~Zing! Ker-thunk!~

An arrow narrowly misses a small, rust red squirrel as it scampers away in fear to a perch high atop its tree - upon reaching a safe height, it turns to glare down at the young mi'qote boy grinning up at it. It shakes its tiny paws, chattering something that sounds akin to a string of curses, and leaps away deeper into the forest.

""Mmm. Missed. He's got good reflexes."

The 16 year old boy shakes his head, thinking to himself as he returns his bow to its place on his back. That squirrel had been showing up a lot lately. Almost as it if was tracking him somehow, and it was always showing up when he was just about to land another squirrel kill. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that rust red squirrel was trying to protect it's brethren. But that'd be silly, since when do squirrels look out for each other in that manner? The boy shrugged to himself, and set off back to his makeshift camp near the Guardian Tree within the Shroud. He still didn't like going into town to stay at an inn. Too many people, and everybody stared at him. Like he was some sort of oddity at a circus.

He arrived at his camp, dropped his bow onto the ground with a soft thump and flopped down onto his sleeping bag - something he had received as payment for an odd job he did for the Alchemist who lived deep within the forest. The tall elezen was always looking for someone to do an odd job for him to he could continue his research. Something Ja'ren took advantage of as often as possible, for it beat going into town. There were far too many colors in town. They were overwhelming, sometimes to the point his eye started bleeding. It had begun doing this on his second trip for supplies, and how people had stared. No one even bothered to ask if he was alright. They just stared, some pointed, and others suddenly acted like he had the plague or something as they bolted away from him. These people were so strange. Nothing like the people back home. Ja'ren shook his head wildly, trying to calm his thoughts so he could sleep, it took awhile, but finally his overactive mind settled down and he drifted off into a light doze.

He bolted awake a few hours later to the sound of a surprised squeek and a loud ~twang~! As he hoisted himself off the ground, he brought his fists up, ready to engage whatever idiot had gotten too close, only to find the rust red squirrel flat on its back, looking dazed. His bow was on the ground nearby, the string snapped. The little squirrel had been seemingly attempting to break the bow, but only succeeded in breaking the twine and hitting itself in the head with the wooden portion of the bow.

Ja'ren stared at the sight before him, motionless, for what seemed like hours, before suddenly chuckling to himself as he picked up the bow and set it aside. He debated killing the squirrel right there, he could use the extra meat, but the bravery, or outright stupidity of the squirrel made him pause. What was the little animal thinking? This was definite proof the fellow was trying to stop Ja' from killing squirrels, but why? He couldn't just ask the thing, he didn't speak squirrel, but maybe the Alchemist might have some insight, seeing as the elezen had lived in the forest much longer than anyone else Ja'ren knew.

His mind made up, Ja'ren scooped up the squirrel in one arm, and his broken bow in the other. He'd need to move quickly to reach the small hut before nightfall, but once there, maybe he'd get some answers.

And more twine to fix the bow.

Having arrived at the hut, Ja'ren lightly knocked on the wooden door frame, ignoring the large sign that read, "Busy. Leave me alone." A grunt was all he received in reply, so he knocked again, louder this time.

"Cannae ye' read, idjit?! Sign says ta' leave me alone!"

Ja'ren smiled, the Alchemist was an old curmudgeon who enjoyed his privacy, but the elezen would probably be intrigued by the squirrel in Ja's arm. He knocked once more, this time tapping out a tune on the wood, hitting the door in just the right spots so it sounded like a quick drum beat. A long, breathy sigh escaped from inside the house, before the door swung wide, "Ye' flea bitten vermin! I outta skin yer tail and make a scarf outta' it!"

"If you did that, who'd bring you more plants and ingredients while you 'slave away' in your little workshop, old man?"

The elezen huffed, raising an eyebrow at the boy, "Ah'm sure one of the animals here could do a better job than ye' iff'n it came down to it." In response, Ja'ren did his best to look wounded, which was actually quite convincing, so much so the elezen started to reach for the boy to see if he was alright. "I'm hurt you would even THINK of equating my outstanding work to such a low standard. I'm hurt. Really." The boy grinned up at the Alchemist, who straightened and scoffed - waving for the kid to take a seat.

"So what brings ye' here so late, lad? Yer normally off frolickin' through the woods at this hour, are ya' not?"

Ja'ren nodded to the, still dazed, squirrel in his arm, and the broken bow in the other. "I need more twine. This fellow's been trying to stop me from killing squirrels. Thought you might have a bit extra, and maybe some insight onto what this idiot is doing messing with my things." The elezen looked a bit baffled as he glances from the bow to the squirrel, but suddenly a flash of recognition appears on his face. "Tha's Big Red!"  

