Bait had once wondered if he should take his family’s warning seriously when they quit calling him Sly and switched it to Bait. The truth was that even if he did bait disaster a time or two it really was necessary. The young red fox got bored easily and would surely waste away if he did not find means of entertaining himself.

Certainly exploring was fun and so was hunting but one could not make their lives on that. Both activities had their limits and a fat fox was a slow fox which equated to a dead fox. Thus it was he had no choice but to court danger and one way he did that was spending time with predators that could play chase-the-fox with grand eating of eating their prize. A wolf could be sensible, he had proven it before more than once and learned their language quite well.

So it was in this forest he hoped to find some form of entertainment. Bait had his fill of food for the day and was ready to play. It didn’t need to be a wolf, of course, any sort of species would do. Though Bait did find his own kind to be often the dullest perhaps just because he had grown up with them and rarely heard anything new.

The fox was laying on a root that rose a few inches off the ground. He would be visible from his height and thickness of the fox but likely hard to determine his shape for sure until relatively close. That meant it would be a game of who smelled each other first. Hopefully fun came by before he had to find a place to simply sleep away the day.

A concert of bugs could be heard across the ground, and far higher in the tree’s the occasional bug. Maybe he needed to find a more cheery area to look for his fun, but the hunting had suited him quite well in here for the moment. Plentiful mice and other easy game.

Well, this was certainly what he got for trying to take a short cut. He knew there was a place to the north west of the mangroves that was littered with little bits and bobs and pieces of metal and that was where he was trying to get to. He had a specific idea in his mind for a gift for Azariah, but he really had no idea where to find or how to make such a thing. He had hoped that the Veteran's Plateau would be a good place to start looking, but he didn't really want to take the time to go all the way around the packs that made a bit of a barrier between between him and his destination. Now he was trudging his way through this densely vegetated forest that was swathed in creepy mist. It was weirdly quiet and it made the trip through this place a bit unpleasant. It was difficult enough to get through all the thick underbrush and vines with his large, bulky form, but the added factor of the unsettling quietness didn't help. He couldn't even hurry through it because he had to carefully pick his way through it all. Occasionally he'd find a small clearing and he'd pause for a moment to peer at the path ahead to find the clearest route before he continued. He knew this was all to get a surprise for Azariah so he couldn't have brought her with him, but maybe he should have asked Nausicaa to come just so he wouldn't have to be alone. "Talk"

Bait disliked boredom, opening his muzzle to let open a large yawn.  He raised his head to look in the direction of where a wolf pack territory was, once more considering heading over.  Truly though, wolves got so upset if you went to visit without saying something.  Of course, some would kill a fox just for being a fox.  Bait’s muscles tensed, head darting up and mouth opening happily.

The sound was no bird or mouse or hooved beast.  Did hooved beasts even come into this miserable place? It would be a good hiding spot certainly, Bait was making the most of it. Bait jumped off his root to fade into the denser fog, skipped over some rather questionable fungal rock, hopping over another tree root, then to the ground jogging a short way till he saw the large sharp.  Oh heck, this was one big wolf!  He didn’t need to see close details to know that it was a giant.

Bait would want to get up higher, but he wanted an escape route just in case.  The fog in itself should help with escape and this guy clearly wasn’t moving lightly.  Once more it was a root, to a broken tree branch that raised up a bit, “Well, I’ve seen some strange sights, but dear sir, how is it you would end up in such a miserable looking place as this?” Confusion and respect so sincerely spoken in his tone, “I can’t think of a larger wolf I’ve ever seen, I assume you must lead quite the pack then?”

The red fox was close enough to see the giant and vice versa but there was no doubting who would win in a race here if the wolf didn’t take kindly to an innocent harmless fox.

