The trail the monster had followed lead dry, too close to the city for safety and comfort. But even so, It let out a loud growl of anger and dissatisfaction.

The birds who hadn’t already fled their nests fled now, the sight and sound of the monster something they couldn’t trust and couldn’t be around. The whole forest seemed to be uneasy, actually. 

All the creatures seemed to be gone, and the ones who stayed were constantly looking about themselves warily.

Even the trees seemed on edge; they radiated a mist of discomfort and nerves, though it was unknown why.

The monster had gotten an anonymous tip that someone in these woods could help it, that someone in these woods would lead them to the killer of Art. But all the creature had found so far was a single bootprint, one so slightly in the dirt it was hardly there. The monster couldn’t even pick up a scent of anything out of the ordinary. It detected no humans, no elves, nor orcs or goblins. Nothing except the fauna around the location.

Just as the creature turned to leave, it caught a glimpse of light-colored cloth disappearing behind some trees. Bounding over with speed a human couldn’t hope to match, the creature was soon upon a scrawny human, skidding to a stop that sent up dust and dirt.

The creature seemed taken aback by the human standing in front of it. It looked unnatural, unlike any human it had seen before. The hair that was peeking out from under the human's hood was a kind mix of brown and blonde, but that’s not what caught the monster’s attention. It was the eyes. The human had eyes that were both blue and brown. Though just ‘blue’ didn’t give the color credit.

They were striking, like lightning. So bright that they were almost without any blue tint, almost void of blue at all. The only hint to the blueness was a faint, darker blue line around the edge of the iris, herding the pools of earthy brown and bright sky blue together.

But, at the very moment the monster faltered to look at the hues, the human bolted, running from the monster, stumbling over their feet in haste. The creature, though, was much faster than the human could hope. It covered the space in between the two, heading in front of the human to cut them off.

But the human seemed to be smarter than they looked. They doubled back on themselves, this time weaving expertly around trees like a squirrel. The monster growled, chasing after the human with quite the struggle, it’s large size preventing it from moving around the trees as easily as the other. The human and the monster reached a partially empty clearing, covered in tall grass and sweet-smelling flowers.

Almost as the human reached the other side of the clearing, the monster sprung. It put it’s huge, five-toed paws on the other’s shoulders, claws digging in sharply into the skin. It pushed down the human to the ground, using it’s size as an advantage against them. With a sharp snarl, ears pinned back behind the head, the monster sniffed at the person’s hooded face.

“Are you the Tipjar?” Asked the monster, still sniffing at the human below, a growl grumbling under it's breath.

“Is that seriously what people still call me? I swear.”

“So you are.”

“Yeah, yeah, just don’t refer to me as the Tipjar. It sounds pretty stupid.” said the human, waving their hand at the monster.

“Humans are pretty stupid in general,” Growled the purple form, but then recalling Artie, “Except a few..”

“That's true. Call me Juice.” Said the human to the monster, struggling to escape it’s clutches, “Please let me up.”

“Juice?”

The human nodded in confirmation as the monster peeled itself away from Juice, sitting on the ground beside them.

Juice lifted themselves from the ground, lifting their hood away from their face. Around their mouth was a green mask; a green filter mask to be precise. The canisters were painted white with an “X”, with the rest being a pale grey-green. Juice lifted a hand up and tapped a finger to one of the canisters, making sure it hadn’t been harmed in the crazy runnings-around.

His hair was cut a bit long; shaggy and brownish, with hints of an old and faded light green dye. His eyes seemed brighter now without the hood shading them, letting the sun shine on the pretty orbs. He had markings on his face, a few brownish dashes here and there, symmetrical on both sides, like half-planned tattoos. Just a quick spray across his nose were some small brown freckles that complimented his tanned skin.

The monster was reminded of Art by looking at Juice’s face. It had zoned out, staring off at the human, which clearly made him uncomfortable.

“Why.. are you looking at me like that?” asked Juice, raising a brow in confusion.

The monster flinched, removed from it’s staring trance. It stood, now once again looming over the human, casting a large shadow across the small clearing.

“Aye, couldn’t you be a bit shorter or something? You’re making me self-conscious” Muttered Juice. The monster frowned at that.

“I’m not that tall.”

“You are. C’mon.”

The monster frowned again, grumbling words under it’s breath. Juice took a moment to stop walking, turn to look at the monster, and deliver a glare that shut it up immediately. After the debilitating glare ceased, they continued their walking.

They made their way to a broken down shack, with rotting and broken wood walls, with weeds growing up the walls and through the cracks of the structure. Juice walked in through the doorless door frame easily, whereas the giant monster behind him couldn’t even think about fitting.

“Er…” muttered the monster, blinking. Two of its eyes blinked in sync, but the other, the smaller one under the left one was a bit slower. The check mark in it turned to an X when it reopened. It was almost creepy. Juice turned around, his eyebrow raised in a look of confusion. He then paused for a moment, realizing now how big the monster was, and how big the door was compared to the monster. 

It was ironic, as just a few moments before, the monster was talking about how it "wasn't that tall." 

“Sorry, uh. You can, err, just sit right there if you’re okay with it.” Stammered Juice. It was funny, the monster thought. It had been told that the ‘Tipjar’ or Juice, as he was apparently now known as, was a confident person, who knew everything there was to know about everything in town. But now. Now, the monster didn’t know if it was told right, or if Juice was who he said he was.

But, no matter, the monster laid down, it’s arms long out in front of it, crossed at the wrist, paws flexing large claws from time to time. It laid it’s large head on it’s left forearm, lying it’s large ears back, as a sign that it wasn’t going to attack at any time soon. Soon, after getting situated, Juice began to talk.