First Encounter

The night was dark, a slight breeze sending shivers down his spine.

Asra didn’t like the cold much, never really had, and often wore his long ears like a scarf around his neck and shoulders to warm himself up. It had been a habit since childhood, ever since he lost his scarf his friend knitted for him.

Demons he missed him, he had passed of a strange illness when they were quite young, he’d been alone since then. But he managed, he learned to look after himself, and his little Impup Diego. He learned to cook, to clean, to get by without anyone’s help. But nevertheless he felt lonely.

A slight pang in his chest often rung out at night while he was trying to sleep. Aching for someone to call a friend, a lover, anything really, for that real connection that most Buns had, yet he seemed to lack.
No one could seem to tell, not even himself if his lack of friends was down to being to shy, or simply to lazy to make a connection, but this time would be different, this time he wouldn’t be held back by himself and his fears and regrets.

No.

This was gonna be it for sure!

Hauling his messenger bag over his shoulder, and gave Diego a couple kisses and pats as an apology for leaving so late, and as a promise he would be back soon.
He set out down the roads.

He’d heard quite a bit about this bun, and if he had any chance of finding her, it would be far outside the city, deep in the woods.

A bun who could teach him everything he needed to know to survive these dire times. And her name was Agnes.

A renowned witch in Burrowgatory, he’d searched many a time for her, and had finally narrowed it down to one place.

Of course, she was known for being quite the hermit, and very wary of strangers, but that wouldn’t stop him, he needed her, for what reason, he wouldn’t tell, but nonetheless, he was desperate, and she was his last hope.

Demons he hoped he was correct.

Rushing down the streets, his head wiping back and forth as he scanned the area for any possible threats. A can of pepper spray in hand, ready to be sprung at any second.

He ran and ran, going past dancing shadows and flickering lights, as the night sky seemed to be empty of stars in the city lights.

It wasn’t long before he found himself at the outer edge of the city, heading towards the area of the woods in which he had yet to check, the last area, his last hope.

He scanned the edge of the woods, his throat involuntarily swallowing down the build up of siliva, he waited there for a while, scared to venture out into the woods where these creatures that had been causing the disappearances might be lurking, he found it highly likely they were out there somewhere, but as he stood there, he reminded himself, this wasn’t for Asra. . . This was for him!

And with that he took his first step into the woods, a determined look on his face, and a melody in his heart, he wasn’t going to let them down!!

Marching forward through the woods, he gradually grew more confident with each stride. Whatever had been taking those buns, well, it wasn’t here, or that’s what he told himself, there were no signs of life for miles, and as he walked further his pace began to slow, his legs ached, and his head grew foggy as he reached a small body of fresh water in the woods.

The air smelled nice near the water, if a bit muddy, but it was pleasant nonetheless.

Sitting by the water, he grabbed out his small bottle of water, and began to chug the liquid like there was no tomorrow, his parched throat slowly easing in pain as he let the liquid slowly slip down his throat, and the spots scattered across his vision slowly fading with each sip.

It was then that a rustling in the bushes nearby caught his attention, and without a second to react, he leapt up and began to run, the *thing*, whatever it was, chased quickly after him, it wasn’t long before he regretted going out hoofed that night, as he tripped over his own feet slamming directly into the solid ground, a twig or two scratching the fragile skin on his face.

Huffing out a breath, and letting out a soft plea to the Demons above, he got back to his hooves continuing to run.

Looking back over his shoulders, he soon realized that his pursuer had disappeared.

Anxiety began to cling to him like a leech, and his breaths became muddled and fast.

He spun around in circles eyeing every direction, up and down, as he frantically searched for that thing.

“What are you doing here?” A harsh voice cut through the haze of panic.

And springing into action, Asra pointed the can of pepper spray in the direction of the voice and held down on the cap, letting the spray go wild, as he screamed in fear.

Demons he didn’t want to die, please don’t let him die!!

“Arrugh!!! Stop, STOP!! What are you doing?!?” The harsh voice rasped out between coughs, and before Asra knew it, the small can was empty, and he was defenseless. . . .

“DEMONS!! What is wrong with you?!?” The voice rasped once again.

And finally Asra turned to see a small red and white bun, with purple flowers around their neck and left horn, and a small purple flame coming off the tip of their heart shaped tail.

They were a pride bun, that much was for certain, and they were pissed. . . . .

Curling up in the fetal position Asra begged to not be hurt “Please don’t kill me, I’m so sorry, I thought you were one of those things I swear!!” He clung to his small horns with desperation, covering them from the light of the fire from the buns tail.

“Demons, you’re pathetic!!”

“I’m sorry!!!”

“Urrggg!!” She groaned as she put her head in her hooved paws.

“Just go away!” She continued as she rubbed at her reddening eyes.

“No wait!!” Asra pleaded begging for a second of the buns time.

“What?!” She snapped, turning back towards him, her glare not nearly as threatening with her watering eyes.

“I-I really am sorry. . . . I'm just not sure where I'm going, you see I'm looking for a certain bun!” Asra began to ramble, his fingers tangling themselves with each other as he fiddled with his hands.

“Who?” She asked flatly.

“You see, I believe she may be able to help me with a problem I have. . . !” Asra continued.

“Who's the bun?” She asked flatly once again.

“And I'm not very good at this sort of stuff so I was wondering if you might know her or where she might be-”

“WHICH BUN ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!?!?” She finally snapped and Asra broke out of his rambling daze.

“Oh! Her names Ag-”

A deep growl suddenly ripped through the air, sending a shiver down Asra's spine.