Honestly, he had been so caught up in making sure he didn't trip and send himself tumbling over one of the tree roots or some of the thick brush that he'd completely missed the smaller creature till it popped up in his path and began speaking to him. The sound made him stop in his tracks and his silvery eyes popped up to land on the fox with surprise. He'd never actually seen a fox speak in a language he could understand and most certainly had never held a conversation with one so for a moment he was just dumbfounded by the whole interaction. Was this all a figment of his imagination? Had he gotten so utterly lost and stuck in these creepy woods that he had actually lost his mind? No, he didn't think so. With a closer look he decided the fox was indeed real and had somehow learned how to speak with him. Ulric chuckled at the comment and let his large paws settle on the ground once again. "Oh, I'm no alpha... Not yet at least. Perhaps one day." Although that dream was beginning to feel farther and farther away, but there were other, more important things taking place of that dream in his mind so perhaps it wasn't all bad. "As for how I ended up here... I'm trying to get to a place that's on the other side of all of this and thought that maybe I might be able to cut through instead of going around." He gestured at the mess he was currently picking through with one of his front paws, a sigh passing his lips. "That clearly has gone very well for me." He'd make it eventually, it was just very slow moving over all. He refocused his eyes on the fox again with a curious lift of his brow. "How about you? Why are you hanging around this place?" "Talk"

“Not yet indeed I am sure.  I’ve seen a lot roaming from Auster to here and my good man you have the look of one with the ability to be alpha.  Your finest gait may not be in this place but it is hinted at in how you prefer to stride.” Bait cautiously shifted his weight on the tree before sitting on it in a balanced position. Chatting with wolves always seemed to provide a bit of fun to a day.

“Ah, well I am looking for a spot to settle down where the terrain meets all of a humble foxes desires.  I can say this place certainly isn’t what I was looking for however it does have a bountiful supply of food for such as I.”    It was true enough all sorts of little creatures felt safer in here, but the need for easy food at cost of enjoyable entertainment was a high cost.  There was still plenty of food outside this dismal spot.

Bait looked westward then back to the wolf, “I must say there is more bug ahead for a while.  However there are dry spots also though I imagine it is quite hard to find them easily with all the fog lying about the ground.  Perhaps you would like a humble fox to assist you in your trek?  The forest is really a bit gloomy and I could stand for a new sight.  I’ve gotten rather good traveling in here.”

Ulric watched the fox he was speaking to with a bit of novel amusement. Never in his life would he imagine that he'd stop to have a full conversation with a fox, but even more than that - he was actually a bit charmed by the clever creature. He was very talkative and surprisingly well spoken. He was flattered by the fox's compliments of how he well he would fit the role of an alpha even though he had to question how many alphas this fox had really met to make him think such a thing. When the fox spoke of a place that would fit his desires he had to wonder what that place would be like - especially since this place had been eliminated as a possibility. He couldn't imagine this place being a preferred haunt for many creatures, but apparently smaller prey was bountiful here according to his amusing new acquaintance. He didn't think that the amount of available prey made up for the creepy atmosphere and it seemed like they were in agreement on that fact. He gave the fox a surprised look when he offered to help guide him through and he was quick to agree with a nod of his head. "Absolutely, I'd appreciate that greatly," he responded without a second thought. "If you could just point out where the clear spaces are ahead that would be a huge help." He realized all of the sudden that in all their chatter they still hadn't exchanged names so he had no idea what to call him by. Did foxes even take names? He had to assume so - surely they at least called each other by something. "Oh, I'm Ulric, by the way. What can I call you?" "Talk"

“Of course, not a problem at all.” Bait gave a low dip of his head as if too honor the mighty wolf before looking about thoughtfully. “You are of course a bit larger than I am, so the paths I use won’t all work for you.”   Was Bait going to choose the easiest path for the wolf or find one not as easy to have more amusement? The truly helpful part would be best for if he ran into the wolf in the future, the latter though could be good for a laugh if planned right.  Decisions, decisions. “Pleasure to meet you Sir Ulric.”  A pleased grin offered to the wolf with a wink, “I go by Bait.”  Bait wore his nickname with pride, enjoying the fact his family had given it to him as a warning of getting himself killed messing around with higher status predators.  Every day he spent time with them and did not get eating was another day he proved his family wrong.  Sometimes it also got fun reactions. Well, this wolf was one of the pleasant and non-grumpy sort so he might as well be nice with it.  He was one of the really large sort though.  “Hmm, the best path does take a quick jaunt through a spot that will be a bit difficult for you, but not for long and having to get past a bit of thick foliage will be well worth it I assure you.  You will get on higher ground to allow you to see a bit more.” That in itself would be a good help.  “Come along!” Bait leaped from his perch and lead the way through to a rather dense area of vines between tree’s and baby tree’s no larger than the wolfs knee’s with brush spreading out behind.  “Again, its not something you would choose to go through of course, but get past this and you will have it a lot better off.”   It was true that the land did seem to have an upward tilt to it, but it was quite the blockage that was hard to even see past whether or not there was fog.  “Watch your step though.”   Speech:"Life is but a game " Think

