Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was most of the day that Jamie was left in the small, bare prison. The sun filtered into the slit of a window drawing a long shadow on the bars. The wolf had gotten bored and curled up in a miserable state in the far corner and the locks held fast no matter what force might’ve been used. Voices were finally heard, though muted through the walls, but one was unmistakably Jimmy’s. They were only just entering the clearing around the building.

“Good, the fight will be ‘eld tomorrow night; I’ve got some good bets on my dogs. They’ll rip ‘im apart quicker then the last one. I’ve got good money on that.” One gruff man said confidently and stepped into the clearing. He pulled his hat down from the glare of the lowering sun and looked up at the cowering rat catcher.

“Yer won’t be disappointed Eddy, ‘e’s a fine lookin’ beast ‘e is. Blood thirsty too, almost got me a few times.” Jimmy wringed his hands together, if Eddy wasn’t pleased then Jimmy wouldn’t get paid. And payment was nothing to worry about if Eddy was displeased. He was top of his business and feared for his ruthlessness. It was a foolish man to mess with him; he had connections and good ones at that. People had accidents if they upset Eddy. Serious ones.

“’ere Black. You’s said you’s ‘ad caught something else. Something rare. You’s gonna tell us now?” A man with a brown, thick bushy beard asked, his equally thick bushy eyebrows waggled around on his face while he spoke as if they were trying to escape.

“It’s probably a funny coloured rat, one with bright burning eyes and flaming fur.” A tall fellow laughed and seemed to have had a better education then his companions, if not a better sense of dress style.

The one called Eddy grasped his hands behind his back. “If it looks like it can fight I’ll pay good money for it.” He gave the rat catcher a curious look.

“Uh, well.” The old man begun nervously, “’e’s not exactly a fightin’ sort.”
“So’s why you’s tellin’ us abouts it then?” The hairy one snarled but Eddy held his hand up. Nothing else was said until the door opened and the three men gazed upon the hairy figure in the corner.

“What’s that then?”
“I believe a wolf, my good man.”
“No the other thing, you’s idiot!”

They stood there looking at Jamie through the bars; Eddy was the shortest with a cap on his head and stood no taller then 5 ft and was middle aged. He wore a typical brown jacket that looked new with grey trousers and looked the sort to be outside in all weathers. His hairy companion wore similar clothing but all had holes in and his skin was tanned, while the tall man was clean shaven and wore fancier clothes that made him stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of a forest and looked like he should be filing papers instead. Jimmy stood at the back wringing his hands.

They all peered at the boy glaring up at them. The wolf had stood up from where he was curled when the men arrived and growled softly.
“Well, it looks to me like some sort of… kid… thing?” The tall man nervously ran a hand through his thick blonde hair, kneeling down for a closer look.

“Ay child?” The hairy one turned to Jimmy, his heavy set shoulders held stiffly. “We ain’ts in that game, Black!” He growled, poking the old man with a dirty, stubby finger with each word. “Ey has sons-“

“N-no, Michael! ‘e-e ‘ain’t ah h-human ch-child!” The rat catcher stuttered stumbling back against the wall from the force. “’e’s a-a-“

“A satyr.” Confirmed Eddy, “Or a faun a’ least, both are more or less the same t’ing.” All three men stared at their boss in astonishment at his apparent knowledge of fabled animals.

“Y-yeah, ‘e’s a faun, said so himself.” Jimmy stood up and straightened his coat and ignored the yap and scratching at the door from his terrier left outside. “’e jus’ came out of teh forest askin’ fer berries.”

The yellow haired man tilted his head while looking at Jamie. “Aren’t fauns supposed to be half goat and half person?” He frowned, “He’s not very goat like.” The hairy one, now known as Michael, walked back to the cage and leaned closer.

“Oh no, excepts for the horns, goats like ears an’ cloven hooves, ‘e looks human, Stan.” He said sarcastically and then punched his acquaintance in the arm, who almost over balanced.

“Ow! Maybe we could pawn him off to the church, claim he’s Satin or something.” The tall man laughed, rubbing his arm.

“’ow much do yer think they’ll buy ‘em fer?” Jimmy asked greedily, “Ah want ta sell ‘em, can’t be keepin’ a mythimical beast all ta meself now can ah?”

