//------------------------------// // Why did it have to be them // Story: Keeper of the Forest // by ShowShine //------------------------------// Spike walking into the forest slowly, looking for Buddy. It was eight in the morning, which baffled Twilight. Spike was never even awake at this hour, and if he was he was never active. Spike looked down to see a large paw print imprinted in the ground. The paw prints led to a cave. “These are definitely timberwolf prints.” Spike said to himself. He followed the prints until he walked in the cave. Timberwolves laid there, some sleeping, some playing with each other. A few timberwolves turned around when the heard Spike enter the cave. A timberwolf pup hopped over to him and rolled over on its back, exposing it’s stomach. Spike smiled and pet its stomach, making the pup let out a yip of approval. Buddy galloped toward Spike with his tail wagging wildly. “Hey Buddy!” Spike said happily. “I found out a way to fix you leg.” He continued. Buddy tilted his head in confusion when he saw him pour some water onto the dirt, making mud. Spike pulled out a stick from his bag and unwrapped the bandage from around his leg, revealing a broken stick that jutted out like a sore thumb. “This might hurt.” Spike said. He dug his claws into the broken stick and tugged on it, making a large snapping noise. It broke off and Buddy howled in pain. A few timberwolves stood up and got into defensive stances, ready to attack Spike. He dropped the stick on the ground. He picked up the other stick and slathered it in mud. He pushed it into the empty spot. The stick clicked in instantly. Buddy stared at his now healed leg. His tail started to wag and he licked Spike on the cheek happily. “You’re welcome.” Spike said with a giggle. The timberwolves as down and stared happily at the display. Spike stood up abd started to walk out the cave. “Let’s go Buddy.” Spike said. Buddy ran up to him with ease, his tail still wagging. They walked through the forest together. “Where should we go first?” Spike asked. Buddy opened his mouth to respond, but a loud roar echoed across the forest, making them freeze. Buddy got in front of Spike defensively, letting out a growl. “What was that?!” Spike asked in surprise. Another roar echoed across the forest, causing a few birds to fly away. Spike flew over Buddy’s head. “Let’s go check it out.” Spike said while flying to the direction of the roar. Buddy let out a huff before following him. They approached a large cave where the noise was coming from. A growl emitted from it. A few parasprites flew out. Spike tilted his head. He walked into the cave to see parasprites flying around. Under them, a group of pukwudgies shot out quills. In the corner of the room, an Ursa Major held her baby close to her chest, letting out loud snarls. Spike looked at Buddy. “You try to get the pukwudgies out of here, I’ll be back.” Spike said before flying off. Buddy walked over to a pink pukwudgie. It was smaller than the rest of them. Buddy let out a small bark. The pukwudgie turned to look at him before shooting a quill in his face. Buddy jumped back and pawed at his face, getting the quill out. He let out a loud growl and snapped his teeth at it. The pukwudgie let out a squeak of fear and ran out of the cave. A few pukwudgies growled in fear when they saw Buddy approaching them. Buddy let out a bark, causing a few pukwudgies to shoot more quills at him. He let out a whine and took a few steps back. He ran out of the cave as he got barricaded with quills. He stood outside of the cave and started to shake the quill off of himself. Next to him, the pukwudgie from before stood next to him. The pukwudgie took a few steps back in fear. Buddy got closer to it before licking its cheek. The pukwudgie let out a hiss and scattered up a tree. Buddy turned around when he heard Spike walking towards him. Spike held a flute in his hands and lifted up to his mouth. Spike played an upbeat tune, causing all of the parasprites to stop moving. They all turned towards the music and bopped to beat. The flew out of the cave in a swarm. Spike turned around and started to walk through the forest, the parasprites following happily. Soon, they approached a large river. Above the river, a group of flyders buzzed loudly. The parasprites happily flew towards the flyders. The flyders buzzed in excitement. Spike pulled out his journal and started to write. As he wrote, he walked back towards the cave. ”Parasprites and flyders get along very well.” Spike wrote down. He looked up to see that he had approached