In the Woods Somewhere
The reaching, twisting thorny brambles and underbrush of the woods seem to thicken with unknown each step serving to further hinder Auden's progress the further she strays. The sound of her own breathing is loud in her ears, but she still carries on, every so often stopping to catch her breath between the shadows of the trees. Once or twice, hearing rustling in the brush around her she'd stop, hand on her dagger. Whether it was some predator who'd decided scrawny, windswept Auden with her pathetic dagger wasn't worth it, or nothing at all she didn't want to know. Auden hadn't thought herself to be a great athlete but even the bronze-haired woman is frustrated with her seemingly slow progress. A few times she trips and curses loudly in the dark; the immediate joy at someone not scolding her for her language is embarrassing even on her own in the dark. A few times she has to pause when she hears the calling of creatures she can't identify that sound all too close.
"If I can just find a road. I'll follow it to the next settlement." Her words fall from her lips like a chant, marching on and on into the blackened night. Around her ancient trees creaked and moaned in the wind, once playful now felt more punishing against Auden's exposed, ruddy cheeks. From the knees down, her dark, fleece-lined crimson breeches are soaked and torn in a few places Auden had gotten stuck in the bramble and undergrowth. The dampness of the forest cold had sunken into her boots but still Auden pushed through the deep dark woods.
Shamefully, the thought to turn back crosses Auden's mind but even as she turns, those claws in her stomach prod her, urging her to continue on. One step, and another. The woods around seem to grow only darker, more untamed and ancient, the forest floor a bed of undisturbed dead leaves. There's no torches in the dark, no friendly fires or even cow paths. Just the moldering scent of dead leaves and the sharp scent of pine in the cold. The silence presses on her, and she's half a mind to to talk to herself, simply to hear a voice. Glancing into the unknown dark though, she decides against it.
Auden comes upon a frighteningly familiar rock, one she swears she'd seen only minutes ago does she come to a complete stop for the first time since leaving the estates, her mind turning as she sat upon the rock. She was alone, in the feared dark woods and had no idea where to go. Which way she'd even come from. "I really hope starving alone out here to prove a point was worth it, idiot." Auden hisses at herself, prepared to deal herself more verbal abuse when she hears it, the unmistakable snap of branches and crunching of dead leaves. Something was moving out here, close to her; something big by the sounds of it.
Hesitating, Auden feels herself freezing like a doe on the rock hoping to wait out the noise as she had before. This time however, whatever was out there didn't move on instead Auden can practically feel it as it drew closer and closer in the brush. Perhaps it's her imagination, perhaps not but in the dark Auden doesn't care as she swears she can feel the very ground begin to tremble. Closer and closer still it came, yet never drawing into her clear line of sight. She'd get a flash of white; feel a breath on her skin that could have been her imagination but nothing more.
Sweat, a hot and searing contrast to the biting cold drips down Auden's back as she tries desperately to locate the source, the creature making such disturbances. Only darkness swims at her vision, each tree and branch blurring together and then into nothingness in the dark. Overhead it feels as if even the stars are hiding themselves as a gray, wispy cloud drifts over the moon as if wrapping it in gauze. The small clearing only grows darker dampening her vision further, and the hair on the back of Auden's neck raises. It would do her such little good, but still Auden grabs the dagger at her hip; every story she'd ever heard of the woods coming back to her.
'Monster lurk out there, bigger and smarter than normal beasts they call the forest their home.' Auden had been told on countless occasions. And she'd been fool enough to believe it to be the scary stories of fear-struck people who'd never left the safety of the walls. 'Oh... Oh how rich, I, the girl who'd never been beyond the property of the Estate, thought I knew better of beasts and wild things with gleaming teeth.' The thought brings a pitiful giggle to Auden as she perches on the edge of the rock. About her in the dark, something lurks. There's no other way to describe it as she can hear it circling about, the very ground seemingly protesting the beast's weight as it shook and trembled.
It could have been minutes or hours, but Auden finally gathers the courage to slide from the rock. The thought and determination to at least try to put up some fight for her life spurring her on. Though Auden can hear low breaths from somewhere in the darkened bramble, and a heavy body moving about she can't see the creature. Auden let out a shuddering breath, hand gripping the dulled dagger she doubted would save her. "I know you're there." The words slip past her lips, though Auden doesn't know who she's speaking to, beast or other. Still, the sounds stop, as if listening and her fingers flex over the dagger as she strains her ears.
Even to her untrained eye, the dagger is far too blunted with age and use to be of much help, and she can't help but wonder how small the blade would look against the teeth of whatever hid in the dark. Her ever traitorous mind is only too eager to call up images of gruesome death and pain. In response wild, teeth and fury bares itself in Auden's mind as she tightens her grip on the dagger until she's white-knuckled. It's all too easy to picture whatever is in the bramble and brush and dark, hiding just out of her sight. Large and shadow, death and violence and claw and fang slip through Auden's mind as her breath falls in rapid gasping noises she doesn't realize are her own.
"I'm not a plaything and I'm not a meal." Auden doesn't know if she's talking to herself or whatever manner of beast stalked through the brush but the chant calms her a little. For just a moment, Auden thinks she sees golden eyes, low to the ground watching her before they blink away back into the darkness. Somehow only seeing the eyes makes Auden's fear worse as she feels frozen in the small clearing. Real enough that the presence is confirmed, but not enough to know what she was up against. She'd run, flee if her legs would have allowed it but something about the chill of those golden eyes, unlike any animal she'd seen, turns Auden's ice, freezing her in place.
Suddenly, the stories of beasts who could sometimes wear men's faces didn't seem as funny to Auden as it had back in the walls, in the estate. Eyes that simply observed Auden were far too intelligent for any mere animal, and it rose goosebumps over Auden's skin, though she managed to convince herself it was the bite of cold wind to blame. With near silent steps the creature finally pads from the brush, and the beam of moonlight that illuminates it almost makes Auden throw up. The beast was large, nearly as big as a horse though it was distinctly lupine in nature. The beast's fur was a pure white overcoat, the undercoat being black that acted like a subtle, thin shadow against the white.
Auden had never seen a wolf so large, not even when the hunters would haul their kills to the estate to trade pelts and meat. Its aloof golden gaze flicks to the dagger in her hand, as if it understood what it was. Beneath the wolf's gaze, Auden feels like a child holding a stick as the beast approaches, holding itself with a regal grace that would have taken Auden's breath away with admiration had she not been so frightened. Her feet are lead blocks, useless and rooted while every bit of her brain screams for her to run, for her stupid feet to just move.
'Stay back'. Auden wants to howl and shout each time it takes a careful half step, its golden gaze never leaving Auden's. It's a thought in her brain, to at least extend her dagger, try to put up some fight, but she's unable to make her arms listen. Still as a statue as the creature prowled closer. The subtle musk of earth, dirt and rain drift to Auden from the beast as he takes his last step stopping just inches in front of Auden. It's the cowardly thing to do as she squeezes her eyes shut, but Auden doesn't want to see her end coming.
Perhaps the beast would be merciful, find a vein to open up and let her bleed quickly before ripping and rendering her with its teeth glistening like pearled daggers consuming her beneath the moonlight.