He blinked when he was told that the little guy's name was Bait and he waited a beat to hear that it was a joke, but when the fox just grinned in response chuckled and just accepted it as fact. Bait it was then. He listened as the path that he was going to go down was described as difficult for a bit, but would be worth it in the end. He wasn't all that familiar with this area and at least to him it had all seemed difficult so he figured that he might as well just trust Bait since he didn't have anything to lose at this point. He nodded in agreement and went on to follow his new companion at his insistence, picking his way through the thick brush to do so. He found himself in an area dense with vines and young trees with brush seemingly covering every inch that wasn't taken up by one of the other two options. "Alright!" he agreed with a shrug and a bit of a chuckle. Every way out of this place seemed difficult so one way didn't seem any different from another. Working his way through this patch of brush did at least give him a bit of leverage to use his height to his advantage since he was able to very carefully step over most of it by just checking where his foot was going to go next. It was a slow process, but seemingly effective thus far. Of course as soon as he started getting a little over confident and moving a little faster that was when a vine happened to get caught on his back foot and he fell face first into some bushes with a surprised "ooof". He sighed and pulled himself back to his feet, careful to get his hind leg free before he did so. He looked on ahead up the hill and could at least see a bare spot in the distance so he knew he was at least making progress - it was just a slow, annoying process. Eventually though, he did make it to the top and just as Bait promised it was much easier to see from here. He sat back onto his haunches with relief, shaking out his tired front legs one at a time. "I hope I never have to step foot in this forest ever again," he commented with a chuckle, trying his best to keep his spirits up as he turned to look at Bait again. "What's next?" "Talk"

The mountain of a wolf was agreeable and gamey.  Where Bait could crawl under or weave through the brute could just step over things.  Impressive.  Bait jogged along as the wolf moved pretty impressed, at least up until the wolf tripped on a vine and fell flat.  Bait matched the wolf's speed as he went, seeing the value certainly in Ulric’s size, but in truth preferring his own smaller figure. At the question, the fox looked up curiously, “What’s that? Oh, I thought you’d know after this?” That perfect note of confusion but it only lasted a second before the fox offered that open mouth grin, “Kidding.” Bait got in the lead and onto an area where the vines were a bit more forced to either side, grass had been flattened in a thin trail.  It wasn’t much of a trail and it was still narrow but as Bait had promised it did seem there was a bit of a forced path in the area.  “This leads to an old giant tree, the sort you won’t forget when you see it.  That thing’s probably been around longer than our kind’s been alive.  It’s a giant and mossy sucker.” Maybe long than they had been alive was a tad extreme but it was a bigger tree that Bait was sure used to seeing. “After this trail, it’s a quick jog north.  After a few minutes, it's like a nice gentle forest path till the end.  Like an alluring trap to a visitor suggesting they should want to walk in.  I’m guessing it won’t fool you again though, shall it Sir Ulric?” Speech:"Life is but a game " Think

Ulric blinked with confusion when Bait looked at him with a similar confusion and told him that he thought Ulric would know the way after this... until it was revealed that the fox was just pulling his leg. He smirked and chuckled with a little shake of his head. It made him wonder if all foxes were this mischievous, or if this was a trait exclusive to Bait. Once the little fox took the lead again, Ulric pulled himself to his feet and followed along as Bait brought him to a spot where the vines had been moved to make a bit of a path. It was certainly more fox sized than it was large wolf sized, but it was certainly better than nothing and he was grateful for the fact that he wouldn't be climbing over bundles of brambles any longer. He looked down at the fox, nodding quietly as the path ahead was explained to him. He committed the instructions to memory - follow the path to the giant, mossy tree, head north, and then follow the path out of the forest. Easy enough! He laughed and gave a shake of his head as he answer, "No, not a chance of that. I'm going to avoid this place at all costs I think. My short cut turned into the exact opposite!" With a chuckle he turned toward the path that he had been brought to, giving Bait a grateful nod. "Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it. If you ever find yourself a bit further east of here where the hot springs are, stop by and say hi, won't you? I'll make sure to get you a good meal for the trouble!" With his promise of a repayment made, Ulric went to finally get the hell out of this cluttered, misty, creepy forest so he could finally go about finding the gift he wanted for Azariah. -exit- "Talk"