The corridor of darkness faded into nothingness as he took his first few steps onto the unfamiliar world. He knew the moment he first poked his head through that he had never been here before - he hadn't ever been in a jungle, and never had been near such tall trees. He marveled at the one closest to him, staring up as high as he possibly could.
Whoa, he thought before he quickly grew distracted by the other wildlife. He had a skip to his step and a grin on his face as he explored the strange forest he had found himself in. He didn't think Riku would have liked a place like this - it wasn't like the islands - but maybe the people that had to live somewhere in this forest would have seen him!
Soon, however, his euphoria faded. The forest was beginning to get dark, and was starting to look all the more sinister in the current lighting. He felt tiny and scared, hands trembling as he pushed aside hanging vines and his footsteps were hesitant as he moved farther and farther into unfamiliar territory.
Amy came to a stop and sniffed the air, then the ground. That wasn't a normal smell. That wasn't a creature of the forest.
She looked up, and began to slink through the thick of the jungle, ducking under branches and plants, and staying in the shade of the trees. She followed the smell until her eyes caught on a person standing in the middle of the forest, shaking, and looking very much like they didn't belong. She could smell the fear in his sweat as he trepidatiously walked through the jungle, and she knew if she could, something else would pick it up too - and soon.
Curiously, she followed him for a few paces, trying to size him up, and discern what he could possibly be doing this far out in the jungle.
Maybe he was lost? Hm. He'd have to be very lost.
Maybe he was trying to hide? That would be one desperate act, but it would make much more sense. Anyone who found themselves drifting into the jungle would quickly reroute.
She decided to introduce herself.
Of course, approaching as a human might be the more peaceful approach, but she wasn't really trying to make peace. Not until she knew for sure the guy wasn't looking for trouble. If she wanted to make a good impression she'd stay in her wolf form, so that's what she did.
Emerging from the thick of the forest, she walked up beside him, as a large, golden-furred wolf and cocked her head to the side.
He jumped in surprise when he heard someone - or something - suddenly approach him, but immediately relaxed when he realized that it wasn't a Heartless or a Dusk. It was a wolf. A very, very pretty one, with beautiful gold fur that just looked so soft...
...He stopped when he realized he was reaching a hand out to pet it, not sure if he was going a step too far. The wolf didn't seem scary, even though it was big. It hadn't lunged at him, and the slight tilt of its head reminded him of himself whenever he was curious or confused.
He grinned underneath the cloth covering his mouth.
Then he crouched down beside it and signed "Hi, wolfie," as his other hand began to pet it. Its fur was just as soft as he had hoped it would be - it wasn't long before he was resting his head against its side.
Amy was pleasantly surprised at the man's friendliness with a strange, big wolf. She closed her eyes for a moment when he pet around her face, and she leaned into it. She couldn't help it. It would be weird for him, if he knew she was a person, but as long as she was like this, there was no way for him to know.
She bit her tongue though, trying to keep herself from replying.
If she spoke, she would give herself away as a werewolf immediately, and she couldn't have that. As friendly as he seemed, it didn't hurt to play it safe.
His grin became even larger when the wolf leaned into his pets - it liked it, and that meant it liked him! He didn’t know what wolves liked and what they didn’t, but throwing his arms around it and giving it a hug felt right.
But then he realized something was off, so he pulled back a little and studied its face.
"What's wrong, wolfie?" he signed, even though he knew it couldn't reply or even understand him. Maybe it could tell he was concerned from the look on his face instead. "You look like you're thinking."
Amy tilted her head again, and her ears flopped back for a second in what looked like a pleading sort of expression. Then she shook her head quickly, letting her ears flop and her fur fluff up, and nudged the man in the shoulder. She began to sniff him, trying to figure out if he was carrying any weapons or anything dangerous on him. Of course, he would probably just think she was looking for food, but if he offered her some, she wouldn't be mad about that.
"I'm sorry," he signed, head dropping down. "I don't have anything else on me except me, wolfie. I left all of my food at home, and I left my toys, too..."
He slowly put his hands down, only to raise one again in an attempt to make up for disappointing it. He gave it a few more rubs on the head, hoping that would be okay.
An idea suddenly came to him. "I can bring you home with me!" he eagerly signed. "I just have to wait, because the corridor already disappeared and it's too soon. But then you can come back with me, and I can give you food, and a warm bed, and we could go everywhere together!"
Amy blinked as he signed, missing a few of the words as she registered that the man was speaking sign language. But as she began to piece what he was saying together, she got really confused. Her head tilted again, but this time not out of curiosity.
He wanted to bring her home with him? Through a corridor? That disappeared?
She looked around the jungle. She didn't see any buildings with any corridors. It was just jungle. She was beginning to think this man was... very confused. Because he was confusing her as well.
She looked down at the ground for a second in thought, realizing if she didn't speak soon, he might be likely to take her with him, assuming she was some kind of pet. But if he knew she was a werewolf?
Well... he didn't have anything on him. She could always just run away, even though thinking of what would eventually happen to him in the jungle made her shiver.
"I don't think I can go with you," she finally said, her voice soft.
It - no, she, because the voice sounded like it belonged to a lady - had spoken. The wolf had just talked to him! He frantically rubbed his eyes, even though it had been his ears that could have possibly tricked him, only to realize that the words he had just heard were very much real.
"You can talk!" he signed, eyes still wide. He scooted a little closer to her and stared at little more, trying to figure out if he had ever met anyone like her before now.
Then his eyes widened even more.
"You understand me!" he added, grinning from ear to ear underneath his cloth. Usually, what his mouth did was hidden by the mask. But it was a really big grin, so it would have definitely been visible to the wolf. "You know what I'm saying!"
Amy found her tail wagging in the shared excitement. She couldn't help it. It'd been a while since she'd run into anyone who signed, but the man didn't seem to mind at all that she was a werewolf! In fact, he was just excited!
"Yeah!" she said, her tongue sticking out a little in a happy pant. "I know signing."
This was so cool! He had made a new friend who was nice and friendly and could understand him and didn't seem at all freaked out by his golden eye! Maybe it was because she was a wolf - animals didn't get as creeped out by it as people did.
"My name's Kirux," he signed, pointing at himself. "What's yours?"
"Ooooh, Kirux!" She repeated, testing the foreign name on her tongue, hoping she pronounced it right out loud. "My name's Amy. Amy Brooks, haha, but nobody calls me by my last name."
"Amy!" he repeated, pulling down his cloth to show her the grin that failed to disappear. It was a name he actually knew how to sign - usually, he had to spell names out. "I like your name. It's pretty, just like you!"
Amy could feel her cheeks flush a little bit - at least, if she were in her human form. That was... kind of weird to say about a simple name, but it was nice of him to say. She wasn't sure if he was just using flattery to be nice or whatever, but it was working. He seemed very sweet, and very unlike how he looked.
He was dressed like some kind of... assassin, or spy, or thief. But he acted like a little kid, almost.
Of course, she'd only just met him, but that was her impression.
"O-oh," she said bashfully, dipping her head. "Thanks. Your name's pretty cool. Uh-" she had to change the subject. Before she rambled off into compliment oblivion.
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