Dense Jungle

[From here]

Locke's voice echoed as he sang an old Scardian tune to himself, waltzing between the vines and trees of the dense jungle, and using his machete to help alleviate some of the crowdedness he was receiving moving further inland. I wonder what it was like during my ancestor's time, when she was the queen. I doubt she did much adventuring by that point, save when she was taken by that one dragoness. Good thing she survived, or I'll not be here pondering such fates... He shrugged at his thoughts, and continued to venture aimlessly. He wanted to find the supposed old remains of the original manor that was on this island, the one that existed before it was renovated by that Chesluk guy. He continues on his aimless path.

[to here]

It was supposed to be one of those easy jobs, the kind that you didn't need a small battalion of 'roided up freaks. It was a simple protection detail to a posh Feniran aristocrat who's never been in a jungle before, and keeping them alive. Simple... easy.

Maria trudged through the mud, her boots sinking deep as she held the Type 56 in her hands:


The Assault Rifle was light, but having lugged it around unslung made it feel like 200 pounds, not to mention her clothes waterlogged with sweat as she pushed through the jungle, using a vine to pull herself back to firmer land. The aristocrat? Dead. Maria told her twice to stay away from the Bullet Hornet Nest, she was lucky she got away without any stings. She couldn't say the same for the other woman however, who looked like she'd been microwaved by the time the swarm dispersed. She didn't know what happened to the other three that were travelling with the Noble, whose name now escaped her and in a way, didn't much matter now. Can't just leave them out here... She told herself, but if she didn't find them in the next day... she was gonna leave. As it was, this was more about securing her payment given her client was dead, and the helicopter which brought them over wasn't due to arrive till then anyhow after she called them in.

But she couldn't find a single one.

She trudged this damn jungle for an hour now, and she should've came across something. She doubted if they were going to look for that Serpent Cave, or whatever- she should have said no when she heard the phrase. It was an old Ravenhawk ghost story the Neko's would delight scaring the children with. Lamia and Neko do not get along, and the refuge for these snake people? It was best to leave such legends, be they true or not, alone.

She was on a dryer, higher ground as a bird cooed somewhere in the canopy above, and she slung the black rifle around her shoulder with one boot raised on a thick tree root. The merc swung her machete against the trunk of the tree, and then yanked out her canteen and brought it to her lips to drink deeply. The irony would be that at her current rate, she'd end up fighting the cursed place before she'd run into another member of the expedition. With her brief swig of water, she capped the canteen, and grabbed hold of the machete once again and yanked it from where she wedged it. Odd though... I've been tracking them for a better part of an hour and their tracks... don't make any sense. They vanish, then reappear... then vanish. Unless they're jumping, really high, and even then, that doesn't account for this thick mud... it takes a lot of effort to walk without losing your boot in this muck, and they could hardly keep themselves from falling face first three days ago... She pondered, now ambling through the brush with ease, swinging her machete to clear a path, while she looked for the one taken by the expedition...

LagoonJagras wrote:A yellow eye in the thick green slowly opened; a second milky white layer of film rolled down to expose the reptilian orb. The ovular shape at the center of the watery orb narrowed as it fell upon Maria Lobos taking a moment to drink. The woman was looking for someone, but she was the first human the beast had seen running in this part of the woods. Its tongue slid across scaly lips... it was curious how she would taste. It hadn't had human flesh in a long time, and knew how easy it was to take them down. There was another Jagras further inland, but it wouldn't bother this one, who was plenty far away from it to trigger their instinctual need to drive away other predators. It remained still as she continued on foot... and quietly, began to stalk her...

Maria felt an odd chill wash over her. It was something similar to the Beijionese with their chi sensing, but... more instinctual, an ability you weren't born with precisely but developed from combat experience. For the first time in this jungle, she felt observed. She knew she had been watched, its a jungle... but observing had more depth to it. It wasn't a curious animal looking at something new... it was like a person drawing a bow, zoning their sights on her back, or a beast stalking its prey. She didn't react to it, but remained aware of the fact as she continued on as normal... though made subtle changes to her movement that would come off as normal to help eliminate her suspect list. If she moved too quickly or suspiciously, it could set them off, but she couldn't remain still and change her movement pattern. Unlike most humans, she didn't have magic skills to back her up if she got into an ambush, it would be luck and her own skills to get her out of such a fight alive.

She scanned the brush with her eyes, weapon still slung on her shoulder, machete swinging through foliage as she waits for her observer to fuck up. Unless a member of the expedition has gone loco... I've got a feeling this isn't a rifle pointed on my back... She thought and began to wearily continue her way through.