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A young man stood outside of The Forest, staring at it.

He was a Wizard, and a slightly prolific one. Colleagues had told him of failed attempts to forage in The Forest, and it made him curious.

What was so special about this forest? What made it so different from the other forests?

The young man prided himself on being a sensible person who didn't let silly things like rumors get to him, but here he was.

There was a full moon tonight, and it made The Forest look like a regular forest. The young man knew looks can be deceiving.

Steeling himself, he stepped into the forest.

The glamour he was wearing immediately dropped, and the potions in his system wore off.

Two cat ears and a tail appeared, no longer invisible.

"Fuck," he said, his tail swishing in annoyance. He gone to great lengths to conceal his creature inheritance, from hiding his extra appendages, drinking potions to dampen his animal instincts, to even ignoring his mates.

And this forest had done away with most of that. It would dangerous and foolish to continue on.

As he turned to leave, a delicious scent caught his attention. It smelled like chicken, which made his stomach growl.

He followed the smell without a second thought.

...

By the time he came back to his senses, the path was no longer visible. There were sticks and leaves in his hair, and his robes were torn.

Cursing, he shed his robes, revealing the turtle neck and pants he had on underneath. As he tossed the ruined clothing away, something white caught his eye.

Freezing, he squinted at the white thing. It was poking out from behind a tree infront of him. Tilting his head, he listened for any odd sounds.

Hearing nothing but regular forest sounds, he sniffed the air. There was the scent of earth, old blood- and sweat. Not quite exactly animal sweat either. It was a deep, earthy scent that was somehow vaguely human.

He moved into a defensive position, folding his ears close to his head.

Before he could speak, the white thing was revealed to be a shirt, and it's owner took off. The young man ran after the person with a shout.

"Hey- wait!"

The person didn't slow down. He chased after them, immediately, trying to avoid obstacles as much as possible.

Out of nowhere the ground lurched, and he fell face-first into the layer of leaves and dirt that covered the forest floor.

A coppery taste filled his mouth upon impact. Blood trickled from the gash in his lip.

Groaning, he stood up and spat out a mixture of blood and saliva before walking away.

The young man was surprised to himself back on the path after a couple of steps. As he looked around, he spotted a child in a oversized dirty shirt with long, half matted hair that covered their eyes.

"Kid-"

A deer fell from the tree above him and he jumped backwards to avoid being crushed. The scent of blood filled his nose.

The deer was a young stag, as indicated by the stubby horns that it sported. The young man gagged when he saw the state the deer was in.

The windpipe was severed completely, and the underbelly was torn open, allowing entrails, organs, and blood to spill out.

In an effort to mot throw up, he looked up. That's when he noticed that the child was gone.

Officially freaked out, he shifted into a cat and turned tail.

The Forest was not for the faint of heart. However, the young man vowed to come back, for the child's sake.