"Big Red? BIG Red? This guy is hardly big."

"It ain't referring to 'is size, ye numbskull, it's referring to his status within the forest."

"Pardon?"

The elezen rubbed a hand down his face and took the squirrel out of the crook of Ja'ren's arm. He popped open a small vial from his desk, and placed a single drop of the clear liquid upon the animal's tongue. It took a moment, but suddenly 'Big Red' coughed and sputtered, coming back to life as the potion revived him from his stupor. 

"He's the boss of a large mob of squirrels, lad. E' been tryin' ta' stop ya from killin squirrels, ain't he?"

"How did you.."

"Ye' ain't the first nor last he's done this to, lad."

Ja'ren slowly blinked at the man, boss of a large squirrel group? Had the Alchemist inhaled too many noxious fumes and finally gone insane? Did the man even understand what he just said? Ja' wasn't sure, and started fidgeting a tad. "The boss..of a squirrel group.. You're telling me this pipsqueak is the mob boss of the forest? You have GOT to be kidding me. You expect me to believe that?!"

The man merely gave Ja'ren a look that said, 'You're one to talk' and pointed at the boy's red eye, "An ye' expect people to believe ye' about what ya' see? I see little difference between how believable either story is. I only describe what I have seen Big Red here doing. Why don' ya follow 'im and see for yerself? Here's some twine, fix yer bow and leave me in peace for awhile. I'll send the usual note tomorrow with what I require."

Ja'ren looked skeptical but accepted the twine offered to him, quickly fixing his bow and rising to his feet. The squirrel looked up at the elezen with horror, like it was saying, "You want me to let the squirrel killer FOLLOW ME AROUND?!" Noticing the look, the Alchemist laughs, and grins wildly at the animal. "Do ye want the lad to stop killin yer brethren or not?"

Big Red paused in mid chitter, suddenly looking torn, before nodding slowly and waving his paws in the air. At this, the elezen looked up at Ja', "E' wants ye to promise not to kill anyone while yer followin' 'im." Ja'ren mockingly placed a hand over his heart, "I do solemnly swear not to brutally murder any of the 'Forest Boss's' friends while I am stalking his every move. Now let's go, it's late, I'm tired, and I'd like to sleep without nutty here waking me up again." 

The next morning, Ja'ren was sound asleep, normally he'd already be awake - cleaning up, preparing for the days tasks, but after staying up late because of 'Big Red' - he thought he'd sleep in a little. Sadly, his rest was short lived as a group of 7 squirrels, plus Big Red, surrounded him, with Big Red climbing atop the boy's head, close to his ear.

"Squeek! Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!"

Big Red 'yelled' right into Ja's ear, which woke him with a start, knocking Big Red off his shoulder as he sat up, looking dazed. "Wha- What..the hells.." His eyes slowly focused, the squirrel troop coming into view, and his expression slowly changed to that of shock mixed with amusement. "You have GOT to be kidding me. I was certain the Alchemist was pulling my leg, but here you are." 

Big Red rolled his eyes at the cat-boy, signaling for him to follow, and scampered off into the forest, the troop following behind him, in line. Ja' watched them go for a moment, before giving in, grabbing his bow, and slowly tagging along. This was going to be one interesting day.


~A few hours later~

Ja'ren was leaning up against the Guardian Tree, his face morphed into a very large, toothy grin. He looked a bit wild, fierce with his fangs showing, but the large gathering of squirrels and other forest creatures seemed to not mind, or care that he was there. Big Red was sitting on a rock at the base of the tree, squeeking out what sounded like orders to the gathered animals. As they received their objectives, they bowed low to the rust colored squirrel and left to complete their tasks. Ja'ren still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Why in the WORLD were all these animals deferring to the small squirrel? He was hardly an imposing figure, nor did he look like he could provide any sort of 'protection'. Heaven's sake, the majority of the animals were much larger and stronger than the tiny squirrel. 

"I don't get it. Why? Why do they listen to him.."

Hearing Ja', Big Red turned to look at the boy, the little animal's face seemed to say, "Be quiet! I'm -trying- to run things here!" Ja' chuckled, he was slowly picking up on the red squirrel's little mannerisms. When you got down to it, the little guy was very good at conveying emotion through body language, facial expressions, and paw movements. Something he probably picked up from watching the Alchemist and other people within the forest. Finally, all the animals had received their tasks, and left. Big Red slowly seemed to deflate, like all the talking he had done had drained him of energy. His entourage, which consisted of the same 7 squirrels from earlier, gathered around him, chitter-chattering in concern, but Big Red merely waved them off, motioning to Ja'ren. 

