The seasons were changing and Summer was long gone. Even Fall was fading fast for Winter's cold embrace. As the nights grew longer, the time around a bonfire did as well. The evenings were for quiet contemplation and stargazing to divine the answers shrouded in nightly foliage. Content with Goosebumps the spectral shadow to his walking skeleton, Fiend went for a walk to quiet his thoughts. Since it was nearing night, there were no kin to be worried about frightening and he assumed his Stag form. Kicking away brambly undergrowth to the side, he whistled a jaunty tune to soothe his spirits. The winter market was coming up and kin from all over would gather for fun and revelry. He could have a booth this year maybe. He was quite lovably and cuddles-prone as a muskwolf and Goosebumps did have a way with the does.

Looking up, he spied a branch full of ripe apples. Craning his head forward, he pulled one way and reversed direction until he worried a weak spot and was able to snap it with a quick jerk of his body. He was hit face first with a small avalanche of apples.

"Ow" he griped to no one in particular.

@Appeal

[imgright]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... appeal.gif[/imgright]

A deep, deep voice bellowed an almost inaudible sound from the cover of the expanding dusk. The sound came from a large, dark, and wooly buck that stood in the bushes nearby. He stood still, his penetrating glowing eyes pointed directly at the stag. Time seemed to stand still for the moments before heavy hooves began approaching Fiend, the buck approaching without question. He didn't waver in his approach, and soon they were close enough to hear even the slightest sound the other might make. Nightmare's breathing was loud, and he stared at Fiend as if he was in some sort of staring contest.

"LIKE YOUR FACE," Nightmare stated simply before he leaned down to eat one of the apples that had fallen from the tree.

As Nightmare chopped down on the apple, four miniature bears came rustling out of the bushes where he'd been standing previously, rushing over to Nightmare. They were huffing and puffing, clearly upset that he had left them. They pawed at him, shoving their faces into his legs and generally trying to climb up onto his back. He shook his flank, preventing the ascent but he mostly ignored them at his feet.

@fluo

If you spoke to the dark even inadvertently, sometimes it shouted back.

And then it stole 5 of his apples but the indecision to move was partly propelled by the appearance of a great shaggy beast of a kimeti and four... of its little friends. Friends that were undeniably cute and cuddly and definitely not from any part of the swamp he had ventured and the Stag had covered a lot of ground through the seasons. Ever roaming nomads, he had never seen these four things. Judging by the abundance of fur of the other, Fiend half suspected these four balls of fur just fell out of the other kin and willed themselves into conscience existence, but they were all differently colored.

Speechless. That's what he was. Until the words registered and he slowly responded as he watched them climb unsuccessfully. "Thanks. I like your... four um, friends."

@Appeal

Nightmare seemed content with the small snack as he made a low sound that could possibly be described as satisfaction. Meanwhile, one of the bears was playing with one of the apples near Fiend's hooves, making the cutest noises that you would never expect to hear out of a small bear. The other three bears continued to try and get Nightmare's attention with the grasping and pawing, making obvious sulking noises when their attempts failed. If they had willed themselves into existence out of his fur, Nightmare had no one but himself to blame for their pestering.

"NOT FRIENDS. SMALL BEARS." He said in the deep tone that he'd spoken in before. It was becoming clear that this was simply the range of his voice.

Nightmare watched Fiend with great interest, using his hoof to softly kick one of the apples closer to Fiend. Apple good.

@fluo

Nighttime snacks were better with company and Fiend obliged while keeping an eye on the "small bears" should one try to climb him. And he was even getting used to the buck's uniquely loud speech patterns. And he was intrigued by the bears. They seemed very affable and made cute noises and not like the yowling that Goosebumps liked to wake the dead with. He eyed the other kin more closely and noticed that with so much fur surrounding them, it was really difficult to gauge their frame.

"So do you have more that are going to pop out? I can get more apples?"

@Appeal

Nightmare didn't often eat with others unless you counted the miniature bears that followed him around endlessly. He didn't. He tended to watch from the shadows but that was less about preference and more about social constructs that he didn't understand. Maybe that was why Nightmare did not understand what Fiend had meant by his question. What did he mean by more? What did he mean by pop out? Nightmare looked around slowly, very casually in fact. Hmmm. He remained unsure. Nightmare shook his flank, moving his whole body in the process. Miniature bears rolled around his ankles but no new bears appeared.

"POP!" Nightmare squished an apple with his hoof. It was a very fresh apple and made a dull popping noise. Nightmare seemed pleased with himself, and the miniature bears all grabbed a piece of the broken apple with their paws almost immediately, with little infighting, before happily munching away on the scraps.

"WANT MORE."  He said with little tone to indicate a question. He pushed an apple toward Fiend, and it remained uncertain if he was asking for more apples or if he was asking if Fiend wanted more by offering him another apple.

@fluo

Fiend was not sure which more intrigued him- the buck or the four little bears vying for more apples before happily falling over themselves with their hard won fruit prizes. To buy himself some time, he bit into his own apple, relishing the tart skin chased away by the sweet flesh. He liked how clumsy the bears were. The were fluffy, liked to hug their furry overlord and even had claws to climb and punch small bits of apple with. They could probably climb the tallest cliffs and trees for honey. Fiend liked honey though neither he nor Goosebumps were especially skilled at climbing or honey foraging.

The possible question from the kimeti brought his woolgathering to an end and he was back in the present. He took the offered apple and thanked the Kimeti.

"I'm Fiend. What's your name? And what are their names? What do they eat?" That was a lot of questions, and Fiend wasn't entirely convinced the other buck would answer them. But it would give the Stag more time to monitor the balls of fluff that spent their time grappling with one another, falling over, trying to climb, or chewing on apples.
@Appeal

Nightmare looked at Fiend with curiosity as he processed the information given to him. He liked the name mostly because it was simple without much flourish. Nightmare liked all of his flourishes to be concentrated on one particularly beautiful doe, and not on words and names. Could you imagine Nightmare trying to say Forlorn Grace or Raging-Radiance? Nightmare probably didn't even understand what 'forlorn' meant. He definitely understood what Fiend meant, though. Certainly so.

"FIEND," he said almost an octave higher than typical. Was this his happy voice?

"NIGHTMARE," he said, lifting his right leg up to press his hoof toward himself. He let his hoof drop down onto the ground again with a heavy stomp.

He was less happy about the bears. He looked at them, trying to find the black one.

"ONE,"

The white one was trying to climb the black bear with the black bear wildly objecting, "TWO,"

The brown one was trying to climb onto Nightmare again, and the buck shook his flank eagerly to get him down, "THREE,"

And finally, he pointed to the black and white bear with his hoof, only raising it slightly. "FOUR."

The black and white bear was at Fiend's feet, trying to collect scraps that might be falling from Fiend's mouth. Glutton was a word Nightmare wish he knew to describe that one.

"EAT EVERYTHING," he stated firmly.



@fluo

There were so many and had such unusual names. Fiend's thoughts fluttered and ran the gamut from fantasy to reality and he very much dared.

After a lengthy lull in conversation punctuated by crunching and scrappling, he came to a decision. He could take one of the bears maybe seeing as how they annoyed Nightmare. But they were named and perhaps the other buck was all gruff in appearance but soft as a duckling's down inside. Or he could...

"I have an idea. I gotta go. BYE NIGHTMARE"

He moved with intention and with swiftness because he had grand designs, such wondrous dreams to turn into reality.

@Appeal soon. v soon.