#halcyonpilot

The girl had never meant to run into the woods, in her defense. She, with a healthy fear of the dark and all things eerie, had avoided the place with as much fervor as her adult counterparts. But certain things happen in life that are unforeseen.

One such unforeseen circumstance was the man behind her.

A traveler, a vagabond. No one in the village had liked him to begin with, peddling his shoddy wares and eyeing anyone who looked at him the wrong way as if he wanted to eat them, or worse. There was a glimmer in his eyes that looked far too wolfish and savage for a man and thus, everyone had given him a wide berth. Everyone except the little girl, who offered him flowers and petty coins and little trifles despite her parents' protests.

It was her own fault, he yelled after her. Her tears streamed down her cheeks as she blindly raced for the woods. Her only hope at this point. Her heart raced with fear but her body urged her further and further. The fog around her felt like a cold blanket against her skin, the moss on the forest floor slippery under her bare feet.

She just wanted to go home. A whimper left her as the darkness of the woods enveloped her, but she couldn't stop. Her legs wouldn't stop. Help me, She pleaded, breathing the words under her breath and clutching her chest as the taller, faster man began to catch up to her. Somebody - something, please - help me!

Instead of the help she so horribly needed, though, instead she found her foot caught in a root she hadn't seen in the dark. Something snapped in her foot; pain shot through her leg and her whole body lurched forward. With a scream she fell, tumbling onto the ground and only managing to save her face at the sacrifice of her palms.

It was lucky enough, at least, that the moss under her was soft and forgiving. The man who loomed over her, panting and sweating even in the cold of the fog around them, was neither of those things. As she tried to orient herself, turning over to face him, a leering smile pulled over his face.

"Time's up," he hissed, and his voice was like ice down her spine. She trembled and scrambled back, but her broken ankle throbbed with pain and forced her to stay put even as his hands reached down towards her. They wrapped around her throat and she cried out, wheezing and thrashing, as her lungs began to burn and squeeze in her chest. The air around her seemed to thicken. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't catch a breath, stars dancing in front of her eyes as she let them slide shut--

help me, please!

--a low growl rumbled through the air.

It was quiet at first - barely noticeable - but it rose in pitch, seeming to vibrate in the very mists around them. The man paused in confusion, lupine snarl pulling at his already ugly features. There was a moment where he simply stared over the girl's head as if trying to process what he was seeing. Then, he jerked away as if he'd been burned. The girl retched and coughed, gasping in hoarse breaths. Her would-be killer took a staggered step back, and then another, and then another, until he was running full-tilt away from her and back towards the edge of the forests.

There was a loud snarl and in the fading light of the girl's vision she could see something leap over her in a flash of purple. For several seconds all her dazed mind could think was, that's an odd colour. Whatever it was that had crossed her path, however, had no interest in her, and strangely enough she had no fear of it. She laid her head down and took in a much-needed breath.

The horrified man who'd had his hands around her throat was not so lucky. Dimly through her stupor she could hear screams, the wet sound of tearing cloth and flesh and howls of pain. Some inhuman sound, like a laugh but so, so much worse, echoed through the forest and not even her half-conscious mind could block out the icy-cold terror it caused. Even though it wasn't for her, that sound haunted her.

Weak, whimpering gurgles and choked wheezes faded off as whatever the thing had been finished off its prey. The sound of quiet footsteps plodded through the moss, getting closer and closer, and as the girl regained herself enough to sit up, she caught a glimpse of her savior.

It was unlike any animal she'd ever seen. It was...beautiful, if only for its colour and the elegance of its face. A great, purple thing with a mane of black hair, easily just as tall as the girl herself when she stood. Its muzzle was painted red and it smelled thickly of iron. Two black marks marred its fur under the reddish coat or liquid. Though it had blank white eyes, there was a satisfied look gleaming there, along with a hint of concern for her. The girl would almost call it a cat, but it was far too thin, too bony, the fur all wrong in the way it stuck off its body.

Its large ears tilted like great satellites towards her. Slowly, it edged forward, nosing into her hand. No, not her hand - her pocket. With a curiosity that was entirely out of place in this strange, horrific scenario, she lifted her had to allow it entrance to her coat pocket. It sniffled around, hunting for something with a determined huff.

After a moment, it pulled out the candy she'd had tucked away.

--

The girl emerged from the forest safe and sound as the very first rays of dawn began to break. She was covered in blood, her throat bruised and her voice gone, limping on a broken ankle but she was fine. More than fine, really; she was as cheerful as ever. It was like she'd never even entered the woods, never had to outrun a feral man who'd nearly killed her. The man who was never found.

If anyone noticed the shadow that seemed to follow her until her ankle healed, no one said anything about it. No one wanted to incur its wrath, whatever....it was that'd saved her that night.

Don't go in the woods, people say. Don't go into the woods, especially if you have a guilty heart. There's nothing good in the woods. The people who go into that accursed space between worlds, into the ever-present fog, vanish without a trace. No one has ever returned from there.