Fight or Flight

The sun was just beginning to set as Miri made her way into the forest, casting a reddish glow through the canopy and giving scarce light to Miri’s path. Some hunters loathed working past sunset, even the more skilled ones, since so many of their targets were nocturnal and at their best when the moon was high and the lights were low. Miri was of a mind to disagree, however.  To those who knew how to use their senses correctly, the darkness was as much an advantage to them as any creature, and head long trained to bring more than her eyes to battle.

A thousand insects sang their song around her.

Every footstep brought a crushing and crackling of the leaves.

The air was cool and swift, bringing with it a host of smells, ones she knew and didn’t know, hints and clues that told the tale: Miri was not alone, here.

Nor did she expect to be. Miri had come out here in search of...something. The townsfolk she had spoken to were irritatingly non explicit. They hired her services with good coin, and in preparation for the hunt she had spoken to as many of them as she could, hoping to get some better understanding of her prey, but that had turned out to be a fruitless endeavor. There were many accounts - a boy had apparently been dragged underwater and nearly drown, a woman’s dog was pulled into the bushes and barely reached before he could be devoured, something had been spotted ruffling through the trash, random items were being reported missing all through the town.

At first, Miri had thought this was the work of a kakuen - mischievous monkey-like creatures, usually irritating but rarely dangerous unless encountered in large groups. But the descriptions were more reptilian, larger than they came, faster and smarter. The boy in particular had been wrapped up a strong, thick tail, a trait that the kakuen never possessed. With all her experience and study, she couldn’t identify what this creature was, and that meant it would be best to err on the side of caution.

Though descriptions and opinions varied, the townsfolk all agreed on a few key things - the creature was dangerous, and it was only a matter of time until a life was claimed. Miri was brought in to make certain that point was never reached, and had full intentions of making it so. She came prepared for the fight, her dual blades strapped to her back as she made her way through her brush, keeping her best and most reliable weapon close. SHe was stocked with healing salves and potions, and a few smoke bombs in case she found herself in over her head. There was a focus in her steps, as she ran through the gloom and the fading light turned to nothingness, but at the back of her mind the questions still ran rampant.

What was she up against? Something new? That was troubling. She had been trained to know her opponent, that the ability to plan was a huntress’ greatest advantage over her prey. She wanted to set traps, to bait her quarry in, but without knowing what she hunted that would be a futile endeavor. No, as infuriating as it was, her only recluse was to hope she could get the drop on whatever it was she sought, to find it before it found her and work with her feet on the move.

She cast these troubling thoughts aside for the time being, knowing the would do nothing but distract, and came to a stop by the side of a large tree. Its thick branches let only slivers of moonlight through, but even through that she could see a faint footprint in the mud. It had rained here the other day, and the dirt was still moist, but these tracks were not deep. Fresh, recent. Barefoot. And what was more, something was slithering between them, a tail dragging along the ground here and there.  Something was close by, and whatever it was could move quick, a small thing.

One hand against the tree for support, Miri pulled out one of her dual blades and began to creep low and quiet as she followed the tracks, taking note of the winding path and sniffing the air, searching for scents.

Miri was not alone, and what she sought was close. So close...

The pronounced impression within the mud told a story. Weighed movements, perhaps springing hops with four points of impact. Two closely paired seemed almost humanoid in nature not unlike any bare foot she might have seen. The other two were spaced, splayed fingers and a deep print of a palm. A bipedal creature, possibly, but choosing to walk on all fours? There was no mistaking the long slithering travel that wound its way through the mud alongside the rest, covering some of the tracks where they appeared and disappeared.

Nearby sides of trees caked with recent mud, but wanton splatter, no, these were left from impact. Whatever this was it was leaping from the forest floor and bounding off the sides of the vegetation. Was it aware Miri had caught its track? It seemed unlikely. The few instances of its tracks being in a straightforward trail told a story all of its own. Close together, small strides. It wasn’t running.

The trail grew hotter as Miri skulked through the wilderness, moonbeams illuminating her for the briefest of moments as she slipped through the overgrowth over roots and around bush. Each step led to something more. Broken branches, trampled grass… How had no one else managed to find such a careless creature until now? Perhaps they lacked the pedigree of Miri and her people, this quarry was no more of a challenge than creatures she knew as a child. Then the trail went cold.

