Username: Oceanfosh
Name: Toshi
Gender: Male
What is this kiuii hiding? ------ Toshi looked around. Anyone there? The coast appeared to be clear. After a few more wary scans of his surroundings, Toshi took off at full speed towards the forest. Once he was safe under the cover of bushes and trees, he slowed to a walk. Panting, Toshi looked around again. Still no one. He sighed in relief, his paws allowing him to walk more comfortably. Despite the many signs of no one around, he kept an eye out. If any Kiuii found out about his plan, everything would be ruined.
------ Toshi came up to a stream, and after scanning it for fish, lept over it. The walk towards his destination was long, leaping across fallen trees, streams, and rocks. Finally, the smell of forest prey drifted over his nose. Of course, it was normal for Kiuiis to eat fruit, and Toshi ate fruit just like the rest of the Kiuiis. The smell of dead prey ahead of him was there for a different reason, not for eating.
------ When Toshi was just a little younger, he had been alone in this same forest. He only managed to survive because of his brown pelt, and the fruit that he had managed to find. However, his hate for the forest had grown as his food source started disappearing. He didn’t know what was happening to it, so he blamed the forest. If the forest hadn’t taken away Toshi’s chance of survival, then maybe he wouldn’t be doing this now. At the time, he had waited and waited, before fleeing and searching desperately for fruit.
------ Toshi thought back to that memory while he lept a few bushes and had to stop himself from growling. He stopped to gaze at the prey he had collected. Crows were enjoying themselves, so Toshi leapt forward and caught one as the rest scattered. He bit the crow and tossed it into a pile. If he could kill all the prey in this forest, he could eventually destroy it. He would destroy everything in it, and if anyone tried to stop him, them too. Toshi counted his prey, noting that a fox may have came by recently.
------ Before Toshi could chase after the fox, there was another Kiuii. The bushes rustled as the Kiuii’s hind paws whipped past them, and it landed on three legs. Toshi whipped around and growled.
There wasn’t anyone following me! I’m sure of it! He thought desperately. Oh well, he would have to get rid of the evidence through this intruder. The Kiuii narrowed its multicolored eyes as it saw Toshi’s expression. “What might you be doing here?” The Kiuii asked, “and, who might you be?” Toshi gulped. This wasn’t good. The Kiuii that stood before him didn’t seem to have been by other Kiuiis in a while- that meant that it lived in the forest. Toshi inhaled silently. “This is my piece of the forest, please leave.” He replied. “And what is your name?” The kiuii asks. “I don’t tell my name to strangers.” Toshi says. The kiuii sighs, annoyed. “Fine. My name is Emi. Now I’m not so much of a stranger, what is your name?” The kiuii says.
Can’t beat that… Welp, I’m done for, now. Toshi thought. “Toshi.” He muttered, but Emi seemed to have heard him fine.
------ “Alright, Toshi, I’m not sure what you want with all this prey but let me give you a warning.” Emi says.
Here it is- keep out and never come back, blah blah blah. Toshi thought irritably as Emi continued. “Don’t kill too much prey, or you will make the spirits mad.” Emi finished, catching Toshi’s attention. When she turned around to leave, Toshi yelped “Wait!”.
Why did you say that? Toshi thought as Emi turned around.
“Yes?”
“What do you mean by spirits?”
“Huh? Oh, the spirits are what I call them. I’m not sure what they are, but they seem to cause bad things whenever you do something they don’t like. Say for example, taking too much fruit from a plant. Or, as you are doing here, killing too much prey for no reason.”
“I have a reason. What bad things do they do?”
“Many things. Stealing away all food, making you sick, or taking you prisoner so you never see the light of day again.”
“Wait what?”
Emi turned around without answering and left. Toshi stood there for a few moments, then growled. “I’m not abandoning my goal. You can’t stop me.” He muttered quietly and turned to follow the fox. The scent of fox was fading, but as Toshi followed it, the stronger it got. He killed the fox as soon as he reached it, dragging it back and adding it to a pile of foxes.
------ Not a single Kiuii or creature could stop Toshi. He continued to hunt in the forest, catching mice, squirrels, birds, and many other types of prey. He ignored the growing pain in his stomach as he got hungry, working harder and harder. He had to keep working so he could get rid of this forest before another Kiuii found him. In fact, he was lucky that Emi hadn’t truly understood what he was doing.
------ Toshi sighed and sat when the sun began to set. His stomach hurt from all the work without a single fruit. He sniffed the air. Usually, Toshi would have caught some scent of fruit, or even a vegetable.
Strange. Where did all the food go? He wondered. Toshi looked around nervously, remembering what Emi had said. He shook his head. There was one thing he could eat, even though he didn’t eat meat.
------ Toshi got up and walked toward his pile of forest prey. He avoided jumping and running to avoid the pain in his stomach. When he reached the prey, he picked up a recent squirrel.
This looks… Disgusting… And now I’m going to eat it… Toshi stared at the squirrel. Taking a deep breath, he leaned down to bite into the squirrel. His fur fangs refused to bite down. They bent, causing Toshi to stop trying to bite the squirrel with a yelp. “Ow!” Licking one of his fur fangs, he stared at the squirrel. Why can he bite into fruit with his fur fangs but not squirrels?
------ Toshi tried to bite the squirrel again and again but got the same result each time. Eventually, he put the squirrel down. Was the forest playing the same tricks on him again? Biting back a yelp from the pain in his stomach, Toshi turned and ran towards the edge of the forest. He could find food if he left. As expected, when Toshi neared the edge of the forest, he could smell the sweet scent of fruit. But then, his paws gave out under him.
------ Toshi fell to the ground, taking a sharp breath in. What had he tripped over? Looking back, as his vision blurred, there was an object similar to a snake. He forced himself to his paws quickly and began to run again.
The forest, it ends right in front of me. Toshi thought. He sprang out of the forest and collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. It was dawn, the sun just coming over the horizon, casting shades of purple and orange across the sky.
------ Toshi didn’t move until he stopped panting. Getting up, he sniffed the air. There it was, the smell of nearby fruit. He followed the scent until he came up to it, pulling the fruit away from its plant and eating it quickly. Toshi then waited after eating a few more fruits before getting up again. He sighed and looked back at the forest. It was a forest of nightmares, and all he could do was hide his hatred for it until he can destroy that forest and everything in it.
1,300 words
--Art--Extra Writing:WIP
