The forest

Your dominant has promised to hunt you through the forest. You just need to give them a good hunt...

* * *

You could hear your dominant’s howl. It shook the trees as it passed, small flurries of pine needles landing on the ground. You trudged on. You had to give them a good hunt. That was what they had asked of you. In the distance, you thought you heard their great padding footfalls.

You travelled for a good five minutes, deeper into the wood, when you noticed the fog. It had been thing wisps at first, but as you kept going, it grew thicker, and thicker. A rolling banks of fog that encircled you, trapped you. Deafening you to the forest around you.

After a few minutes more, you realised that you didn’t know how far you had gone. That realisation set you on edge. Not only were you being hunted. Now you might be lost. You heard a sound, distorted through the fog. Was it a snarl? Was it a branch, snapping?

Was it the wind, blowing through the trees? You couldn’t tell. But you kept going. You had turned to try to see the source of the noise. Now, as you turned back, you found yourself unsure of where you had been facing. And there was that sound again.

Your fear got the better of you. You broke into a sprint. You had promised a good hunt, and you didn’t want to find out what happened if you disappointed them. You went, and went, past dark shapes in the fog. They were probably trees, though you couldn’t be sure.

The forest seemed to be getting thicker. More twisted. Your dominant had told you tales of some of the other beasts that inhabited these woods. You wouldn’t like to meet them. Not now. Not lost, and alone, and scared. The sound came again. And now you could hear it.

A snarl. Low, and angry. It crept through the trees, just like the beast that it presumably belonged to. You turned, but the sound seemed to be coming from all around. You span, and span, trying to keep an eye on every direction at once.

That was how you didn’t notice the small root that caught your foot. That was how you ended up on the ground. Stunned, with a new shape looming from the fog. You closed your eyes, silently praying for it to move on. You felt tears on your cheeks.

You heard no more of its footsteps. No more of its snarl. You opened your eyes, to see the bestial figure watching you. As you tried to move, it snarled again, and you froze. Pinned by its gaze. No, you wouldn’t be moving until it wanted you to.

Slowly, it loped forwards, and as it did, you saw its form change. Becoming less bestial. More… human. It stopped changing midway, and, as it towered over you, you saw the more human look in its eyes. The beast’s claws gently reached out.

And then it stopped. It held up a single claw, almost as if it wanted you to wait, and then shivered. The earlier transformation continued, until, finally, your dominant stood before you, naked, looking concerned. “Hey pet, are – are you okay? Did you hit your head as you fell?”

You couldn’t help but laugh. They had reverted from their form to check on you? “Yeah, I’m okay. I didn’t realise it was you…”

They smiled at that. “Yes, well, not that surprising. I don’t show this side of myself to many people, so, you know, feel honoured.”

As you slowly stopped laughing, you cast around. “So, you caught me. What, what happens now?

With that, their smile widened. “Now? Now…” They stepped forward, one hand trailing down your chest. “Now I get to play with my food.” They stood, transforming once again.