Parting through a large bush, the babbling waters separated Miri from one side of a coast to the distant other, each side having its own precarious dip into the waters below. They foamed slightly, rushing no doubt, a tricky prospect to close without knowing how deep they ran. The moonlight shimmered along its surface, turning the slightly murky waters into a sheet of white reflected light sparkling in the cooler night air. It was quite now… where had the sound of bugs gone?
The mud near Miri bubbled and churned slowly as old roots began to push themselves up through the moist soil. Silent at first, until more broke free and spoiled the subtlety of it all with a bubbling pop of thick oozing mud. It would be as if nature itself understood something as a miss of the sounds drew Miri’s attention, dropping any form of subterfuge in exchange for a surge of growth that found the entire tree bending backwards away from the clearing, shifting to an angle as its roots whipped out wildly, attempting to coil themselves around Miri’s body, lashing out at any limbs they could attempt to grab.

Miri continued on after her quarry, taking note of the strange trail it left, trying to put more pieces of the puzzle together as she went. Whatever this creature was, it was oddly careless in its movements, comfortable in its environment in a way she rarely saw. Even some of the most dangerous beasts she encountered were rarely at ease, even within their own domain - that was one reason they were so dangerous, rarely leaving themselves open to attack. This one moved about like it didn’t have a single worry, even at this time of night.

To many, the sudden quiet would’ve gone unnoticed. It was forest after all, and who knew or cared why bugs stopped chirping all of the sudden? If anything, it would’ve been a welcome relief.

The world is alive. It’s a living, breathing thing, the same as the creatures that crawl upon it. It had a pulse, veins, a life blood. It can speak to you, and you can speak to it, and you can learn from what it tells - and sometimes, from what it doesn’t tell you. To Miri, the still silence might as well have been a warning klaxon. She froze at it, tensed, hairs standing on edge, as she knew what to expect from such a thing. The animals around her could see things she could not, perceive in ways that were beyond her, and they knew to cease their noise. A predator approached, something that they knew from experience to be wary of, and it was close.

Too close.

Miri was focused forward, trying to ascertain where her prey had moved to, when the burst of movement at her side drew away her attention. The falling tree, the rising roots, the imminent danger, it all took a moment for the combination to register, and nearly too long. It was only through trained reflex that she was able to leap away in time to avoid the peril, vaulting up high and away, hair flying through the air as she soared.

Miri’s back crashed into the trunk of a nearby tree, and both blades were out by the time she had slid all the way down to her feet. She took one step out, dropping into her ready stance, then froze - no movement, not even a twitch, save for her scanning eyes.

That had been a trap, clearly, which would imply she was dealing with one of the more intelligent monsters. Worrying? Yes, especially if it had the drop on her. She needed to hone in on target, figure out where it was or get enough of a read on its position to flush the creature out.

The lashing almost tendril-like roots slowed with jerky motion and cream of wood, stiffening back up until they went motionless and still as they should have been from the beginning. It left the tree itself at an odd angel, partially dislodged from the soil with a deep crater of dislodged earth. The roots were locked in a perpetual state of grasping like long fingered gnarled hands, far too short to touch Miri once she had swiftly vacated their immediate reach. Whatever had compelled them to move seemed to have stopped.

Fast. This one was fast…

Reptilian eyes glittered through the undergrowth, a mirthful radiance. A keen interest had been taken there was only one thing left to do. With a loud rustling gave away their hiding position, though it was in sound alone. Even as the creature darted from cover, there was not much to see. A simple blur of motion caught through the filtered moonlight quickly darting from cover to the next nearest tree where they looked, golden eyes peering out from the shadows, dating Miri to follow.

Between beast and hunter lay the river, a wide expanse of water that no doubt would pose a challenge to even the most seasoned of swimmers. High was that really an option now? Had it not been clear before, the creature's presence was now all but certain. Waiting. Watching. If reports were true, it was at home within the water, and could very well drag Miri to the bottom of the dark churning waters. Was that what it was waiting for? There was no way to be certain.

The terms of this engagement were seemingly outside of the hunters hand. It fell on her now to use her cunning and ingenuity or simply retreat for now. Whatever this beast was, it was not scared of the hunter. Perhaps easy prey had made it cocksure or maybe it knew something the hunter didn't. It lived within these jungles after all… what other tricks did it have in store if nature bent to it's will?

Stop.

Think.

What was she dealing with, here?

Miri took a couple of seconds - no longer - to run through a myriad of options, parsing through the long list of options for what she was up against based on the clues afforded to her. At first she had thought the tree was felled through some kind of trap, a device, something akin to that, but no. Magic was at play here, her quarry showing the ability to manipulate the woods itself. That could mean many things, none of them good. At worst, it meant that she was at a disadvantage in the forest, surrounded by things her prey could use against her, and her best option would’ve been to drive her target out. But now that was no option at all. Far too deep in.

