The sound doesn't alarm him at first; he assumes it belongs to some majestic creature, and so he reaches for the rifle slung over his shoulder in a fluid, practiced motion.

But the sound is followed by motion, and at first he doesn't know what he's seeing, it's not an animal movement, it's something else entirely, like trees in a nor'easter but slow, impossibly slow. It takes until the thing is in front of him for Theodore to realize that it is a tree, or something very like one, and the great rumbling hollow sound is something like words, and for all practical purposes it seems to be addressing him.

"Ho there!" he announces, raising one hand in greeting while keeping a secure hold on his gun with the other. Sanoba digs at the leaves with one huge hoof, restless, and steps from side to side. They are both unsure of what to make of this creature. "I'm a man, have you seen one of those before? I'm not too proud to admit that I've never laid eyes on anything like you, good sir."