Around the worlds 3 - Golems & bears

"Oh, stop that", she said bumping her elbow against him, smiling. Then she frowned slightly. "You're right. It's strange." She walked up to their companion's tent. "Karl? Hey, it's time to get yourself on again!" She peeked in.

And Karl wasn't there. He apparently hadn't even "slept", since it seemed like he had left his tent a long time ago.

Michela looked at Neos, disbelief on her face. "He... he is gone", she simply said. "He is gone!"

"...What do you mean, 'he's gone'. He's a robot. He can think by himself, but he wouldn't leave just like that !" Then, all of sudden, he froze, and turned to look at a certain spot. "...Weren't there rocks here, yesterday ?"

"If I say he is gone he is gone! How many meanings of the word gone do you know?" Michela turned to look at the spot Neos was pointing at. She froze completely. "... we have to move. If we are lucky we'll find Karl soon before anything happens."

"...Before what happens ?" Neos asked her, worried. "Don't tell me things like that or this time I'll freak out for good," he told her, already panicking.

"Well, I don't know! We'll better be prepared for anything, honestly." Michela nervously gestured for him to get all the stuff he needed to take, while she did the same. Then she took a deep breath. "Listen, don't worry. I am sure everything will be ok. And as I said, I am pretty sure I can fight or kill whatever is hiding in this stupid forest." She threw a small, encouraging smile at him.
At those words, a small, terrified squeak could've been heard in the bushes. Too low to give it any importance.

But Neos was getting too nervous now, and way too anxious. "Michela, we're talking about an android who just left without any previous notice. Heck, the guy doesn't track off during the day to take a look at a flower without warning us beforehand !" He turned around to face the bushes, reacting at any sound he now heard.

"Exactly my point here. So you will understand why we need to get on the move and look for him now, right?" Michela kept silent for a couple of seconds, before jumping in the bushes just like a feline would have, pouncing a young man hard to the ground, her hand on his throat.
Said man shrieked, covering his face with both hands. "P-please, don't kill me! I did nothing!"

Michela's speed surprised Neos, who didn't move for a few seconds before he came carefully near her. "Michela ? What's going on ?"

Michela effortlessly got up, holding the squirming man by the back oh his neck, just like a disobedient puppy. "This happens", she answered with a snarl, shaking her prey. "Who are you, and why were you hiding there and spying on us", she asked flatly, her voice menacingly calm.
The man looked genuinely terrified. "My-my name is Maverick, and- hey, I wasn't spying on anyone! But usually no one comes in this place, I wasn't expecting people to camp here!"

Neos relaxed. "Release him, Michela. He doesn't look like the kind who'd attack Karl, or be of any kind of threat to him."

Michela made an annoyed sound and released the man, who stumbled on the ground. "Well then, if no one is ever around here, why are YOU?", she asked.
"These are my business", Maverick murmured getting up, patting the dust off his clothes. "Maybe you are around for my same reason? You don't seem human either", he said, sounding hopeful.

Neos arched a brow. "Well, since we don't know who you are, we can't really answer that question, smart dude," he sighed, as he crossed his arm. "Listen, I'm in a bit of stress right now, and my fingers are itching to summon a bit of fire. How about you answer the lady's questions," he said with a tight smile.

Maverick looked at Neos nervously, fiddling with his long hair. "I am a shapeshifter. I come here to hunt..." He looked around. "Please don't... no fires here. We are surrounded by trees, that wouldn't be smart", he said weakly. "And besides, it could make other creatures notice us."

Neos arched a brow, worried himself. "Which kind of other creatures ?" After all, they knew nothing of that world. They'd better take all the information they could.

Maverick was noticeably growing more anxious. "Like the ones that most likely took your friend away. Aagh, that's it! I'm jot going to talk about those. Every time I name them, they appear out of nowhere!"

Neos frowned. "What are they, then ? Are they shapeshifters like you ?" It seemed rather unlikely to him to find creatures that would pop up when named, and yet... anything was possible.

"Not exactly", Maverick admitted with a nod of his head. "But I guess you noticed that there are things that aren't supposed to move in this forest, which instead go around as they please." He glanced at another group of rocks, nearby. Which fortunately enough, didn't seem intent on moving.

Neos looked at Michela. "... Maybe I'm not so crazy after all, am I." He yelped when a tall man seemed to emerge out of the earth itself right behind Maverick, and jumped closer to Michela, by pure reflex.
Well. The newcomer didn't exactly look like a man. He looked like he was made of a mix between clay and stone, with eyes completely white. He had a staff with him, and spikes over his head.

Maverick let out a shriek, and immediately rushed forward to get away from that creature, some traits of his shapeshifting form already starting to show. Claws, some spots of fur. He didn't control himself much when scared.
Michela took a step back herself, taken by surprise by that sudden apparition. Startled, she shook her head and took on a hard expression. "Who are you?", she tried to ask.

The creature turned its head towards them. Not blinking once. "The name is Athorn. I am looking for the living being named Neos, and the dead being named Michela."

Neos emitted a low, protesting noise. That sounded weird.

Maverick emitted an acute, weird sound that sounded half reassured, half worried. He stood there, not really knowing what to do now. He just hoped that Athorn continued to ignore him.
Michela tried to keep her usual facade on. It was getting increasingly difficult, but she HAD to. "I am Michela. And this is Neos", she said, gesturing towards him. "What do you want from us?"

Athorn looked at them, tilting his head slightly. He didn't seem agressive, at least. "The being named Karl asked for you," he said flatly.

Michela looked at him, critically, as if deciding if to lower her guard and believe him, or elseway. Then, her shoulders relaxed a bit. But not completely. That being did not seem to have the intention to harm any of them. "We can... follow you?", she said then, a bit uncertainly.
Maverick shifted nervously on his feet. "W-what about me? Can I go? Or do I have to follow?"