"That definitely ain't New Orleans." Andre thought as he looked at the little town that lie just beyond the edge of the woods he'd woken up in. He had hoped that he had been wrong and that he was just in a different part of city's surrounding forest. He was disappointed, to say the least. "Why am I always right when I suspect the worse?" he grumbled under his breath, getting ready to march into town. Then he stopped short of fully leaving the woods, remembering the last time he went into a town he didn't know in the middle of nowhere.

"Yeah, I'm not repeating that," he thought with a mental shake, pulling out a pair of binoculars from his belt, and saw something strange. A green and white, sign lit up with mounted lights in front of the town, though it wasn't the sign itself, rather what was written on it, that gave him pause. "Greensville, Ohio. Well, that's fan-fucking-tastic. No Christmas decorations either, so I was right about ending up in a different time too." he thought, becoming more fed up with his luck by the minute. "That deer meat I sat out is gonna have gone bad by the time I get home. Fucking magic bullshit." He cussed. He was about to put the binoculars down, when he saw something stranger still.

What he guessed was a man, in the most realistic sheep dog costume he had ever seen dressed in blue coveralls, came out with a beat up red tool box, opened a panel on the back of the sign, and started tweaking with a few wires. "Man, that's some detail." he thought as he examined the suit, noting how authentic the fur looked, as well as the way the tail moved, as if it wasn't on a motor at all. "Guy must be short. Those digitigrade stilts have to add at least two feet, and I'm still taller than him." he thought, noticing how it looked like there were actual muscles underneath the fur, as well as the claws and little hint of black pad he could see. He then noticed the hands, or rather paws, of the man. They looked like a cross between the two, with the five fingers of a human hand, with claws and pads at the tip of each, as well as a big pad in the palm. "He looks like he uses them often, being handy even with the pads and claws in the way." he noted, further examining the suit.

The head was easily the most impressive piece. The ears looked as floppy as the real deal, the nose on the muzzle seemingly wet, and the currently hooded blue eyes looked old and weathered, but nowhere near lifeless, perfectly matching the greying black and white fur covering the suit.

"I know good craftsmanship when I see it." Andre thought, "Somebody poured their all into that thing. Why the hell is that man wearing it while working? He could ru-" his inner monologue was cut short when the stranger yawned, the muzzle opening wide to show all its sharp, real teeth and flat, real canine tongue.

The stranger then packed up his tool box and started to leave, though Andre didn't quite acknowledge this. It was then that a yellow cat, dressed in hunting gear with a rifle slung over her shoulder, passed the other and greeted him, making small talk. Andre stared at her, only then registering what he'd seen.

He put down his binoculars at that point, with a blank expression. He slowly put the tool back on his belt, and turned the other way. He began slowly walking back to the woods, then sped up into a brisk pace. His brisk pace then became a full blown sprint back into, then through the woods. It was only when he couldn't see the town that he slowed to a stop, breathing heavily. He slumped down against a tree, and tried to calm the flurry of thoughts that flew through his head.

"That wasn't normal! That wasn't fucking normal! That was as far from fucking normal as it could be!" he cursed to himself, trying to vent his panic. It helped, somewhat. "Ok, ok, the town is... probably not an option." he said after a while, taking slow, deep breaths to help calm himself.

"So, what the hell do I do now?" he thought.

~~~That Evening~~~

"Just another 3 weeks, then you'll be out for Spring Break." the teen thought, practically dragging herself through her classrooms door, along with her classmates. It was then a golden retriever, dressed in a short white skirt and a blindingly neon pink jacket with a white undershirt, grabbed her arm. "Hey Grace, thought you were going to leave without hanging out with me first?" she said with a dopey grin on her muzzle, leaning a little on the brown fox as they walked through the hallway. "Sorry, didn't see you there, Sadie. Mr. Hemmings worked us hard today," the fox said, rubbing her eyes, "he wants us ready for the end of semester test. He keeps saying that the proms rescheduling to the day before the test instead of after it messed up his teaching schedule" The retriever pouted, feeling sorry for her tired friend. "I'm sorry to hear that, Grace. You won't have to put up with it for long though, with the break coming soon!" she said, perking up at the thought of no school for three weeks. "I know, but still, I'm dead on my feet right now." Grace said, demonstrating her point when she nearly ran into one of the many students crowding the hall, her friend pulling her out of the way.

"Hey, before I forget, who are you taking to the prom?" She asked, even though she could already guess who her friend had picked. "Oh, I'm going with Ron! You should have seen him when he asked me out, he was stuttering so much! It was so adorkable!" Sadie gushed with a giddy smile.

"Yeah, that's what I expected. You two are barely ever apart these days." she said with a smile. "Hey, where is he anyways?" Grace asked as they walked through one of the schools double doors, wondering where the big softy was. "Oh, he's in the parking lot, he's taking me out to the lake today" she said, excitement playing through her eyes. "You know, if you want, we could drop you off at your house beforehand! It wouldn't be any trouble, really!" she said. "Sadie, it's an hour drive to where I live. It takes me 30 minutes to walk through the woods." Grace said with a sigh, tired of the old argument. "Ok, ok, I'll let you walk through the murder woods alone, close to night. If a serial killer runs out at you with a bowie knife or something, don't blame me!" Sadie said dramatically, just as tired of this exchange. Grace could only roll her eyes.

"Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow!" She said, making her way to the parking lot where a Doberman with pure black fur was leaning against a red Dodge, nervously searching the crowd, only to get tackled by the golden retriever. Grace waved at them, shaking her head at her friends giddiness. She then started making her way across the road in front of the school, aiming for the forest just beyond it.

~~~

"Well, this is sorta I had in mind for today." Andre thought, stalking after the deer. He had spent the majority of the day making a camp with what he could get his hands on, which equated to a fire pit and a bed of leaves. He'd also made sure to avoid the west side of the woods, where he'd seen the other hunter go.

He was currently more thankful to his three uncles than he'd ever been, all of whom had insisted that he learn how to survive in the wilderness at a young age, just like they did. "City boy would've probably just given up at this point and gone straight into town." Andre thought, taking aim with his bow when his prey stopped by a babbling book for a drink. He knew he would have to go to the town at some point, if only to scavenge for supplies. He would certainly try his best to not get caught, but that didn't make the inevitable any less worrying. Andre could forget that for a moment though, as he let the bowstring loose.

~~~

Grace stayed as quiet as she could, watching with a smile on her muzzle as the deer knelt by the brook. She had always loved walking through the forest, breathing in the scent of the pinewood trees and listening to the sound of its inhabitants go about their lives. It helped soothe her mind and relax, especially after a trying day. It was even better when she got to see some of the wildlife, like the deer she was watching right now.

She only got to enjoy the scene for 5 more seconds before an arrow found it's way into the right eye of the deer, killing it instantly.