Some kind of wood spirit? She wasn’t aware of any that could move as fast as things darting through the trees on the other side of the river’s rushing waters. She knew of creatures that fit the profile, things like the lizardkin, but they didn’t have any magical affluence.

Vexing question, but none so much as the key problem she faced - she needed to close the distance. The idea of using the vines to swing across occurred to her, but giving the incident with the tree a moment ago, the danger there was too clear. No, she needed a safer option, on her own terms - the environment was not on her side.

She just needed a way to close that gap, couldn’t see any rocks to bound across. But...

Miri looked left and right, hair flying about each way. Her gaze stopped when she centered a log off to the side of the river. Fairly large, a little bigger than she was. She moved over to it, dropped to a knee, wrapped her arms around and picked it up. Sturdy, but not too heavy. It hadn’t been dead too long. It would do.

With a hard yell, Miri tossed the log into the water, letting it drop halfway across. She took a few tentative steps forward, watching for the wood to rise above the surface, and sure enough it did. Lifting up, bobbing along the surface, quickly floating downstream.

There was no time to even take a breath in preparation. Miri broke into a run and darted along the shore, chasing after it. When the time was right, she put her all into her best leap and bound towards it, soaring through the air. She came down on it with a single foot and her weight immediately made it sink again, but that was fine - she had no intention of staying on it for long. In the next instant she leaped again and cleared the rest of the distance, making her way to the other side of the shore.

It was hardly the most graceful landing, with the muddy earth making for a poor pad. She stumbled after the touchdown and nearly fell flat on her face, only to roll forward at the last second. She came to a stop with one knee on the ground.

Dual Blades drawn, eyes sharp, she scanned the area, once more trying to draw a bead on her target.

It waited eagerly for what the hunter would do, lying in wait to surprise them should they try to make the journey across. Did they know that nature was its ally? Would it risk the trees or the waters? It would be fun to watch the hunter flounder and claim, it surely would. It had a far better position than Miri did… or so it thought. Curious then when the hunter walked to fallen bark and lifted it. Impressive… but foolish. Reaching out with hooked fingers and narrowed eyes, the creature tapped into the energies of the jungle to manipulate the piece of lumber Miri carried…

Nothing.

Long since dead. Did the hunter know? Did it understand?

There was nothing left but to observe, so it did. The echoed scream of exertion from the hunter made it blink from its hiding place and rethink where it waited. So as Miri leapt to the floating log, the creature slipped around back behind a large tree, scrambling up its side to find a suitable perch high above hidden within the canopy. This afford it a better vantage point for when Miri arrived on the same side of the waters with a clumsy. Glinting metal caught the creatures eye with a soft gasp. Such pretty things that fit so well in the hunters hands… it wanted them for itself.

Carefully… quietly, it skilled along the extended branches of its tree, crossing over onto another nearby branch that was over Miri's head. The transfer of weight was subtle, hardly even brushing the leaves. It stopped directly over the hunter, looking down at her pure snowy hair and admiring the vantage point for some of the hunters finer details. Yes… this one would make for a good playmate. Wrapping its arms and legs around the branch, its long reptilian tail slowly lowered itself from from above… far too short in length at first, the scales seemed to replicate their neighbors as it grew in size to the point it hung down behind Miri like a viper about to strike. With a flash of movement it lashed out, trying to wrap itself around the woman's neck and pull her up off the ground to dangle off the ground.

Miri didn’t move. Didn’t twitch. She barely even breathed, and even there it was a slow, shallow breath, as if she didn’t want her own body to distract her hearing. She needed focus. Needed to think. Needed to find her target.

She had expected the beast to set on her the moment the moment she came to a touchdown, striking at her when she was at her most vulnerable - or when she would appear to be, at any rate. To her great surprise, however, that didn’t happen. Her muscles tensed, then relaxed for a second, by a fraction. Had her quarry run away, decided it was better to flee that face a challenge head on?

No, not likely. It was smart, whatever it was, and if avoiding her was the plan, it would’ve done so. If it could control the forest to some degree, Miri could’ve spent weeks trying to find it and gotten lost in a maze of foliage. It had that advantage.

