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My work was satisfying. I found the crews who worked in the forest hardworking and friendly. Brenden was funny and had a canny knack for understanding the animals who were our true bosses.

Marcus was a bit of a snob, but he cared for the forest that we all strived to take care of. Ceren was a genius. She found ways to make boring displays about the forest fun and engaging for the school children who came on tour. I wish she had been running the tours when I first came to the center in 3rd grade; then I wouldn't have wandered off and gotten lost.

Mindy was a conundrum. She loved animals but didn't seem to care about humans as much. She was friendly to me when people were around, but she treated me like an unwanted guest if it was just us. She was currently busy dealing with calving season for the local deer herd that stayed in our forest. I had asked her once why our deer herd was so large, and she had sardonically replied that certain predators kept things safe for the deer.

"What kind of predators keep deer safe?" I inquire.

The look Mindy gave me held a smirk as if I were clueless. I'm new to the job, so of course, I don't know every quirk of this place. This woman is starting to get on my nerves.

"Who do you think?" she turned her back to me, making it clear she was done talking to me. I left her office feeling insulted. I'm not stupid, but this place doesn't work how I'm used to things working. How often do people take work orders from animals? Sure, perhaps a tiger, wolf, coyote, and eagle can keep predators away but wouldn't they then hunt them for themselves? Somebody has to be eating these deer, or else our population would be out of control. I don't understand how this all works yet, and I still don't know what Bangtan Group does since the animals seem to be making the calls here and while they are conspicuously absent.

Those animals were also making themselves known to me. It never failed that I had at least a visitor or two at the end of each evening. The coyote, rabbit, and owl were my most frequent visitors. I didn't bother mentioning it to anyone. I wasn't about to get into a popularity contest over my visitors.

After dinner, the others invited me to join them as they went to a club in town. I resisted their urgings and retired to my room. I like to party as much as anyone else, but a bunch of drunk losers settling for a night of bad sex vs. mystery animals with gem-like eyes. No contest.

I sat on my patio watching the forest, waiting for them to visit. I listened to the wind blow through the trees and watched the tops of the trees sway in the wind. The smell of evergreens filled the air, and the stars peeked out from the dark expanse to fill the sky. The moon was only three-quarters full and dulled the stars near it. It would be full in another week. I loved walking in forests on full moons. The light cutting through the dark trees gave the forest a magical quality that I loved. So far, I could not get the animals to join me on a night walk through the forest. I admit it, I may be a scientist, but I'm a romantic at heart. My library is a nice collection of romantic fairytales. I didn't care if it was gothic or fluffy; I loved it all. And the idea of a midnight walk through a magical forest with magical animals appealed to the romantic girl inside me. Just don't expect me to break out into song.

I wonder if I could get the animals to take a walk with me then?

I laugh at my silly thoughts. I bet nobody would expect the serious scientist was secretly daydreaming about her own Disney movie, especially when she can't sing. Heh.

When a rustle diverts my attention in the bushes, I smile to myself, and a cute nose sticks itself out to sniff the area. The muzzle that follows belongs to a Golden Retriever, and I smile as the friendly dog pokes its head out after checking to smell if the coast is clear.

"There's nobody around. They all went into town." I tell the shy animal. The Retriever blinked his lavender eyes and left the bush. I bring my hand down so he can sniff it and be comfortable with me. The dog doesn't visit as often as the bunny or owl, so we're still getting used to each other. He sniffs my hand and then starts sniffing the rest of me. "I don't have any treats," I tell the curious animal. He gives me a sad look like I've committed a serious sin.

"Oh, poor baby," I coo, and then I pet his back, trying to stay away from his face. I nuzzle into his fur and he lays his head on my shoulder and nuzzles right back and seems to enjoy the attention. I give his body a good rub down and then look around. "Is it just you tonight?"

He huffs and looks back at the bush he came out of, and sitting within, back where I wouldn't notice at first, are two purple eyes. They are positioned higher up, so I discount the coyote. The coyote was very familiar with me and didn't hide. That leaves the wolf or the tiger.

I gulp as my nerves spiked. The golden retriever places a hand on my knee and makes a comforting sound. Almost as if he is telling me it's okay. I look at the animal and place my hand over his paw. "It's okay, huh?" I ask him. The animal dips his head down once. I guess that's a yes.

