, but it was his own strange way of doing so.

"Pretty sure that would fuck up my timeline though? I was never into Startrek or Dr. Who okay?" he felt an urge to make himself seem as though he knew about pop-culture and basic quantum physics, anything to not expose his socially awkward side. "Right, let's get this shit-show on the road yeah?" The fox slung his backpack behind him, trudging forward up the hill. The rain was being concealed by the trees and leaves, making the storm somewhat more bearable, yet the occasional raindrop caught him right in the eye; that only pissed him off more as he bit his lip in frustration.

"So....give it to me straight. Why hiking? Why are we doing this? Aren't you some fucking hacker nerd who does coding all alone at home? Taking jack-off breaks at the computer while you realize your only friend is your laptop?" Audrey crudely joked around. Then the fox cleared his throat, not knowing how Eli would respond. After all the fox was a terrible conversationalist and it pained him to try. It wasn't like they hung out that much anymore anyway.

 

[PunkDawg]

As the fox shrugged his shoulder away, Eli stepped back to give him space, but he didn't give the gesture too much attention. His confidence didn't let him get offended.

The Wild Dog chuckled at the joke. "Heh I don't know." He shrugghed. "I am pretty sure if time machines really existed we would just use them to make our lives even more miserable."

With that said, Eli picked up his backpack. It contained some food, water, his laptop with a full battery and its charger (one can never know when that might turn useful) a pocket knife and a lighter. Pretty much anything he would ever need. Then he sped up on the hill. The rain wasn't as bad underneath the shades of the forest, so the Wild Dog was getting calmer.

At the fox's crude joke Eli stopped and looked at his friend with a sarcastic smile. "You're damn right my best friend is my laptop! At least he never lets me down!"

Proud of his remark, the Wild Dog sped up his pace, to walk in front of his friend. "Don't you ever feel the need to get away? Away from the chaos of the city? Away from society, routine and your miserable life?." He asked, careless if the fox was listening to him or not. "That's why hiking and nature. It makes me feel alive." He looked back at his friend. "And nobody forced you to come anyway." He concluded with a victory grin on his face.

 

[Ellensouler]

Audrey was becoming vexed over how giddy his friend seemed to be, jealous actually. "Well if I broke your laptop I guess it's durability would let you down.." he snarled and walked faster, past the wild dog and up the hill, taking a bend that leads to the cabin. The wind blew more furiously which caused the fox to almost lose balance, but he trudged onward until his giant fennec ears heard Eli babbling again, he tried to ignore it but how could he? After all, that would be "rude."

But Eli's simple questions were taken almost like insults to the fox, he stopped in his tracks as Eli practically slammed into the vulpines body. His big ears twitched and he turned around with a sour expression, "Don't you ever shut up?" he barked. "Listen, to me your still a fucking child. I live every day in that in the chaos of the city. All I deal with are criminal scum fucks that sometimes have the balls to pull a gun on cops. Husbands beating wives and I have to step in between in. Kid-nappings and more. No Eli, I don't want to get away from society because society can't hold it's fucking self together. I have to cradle it like a screaming baby until it finally goes to sleep. No more questions...okay?" He shook his head speeding off again.

However, the storm was getting much worse, blackening the sky as the scent of raindrops and pine cone littered the air. The fox became more pissed off, practically running to the cabin no and leaving Eli behind until he stopped. Something smelled wrong. He could pick up the scent of the wild dog but also someone else, that was odd, this was a retreat that sparsely saw visitors during the rainy season. He peered into the thick storm, scanning everything. He really did run far ahead of Eli as he was at least a couple hundred feet away. But there was this...silhouette behind the wild dog, just...standing there. It casually lifted it's palm and waved to Audrey. But not a normal salutation...like... an invitation. It unnerved the fox, he watched the figure, it seemed to have grinned at him until it strolled into the woods, of the beaten path.

"The fuck..." Audrey said to himself.

 

[PunkDawg]

Eli growled. If there was a subject you could not touch, that was definitely his laptop. He was starting to lose his patience and temper, which was something he always struggled with.

That last sentence especially made his back fur rise. Self control. Self control. He was telling himself as he started breathing slower to control his rage. He needed a minute, so he slowed down and watched the fox speeding up on the hill, while the storm was getting angrier. For a moment, it looked like nature was in touch with his feelings.

The Wild Dog sighed and proceeded to climb the hill, determined not to let anything ruin his idea of having a great relaxing hike.

Reaching almost the top of the hill, Eli looked at his friend. Who was now facing him and even at that distance, the Wild Dog could see a strange expression on his face. It was like the fox was staring nervously behind him. Eli frowned in confusion and stopped walking. "Fuck's wrong now?" He asked his friend, snarling a little.

