“Ready as is possible,” Julius said. He couldn't suppress a nervous twitch. “I’ll feel a lot better when we have more of an idea of what to expect. I can’t prepare for every possible scenario, though I’m expecting things of...an odd magical nature, I suppose.”
Spinner looked less chipper than usual as Julius instructed him to bring along the sampling equipment that both he and Elian would be using on whatever flora and fauna they found. Maybe sleeping—or trying to sleep—in the jungle for a night had disabused the eager assistant of the notion that this was a school trip.
And with that they set off, leaving the clearing and heading into dense jungle. Julius hung back. He flitted through the trees beside Elian as they let the others—those dragons both larger than they were and more trained to anticipate whatever was up ahead—lead the way.
*
Kiani hadn’t flinched when the message arrived, but it had been a close thing. What was he doing? Was there an issue? She excused herself from the room, volunteering to fetch snacks, and in the hall outside checked the device.
Relief mingled with her annoyance. She sent a quick message back in the affirmative and told him to proceed with caution. She’d just have to hope he didn’t think they were going to be overly chatty with each other throughout this whole thing.
When she returned with pastries, nobody doubted where she’d been.
*
As exciting as this mission was, Lettie couldn’t help her impatience at how at this stage there was going to be a lot of waiting around, both for results from the data and for the ground team to get back from their expedition. They had seemed in good spirits when she spoke to them, but now it would be hours before they returned. Amused at herself, she took a pastry from one of the students and settled in to work.
“Ready as is possible,” Julius said. He couldn't suppress a nervous twitch. “I’ll feel a lot better when we have more of an idea of what to expect. I can’t prepare for every possible scenario, though I’m expecting things of...an odd magical nature, I suppose.”
Spinner looked less chipper than usual as Julius instructed him to bring along the sampling equipment that both he and Elian would be using on whatever flora and fauna they found. Maybe sleeping—or trying to sleep—in the jungle for a night had disabused the eager assistant of the notion that this was a school trip.
And with that they set off, leaving the clearing and heading into dense jungle. Julius hung back. He flitted through the trees beside Elian as they let the others—those dragons both larger than they were and more trained to anticipate whatever was up ahead—lead the way.
*
Kiani hadn’t flinched when the message arrived, but it had been a close thing. What was he doing? Was there an issue? She excused herself from the room, volunteering to fetch snacks, and in the hall outside checked the device.
Relief mingled with her annoyance. She sent a quick message back in the affirmative and told him to proceed with caution. She’d just have to hope he didn’t think they were going to be overly chatty with each other throughout this whole thing.
When she returned with pastries, nobody doubted where she’d been.
*
As exciting as this mission was, Lettie couldn’t help her impatience at how at this stage there was going to be a lot of waiting around, both for results from the data and for the ground team to get back from their expedition. They had seemed in good spirits when she spoke to them, but now it would be hours before they returned. Amused at herself, she took a pastry from one of the students and settled in to work.
Aspen nodded, "It will surely be interesting. I expect to see things none of us ever have before. I think we can handle it." She gave him a reassuring smile, using a small nod.
As they dove into the jungle, her senses went on high alert. She seemed to stalk the jungle, crouching slightly. Wings tucked tight against her body and her markings surprisingly let her blend in well to the surrounding nature. Much like a tigeress. Using her infrared eyes, they scanned the path they planned to take ahead of them, as well as her peripheral as much as possible. This is when her team usually seemed to realize she truly was a mirror, wild, and accustomed to the danger. She saw small heat signatures of the birds, Lathair on her left flank but slightly behind. Nothing unusual, yet. Her footsteps fell near soundlessly, looking around slowly. As much as she enjoyed the view, her team needed to be protected.
*
Spinner stayed behind, near Julius. Although, he had decided to be on the ground with Lathair and Aspen. They weren't close enough yet to the remnants of a camped out research lab to divert the group. Almost, almost time. When they were near enough to it to almost see, he planned to blow the whistle as loud as possible. That should draw in and agitate those huge beasts enough to send everyone back to the campsite. Perhaps, if Lathair and Aspen weren't good enough, they would all have to head back.
This was a beautiful jungle, he noted, looking around. It wasn't often he got to visit somewhere so nature oriented.
