Hunting Critters [Job w/ Matti]

He stared at his supplies on hand with a troubled grimace. Recently a woman approached him with the request of a bear fur coat. He had planned to work on the coat today, but unfortunately, he lacked a sufficient amount of bear furs. In fact, it seemed he had completely run out of the key material. Having explored the town recently and visited most stores which sold materials, he immediately recalled the next restocking of bear furs would not arrive until a fortnight later. He could not wait in one town for such a lengthy period of time. He rarely spent more than three days in one location for his wanderlust allowed him only a swift period of time to explore a place until it demanded he moves on. He wished to move on from this town by the eve of tomorrow so the job required urgent action on his part. That being said, only a supernatural miracle would allow him to finish the coat in one day. Surely he would find himself sitting restlessly in this town for at least a week. But he certainly preferred to catch his own bear and stay a week rather than wait for the shipment of bear furs and stay three weeks.

He glanced at his supplies sitting in the corner of an inn room before turning toward the door and exiting the temporary bedroom. He walked down the stairs and out the inn to greet the warm sunlight of the afternoon day. He turned toward the west edge of the town. A great forest separated the town from any other civilized gathering of people by many kilometers from the west. Critters swarmed the forest, including a sufficient amount of wild bears according to the townsfolk. Perfect for gathering the needed furs to sew the requested bear coat.

"Are ya' goin' somewhere, mis'ser?"

He glanced to the side of the path. A boy of about twelve stared past him curiously. Matthew turned his head slightly before something soft and furry lightly brushed against his hand. He flinched and his hand jerked away. He glanced down. A pair of remorseful, leaf green eyes stared back at him. He immediately relaxed at the sight of the familiar face. "Sheleg," he murmured. The snow leopard perked up at the mention of his name. He rubbed his head against Matthew's leg, purring contently. Slowly, the half-fanalis lowered his hand and began stroking Sheleg's head.

"Ahem. Mis'ser!" the boy interrupted the sweet moment with his loud call to attention.

The fanalis slowly rose his head from the leopard. He smiled faintly at the boy, though his eyes regarded him with a displeased look. Noticing the fashion which the red-haired man looked at him, he hurried to apologize. Sporting a sheepish smile, he explained, "Ah, well, you just nev'r answered my question an' stuff. And you seemed like in such a rush to, so I thought you'd regret dallyin' around an' stuff." The displeasure which Matthew felt for the boy dissipated to amusement. He snorted before offering a charming smile to ease the boy's nervousness.

"Then, I must thank you for your thoughtfulness. And to answer your question, yes, I am going somewhere."

The boy's eyes lit up at his answer. "Oh, really?" He clasped his hands together in excitement. "Won't you take me along? Pretty please?"

Sheleg nudged his hand, huffing impatiently. He glanced at the leopard for a moment before turning his attention back to the boy. "You don't even know where I'm going yet you wish to come anyway? How very foolish to jump so quickly into unknown waters," he reprimanded the boy with a lofty gaze.

The boy's face fell at Matthew's reply. He bit his lip and glanced away. "B-but, you're going," he pointed to the forest, "over there, right? I-" He lifted his face up and stared pleadingly at Matthew. "I swear I won't get in your way! In fact, I'll be useful!"

"Are you kidding me?" He turned his head away to fight the growing smile infesting his face. "Why would I bring along a child whose name I don't even know?" With a tight control upon his expression, he returned his gaze to the boy with a mocking smile and a challenging stare.

"I-it's Junrou!"

He paused and turned his head slightly. "Junrou? Go home. Surely you have things to do besides bother me." He moved past the boy with Sheleg trotting behind, pointedly ignoring the child's disappointed and dejected expression. Though perhaps heartbreaking in the eyes of onlookers, his empathetic lack twisted the sight of the saddened child to a display of a pitiful strength of mind. What a scornful sight in his eyes. It only furthered and supported his reasons to hardly take the child seriously when they do earnestly requested he bring them with him. He had no intentions of allowing a useless and fumbling young boy to accompany him into the forest. His awkward manner would surely only result in many animals fleeing at the sound of his loud footsteps thumping upon the ground in an obvious telltale manner.

He set a fast pace into the woods in search of a bear. He chose to move toward more flat and soft areas to muffle his footsteps. He also attempted to avoid any trees. The leaves beneath them crunched loudly - too loudly. It would surely alert a bear of his presence if it snapped in their vicinity. And there would go his desired stealth advantage.

It would not be long before he came across something. Namely a… white wolf? He frowned. How peculiar. Tis was not the season where wolves adorned their wintery white coat. He motioned to Sheleg to pause in his tracks. He slowly approached the strange wolf. He made a soft whining noise - that of another wolf alerting their presence.