 

[Ellensouler]

"Shut up for a moment.." Audrey gazed behind his friend, he felt unsettled, the image of whatever it was actually made him feel...ill. There was a twinge in his brain, almost like static, he could feel vomit in his esophagus and held the sensation back as well as he could. Putting a paw on his head he squeezed his temple, feeling very nauseous. He couldn't help it, he turned his head and threw up all over the side of the cabin, his lip quivering as he gasped, holding in more vomit but it escaped anyway. "Jesus..." he put an elbow on the surface of the cabin to catch his breath, something about that image in the woods disturbed him and practically nothing did that.

"Can we just...go in the fucking cabin okay? I'll talk about it later..." he held his stomach and almost tore the door off the building, making his way inside. Now he had a violent headache, as something was inside, scratching away at his skull with long, gangly fingernails. He threw his belongings on the ground and lied on the couch, looking up at the ceiling fan that spun in a hypnotic way.

 

[PunkDawg]

Eli frowned as his friend ordered him to shut up. Things surely hadn't start the best way that morning and it only seemed to get worse. The Wild Dog was about to say something back when he notiched the fox was not feeling well, in fact in a matter of seconds, the fox was throwing up on the side of the cabin.

Eli put his anger aside for the time being and rushed to his friend to follow him inside the cabin, as he suggested. Wondering how and why his friend was feeling so sick, he decided to wait for an explanation, instead of inquiring.

The Wild Dog followed the fox inside the bulding and looked around. At least it seem quiet enough inside. Tehn, reminded of the status of his friend's health, he looked back into his direction and noticed him lying on the sofa. With a worried expression on his face, the dog approached the fox. "Dude.. you okay?"

 

[Ellensouler]

For the most part, Audrey ignored him, he couldn't confide anything to Eli's questioning in the slightest. He just held his paws on his stomach and watched the ceiling fan rotate slowly in a rhythmic way, spinning like a carousel. In his perception and in his current state of feeling vertiginous it seemed the fan was spinning faster and faster until he felt like throwing up again, he gagged and sat up putting his paws on his face, "Somethings just wrong okay?" he remained ominous in nature as his head was spinning like the fan above him.

He was second guessing this trip, maybe it was just his nerves and being away from work, then again; that figure in the forest or whoever that was made him feel a gut-wrenching sense of dread like feeling a presence in the dark you can't see but you know it's there, glaring at you in your bed at night reaching out to touch you but you wake up just before it can.

"Maybe this was a bad idea, I told you this was a bad idea..." he got up and rummaged through his belongings until he found a half-empty bottle of tequila, he looked over with a shit-eating grin, "But bad ideas make for good times right?" he desperately tried to change topics with a pathetic suggestion, if he was drunk he wouldn't have to turn this vacation into some, "Teens stalked by the lake" horror movie.

 

[PunkDawg]

Eli just stood there and remaind silent. Watching his friend and questioning what could possibly be wrong with him. Maybe he was just sick and he needed to rest. Maybe the card ride made him nauseous..

The Wild Dog turned away as the fox vomited again. He knew watching his friend trowing up again would have made him sick too and he absolutely hated puking.

As Eli turned around again, he noticed his friend was now holding a half-full tequila bottle. What he was suggesting was clearly not the best idea, due to his current state and the dog expressed his disapproval with a sigh. "Why don't ya take a nice sip of water instead?" He asked, and he added. " That stuff's just gonna make you throw up even more.". But he was pretty sure his friend wouldn't have followed his advice.

 

[Ellensouler]

In his current mood, his friend's advice sounded like an insult, how dare he tell him how to take care of himself. He looked up at him with a scowl and opened his maw to tear into him but quickly held his tongue instead, he was not feeling well enough anymore to be provoked, let alone lash back and his friend. In the back of his mind, he knew he'd lose him if he kept at it. He sat there and looked away, swirling the bottle of alcohol in a moment of introspection before just putting it away and sitting back into the couch with a pained sigh, "Then what do you suggest we do then Eli? Sit here? Wasn't this supposed to be a fucking grand adventure of some sort in the woods?" he scoffed again.

"So far, it's rained like hell, I threw up in the bathroom and you lecturing me on how to live my life. Well, one does the fun bonding and great outdoors part begin?" the fox spoke in a regretful tone.

With all the rain and the silence in the room now the fox couldn't stand any more of it, "I'm just going to lay down okay? Play on your computer or something.." he remarked while stretching and disappearing into his room leaving Eli to his thoughts.

The only sound in the room now was the spinning of that dreadful ceiling fan, the patter of rain outside and the howling wind that beckoned the foolish into the deep woods.