*
Kanjuro brightened when Kiani brought back pastries. "Oh! You're such a dear, thank you. I was wondering where you went, but I see you had the right idea," he winked at her in a fatherly way as he took not one, but two pastries. Eating them quite quickly, he walked over to the communications portion. This would be a dangerous part of their expedition, and he hoped they didn't run into savage creatures. Or worse.
Aspen nodded, "It will surely be interesting. I expect to see things none of us ever have before. I think we can handle it." She gave him a reassuring smile, using a small nod.
As they dove into the jungle, her senses went on high alert. She seemed to stalk the jungle, crouching slightly. Wings tucked tight against her body and her markings surprisingly let her blend in well to the surrounding nature. Much like a tigeress. Using her infrared eyes, they scanned the path they planned to take ahead of them, as well as her peripheral as much as possible. This is when her team usually seemed to realize she truly was a mirror, wild, and accustomed to the danger. She saw small heat signatures of the birds, Lathair on her left flank but slightly behind. Nothing unusual, yet. Her footsteps fell near soundlessly, looking around slowly. As much as she enjoyed the view, her team needed to be protected.
*
Spinner stayed behind, near Julius. Although, he had decided to be on the ground with Lathair and Aspen. They weren't close enough yet to the remnants of a camped out research lab to divert the group. Almost, almost time. When they were near enough to it to almost see, he planned to blow the whistle as loud as possible. That should draw in and agitate those huge beasts enough to send everyone back to the campsite. Perhaps, if Lathair and Aspen weren't good enough, they would all have to head back.
This was a beautiful jungle, he noted, looking around. It wasn't often he got to visit somewhere so nature oriented.
*
Kanjuro brightened when Kiani brought back pastries. "Oh! You're such a dear, thank you. I was wondering where you went, but I see you had the right idea," he winked at her in a fatherly way as he took not one, but two pastries. Eating them quite quickly, he walked over to the communications portion. This would be a dangerous part of their expedition, and he hoped they didn't run into savage creatures. Or worse.
“They do know this is supposed to be a research expedition, right?” Elian said. He carried his pearl awkwardly under one arm as he fiddled with the lid of a container. “Not a ‘let’s tramp through the jungle and not mind if our feet contaminate useful samples’ expedition.”
Julius wasn't sure what useful samples Elian was talking about, crouched down on the path like a geologist with a clawful of dirt. Nevertheless he fluttered his crest in what could have been interpreted as a laugh—if Elian had been paying attention to him instead of staring intently at the soil he’d started to pile into the box. He didn’t know why he bothered, sometimes.
“We’ll know if there’s trouble well in advance,” he said instead, just to play devil’s advocate.
“That may be all well and good, but I don’t see why we have to follow wherever the muscle wants us to go. Hey, aren’t you going to help with this?”
Julius was not. He’d ascended a short way, between low-hanging vines and branches coated in morning dew and damp moss, to check on the others. He perched momentarily in the crook of a tree where a line of intrepid beetles with carapaces like midnight ink were making their way towards a hollow, and checked the progress of the rest of the team.
They were a short way ahead, making good time. He doubted anyone would need his help, but it wouldn’t hurt to be a little closer—if only because he wasn’t keen to miss anything particularly interesting while scrabbling around in the mud back here. He returned to Elian and Spinner and urged them on.
“They do know this is supposed to be a research expedition, right?” Elian said. He carried his pearl awkwardly under one arm as he fiddled with the lid of a container. “Not a ‘let’s tramp through the jungle and not mind if our feet contaminate useful samples’ expedition.”
Julius wasn't sure what useful samples Elian was talking about, crouched down on the path like a geologist with a clawful of dirt. Nevertheless he fluttered his crest in what could have been interpreted as a laugh—if Elian had been paying attention to him instead of staring intently at the soil he’d started to pile into the box. He didn’t know why he bothered, sometimes.
“We’ll know if there’s trouble well in advance,” he said instead, just to play devil’s advocate.
“That may be all well and good, but I don’t see why we have to follow wherever the muscle wants us to go. Hey, aren’t you going to help with this?”
