A howl echoes across the forest
"Should we go check it out?" Luz tilted her head to the side as she gazed out to the forest in question.
"Wh-why would we!? Eda told us not to rush into danger, remember?" Amity was getting worked up again, already nervous from what they might find in the forest. Though, there was no clear indication for what it could be... no unusual sounds had come from it, just a... feeling. A feeling that something was wrong.
Like Willow had said before, it was as if the forest was crying.
Luz turned to face Amity, determined in her path. "We won't be able to feel safe here if we don't check it out."
"We're just gonna take a look. We'll see what's going on, then retreat if we have to." Willow reminded her, evidently feeling her growing enthusiasm.
"Yeah, I got it." She turned to Gus, grinning widely. "We'll be right back, Gus. You just stay here."
"Okay. Be careful, everyone."
"Just leave it to us. I've learned it's best to run away when things get dangerous." Willow said with a calming tone.
"Just as long as we're very careful about it." Amity cut in.
"Yeah, let's go! Carefully, but boldly!" Luz exclaimed, dashing forward to jump down from the little rise of the hill the Owl House sat on, continuing forward deeper into the forest.
She made a beeline down the path, not bothering to pick the numerous plants around her and dodging around the monsters that use to pose a threat to her and her friends when they first started regularly coming to the mainland. Whatever it was, they could handle it! They were adventures now afterall!
Amity paused beside her - she had caught up easily with her long legs - and Willow slowed to a halt, watching her for a moment as she listened to the forest around them, "What's going on? The entire forest seems to be on edge, but there's nothing out of the ordinary..."
"Yeah, it's really strange. Something's up for sure." She just couldn't quite put her finger on it. Though, the monster infested woods seemed to be less infested just ahead. Weird.
"I-if you're sure something's wrong, we should head back before we get ourselves into trouble..." Willow was muttering, but as soon as Amity and Luz started walking she could hear her rush to catch up to them.
The further they walked the quieter the birds became and they no longer saw squirrels crawling up and down the trees with nuts stored in their mouths. It became silent, besides their own footsteps among the grass.
The forest expanded out into a clearing and she saw it. Whatever it was. The body was white, rings of red wrapped around various sections and... there were gems protruding from its back and the tip of the tail. One small yellow eye turned to them and suddenly Willow felt as if she had turned to stone. Infront of the creature was King and Lilith.
"What the heck is that?" Amity muttered under her breath, staring at the thing unblinking.
"M-m-m-monster! Super scary monster!" Willow shout-whispered.
"Wh-what?" Luz had drawn her arms up to her chest, fingers wrapped around eachother as if to shield herself from the beast, or cower from it. "I can't feel my legs. Ah!"
The creature had turned to face them and let out a piercing cry that shook the forest, its tail slamming into the ground behind it before it surged forward.
With a squeak Luz turned her head away, squeezing her eyes shut as it's thunderous steps came closer...
There was a yell from behind? No, above her. She glanced up to see Amity swing her abomination fist down on the creature, but it didn't even flinch, though it paused from the sudden attack, perhaps not expecting it. A natural predator in it's own territory, then? It certainly didn't look like it belonged here.
"I didn't even scratch it! Now what do we do!?"
Luz had fallen to her knees, not sure if it was from the sudden relief of not being hit or if she was just that petrified of what could have happened had the creature not stopped, either way she couldn't get back up. "W-we should run away, but my legs feel like rubber."
"Hyaah!" Willow had fallen back at some point. "Run! We have to run!" But she was quickly scrambling back to her feet, taking off back the way they had come.
"Hey!" Amity shouted after her, her gaze dropping to Luz in the next second. "Come on." She bent down and she felt one arm slip under her thighs, shifting her slightly so she could get her other arm under her mid-back, before lifting her up. King grabbed Lilith.
And then they ran, cradling her body against his chest. The bouncing was hardly rhythmic, what with the fallen logs and stones in the pathway, but it calmed her nonetheless. She peeked her head out from behind his shoulder, relief washing over her to see the thing hadn't given chase or if it had it hadn't done so for very long.
What a strange terrifying creature. She wasn't even sure why, but the area back there... it's aura had sent shivers down her spine and hardened them into ice.
Luz sighed and pressed her face against Amity's shoulder, as she breathed deeply to calm her racing heart. Willow was in front of them, King dragging a injured Lilith was right behind them.
" Thanks for the save you two" King said as they reached the edge of the forest, the Owl House came into view.
