Mariposa

MARIPOSA'S POV "Claudia, that's not fair! You're cheating once more?" As I stared at the sneaky deer in front of me, I whined. She smiled and returned my innocent stare. Gosh! For Neptune's sake, why can't she play a game without cheating? Don't worry, I'm not an alien or anything, and you might be wondering how I can communicate with a deer. Mariposa, or Mari for short, is my name. I'm a Nymph, and I'm twenty years old. What exactly is a Nymph? You may be curious. A Nymph, is a magical creature with a special connection to nature. When I say nature, I mean trees, animals, autumn, winter, or any other season? Nymphs have the unique ability to manipulate the weather. If it was raining and sleeting for a split second and suddenly sun starts shining, don't ask too much questions, it's the work of a Nymph. I can communicate with animals by reading their minds, and I have other abilities that I cannot describe. Claudia, Rosella, and Roxie are three of my animal companions. Claudia is a silver-horned pink deer. She's the foodie and the hyperactive one. Rosella is a fox with white fur. Unlike Claudia, who is always loud and enthusiastic, she is the gentlest soul I know. Now, Roxie, don't get on the wrong side of that tiger. He's grumpy, super matured, and his temper is out of this world. He has a pleasant demeanor, but he is easily irritated. Please flee for your life if he goes into mean mode. These three animals are special animals. They have more strength and agility than any normal deer, fox or tiger. And they actually talk. As in, they speak like people do. I don't know how they are capable of doing that but they told me they are supernatural animals. Finally, I have a grandfather. The world's best grandfather. He's tender, sweet, and overly protective. He is the forest's keeper. I've spent the last twenty years in this forest. It's been twenty years! I want to go outside, but Grandpa always says no. "I can't let you go out into the world, princess. It's a dangerous place." Come on, people! I'm twenty years old! I'm basically an adult now, I can look after myself, and I have powers to protect myself. Why can't he just do it? Humph! I try to persuade my friends to assist me in escaping, but they are always on Grandpa's side. "You two should stop fighting already!" I forewarned Roxie and Claudia. They can't go a day without getting into each other's throats. "Well, tell this nincompoop of a deer to stop cheating." Claudia received a sneer from Roxie. "What exactly is your issue?" Claudia huffed, angrily stumping her hooves on the ground. "It's all right, guys, relax." Rose stated calmly while licking her paw. "Fine!" Claudia rolled her eyes at Roxie and huffed. Gosh! Sometimes I forget that these are animals, not humans. "Look, I know I cheat all the time, but it makes the game more enjoyable." Claudia said, sheepishly grinning and making everyone look at her with a "You're crazy." Look. "You know, there are times when I want to dig my fangs into your neck, but I can't seem to do it. I'm not sure why." Roxie said as he shook his head, his paw under his chin. Claudia smirked as she stood up and approached him. "Dude, you love me, so deal with it." She continued to smirk. "You wish, dummy." Roxie huffed as he lay on his back. These guys fight a lot, and Claudia starts most of them. Roxie dislikes socializing, so he keeps to himself, but Claudia is too much trouble. Either she starts a fight with him on purpose or she annoys him. They truly have a major issue. It's already evening, and Grandpa hasn't returned. He leaves in the morning to guard things. Remember how he's the forest's guardian? He returns with catches for dinner, and I'm starving right now. I'm curious what's keeping him late. "I'm starving." Claudia whimpered like a baby, her back to the ground, her legs in the air. "When is Novah going to return?" Rose muttered. "You two need to stop whining like babies. You had a bunch of fruits about thirty minutes ago." As he scoffed at them, Roxie said. He scoffed at Claudia in particular. And, yes, he is correct; we have recently consumed a large number of fruits. "Don't worry, guys, Grandpa will be here soon." I gave them my assurance. "Who missed me?" From behind me, I heard a caring voice inquire. "Grandpa!!" I screamed and ran to him as he drew me into a big wolfy hug. He is a wolf, but he walks on two legs and is covered in wolf fur. In a nutshell, he is half human and half wolf. As a result, he looks like a man-wolf. "Wait, what took you so long?" I scowled. "Aww, my baby missed me so much." I smiled happily as he cooed. I adore my grandfather. "Novah!" Roxie rolled his eyes at the noise Claudia and Rose made. "Thank goodness you're back; we've missed you! Well, most of us did; I'm not sure about others." Claudia said, sneakily eyeing Roxie, but he saw it anyway. "Did you miss him, or did you miss his daily catch?" Roxie said, his gaze fixed on his tail. "All right, let's calm down and not fight, okay?" Grandpa said as he patted Roxie on the back. "What are we having for dinner, Grandpa?" I raised a question. As he drew his kill from the bag, he grinned. Everyone let out a breathless gasp. He was clutching a brown fox. A large, chubby brown fox. To begin with, it's difficult to find any random fox right now, but my grandfather is holding a brown fox. The most elusive of all foxes. That's a big one. We're going to be very busy tonight. "Holy mother of foxes!" exclaimed Claudia. Oh yeah, I told you she's a foodie. "How did you catch this? I thought they were extinct. And it's huge! Oh my God. Holy mother of nature!" she continued to exclaim as we prepared for dinner. ===== "Meat's done!" Grandpa announced, removing the meat from the stand and distributing it to us. Grandpa and I use leaves as containers to collect the meat, whereas the others simply eat it. They are, after all, animals. As we ate our dinner, we huddled around the fire, moaning as we ate on. The meat is so luscious. We were all having a good time, especially Claudia, who was devouring the food like she hadn't eaten in a month. Everyone was irritated because she was making cracking sounds on the bone as she chewed on her food. Roxie is especially irritated, and he didn't hide his displeasure by sending Claudia disgusted looks every second, which she clearly saw but chose to ignore. It only made her amp up the volume even more. "Will you please stop it?" Roxie inquired, irritably. It stopped Claudia from cracking her bone for a while. She looked at him and cracked it a little louder this time. Roxie huffed angrily, clearly frustrated.. "I wish we have this type of meal every night." Claudia blenched loudly and stretched her body. "Unmannered pig," Roxie sneered. "I wish your wish could come true, but this is just luck; you don't get lucky every day, you know?" Grandpa explained. He is, after all, correct. Because we have nothing to do tonight, Grandpa must tell us my favorite story. It's about a kingdom that was destroyed, killing the king and queen, and how a guardian saved the little princess. I'm not sure why he always ends the story with the guardian saving the princess. He claims that's where he was told the story, but it doesn't make sense, does it? "So, Grandpa, tell us your story tonight," I suggested. "Aww come on! I've told you that story a thousand times," he whined, lying down on the ground with his back to the ground. "I promise I won't ask again," I said, but as usual, I was lying. I'll ask again tomorrow, hehe. "All right," he said, stretching out to take a seat. "Gather everyone," he said. "I'll pass," Roxie said as he lay down, uninterested. "That story is beginning to bore me," he said, closing his eyes. "I'm in any case," Claudia stated. "Me, too," Rose said. "Me three," I giggled as I took a proper seat next to Rose. "Once upon a time... " Just as he began, My hair turned from deep brown to gold, my Iris turned blue, and everything seemed to come to a halt as flickers of flowers surrounded me. This happens whenever I want to see a vision, and I'm seeing one right now. "Mari, what do you see?" Grandpa inquired. I closed my eyes tightly to improve my vision. That's when I noticed a person, a young man, being pursued by red wolves, the most dangerous type of wolves. Five of them were chasing this man and if they sould ever catch up with him.... "He's dead meat," I said aloud as I stood up. "Who?" Rose inquired, but I didn't have time to answer. All I wanted to do was save that young man.