Julius was not. He’d ascended a short way, between low-hanging vines and branches coated in morning dew and damp moss, to check on the others. He perched momentarily in the crook of a tree where a line of intrepid beetles with carapaces like midnight ink were making their way towards a hollow, and checked the progress of the rest of the team.
They were a short way ahead, making good time. He doubted anyone would need his help, but it wouldn’t hurt to be a little closer—if only because he wasn’t keen to miss anything particularly interesting while scrabbling around in the mud back here. He returned to Elian and Spinner and urged them on.
Spinner huffed quietly, following Julius. Just when he was actually helping, they had to move forward? What did this crazy sample fae want from him? Just then, the realization hit him.
The group had gotten closer than he wanted. When Elian and Julius had their backs turned, he let them out pace for a few moments before ducking behind the tree. He took the grey, weird looking whistle and blew on it as hard as he could for as long as he could before hurrying away from the tree.
If anyone asked, he would say that he had to use the bathroom. If what his bosses told him was correct, then the beasts would come hurdling in from the north, exactly where the group was headed. If everything went to plan, Aspen and Lathair would be killed or seriously injured. He and the others would escape unharmed (mostly) and have to go back.
*
Aspen could hear the researchers chatting in the back. Annoyed, her lip curled. She almost wanted to yell at them to shut up, particularly Elian. Only Julius really needed to be here out of those three is what she had concluded.
As they moved forward she felt a small vibration underneath the moist soil of the jungle. Looking above her, she knew the vines were too thick to fly higher than about 25 feet or so. Suddenly she stopped, turning behind her and snapping at the rest of the group with teeth bared. "STOP!" Aspen hissed, feeling more vibrations. Something was coming. Her infrared couldn't see it yet unfortunately, there were many small or medium heat signatures, but nothing large enough to cause this. Whatever it was, it wasn't an earthquake and it certainly wasn't anything small. Feeling her heart beating in her chest, she knew this was bad.
Spinner huffed quietly, following Julius. Just when he was actually helping, they had to move forward? What did this crazy sample fae want from him? Just then, the realization hit him.
The group had gotten closer than he wanted. When Elian and Julius had their backs turned, he let them out pace for a few moments before ducking behind the tree. He took the grey, weird looking whistle and blew on it as hard as he could for as long as he could before hurrying away from the tree.
If anyone asked, he would say that he had to use the bathroom. If what his bosses told him was correct, then the beasts would come hurdling in from the north, exactly where the group was headed. If everything went to plan, Aspen and Lathair would be killed or seriously injured. He and the others would escape unharmed (mostly) and have to go back.
*
Aspen could hear the researchers chatting in the back. Annoyed, her lip curled. She almost wanted to yell at them to shut up, particularly Elian. Only Julius really needed to be here out of those three is what she had concluded.
As they moved forward she felt a small vibration underneath the moist soil of the jungle. Looking above her, she knew the vines were too thick to fly higher than about 25 feet or so. Suddenly she stopped, turning behind her and snapping at the rest of the group with teeth bared. "STOP!" Aspen hissed, feeling more vibrations. Something was coming. Her infrared couldn't see it yet unfortunately, there were many small or medium heat signatures, but nothing large enough to cause this. Whatever it was, it wasn't an earthquake and it certainly wasn't anything small. Feeling her heart beating in her chest, she knew this was bad.
Leaving Spinner to deal with Elian’s moaning, Julius flew ahead again. That was one advantage of being a Fae here, he supposed: many of the others couldn’t fly without crashing into dense canopy, and instead had to deal with navigating the undergrowth. Even with his bags, he had an easier time of it.
Plaguebringer, it was hot, though. Landing as high up as he could without getting tangled in unpleasant, resiny vines, he stuffed his hat in a pocket and tried to rearrange some of the things he was carrying while he had some distance on the other stragglers.
It was this decision that meant he was in position to have a good viewpoint of Aspen and Lathair as the former froze and barked an order to stop.
Julius tensed. The tone of her voice was something he'd not heard from her before, and it chilled him. It was obvious something was wrong, but what? He could see nothing. The jungle around them in all directions was still in the suffocating heat, only the movement of the birds and insects—which had all of a sudden become nervous, anticipatory—to indicate something was amiss.
Then he became aware of it—a rumble, like a distant earthquake, or the sound of drums. Whatever it was Aspen had sensed it from a great distance. He dived from the trees to join the others, hovering above them. He could feel the ground tremble even here.
