One With Nature

Fluffy: 1

I stared at the giant... fluffy thing that just killed the ghoul.

Standing nearly three times my hight, its whole buddy is covered in smooth, clean looking fur. It stood on two short legs. It had a round body, giving the impression it was kind of chubby, and long arms that ended with long claws. It has large, crown like horns at the very top of its body. I say body because it didn't look like it had a neck or head. Instead, I think its face was on its chest because there was several red, wave-like markings there.

I... definitely saw this thing before, but I can't remember.

"Uhm... thanks for that," I mumbled, motioning to the splat was a ghoul. The large beast nodded, seemingly accepting the words of gratitude. "Are you here to fight?" The large beast shook its body left and right. "Ah, alright... do you happen to know a way to the Castle of Shadows?" I asked, hopefully.

The large beast turned around and began walking away with its chubby little feet. It stopped for a moment, turned halfway towards me, and motioned for me to follow it with one of its hands.

"Ah, you want me to follow you? Sure," I shrugged my shoulders and went after the creature.

It was probably not a good idea to trust a large beast I just met. But, something tells me this big guy is really trustworthy. I wish I can remember where I know him from.

Plus, he's really fluffy.

We kept walking until we got out of the field with the large boulders and started walking through an open wasteland. Soon enough, we reached one of the mountain sides where large cracks and gashes covered the ground.

Me and the creature stopped when a particularly large gash was in front of us. "Do you think there's a way around it?" I asked.

The creature didn't answer. Instead, it raised its arms straight upwards before it began leaning forward while its body remained still, not unlike a falling tree.

It fell forward, but not into the large hole, instead, its arms reached the other side while its legs remained on this one. It formed a bridge with its body.

"You want me to cross ON you?" I asked and it LOOKED like it was nodding. "Uh... thanks," I mumbled as I walked on the creature's back. Despite the soft fur, its body was really sturdy. When I made it to the other side, I put my sword away and held one of its hands. "Come on, let's get you across."

After some struggling, I managed to pull the large beast over the edge. I waited for it to stand up and start walking since it was the one guiding me, which it did soon enough. We kept walking for a while until the beast suddenly stopped at one of large caves at the side of the mountain.

"What's wrong?" I asked. The beast motioned to the cave. "Is there something there?" I asked. The beast walked inside the cave, turned around, raised its butt, and sat down. "Oh, you wanna rest? Alright."

The puppet body was getting tired anyway. Plus, he's guiding me, so he can rest if he wants. So, I walked up across from the beast and sat down. We just silently stared at each other.

"So... can you talk? Or do you not have the ability to?" I asked. It understood my request and questions, so it was definitely intelligent.

"Oh, I can talk just fine."

I blinked in surprise upon hearing his voice for the first time. It... didn't exactly sound human, but still really friendly. It kind of sounded like that chubby neighborhood kid that is friends with everyone.

"Then why didn't you say anything until now?" I asked.

"Well..." The beast raised one of its hands and scratched the side of its head(?). "I was just nervous-nos. You're kind of a big deal, Type Earth."

Did he just add '-nos' add to his speech? "Wait, how do you know I'm Type Earth in this body?" I asked.

The big guy pointed at my face. "Your eyes-nunnos gave it away."

My eyes? I brought my sword close to my face and looked at the blunt-side to see my reflection. Sure enough, my eyes looked off.

Instead of normal pupils, I had the mark of the planet Earth in each iris, making my eyes look like plus signs. Sighing, I looked back to the furry guy.

"Well, thanks again for helping me find the castle. Damned Scathach just told me the general direction," I said.

"No problem," he waved his hand as a sign it was nothing.

"By the way, my name is Zack. What's your name?" I asked, realising he must have a name if he's this intelligent.

"I'm the Celtic God of Beasts," The big guy started his introduction, puffing his chest in pride. "My name-nunnos is Cernunnos."

(A/N: Cernunnos' way of speaking is based on an interview with Nasu where he quoted Cernunnos.

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