That thing was still following him. . . .

“Dammit, Run!!!!” The bun hissed, as she quickly pulled a medium sized sickle from her waist for defense.

“What?!? What do you mean run???!! I can’t just leave you here!!! Not after that thing followed me!!!” Asra quickly asked as his whole body tensed.

“You lead them here?!?” She hissed at him this time, a light grumble in her throat, obviously displeased with the situation.

“Well. I. Uhhh. . .-”

She grumbled something under her breath, as a shadowing figure leapt towards them from the treetops, and as she dodged the attack with a roll, just avoiding nicking herself on the creature's claws, she shouted out with anger and fury “Run!!!”

But as he froze up on the spot, watching as the bun fought for her life, deflecting some attacks, barely dodging others, he knew from there that she would not survive this creature playing with its food. . . .

It soon hit him like a truck, they would die here if he didn't do something, and quick. . . .

Taking in a deep breath, and rifling through the belongings in his bag, he soon found what he was looking for, a rubber band bound pile of flash bombs that he neatly packed next to his bag of smoke bombs.

Fumbling with the rubbed band, doing his best not to trigger any grenades as he pulled one out he heard the bun cry out in pain, he finally lost the patience that was holding him stable and just pulled the pin on multiple grenades and threw the lot at the feet of the creature and the bun, quickly covering his ears and closing his eyes as he turned away, the grenades hit the ground, setting off a burst of light that exploded across their vision.

The subsequent hissing from the creature was enough to fully settle his nerves and let the adrenaline rush kick in.

Grabbing the buns wrist, he began to run, run like his life depended on it, because it likely did.

“Turn here!” The bun shouted as she rubbed her even redder eyes.

And he followed, as she took the lead, they ran around stone mounds, and tall trees, bushes and cliff walls, the creature, whatever it was? Hot on their heels, until they reached an opening, with a small wooden cabin in the middle, it seemed homely, but this wasn't the time for those sorts of thoughts. . . .

“Inside!!” She shouted at him over panting breaths.

And as they crossed the threshold, the creature came to a stop, hiding in the shadows, lurking around the boundary of the cabin, and then it left. . . .

Letting out a sigh of relief as the adrenalin crash slowly started to kick in.

“What. . . What was that?. . .” He finally asked after a few moments of just panting.

“. . . . .” the bun was silent, not saying anything, she obviously had her own thoughts of whatever that thing was, but did not seem to want to share them, for what reason, he wasn't sure.

He dropped his head and panted out a disbelieving laugh. “So that thing huh?? Its a damn demons grace that we didn't get killed or mamed by it isn't it??. . .” he chuckled, as he turned to look back at her, “Or Eaten”. He turned to look at her in disbelief but her face was dead serious, as she turned to head inside the cabin.

And without much else to do, Asra followed.

He watched as she walked over to a basement hatch, opening it, before walking down the stairs underneath, coming back a few moments later with a jug of milk and a face washer to rub her now puffy red eyes.

“So what's your name anyway?” she asked, more out of curiosity than a want to know.

“Asra. . .” He spoke softly, more of a mumble than anything.

“Astra huh? So you're the kind of bun to spray someone with pepper spray before even properly meeting them?” She snarked

“Wha- No. . . I- I didn't mean to, I was just-”

“Let me guess. You panicked and didn't even think about it?”

“Uhh. . . Yeah. . . .” He mumbled awkwardly.

“What are you even doing out here anyway, you know pepper spray only really affects buns right?” She asked, almost completely deadpan.

“Well. . . . No. . . . . I didn’t know that. . . . . And umm. . . . That's really complicated actually. . . . .”

She sighed, finally just pouring the milk into her eyes from the pitcher, and after drying herself clean with another cloth, she looked at him once again.

“So who was it you were looking for?” she asked yet again.

“Umm. . . There's this really talented Witch I've been looking for, a Bun named Agnes, you wouldn't happen to know her would you?” The bun looked at him momentarily, something strange in her eyes.

“Nope, wouldn't have a clue.” She deadpanned

“Oh. . . .” He signed, unsure of what to do with himself or where to go now.

“Look Astra”

“Uhhh it’s actually-“ he started.

She turned around to look at him, her gaze as sharp as a knife.

“Uh, never-mind. . . .” he croaked out.

A small exhale from her nose showed her annoyance, but Asra said nothing else.

“You can stay here for the night.” She spoke as she went over to a water basin and began to soak and clean the two rags in soapy water.

“Wha- Really?!?” Asra asked in disbelief.

“Sure”

“Thank y-” Asra began to speak before he was cut off.

“But only for the night!! I expect you to be gone as soon as the sun rises tomorrow!!” And she ruined it. . . .

Well, Asra supposed he couldn't be one to complain, he'd live to see another day at least. . .

They went to sit by the fire after the bun finished squeezing out the water from the cloths, and hung them up to dry.

Right in front of the fire sat a hand woven basket, filled with bread and a Bottle of Rum, an offering to the Spirits he supposed.

Smiling warmly at the offering he turned to the bun, who sat reclined in a small rocking chair with cushions on it, while he sat on the soft carpeted floor.

“Hey, I never did catch your name” Asra decided to break the tense silence as she tried to drift off to sleep.

“Urggg. . . You talk too much!. . .” she grumbled out, obviously annoyed as she was ripped from her soon slumber.

The air was quite other than the crackling of the fireplace for only a few moments.

“Agnes, my name is Agnes-”

“WAIT, WHAT?!?!?”