“Which way? Can you tell which way it’s coming from?” As he spoke his voice was even more rapid than usual, words falling over each other, his entire body twitching in distress.
Leaving Spinner to deal with Elian’s moaning, Julius flew ahead again. That was one advantage of being a Fae here, he supposed: many of the others couldn’t fly without crashing into dense canopy, and instead had to deal with navigating the undergrowth. Even with his bags, he had an easier time of it.
Plaguebringer, it was hot, though. Landing as high up as he could without getting tangled in unpleasant, resiny vines, he stuffed his hat in a pocket and tried to rearrange some of the things he was carrying while he had some distance on the other stragglers.
It was this decision that meant he was in position to have a good viewpoint of Aspen and Lathair as the former froze and barked an order to stop.
Julius tensed. The tone of her voice was something he'd not heard from her before, and it chilled him. It was obvious something was wrong, but what? He could see nothing. The jungle around them in all directions was still in the suffocating heat, only the movement of the birds and insects—which had all of a sudden become nervous, anticipatory—to indicate something was amiss.
Then he became aware of it—a rumble, like a distant earthquake, or the sound of drums. Whatever it was Aspen had sensed it from a great distance. He dived from the trees to join the others, hovering above them. He could feel the ground tremble even here.
“Which way? Can you tell which way it’s coming from?” As he spoke his voice was even more rapid than usual, words falling over each other, his entire body twitching in distress.
Aspen looked up at Julius, her eyes narrowed. "It feels like it's coming straight towards us, from the north. But also... I can't know for sure if one isn't approaching from the side. Whatever it is, it's huge and we can't turn and run with our backs to it. You need to get behind Lathair and I," she added, turning back to where she was looking before. Her claws gripped the dirt as her infrared began to show the enemy.
It was huge, for one thing. Bigger than something should be, in a jungle anyways. It was very much boar like, with two large tusks in front. However, is seemed to have more claw like feet than hooves, and sharp rows of teeth.This was not prey, it was a predator.
Aspen snarled, she wouldn't wait for it to get here, maybe she could take it out before it was a danger to the team. Her powerful legs propelled her forward as she charged at the beast.
*
Spinner didn't have to pretend to be nervous at Aspen's warning. For one, this was also very dangerous for him, and for two, he could get caught by them. As he looked ahead, waiting with tense muscles to see it come out of the woodwork, his blood ran cold. Aspen went after the monster which means.. oh no. She could see something. It was a possibility. There was something for them to find about 30 meters out, but perhaps it would go unnoticed...no way to know yet.
Aspen looked up at Julius, her eyes narrowed. "It feels like it's coming straight towards us, from the north. But also... I can't know for sure if one isn't approaching from the side. Whatever it is, it's huge and we can't turn and run with our backs to it. You need to get behind Lathair and I," she added, turning back to where she was looking before. Her claws gripped the dirt as her infrared began to show the enemy.
It was huge, for one thing. Bigger than something should be, in a jungle anyways. It was very much boar like, with two large tusks in front. However, is seemed to have more claw like feet than hooves, and sharp rows of teeth.This was not prey, it was a predator.
Aspen snarled, she wouldn't wait for it to get here, maybe she could take it out before it was a danger to the team. Her powerful legs propelled her forward as she charged at the beast.
*
Spinner didn't have to pretend to be nervous at Aspen's warning. For one, this was also very dangerous for him, and for two, he could get caught by them. As he looked ahead, waiting with tense muscles to see it come out of the woodwork, his blood ran cold. Aspen went after the monster which means.. oh no. She could see something. It was a possibility. There was something for them to find about 30 meters out, but perhaps it would go unnoticed...no way to know yet.
Straight towards them. How was that possible? Julius wasn’t about to argue with her orders, though, and looped back round, as high as he could go. His heart hammered against his ribs.
The river followed their path, and wound north after a while—so maybe whatever it was had come from the watering hole; some migratory stampede they just happened to be in the way of.
That notion was dispelled by two things. First, from his vantage point he caught movement up ahead. The jungle shook with it, and he caught flashes of a hulking shape between the trees, crashing through foliage.
