Footsteps In the Night

The night air was sharp now that winter had fully settled over Burrowgatory. Temperatures had dropped to the point that long amounts of time spent outside resulted in freezing ear tips and noses, but that didn't stop Elias from enjoying his walks through the forest. It looked beautiful this time of year with snow covering the ground and dusting barren tree branches, glowing softly as it reflected the dim light of crystals. The crunch of snow beneath his feet was the only sound around him and he felt completely and utterly at peace. 

He was about halfway through his usual route when he heard small footsteps that weren't his own, and he immediately froze to listen for who was there. However, when he stopped, so did the sound. His heart had started beating a little faster as he waited for it to happen again, but after a minute of nothing but the silence of the forest, Elias started back on his walk, brushing it off as his imagination. 

Within moments of moving though, the footsteps returned, and Elias quickly turned towards the source of the sound, staring into the darkness for who else would possibly be out here. But again the footsteps stopped and there was no one around. Elias scowled into the darkness and sternly asked, “Who's there? Show yourself.”

His only answer was silence. 

Paranoid now, Elias pulled his ears a little closer to his face and began walking faster as his eyes searched the woods around him. It would be quicker to complete his loop rather than turn back at this point. Again, the footsteps returned, but instead of stopping Elias sped up. So did the footsteps. He jogged and the footsteps kept pace, he slowed down and the footsteps slowed down. His heart was racing now as his mind played out scenarios of serial killers stalking people who came out here alone or maybe a vindictive vagrant that he'd confronted in his work as a guard now out to retaliate against him. His mind also played through a few less than appropriate scenarios that he'd be ashamed of later, but it all had him reaching a breaking point where he stopped again and called out, “I know you're following me! Stop hiding and say your piece!”

The snow crunched almost directly behind Elias and he let out an undignified yelp as he whipped around to look. The sudden movement had him overbalancing and he tripped over his own feet, tumbling backwards on the snowy path as he was faced with–

A freign.

Elias felt his cheeks heat up with a fierce blush as he realized he'd been terrified of an imp. The freign tilted its head at him curiously with a little bleating sound, and Elias' pulse started to slow down to its normal rate. He had seen freigns a few times before, but only as other succubun's pets. They were supposedly rare to find out in the wild and yet here this one had followed him. “You're a strange little one,” Elias said as he slowly got back on his feet. “What are you doing?”

He crouched down and held out his hand to see if the imp would keep approaching him, but it just tilted its head in the other direction and stared at him. Its gaze seemed fixed just above Elias’ shoulder rather than at his face. He turned to look, but the only thing there were the motes of snowflakes that constantly hovered around him. “Surely you wouldn't chase me just for that,” he muttered. He tried to recall what he knew about the little creatures, but he really didn't have anything to go off of. 

Now that he was faced with his mysterious stalker, he couldn't help but feel a desire to bring him home. He knew imps could get on fine in the wild, but Elias had a soft spot for imps, and freigns were particularly majestic looking ones. This one didn't seem afraid of people either. “Would you like to come with me, little one?” Elias asked, gently motioning for it to come closer.

The freign took a careful step forward towards his hand, lowering its head to sniff it. When it didn't seem like it would run, Elias extended his hand a little further to softly pet the top of its head between its antlers. Immediately the creature pushed up into his touch, seeking out more and Elias smiled at it. He took his hand away slowly so as to not startle it, and reached into his pocket where he pulled out a small candy and unwrapped it. The candy wasn't necessarily recommended for imps, but he knew they enjoyed sweets. When he offered it to the freign, it curiously sniffed at it before taking it from him to eat. As soon as it was gone it looked up at him expectantly. 

“If you want more, you can follow me,” Elias said, petting its head one more time before standing up. He started to walk away and watched it with a smile as it trotted along next to him, his heart swelling with love for the little creature. “You scared the ever living hell out of me, I'll have you know. But you're cute so I forgive you this time.” 

The freign bleated happily at him as they continued on Elias’ walk through the forest, his mind already drifting to all of the things he could get to spoil his new companion.