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"I like that idea," Hoyleberry says, nodding to Starwatcher's words. "If we could steal something valuable he might get mad and chase us."
"I hadn't thought about that," Hoyleberry admits. "How should we fight him? Lure him away from his home...but where?" The skunk grows quiet as he thinks about any nearby cliffs or caves or other geographical features they can use to their advantage. Maybe a river ford with rocks he could trip on? Or a place with thorny bushes.
"That confirms what my nose was telling me," Hoyleberry says to Scyllaess. "So, what should we do? I think we should watch the man. Night's a-comin'. He might transform. And maybe one of us with wings should go tell the council what we discovered."
Hoyleberry asks his companions, "Do any of you recognize that man?" He pauses to think, while clawing the ground and leaf-litter. "They're looking for a wolf. We think it's a were-wolf. Could it be this man?" The skunk sits on its haunches. "We can also search for traps and ruin them so no more wolves get hurt. I think we should watch this man. See what he does during the day...and night." He sniffs the air.
Wanting the humans to run in a specific way, Hoyleberry scampers here and there but generally moves away from the direction they want the humans to go, hoping that the threat of another spraying will get them to move the right way. He hisses and snarls at the humans, acting as if they are the one's disturbing him while he was minding his own business in the forest.
Hoyleberry scampers to the group, angling to get as many people as he can within his spray zone. The skunk stamps its right hind foot and hisses, hoping the humans may get distracted and allow the wolf to escape, or give the wolf some warning that a foul odor is imminent. After a moment, it turns and does a handstand, lifting his tail before he sprays. The one-and-half-foot tall black and white animal hisses once more for good measure at the humans. "Follow us!" he chitters in canine.
"I like that plan, Starwatcher," Hoyleberry says looking at the bird. "It's very sneaky. Plus they'll attack the true target of their fear."
"Oh nature magic!" Hoyleberry replies to Tamimay. "That's wonderful. Magic is so...oh what's the word? There are different types, like animals being better at some tasks than others." The skunk nods at Scyllaess, "Ah, thanks for clearing that up. So we lead them to it so they stop killing the wolves in their clumsy fear. "I think silver weapons are used against were-creatures...those beings that are half-two-legs and half-animal. Maybe we are looking for a were-wolf. At least what the humans think they are looking for." Hoyleberry waves a paw as Calaak departs.
"Would it be a good idea to make multiple wolf tracks and lead the humans into the wilderness?" Hoyleberry asks. It looks at his own tracks. "Of course, I don't think I could make wolf tracks." Thinking, he scratches the ground. "Tamimay, that is an excellent idea. I couldn't do that. Do you know magic? Do you pray to Nethys?" He looks at his companions, "So do some of us want to find the twisted wolf, and others lure the humans away? I don't know which would be more dangerous."
Hoyleberry shakes his fur as he rises from his pretend sleep. It makes more sense if I’m hunting, looking for some bugs, rather than sleeping. He starts sniffing along the ground, at the base of trees, and in hollowed logs as he tries to stay in range of the humans’ voices, listening to them. Maybe I can follow their trail back to their village. Would it matter knowing where they live exactly? he thinks. Though marking their den would be easier for one of the birds to do. He attempts to move parallel to the hunters about twenty feet away.
Hoyleberry stops for a moment, looking side to side to see where to attempt to hide. He takes two steps to the right then lies down, pretending to be asleep. He hopes none of the men, if they see him, will question why a skunk is sleeping out in the open and not in its den. He slowly breathes, attempting to listen closely to their chatter.
”Or you could have a mock fight,” Hoyleberry suggests. ”I’m going to do my best to hide and be sneaky. Sometimes my fur is so striking, people notice it right away. It’s practically enchanting.”
Hoyleberry’s white-tipped tail twitches. By Nethys, this is beginning to sound like an adventure, he thinks. He looks at the angle of the sun, knowing twilight is nearly here. ”Sometimes I sneak into the town at night,” he admits. He points his snout at Scyllaess. ”I agree. I think we should start with where the humans are hunting. Draketh, is there a pattern to their hunting? Expanding from a particular hillside, or in a specific direction? Can we talk to any of the ones who weren’t taken? Were the humans using snares. I almost got caught in a food snare once...well more than once.”
Hoyleberry flinches slightly as the bird flaps its wings. He attempts to adjust his manner of sitting so that the flinch is hidden in a larger movement of repositioning. When the eagle has stopped, he glances at the owl who already said he would go. Oh droppings! Two predator birds? he thinks. Do I really want to do this? Nethys give me strength. Standing on his hind legs, Hoyleberry chitters to get the crowd’s attention. ”I speak Common,” the skunk says. ”I’m willing to investigate this problem. And it is a problem! If the wolves disappear it will hurt us all.” He returns to standing on his four legs and shakes his body to ruffle his fur. ”Benquoil has a druid friend. One time, as the group sat around the campfire, the druid told about what happened to a mountain where the wolves were hunted to elimination. Soon the deer population was higher than ever and eating so much the bushes and trees were practically stripped bare of leaves. Many deer and other plant-eaters died from starvation.” Hoyleberry waves a paw at Jurisper. ”I’ll come with you.” |