Second, Aspen snarled and then ran straight for it.
Julius almost fell out of the air. He was used to Mirrors rushing headfirst at things, but usually they did it in packs. Aspen had only Lathair behind her. And him—but right now he was powerless, twisting in the air, only useful once the awful things had already happened.
*
Kiani had heard nothing else from Spinner since his ill-advised message when they’d realised the coordinates for today’s mission were going to be a problem. That wasn’t necessarily bad news. The trouble was, it wasn’t necessarily good news, either.
Relax, she told herself. Or at least look like you’re relaxing.
If anyone else in the room had any inkling of the number of things that could go wrong that morning—wrong for them rather than her, or horribly wrong for everyone involved—they gave no indication. The professors were laughing and stuffing their faces with croissants. Nayali was trying to draw a picture of Ren on the back of a printout, who had arrived late and hungover and promptly fallen asleep.
Kiani went back to the book she’d been pretending to read, her eyes fixed firmly on the communication panel. For better or worse, they’d hear something soon.
Straight towards them. How was that possible? Julius wasn’t about to argue with her orders, though, and looped back round, as high as he could go. His heart hammered against his ribs.
The river followed their path, and wound north after a while—so maybe whatever it was had come from the watering hole; some migratory stampede they just happened to be in the way of.
That notion was dispelled by two things. First, from his vantage point he caught movement up ahead. The jungle shook with it, and he caught flashes of a hulking shape between the trees, crashing through foliage.
Second, Aspen snarled and then ran straight for it.
Julius almost fell out of the air. He was used to Mirrors rushing headfirst at things, but usually they did it in packs. Aspen had only Lathair behind her. And him—but right now he was powerless, twisting in the air, only useful once the awful things had already happened.
*
Kiani had heard nothing else from Spinner since his ill-advised message when they’d realised the coordinates for today’s mission were going to be a problem. That wasn’t necessarily bad news. The trouble was, it wasn’t necessarily good news, either.
Relax, she told herself. Or at least look like you’re relaxing.
If anyone else in the room had any inkling of the number of things that could go wrong that morning—wrong for them rather than her, or horribly wrong for everyone involved—they gave no indication. The professors were laughing and stuffing their faces with croissants. Nayali was trying to draw a picture of Ren on the back of a printout, who had arrived late and hungover and promptly fallen asleep.
Kiani went back to the book she’d been pretending to read, her eyes fixed firmly on the communication panel. For better or worse, they’d hear something soon.
(Do you want to control Lathair or should I?)
Once she was close enough to the beast, she used her wings to propel her up in order to attack more accurately. Aspen figured that this boar probably only had a few weak points; the neck, eyes, possibly the underbelly. She used her sharp talons to rake at the beast's eyes, using her teeth even as she tried to damage them beyond repair. This thing was too large for her to try and kill like a regular boar.
The beast began to make an awfully loud roaring noise, shaking its head as it tried to throw Aspen off. It swiped in front of him, taking out one of the trees with it's large claws.
Almost falling, Aspen instead slid down from the beast's face, attempting to tear its throat out now, but the skin was very thick. Using her teeth and claws, it had to start bleeding soon...right?
*
Spinner's eyes widen at the beast as it took out a tree. Yeah, Aspen wasn't gonna be able to do this. All the better then. He took a small step back, trying to look more scared than he was. As of now, this was almost best case scenario. If Aspen saw something, she would probably be dead by the time this beast left.
(Do you want to control Lathair or should I?)
Once she was close enough to the beast, she used her wings to propel her up in order to attack more accurately. Aspen figured that this boar probably only had a few weak points; the neck, eyes, possibly the underbelly. She used her sharp talons to rake at the beast's eyes, using her teeth even as she tried to damage them beyond repair. This thing was too large for her to try and kill like a regular boar.
The beast began to make an awfully loud roaring noise, shaking its head as it tried to throw Aspen off. It swiped in front of him, taking out one of the trees with it's large claws.
Almost falling, Aspen instead slid down from the beast's face, attempting to tear its throat out now, but the skin was very thick. Using her teeth and claws, it had to start bleeding soon...right?