It was assumed that Michael made a thoughtful face under all that hair as his hand stroked his beard before he spoke. “Probably nofink.” He turned to Jimmy. “They mights say that yous be doing a good service by handings over the devil for free like, that’s only if they’s beliefs yous. If not.” He made a cutting motion where his neck was supposed to be. “An’ if hunters catches wind of this, they wills want ‘em too, I bets. By any means, if yous get what I means.”

Jimmy gulped and looked flustered, pleading a look to Eddy for help, whose hands were held behind his back and was staring at the wolf. “The way I see it, Mister Black, ‘e is a burden for you, you don’t really know what to do with ‘im, nor who to sell ‘im to. That is why you showed ‘im to us. Am I correct?”

The rat catcher nodded, Eddy was the man for dealing with rare and exotic animals for his dog baiting sports and of course he never caught any himself as he bought them from the locals. It was common sense to Jimmy then to see if he had any use for a real rare beast. “Y-yeah. Ah, yer won’t use ‘em for baiting will yer?” He asked warily, not that he really cared for a dumb beast you see, but that it would be very unsportsmanlike to set dogs on something that looked pretty helpless and child like.

The three men burst out laughing.

We’s not monsters Black, we ‘ave morals.” Said the hairy one, pretending to wipe a tear of laughter from his eye. “’sides not like ‘es could fights back. We likes ‘em when they fights back.”
“Or runs.” Piped up Stan. “My lurchers love a good running hare. He looks like he could run.” He teased.
“I’ve got a good client in mind Mister Black; she likes things like ‘em, rare an’ unusual. She’s been after a fairy for yonks, I bet this’ll be there next best t’ing.” Mused Eddy, stroking his stubble.
“She’ll pay good money?” Inquired the rat catcher.
“That she will.” Chuckled the boss.

“Hey Eddy, look at him will you, he’s doing a great impression of your wife.” The tall man laughed and pointed at the trapped faun giving a venomous glare.
“Ha ha! Yeah, it’s her downs to a tea!”
“Hey, ‘ave some respect for the old goat.” Eddy said seriously without cracking a smile. “’ave you any rope? We’ll take ‘em now, got a place closer to the city for Miss Marple to view ‘em tonight, she’ll make an offer for ‘em and we’ll split it. We’ll discuss that part later Mister Black.”

“Uh, righ’. What about teh wolf?” Jimmy asked while trying to remember where he put the rope. “Ah needs teh payment for ‘em tonight, like yer said. Ah think the rope is in the other room.” Michael nodded and opened the other door to get the rope from the barn like building.

“Right, yeah an’ I always keep my word.” He snapped his fingers and Stan took out a small sack of gold from the bag he was wearing. “The amount we agreed on Mister Black.” Jimmy gave a yellow toothy grin as he took the bag, he wanted to count it there and then, but was afraid to insult Eddy. He did trust his word. Really.

“I gots some rope.” Michael held some up. “Open the cage an’ we ties ‘im up.”

Jimmy put the money in a pocket and unclipped a key from his belt then looked at the hairy fellow on his right to see that he was ready, Stan was standing on Jimmy’s right trying to tease the wolf while Eddy leaned against the front door with his arms crossed.

“Alrigh’ don’t try anything funny, Jamie.” Said Jimmy unlocking the door and opened it.
“Jamie? Yous given ‘im a pet name? Whadidja calls the wolf, Fang?” The man with the rope laughed.
“Naw, it’s Wolf innit? Like his Dog.” Stan grinned feeling smart.
“Shut it an’ tie ‘im up before it gets dark.” Eddy growled. “We don’t want to be in this forest after nightfall.”

The lackeys gave a knowing look at each other; Eddy didn’t like the dark, especially in the woods. He was pretty superstitious about the imps and demons living in the trees. The others scoffed at that, but would never say so to his face, especially not now they were faced with a real life faun.

Cecil was a little disgruntled when he came back to an abandoned campfire. He had three of four good-sized fish impaled on a single spear- trophies of a good day's fishing. The fox kid had looked around the site with a tinge of suspicon. It's not like Alex- or anybody from his dimension really, who would abandon one of their own without good reason. He walked away from the site. The wind picked up slightly, and Cecil found it insentive enough to run. He didn't want to stick around and find out what got everyone to turn tail and leave.

After he got a good distance away from the fire pit, Cecil began to wander. What else was there to do in this dimension? He certainly couldn't go back into town looking like this. His tails were flopping against his pants and his ears were flinching around the top of his head. He was a freak of nature in a natural habitat. No point in subjecting himself to the discomfort of hiding it.

