Amazon

The forest clearing echoed with the sound of footsteps. A black creature—slender, with a feline face and straight, goat-like horns—rushed forward to attack. A forest golem, twice its height, met it with a blow from a branched paw. The creature flew back, its claws tearing through the moss, but rose. Blood dripped from its chin.
The golem advanced methodically. Another blow, and the black body slammed into the ground. A root-like palm squeezed the chest, cracking the ribs. The creature wheezed, trying to break free. The forest undead around it howled with delight.
A whistle shattered the silence. An arrow flew through a gap in the golem's chest, piercing the glowing forest heart. The giant froze and crumbled into dust. Shock reigned in the clearing. And a moment later—chaos. The creatures screeched and thrashed about, unsure who had dared.
The battered creature, dragging its leg, bolted into the thicket. A few minutes of running, and it burst onto the highway. Brakes screeched, and a car nearly hit it. It slid into an alley and slid down the wall. Its gaze fell on an advertising poster: a smiling young man wearing a cap.
The creature closed its eyes. Its fur retracted, its horns disappeared, and its muzzle rounded. Now it was a dead ringer for the guy in the poster—but broken, in dirty clothes, with a black eye.
He trudged along the sidewalk, holding his ribs. At the corner, he bumped into a guy wearing a strange wide-brimmed hat and a blue sweater. Amazon whistled, but the creature didn't even glance at him—it simply staggered and leaned its hand on the wall.

"Hey," said Amazon. "You need to go to the hospital."

Silence. Only hoarse breathing.
Amazon shrugged, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him to a private clinic. He paid for the x-ray, bandages, and injection. The creature didn't say a word—it just stared blankly while the doctor stitched him up.
The next morning, Amazon came into the room again. He brought coffee and placed it on the nightstand.

“How are you?” he asked.

The creature sat on the bed, staring at the wall. No sound. Amazon waited a minute, grinned, and sat down in the next chair.

— Are you silent? Okay then. I'm in no hurry.
They sat like that—he spoke, and the creature remained silent. And in this silence, something like trust began to emerge.

Aboba