the cave. He saw Buddy covered in quills, letting out loud whimpers. He didn’t seem like we was in pain, just scared. He shook his body, making the quills shoot from different angles. Spike held up his leather journal, shielding himself from them. He put the journal on the floor and took a book out of his bag. “Pukwudgies are very violent creatures, but will calm down for berries, poison joke, fresh biteacudas, and dragon sneeze flowers.” Spike read out loud. He pulled out a large container of berries. It contained of blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. He opened the container and put a few on the ground. Three pukwudgies left the cave to the smell of berries. They ran over to the berries and devoured them instantly. They saw the container in Spike’s hands and went to grab for it. Spike shook his head and pulled it out of their reach. “You can’t have anymore berries unless you leave this Ursa Major alone and bring all of your friends with you.” Spike said. The pukwudgies gave him a grumpy look. One of them rolled its eyes and ran over to the cave. It let out a high pitched shrill, causing the rest of them to run out. Once they were all out, Spike poured more berries onto the ground. The pukwudgies got into a pile, fighting over the berries. After they finished, they walked away deep into the forest. A small pink pukwudgie climbed out of the tree and slowly approached Spike. When he looked at it, it cowered back in fear. Spike crouched down. “I won’t hurt you.” Spike said softly, putting his hand out. The pukwudgie sniffed his hand. He rubbed his head against Spike’s hand. He pet his head, making the pukwudgie let out a purr. “You must be hungry.” Spike said. He pulled out some berries and placed them in the palm of his hand. The pukwudgie nibbled on the berries until they were gone. Spike stood up from his crouching position. “You should go back to your friends now.” Spike stated. The pukwudgie let out a whine and crawled into his bag. “You want to stay with me?” Spike asked. The pukwudgie nodded his head. “Well if you’re going to stay with me, you need a name.” Spike said. He thought for a moment. “Ozzy!” Spike exclaimed happily. Ozzy let out a chirp of happiness. He put his bag on his back and walked into the cave. He saw the Ursa Major holding her cub close to her. She let out a growl when she saw Spike, causing Buddy to stand in front of him protectively. “I just want to see if you’re okay.” Spike said reassuringly. The Ursa Major looked into his eyes before placing her child in front of him. She had a quill stuck on her ear. Spike pulled out a bandaid from his bag and flew up next to her ear. He pulled out the quill, making her let out a soft squeak. He placed the bandaid over her ear and gave it a soft kiss. “All better.” Spike said. The Ursa Major smiled and tried to lick Spike’s cheek, but ended up licking his whole body. He gave a disgusted look as he was covered in saliva. “Gross!” Spike exclaimed. He could hear Buddy snicker from the ground, causing him to glare at him. He flew to the ground and shook his body off. Buddy stuck out his tongue in disgust as some got on him. “You’re welcome, see you later!” Spike said to them as he left the cave. Once they were outside, he looked at Buddy. “Where should we go next?” Spike asked. Ozzy peaked out of the bag and sniffed into the air. He pointed in a certain direction, letting out a squeak. “I guess we’re going this way.” Spike said, and with that they walked in a random direction, surely to get killed. They approached a nest in the cockatrice part of the forest. Inside the nest, a piece of meat sat inside. There was still some blood on it. Spike tried not to gag at the sight. Ozzy hopped out of his bag and went to eat. They heard a loud screech come from behind them. Spike turned around to see Bandit angrily charging at them. He approached Ozzy and snatched the meat from his grasp, letting out a hiss in the process. Bandit kicked him out of his nest and chewed on his food. “Bandit, that’s mean!” Spike exclaimed. Buddy helped Ozzy up. Ozzy let out a soft whimper, causing Bandit to freeze. He looked down at his food for a moment and let out a sigh. He let out a quiet chirp, making Ozzy look at him. Ozzy walked over to his nest and took a bite of the meat. Bandit watched him as he continued to eat. Once Ozzy finished, he curled up into Bandits side and dozed off. “Aw, you made a friends.” Spike said. Bandit glared at him and ate the remainder of the food. Ozzy hadn’t really eaten that much. “Let’s go check on Beatrice.”