05-12-2017, 05:55 AM
The hunters were out that morning. The men not proficient in bowmanship were cutting down more trees to build more huts. The rudimentary homes that they had right now were fit to house multiple settlers at once, with a roof over their head and the most basic of walls around them to give them a sense of security: sticks and trunks dug into the ground bound together with rope and elastic sticks. It would withstand some wind and water, certainly. But Karil would be able to tear it down easily if it ever came to that. Or if they left their junk behind after leaving.
She had seen many of them walk into these huts in the evening or come out of them in the morning, and the smells were concentrated around them. She guessed that the huts were a dormitory for the settlers until they got individual rooms. They would be gathering there at night. It would be dangerous to get near it. They would be encouraged by their numbers. She had to try a different approach.
Karil's goal was to get them to leave the forest. She would not kill them, of course. There were too many of them and she could not kill them all at once. Humans became unpredictable when afraid, she had noticed. They might decide to set fire to the forest or to lay out traps. They might arm everyone with bows or other weapons. They might also flee but she did not want to take chances. Best to intimidate them and observe their reactions. She could always fall back to her plan to kill their hunters if they DID react in a way she didn't want them to. Or she could chase the animals away from their settlement to prevent them from getting supplies. She hid her clothes away again and scouted around the outskirts of the settlement, hiding from sight in the bushes. They had more fires going on and were gathering around that. Animal furs were hung up on leather racks and the females were making thread out of plants. Children were gathering black rocks. Two girls were coming closer to Karil's hiding spot as they searched. This gave her an idea. She made a wide arc around them to avoid them, retreating deeper into the forest, and laid in wait.
When they were deep enough in the forest to be out of earshot of the village Karil stepped forth from between the trees, on all fours like a feral, and dragged her feet through the leaves so that they would have to hear her. They looked up from the ground and noticed her. For a moment they just looked at each other.
"Hello", Karil then spoke. She knew a few words from the humans, this was some sort of introduction she understood.
"Hello", one of the girls replied. This was where it would get complicated... formulating sentences.
"You not belong... here." She dragged a paw over the ground. "Forest... not for humans."
"We can't leave. We need to find more flintstones first!" one of the girls exclaimed and showed Karil a handful of black rocks in her dirty hand.
"No. Not you." She wondered for a moment how to make herself understood. "All humans. Human pack. All humans not belong here. Not belong in forest."
"I think it's saying that the New Darkshire settlers don't belong here", one of the girls whispered to the other. Then, more loudly, she asked: "Doggy, where would the humans go if not into the forest?"
"Human packs. Big packs. Homes outside forest. Many homes."
"Yeah", the other girl said, "but they're Camelots! We're from Darkshire, you know. The Camelots say that people of the Pale Moors are all infested with the evil taint of the Moors."
"You humans. They humans. Together is good. Separated is bad."
The younger girl tugged on the older's arm. "Hey Mei, let's go back. We can tell gramps about the talking doggy." After a little back and forth the older girl agreed to it and they retraced their steps to the village, now much more hurried than before. Karil wondered how the humans would react. Maybe she should kill a hunter just to send them a warning? She ended up deciding against it and withdrew to give the settlers some time. Two warnings in such a short amount of time could not pass without reaction, right?
If someone had wandered the forests of Camelot, and if that someone had left the path and come to the forest around the Pale Moors gate near the edge of the verse, they may have been greeted by the sight of a wolf walking on her hindlegs collecting smelly clothes from a hiding spot behind a bush, and putting them back on before running off into the deeper parts of the forest. But nobody strays from the beaten paths of the forests of Camelot, because they fear the predators.
She had seen many of them walk into these huts in the evening or come out of them in the morning, and the smells were concentrated around them. She guessed that the huts were a dormitory for the settlers until they got individual rooms. They would be gathering there at night. It would be dangerous to get near it. They would be encouraged by their numbers. She had to try a different approach.
Karil's goal was to get them to leave the forest. She would not kill them, of course. There were too many of them and she could not kill them all at once. Humans became unpredictable when afraid, she had noticed. They might decide to set fire to the forest or to lay out traps. They might arm everyone with bows or other weapons. They might also flee but she did not want to take chances. Best to intimidate them and observe their reactions. She could always fall back to her plan to kill their hunters if they DID react in a way she didn't want them to. Or she could chase the animals away from their settlement to prevent them from getting supplies. She hid her clothes away again and scouted around the outskirts of the settlement, hiding from sight in the bushes. They had more fires going on and were gathering around that. Animal furs were hung up on leather racks and the females were making thread out of plants. Children were gathering black rocks. Two girls were coming closer to Karil's hiding spot as they searched. This gave her an idea. She made a wide arc around them to avoid them, retreating deeper into the forest, and laid in wait.
When they were deep enough in the forest to be out of earshot of the village Karil stepped forth from between the trees, on all fours like a feral, and dragged her feet through the leaves so that they would have to hear her. They looked up from the ground and noticed her. For a moment they just looked at each other.
"Hello", Karil then spoke. She knew a few words from the humans, this was some sort of introduction she understood.
"Hello", one of the girls replied. This was where it would get complicated... formulating sentences.
"You not belong... here." She dragged a paw over the ground. "Forest... not for humans."
"We can't leave. We need to find more flintstones first!" one of the girls exclaimed and showed Karil a handful of black rocks in her dirty hand.
"No. Not you." She wondered for a moment how to make herself understood. "All humans. Human pack. All humans not belong here. Not belong in forest."
"I think it's saying that the New Darkshire settlers don't belong here", one of the girls whispered to the other. Then, more loudly, she asked: "Doggy, where would the humans go if not into the forest?"
"Human packs. Big packs. Homes outside forest. Many homes."
"Yeah", the other girl said, "but they're Camelots! We're from Darkshire, you know. The Camelots say that people of the Pale Moors are all infested with the evil taint of the Moors."
"You humans. They humans. Together is good. Separated is bad."
The younger girl tugged on the older's arm. "Hey Mei, let's go back. We can tell gramps about the talking doggy." After a little back and forth the older girl agreed to it and they retraced their steps to the village, now much more hurried than before. Karil wondered how the humans would react. Maybe she should kill a hunter just to send them a warning? She ended up deciding against it and withdrew to give the settlers some time. Two warnings in such a short amount of time could not pass without reaction, right?
If someone had wandered the forests of Camelot, and if that someone had left the path and come to the forest around the Pale Moors gate near the edge of the verse, they may have been greeted by the sight of a wolf walking on her hindlegs collecting smelly clothes from a hiding spot behind a bush, and putting them back on before running off into the deeper parts of the forest. But nobody strays from the beaten paths of the forests of Camelot, because they fear the predators.