*
Spinner's eyes widen at the beast as it took out a tree. Yeah, Aspen wasn't gonna be able to do this. All the better then. He took a small step back, trying to look more scared than he was. As of now, this was almost best case scenario. If Aspen saw something, she would probably be dead by the time this beast left.
(I don’t mind! I’ll put him into the battle in this post and then you can do what you wish with him aha)
By the time the full horror of the thing was revealed, Aspen was already at its throat. It was massive. Surely a creature of such size had trouble navigating in this dense jungle, so where had it come from, and how had it known they were here?
Julius darted out of the way as a tree was uprooted and thrown as if it weighed nothing, and then again as Lathair—good-natured, ageing tech expert Lathair—bellowed and headed straight for the fray. The jungle became an incomprehensible, churning mess.
Stricken, he glanced behind. Spinner was just standing there, frozen, looking terrified despite his size and strength. There was no sign of Elian. At least one of them had the sense to run away.
Julius wasn’t going to flee, but he wasn’t going to last long if he stayed out in the open and the creature noticed him. He tore his eyes away from the fight—away from Aspen, clinging to the monstrous boar for dear life—and darted upwards. He twisted through vines and creepers, past leaves thick with sap and heavy seed-pods and other things that brushed unpleasantly against him. He sought a small, secret place: somewhere to hide, and as his eyes flickered across the canopy he reached for the reserves of magic inside him.
(I don’t mind! I’ll put him into the battle in this post and then you can do what you wish with him aha)
By the time the full horror of the thing was revealed, Aspen was already at its throat. It was massive. Surely a creature of such size had trouble navigating in this dense jungle, so where had it come from, and how had it known they were here?
Julius darted out of the way as a tree was uprooted and thrown as if it weighed nothing, and then again as Lathair—good-natured, ageing tech expert Lathair—bellowed and headed straight for the fray. The jungle became an incomprehensible, churning mess.
Stricken, he glanced behind. Spinner was just standing there, frozen, looking terrified despite his size and strength. There was no sign of Elian. At least one of them had the sense to run away.
Julius wasn’t going to flee, but he wasn’t going to last long if he stayed out in the open and the creature noticed him. He tore his eyes away from the fight—away from Aspen, clinging to the monstrous boar for dear life—and darted upwards. He twisted through vines and creepers, past leaves thick with sap and heavy seed-pods and other things that brushed unpleasantly against him. He sought a small, secret place: somewhere to hide, and as his eyes flickered across the canopy he reached for the reserves of magic inside him.
(Haha okay sounds good.)
Aspen was glad to have Lathair's help now, as he would be able to help really take this down. She saw him lunge forward, almost straight at her. Cursing, she moved away from the spot on the boar's neck where she was making headway. Lathair instead took charge, and finally blood broke free. Good, now how long until this stupid thing bleeds out?
Aspen sliced at it again with her claws, getting soaked in blood in the process. Lathair backed off a little, seeming to measure if the boar would go down now or not. It was starting to make ugly gurgling noises, but still snarling. It suddenly whipped it's head, throwing Aspen off. She landed hard on the ground a little ways a way. Once her vision returned, she looked for the boar, and saw it swiping at Lathair almost 100 feet away from her.
Rasping for breath, she stood up and noticed she was standing on rubble. As in, there was a building here before. Her eyes widened, but now was not the time. Doing her best to charge back in the fray, she did a limp/run, her side flaring with pain at every step.
(Haha okay sounds good.)
Aspen was glad to have Lathair's help now, as he would be able to help really take this down. She saw him lunge forward, almost straight at her. Cursing, she moved away from the spot on the boar's neck where she was making headway. Lathair instead took charge, and finally blood broke free. Good, now how long until this stupid thing bleeds out?
Aspen sliced at it again with her claws, getting soaked in blood in the process. Lathair backed off a little, seeming to measure if the boar would go down now or not. It was starting to make ugly gurgling noises, but still snarling. It suddenly whipped it's head, throwing Aspen off. She landed hard on the ground a little ways a way. Once her vision returned, she looked for the boar, and saw it swiping at Lathair almost 100 feet away from her.
Rasping for breath, she stood up and noticed she was standing on rubble. As in, there was a building here before. Her eyes widened, but now was not the time. Doing her best to charge back in the fray, she did a limp/run, her side flaring with pain at every step.