I look into the bush, trying to see which animal could be in there when a growl suddenly vibrates through the leaves. Nope, that's not the wolf. My eyes widen as I realize I have the tiger hiding in the bush next to my patio. The dog looks toward the bush and whines. I pet the animal to calm him, but he continues to "talk" to the tiger. The eyes start to move, and my body freezes as the tiger pokes his head out of the bush and steps onto my patio. This is a big animal. He's a beautiful shade of orange with black stripes. He's full chested and looks like one paw could end me.

Fortunately, his attention seems to be on the dog, and however, they are communicating. Make no mistake; they were ere communicating. This goes against everything I've ever learned in school, or anywhere else for that matter, about animals and how they interact. This tiger should be trying to eat this dog and me; what was going on here?

For the Golden Retriever's part, he was happily bouncing around my patio while the tiger watched on. I played with the dog and kept an eye on the tiger, but he was never aggressive or made me feel I was in any danger. The tiger eventually laid down, and to my surprise, the bunny jumped onto his back.

My mouth dropped.

The tiger looked over at the hare climbing over his back and blinked his eyes, and then turned his attention back to me. The rabbit sniffed around and then jumped off the tiger's back and hopped over to me. It nuzzled my foot and then looked up at me. I leaned down to pet the small animal, and it jumped into my hand. This startled me because I was not used to it wanting to be held.

"Oh my goodness, little rabbit, what do you want" I lifted the rabbit to my face so we could look at each other. The lavender-eyed buck seemed to stare deep into my eyes as if it could see right into my soul. I pulled the small animal to my chest and held it as it snuggled into my arms, content to be held.

I heard what sounded like a deep rumble from the tiger, and the dog dropped his jaw in a doggy-style grin.

Soon the rabbit started to move around and freed itself from my embrace, looking around from the view on my lap. It then hopped down and headed to my door, scratching at the wood.

"No, little one, you can't go into my apartment," I warned. The dog started to whine, and the tiger grumbled and gave me a little growl. The large cat then got up and also prowled to my door, looking over his shoulder at me and motioning towards the door.

"Hey now," I objected, "That's my apartment. I can't have you guys going in and making a mess." The cat rolled his eyes and growled again. Not wanting to antagonize the dangerous animal that could kill me with one paw, I gave in and walked over to the door and opened it, waiting to see what they would do.

The rabbit wasted no time in hopping in and exploring the space. I ignore the thought of the "pellet hunt" I will probably have to do later. The tiger and dog padded inside, and before I could enter my own home, the hoot of an owl caused me to look over my shoulder and instantly jump out of the way of the door. The owl sailed in, followed by the eagle. They flew around the small apartment and landed on the back of the couch and love seat, making themselves at home. A yip followed, and the wolf and coyote loped through the door.

I walked into my apartment, amazed and just a little shocked. What did these animals want? Why were they all in my apartment? I looked in amazement at the seven pairs of lavender eyes that watched me as I watched them. The eagle hopped across the back of my couch, catching my eye and also highlighting that it had something attached to its feet. A message?

I walked over to the eagle, and it stilled as I neared.

"There there," I said calmly. "I'm not going to hurt you. Let's see what's on your leg, okay?"

The eagle offered its leg to me, and I took the message from the tube attached to its leg. "You know, you shouldn't lower yourself to be used as a pigeon." I smile sardonically at the great bird, and it ruffled its feathers. It took a gentle nip at my hand as if I had insulted it; thankfully, it didn't break any skin. Its great beak could easily break my hand. This made me feel nervous as I had 5 highly dangerous animals in my home.

I open the message as they all looked at me and read:

We offer a warning. We know you keep trying to walk in the forest at night with the animals. Please refrain from this, especially over this next week. The nature of our animals is such that they become unstable during the full moon. The forest is not safe during this time. Normally the human contingent stays out of the forest after dark, but you are different, and the animals felt you needed a special warning. We ask that you stay safe in the human compound during this time. Once the full moon is past, it will be safe to join them in the forest.

Bangtan

I read the message over and over again. I finally looked at the seven animals in my own home and addressed them. "So, you were concerned about me?"

As one, they all nodded. I wasn't expecting an answer, must less a form of direct communication. This was getting crazy.

"I'm a scientist. You know this makes no sense, right?" Again, the animals just watched me with their gem-like eyes. The rabbit hopped over and nuzzled me in my foot. I picked up the furry animal, and it snuggled into my arms. I walked over and sat on the couch and faced my seven guests.