The group looked over to the boy warily, but slowly turned to scamper off into the forest. Ja' looked down at Big Red, one eyebrow raised in a question, but the little animal just pointed to himself, then to Ja's shoulder. "....I'm not a chocobo." Big Red rolled his eyes, and pointed again, making a hand gesture that looked like someone drinking a potion. "You..want to go back to the Alchemist?" Red nodded enthusiastically, and clapped his tiny paws together as if to say, "Good! You aren't as dumb as you look!"

Ja'ren stared down at Big Red for a moment longer, before running a hand through his hair as he sighed. "Fine, you can hitch a ride. But this is -not- going to be a thing. Got it?" He knelt, reaching out so Big Red could more easily climb his way to Ja's shoulder, and the two set off into the woods for the Alchemist's hut.

The Alchemist and Ja'ren were enjoying a freshly cooked meal, one the tall elezen had prepared himself from the fish and various herbs Ja' had brought in with him. The two ate in relative silence, with Big Red munching on some acorn cookies by the window. Ja' had been asking various questions: How had Big Red learned to communicate like that? Why did the other animals defer to him? How did the Alchemist know the little squirrel?

The Alchemist had merely chuckled and launched into a long winded explanation on how he had found the little squirrel as a babe, and raised him as best he could. The little guy was a runt, and had seemingly either fallen from the nest or been abandoned entirely. As Big Red grew, he watched the elezen more and more, until he began to mimic everything the man did. Overtime the Alchemist had realized this and started teaching the squirrel more complex hand motions so it could communicate better. As for the other animals in the forest, the elezen was something of a caretaker for the various creatures within the forest, having helped many an injured animal. And since Big Red was essentially his 'son' - the other animals automatically deferred to Big Red because they alread held the Alchemist in such high regard.

"Ah', know it sounds far fetched boy, but ye' saw how the animals acted around Big Red. Ye' know its the truth. A strange truth, but truth nonetheless. An' it's not been all bad, little Red 'as been able to use the other squirrels in the forest like an information network. Helping me locate plants an' herbs, an get to injured animals before it's too late."

Ja'ren gazed at his food for awhile, Big Red and he had something in common, it seemed. Both had been, possibly, left for dead by their parents. He let this thought roll around in his head for a bit, his expression making him look much older than he was - eyes looking weary, head bowed low, shoulders slumped. The elezen looked down at the boy over his glasses, realizing he may have drudged up old memories. "Ah'm sorry if I hit a nerve, lad."

Ja' looked up, roused from his sudden flashback, "Eh, s'not your fault. So now what? Am -I- supposed to take orders from Big Red too or what?" 

The Alchemist chuckled, "That's up to you, lad. Though I will say Big Red could be -very- helpful, considering you are aiding me anyway, he could make your work much faster."

Ja'ren narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the red squirrel. He didn't like the idea of taking orders from a pipsqueak, but then again, he -could- if they weren't pulling his leg, the squirrel just *might* be useful. "Alright, but I am -not- giving up squirrel hunting. That gunna be a problem?"

Big Red stopped munching his cookie to gaze up at the boy with large, sad eyes. Ja' raised an eyebrow in response, but remained firm in his decision. "I gotta eat too, ya know. Unless you can magically provide a constant supply of food, I dunno how we're compromising on this one." Big Red stared at his cookie, long and hard, thinking, trying to figure out a way to stop the boy from murdering all the squirrels in the forest, but came up short. Not able to think of anything, he gazed up at the Alchemist, his face saying, "Heeelllppp!"

"Ah' can probably help with that, but you'll have to do even more work for me, lad." The elezen motioned to his workstation, "Majority of my work goes into the city for the Twin Adder or the local guilds to use with their new recruits. While ye' deliver what I've made, ye can buy supplies for us with the money you receive in return. An' we'll share meals together. How's that?"

Ja'ren looked a tad surprised, the old curmudgeon was gunna -allow- him to eat meals with him everyday?! He couldn't believe his luck, he nodded eagerly, quickly finishing off his meal and rushing to clean his plate at the sink. "That sounds fantastic. Not something I expected from you though."

The elezen chuckled, "Ye'ave done good work for me, boy. An' I see no reason to say nay. Plus, maybe you'll become better friends with Big Red. I 'ave a feeling you two will be helpful to one another later on in your lives."