Eventually, he came across a building. The tiny slice of civililzation filled Cecil with hope. Even a huge forest such as this one still had signs of human life. Curious, he ventured closer, ready to dash at the first sound- or scent- of trouble.

Careful as he was, he overlooked the puppy at the front door.

Nighttime was definitely not the best time to be out in Ironwood forest, but sometimes, just before sunset can be a troubling time as the sun moves below the treeline, and the shadows begin to grow larger and fill the gaps that were once illuminated by the sun.

It was in these growing shadows that Damian now hid, behind a rock. He had been listening to and watching the Cabin intently, and knew Jamie had been inside. When the Faun had been lead outside, tied to a rope, Damian felt that feral rage start to boil up within him, wanting the chance to bite, rip and tear these men that would treat Jamie, a Child, as if he was an animal. But Damian quelled his inner beast. Even though he could free Jamie in a violent bloodbath, Damian knew it would only draw more men into the forest, looking for trouble.

The hybrid picked up two rocks, each stone the size of a tennis ball, and took careful aim before throwing them: One flying to knock off Jimmy's hat, the other to peg Michael's rope holding forearm, right on the funnybone.

~Let the Faun go, he belongs to the Forest and not to you. Let him go, or face My Wrath~ Damian projected at the group of men in his most menacing voice as he dashed behind the cabin, where he could sense Cecil's nearby presence.

~Cecil, hide and throw rocks at them, we need to make them let Jamie go and drive them off~ Damian secretly told Cecil as the wolf-croc waited to see the men's next move.

Cecil was creeping up to the window when Damian came from out of nowhere. The fox kid turned around jumped back against the wall at the sudden appearance of the wolf-croc. His gold eyes widened, his inhuman limbs tensed up, the expression was a flabberghasted mix of shock and surprise.

Damian?! Cecil mindyelled, God, you almost gave me a heart attack! What the heck is going on?

Damian told him.

Jamie? Who's them? And how am I supposed to hide and throw rocks at the same time?! Cecil was still recovering from the intial shock of Damian's sudden arrival. He wasn't quite thinking logically- but hiding and throwing rocks? At the same time? It just wasn't clicking at the moment. It also didn't occur to him that the fishing spear in his hand was enough of a weapon to take on the "Them" that Damian was talking about.

Cecil looked down on the ground for any suitable throwing rocks. He crouched down and starting to snatch a few stones from the ground.

Look Damian, just keep them busy, I'll be right there!

~careful, one of them has a crossbow~ Damian told Cecil silently, He had seen the weapon earlier, and was now thinking of what to do next. Then he sensed the wolf inside the cabin. The wolf-croc grinned to himself, a plan forming in his mind. ~wait here~

Damian placed his hands on the back of the cabin, his claws glowing slightly as he started to pull and twist the cabin wall like it was taffy, creating a hole just large enough for him to slip inside, closing it behind himself. Once inside, Damian approached the cage the wolf was locked in. ~you want to be free, you want revenge...nows your chance~ Damian told the wolf, which seemed to understand but was nervous of Damian's appearance, but bristled in anticipation at a chance of getting revenge. The Wolf-Croc used a talon to break the cage's lock, freeing the wolf.

~You Men have been Warned~ Damian told the group outside as he pulled back on the door, breaking it off the hinges as he stepped away. The Wolf, snarling in anger at Jimmy and the other men, leaped out from the doorway, and at Michael.

Crossbow? Cecil flinched. Going against a guy with a crossbow with rocks was the equivlivant of throwing pebbles at a guy with a cannon. His ears turned to the tender sound of wood cracking. The fox kid's eyes went wide as he peeked down the wall to see the croc-wolf rip a hole through the cabin.

Oh boy.

Cecil swallowed and looked over to Jamie and his less than accompnying company. He gripped his makeshift spear and looked at the fish he caught. He would have to get rid of the fish if he wanted to look formidible. Damian's show of power would be a tough act to follow. Reluctantly, Cecil slipped the fish off the tip of his spear and put them on the grass. That's when he noticed a dog sniffing towards him.

Did dogs like fish?. He wondered. If that was the case, it didn't seem like there'll be fish there when he got back. A little wary of the dog, he brushed the fish towards the dog. Just in case it decided to tell everybody where he was.

Cecil took a deep breath, and emerged from his hiding spot.

Hey! He yelled to them pointing the spear at them, Drop the kid!