It was damn cold, your breathing fogging in front of you even with the roaring fire you feed every few minutes casting a warm glow over the small clearing you set up in, it’s the best you could find with night setting in.

You hear a branch snap at the edge of the clearing, just outside of the light.

Eyes stare back at you from the dark, tall as a bear but you know it’s not. It’s that damned creature that’s been tailing you ever since it first showed itself to you over a month ago when it saved you from getting mauled by an actual bear. It stays out of sight mostly, simply following behind you or leaving little gift, small trinkets from the many houses that now stand silent and empty as the long dark end sets in, or animals it’s killed.

The creature, some sort of humanoid turtle, reaches out towards you, "Come here? please? Little human, come here." It, he you finally realize at the sound of his voice, croaks. He coos and clicks soothingly once he sees he has your attention, beckoning you over like a human would try to call over a shy alley cat.

This is new behavior for the creature, turtle, before now it, he, seemed happy to simply watch from a distance as you go about you’re time scraping together enough supplies to survive til tomorrow. Maybe tonights particularly intense chill the lurks at the edges of where your campfire’s warmth ends has made it, him, worried for you? Or maybe he’s lonely?