As you touch the weapons, chills shoot down your spine. The wolves stop howling for a second before continuing, even louder. Corasi whines and her tail tucks under her legs. Wind blows your white-blonde hair into your face. When you finally get your hair out of your face, something moves between the trees. Your whole body is tense. The something moves again and you can barely make out a humanoid form.

Naikasha Urios
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Artemis?" she breathes. She quickly stopped touching the weapons. She could barely move.

The door behind you slams shut and you hear laughter from the woods. The figure steps out of the woods and you can see that it is not, in fact, a goddess but a young man. He's tall (taller than you) and has pointed ears that poke out of a shaggy mess of black hair. His skin is dark and his eyes are the same silver color as the moon. He smirks and says, "I've been called many things in my life, but never Artemis. My actual name is Lycaon. Welcome to the woods." Your Sylesti cautiously approaches him, but when she gets close, Lycaon grins and you can see that his canine teeth are unnaturally sharp. He drops onto his knees and gives Corasi a good petting behind her ears. Corasi's tail begins to wag and she barks happily. He stands up and winks at you. "She's a good girl, however, these woods do weird things to good girls. Half of those wolves that are howling right now aren't even wolves. They're Sylesti that left their people to join their wild kin. Keep Corasi safe and don't let her leave your side." It crosses your mind you never told him your Sylesti's name. He smirks again and steps away from you into the woods. Lycaon walks away.... until he disappears into the woods.

Naikasha Urios
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She wanted to say something, but thought better of it. "Well, I guess I'll have to keep you extra safe then, huh?"

Another howl pierces through the woods. Corasi's ears perk up and she starts toward the sound. Lycaon's voice rings out, "Don't let her go!" It sounded like it was right next to you. You look around and.... Lycaon is standing right next to you. "I've decided against letting you go alone. Now you're stuck with me until you're out of the woods."

Naikasha Urios
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She ran after Corasi and caught up. "No. Stay with me, sweet." She put her arms around Corasi's neck, interlocking them.

You look up and there's a massive grey wolf standing in front of you, his lips pulled up in a snarl. Lycaon calmly walks past you and steps over to the wolf. They seem to be... conversing?

Naikasha Urios
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She quietly watched, her hands still tied around Corasi. She blew some of her white hair out of her face.

Lycaon turns back to you and shrugs. "He says he would rather eat you than let you pass but since I'm with you we may go." Lycaon pats the wolf on the back. He motions for you to keep walking. On the ground nearby is a somewhat tattered and bloody leash. It still looks functional.

Naikasha Urios
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Once Corasi had settled she went over to the leash, and picked it up. "Ew." She tied it around Corasi's collar and started walking.