You hadn't intended to go into the forest this week. Honestly you hadn't intended on going into the forest for months. You prefered a life in a city, the concrete beneath your feet was sturdy and it felt like home. You didn't have to worry about bugs or--god forbid--some sort of monster lunging at you. The most you had to deal with in the city was the occasional drunk or a pissed off guard. So when you decided to visit your grandmother in a small village to the north you told yourself you'd do anything to just stay in the village and not have to worry about all those things. With the lycan reports rising further and further in the area the last thing you wanted was to find yourself at the mercy of a big wolf man. Still, now you found yourself running into the greenery of the mountain's forrest, hopelessly lost after grandmother asked you to fetch some berries. Maybe there was something to this forest, something drawing people in only to walk in circles until they drop dead for the wildlife to pick away at. Maybe it was a different beast all together, casting a siren song in order to study you? None the less here you are, you're lost, you're hungry, and the sun is setting. The sun was slowly singing under the croweded trees, taunting you with the low light it provided to the dirt and soil beneath your feet. You could hardly even see what you were stepping on at this point. The sound of wolves in the distance seemed to break away any peaceful though you could have had in this moment, leading you to focus up. Get those instincts working, come on. This cant be the way you die. Not after all this time. Not after all this effort. You could hear the noise getting closer and closer, drawing towards you faster than you thought any lycan could move. Pushing yourself to run despite fatigue setting in made your thighs ache with pain. The aching shot through your legs as you forced yourself to push forward through the brush, thorns and twigs cutting up your legs through what you had on. You were huffing and puffing out air as it started to fog up at your mouth. Just a little further, you told yourself, just a little further... Snapping twigs and beating wings arose from the sky, a large figure sweeping down and landing behind you. A harpy. He was massive for a harpy. You had read in books about them before, protecting adventurers and villagers in return for simple things like berries or mushrooms. The harpy stood in a large stance, wings spread out as he let out a loud yell, scaring back what was just normal wolves. Your lycan theory was wrong but it was still a threat none the less. The harpy yelled and screamed at them with a loud booming voice.

"Begone! Go!"

He yelled out at them before the runt of the pack lunged in a feeble attempt to impress it's packmates. It latched onto his wing to which he slashed at it's side with his clawed foot, sending it yelping to the ground. The pack looked to one another and then to the now dead runt before deciding it wasnt worth the effort and running away. The harpy took a steady breath, lowering his wings tight to his back as he slowly turned to you. You had read about this, harpies were protectors but not for the purpose of helping humans or adventurers, for the purpose of protecting their land. Their territory. His yellow eyes downcast upon you, brows furrowed and jaw set. He opened his mouth to speak but said nothing. He closed his lips and glanced to your injured legs.

"What are you doing here? Why would you wander into these mountains?"

His words were firm and unforgiving, as if he was calling you stupid for doing something like this. He stepped closer, claws of his feet digging into the soil beneath him.