Sae'ranis loved and hated the square.

It was always bustling and crowded, people talking to one another, voices rising over each other in a constant field of noise. Pawsteps on stone, claws and metal and rock striking against earth and ground, the screech of birds, the thrum of machinery, all manner of noises. It was overwhelming, discordant- Sae had hated crowds and noise in life, and it remained so now.

But-

But, here, if he sat for long enough, he could hear familiar voices. The bright trilling song of a volcarona, the chittering excitement of a noibat, rattling off all he knew about whatever topic had been brought up. He could see the proud flash of red and yellow and brown, a pyroar sitting and waiting, tired but loyal. He could see the flicker of orange, the smallest flame. A bright-eyed charmander, eager to prove himself- whatever that may mean.

Sae'ranis sighed, quietly, amber eyes slowly closing. If he thought hard enough, he could be back with his guild, sitting in the dining hall with all the chatter. Ali on one side, and Nav on the other. As it had always been.

Caught up in Before, he did not hear the scamper across stone- He felt, more than anything, the weight of something slamming into him, teeth snapping into his scruff-

And then the world was whipping away, a watercolor blur as he was- abducted? Had he even managed to cry out when he was grabbed? All his limbs felt heavy- what was going to happen to him? Was he going to be eaten? Killed?

Thrown into another mystery dungeon?

Or crushed, for an instant, between fur and tree, yelping as he fell to the ground. Sae just laid there, for a minute, head spinning, the grass under him slowly coming into focus. There were some mushrooms growing on the tree he'd slammed into, pretty brown things. Cerioporus squamosus. Unfezant's back. Edible, but they were tough, so they had to be sliced thinly and treated right.

Shaking his head out a final time, Sae got to his paws, turning- and finding a linoone, bits of shed bark still on his head. "Wh-" His voice was wavering, tearful. Sae was never the brave one. "Why'd you-"

Wayland the Linoone

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The linoone heard him- it was obvious from how he sat up, head whipping from side to side. Looking for the source of the noise-

Or, maybe, for the quarry he'd dropped.

That was more likely when the linoone flashed his teeth, fangs gleaming in the daylight, and Sae flattened against the ground. His ears twisted back against his head, eyes wide and weeping.

When they had been threatened, whether in the dungeons or no, their guild leader was always there to protect him. Or any of the other guild members. He'd never had to defend himself- someone was always there for him.

But, now, there was no one.

At the nudging, Sae let out another pathetic little squeak, flattening further. "S... Stop that!" He cried, finally putting some force into his voice.

Wayland the Linoone

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