Bear with me

Of the many places Raijin had been in Boreas, the Orchard somehow hadn’t made it on his list. Really, it was quite the waste because what he found was far beyond his imagination. Fruit trees stretched as far as the eye could see in neat rows, though the grass that sprung up from the ground at their roots was anything but neat. It was so tall that it practically reached his elbows, but he paid it no mind. What he was really looking for was up above: apples. Normally it took the trees another half a season to produce the delicious red fruits, but there seemed to be a dozen or so of the hundreds of trees that had blessed him with an early harvest. He’d called to his owl companion to help him get the higher up apples while the hefty man worked on the lower ones. He’d stand up on his hind legs and reach his neck up to grasp at any that he could grab with his jaws, placing them in a basket brought by his antlered fox companion. Once he’d gotten all that he could from the low hanging ones, he’d opt to shaking the trees. Placing both forelegs on the trunk, he pushed it to and fro until it dropped any loose fruits. The bundles would come in handy when he wanted to produce wine later, a little treat he could provide to the adult staff members and students of the Abaven Academy.

As he was busy shaking a tree, his fox companion alerted him to the presence of a predator. He lowered himself back down to the ground with a thud, auds twitching along with his nose as his brilliant golden eyes squinted to try and find where it was approaching from. It was then that he saw it: a grizzly bear. He wasn’t surprised by its presence, seeing as the animal’s species was known to indulge in fruits, but what did shock him was its appearance. Huge, glowing mushrooms sprouted from its body, some dead or dying, others in full bloom. A bright, glowing liquid dribbled from its eyes, nose and mouth and from the places impacted by the mushrooms. It walked with a swaying motion, its thick muzzle open and panting and it’s eyes fogged in a way that it almost seemed unseeing. He felt a chill go up his spine and the man let out a growl, taking a step back. Though he was big, Raijin wasn’t so stupid as to think he could take on a full grown Grizzly bear, especially not one seemingly overtaken by an unknown sickness.