"This sounds like something out of a fairy tale," I mention and think some more, "Or science fiction since you all could have escaped from some lab somewhere for all I know." The rabbit shivers in my arms as if in response to my words. The owl softly hoots, and the canines all whine. The tiger walks over to me and puts a paw on my knee, and looks me deep in my eyes. The grave expression on its face emphasizes the seriousness of the feeling in the room. I'm not dumb to the expression of the animals around me.

"Okay, I'll be good and not go into the forest until after the full moon, okay?" I tell the tiger.

The tiger nods and then leaves me and walks out the door. All the animals except for the bunny start to leave. The eagle gets ready to fly away but looks at the rabbit and cries. The bunny hunkers down even tighter into my embrace.

I look down at the small animal, "Do you want to stay?" it looks at me with big eyes, and I look to the eagle, "The bunny can stay with me for now. I'll keep him safe. He can leave whenever he's ready to."

The rabbit jumps in excitement like popcorn. The eagle seems to almost sigh and gives us both a stern look with its round, hard eyes. It then flies out of the door and back into the forest, leaving me with the one solitary animal in my home. I look at the bunny and smile while petting him.

"Well, little one," I say to it, "This has been a very odd evening." The rabbit hops out of my lap and jumps around my couch. I smile as I watch its antics. I lift the bunny off my couch and place him on the floor and slide down to sit with him. We play around for a little bit, and I get him a carrot out of my fridge, which he happily eats. I get a bowl of water for him to drink, and as the evening wears on, it becomes clear that he is getting tired.

"Is it time for you to leave and go home?" I ask. The bunny shakes its head. "I don't think you're supposed to stay here. Your friends will come looking for you." Again the bunny shakes his head.

"Okay, you can stay as long as you need, but I have to go take a shower and get ready for bed. You stay good and don't poop on my carpet." Oddly enough, the bunny hadn't had an accident at all.

I made quick work of taking my shower and getting ready for bed. The bunny kept to the kitchen until I brushed my teeth, and then he hopped over and watched me. I checked once more to see if the rabbit was ready to leave, but he made no indication that he would leave and none of his friends came looking for him.

As I readied for bed, the bunny hopped into my room and tried to get on my bed. I couldn't help but laugh, "Oh, no, you don't. You don't get to be on the bed," The bunny ignored me and kept trying to hop onto the bed that was too high for him. So far, I haven't been able to get them to listen to me, so why should they start now? I'm such a pushover. I lift the ball of fluff onto my bed, and he immediately hops onto one of the pillows and burrows in.

'You're lucky you didn't pick my side of the bed, pal." I warned him as I turned off the lights and got into bed. I snuggled into my pillow and yawned. I looked at the rabbit and saw that his eyes were closing, and mine soon followed.

My dreams were full that night. I dreamt of dark caves, seven jewel-like eyes, and an angry scream in the night. My dreams morphed and changed unsettled. It wasn't until I dreamed of a gentle voice that told me everything would be alright that I settled into a peaceful sleep. I felt the whisper of a kiss on my cheek but didn't wake to see if the phantom was real.

When I woke the next morning, the pillow was empty, and the rabbit was nowhere to be seen. All that was left of my visitors last night was the note the eagle gave me.  


A/N:  Hi everyone!  Thank you for taking the time to read my story.  I know it's going slow but my work hours have been changing often and getting a good writing schedule down just hasn't been possible.  Remember, feedback is awesome. Like and comment as you want and I hope you guys are having a great day.  I hope you're staying safe during this pandemic wave and keep wearing your masks and social distancing.  Get your flu shot and stay safe!  Hugs!

As I've been playing with the possible storylines of this thing, I've had to look at who my biases are in BTS.  I've been so excited for them to receive the much-deserved WSJ innovators award for music.  I'm so excited about their new album and I look forward to seeing what they are feeling and thinking in these new songs.  What journey's they've been on while also taking the much-needed rest from their years of touring.  I believe they needed this time to come to grips with what they've achieved and rest.  I think we'll get a stronger BTS who aren't burning out from constant touring that happens to so many previous popular groups.   

As for my biases, I first connected with RM.  Then V and Jhope came in like the bias wreckers they are.  Min Yoongi impresses me with his seriousness and talent and Jimin and Jungkook are just amazing people.   They all have their spark that excites and entertains.   So, tell me in the comments who is your BTS bias?  Has it changed over time and who keeps sneaking in and wrecking your list?  Tell me below.  



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