The most likely reason? It was stalking her. Closing in. Not on the floor, that would be too clear. If it was trying to avoid direct confrontation, it would seek a way to get around, come at her from a blind side, maybe-

A grip around her neck. Tight, constricting, strong. Miri dropped one of the Dual Blades on reflex as she was lifted up by the neck and choked, her legs kicking about as she rose higher and higher still. This tail, it reminded her of a lamia or a naga. Maybe a subspecies? Powerful, whatever it was, with a grip that threatened to choke her clean out. Or worse. She needed an escape.

Bringing the dual blade up, she gripped it tight and tried to plunge the blade into the creature’s tail, aiming just about her head, hoping it would give the thing enough incentive to release her.

She liked the noises. The gurgles and hisses, the squeezing hisses when she wrapped her playthings up. They were so silly, dangling with arms and legs flailing like strange little marionettes she had sometimes seen in the city being performed by colorful people on tiny stages. She liked having things like that for herself, but the warm ones were better. They talked and felt nice when she pulled them close. The huntress was her new favorite, mostly because she was an oddity here in the jungle. Where so many vibrant colors could be found, something so simple and pure as white was something to take note of, something worth keeping close and cherishing.

She was gentle with this one, in a sense. While her tail was tight and constricting, once she had the huntress off the ground she was very careful not to jostle her too much. There had been bad time, sad times, when she had swung her things about to watch them fly but they had stopped moving after a bit. She didn't like when her playthings broke. She didn't like it when they made the sad noises and leaked water from their eyeholes. But she was getting better at keeping her things whole, even letting them leave once she was bored with playing with them. She was so good. The best of things to be found within the woods, to be sure.

Miri didn't disappoint. She had been a good choice of new playmates. She kicked and made all the right sounds. She knew how to play the game already, what fun! Faye's lips curled into a wide smile as she lightly began to swing the captured huntress by her throat, seemingly unaware she was on the verge of choking the poor woman out. Her golden eyes shimmered at the sight of something else, something shiny catching the moonlight. Her playmate had something, something pretty that glistened under the evening sky. Leaning down she wanted to get a closer look…

Pain!

It hurt, it hurt so bad! It wasn't a good thing or a fun thing, it was a painful thing! Faye let out a scream of pain, though it sounded unlike any creature Miri had likely ever heard, because it wasn't one sound but many. A cacophony of sounds taken from all throughout her days from the chirping of birds to the snorting of gophers to people, many different voices all crying out in pain. The tail unfurled without hesitation, tossing the angry playmate away with a harsh whip of its muscled mass of tail. The long slender limb retracted up into the canopy where she hid, returning to its natural peanut as she cradled the wounded appendage.

She sniffed softly, touching the leaking gash, hissing at the sting of more pain that came from it. Her gaze snapped back to the huntress, the one with the box things, the sharp things, the painful things. She wasn't Faye's favorite anymore. The white things didn't belong among the green. Bad omens. Bad playmates. With a whimper she vaulted up from one branch to another, scrambling through the canopy from branch to branch as she fled.

Whatever this creature was, wherever it came from, Miri learned an important detail about it: It did not like being stabbed. A trait it shares with most beings, but still, pertinent knowledge. It meant that she could hurt it, whatever it was, and do more on top of that.

That knowledge, however, came with a price. In this case, being hurled away like a piece of trash.

It wasn’t a gentle landing, either. She went spiraling through the air after the creature released her, a path that wound up with her back smacking against the nearest tree trunk. As she flew, though, she didn’t miss the creature’s sound, the unearthly cacophony it made. Despite the panic, despite the confusion, she still had the mind to recognize a few of the sounds - animals small and large, people, things alive and not. It wasn’t any sort of noise that something with a throat should’ve been able to make, and it raised all kinds of questions, none of which she had the answer to.

But it only reinforced what she knew before - whatever this was, it was different, something she had never encountered before, and dangerous. If she let it go now, there was no telling what it would go or do. If she hadn’t had the blades, if she had been a child wandering through the forest, or some defenseless woman out to wash her clothes…

She hit a nearby tree, slamming against her back, and slid down along its length. The bark scraped against her skin and stung, but it didn’t stop her from landing on her feet and barreling forward in a full run. Coughing and hacking as she went, trying to fill her lungs back with air, she took on the chase.

Acting on reflex, she mapped out the way ahead and executed, going into movements she had practiced since she was a child. Leaping off a broken tree stump, she grabbed hold of a branch above and swung her up into canopy, bursting through the foliage and landing on a solid limb with one deft foot. She could spy her prey ahead and moved after it, following its path through the leaves, going where it went, slicing through the vines that got in her way and doing her best to not only keep up, but close the distance.

It couldn’t run forever. It would either run out of energy or trees, and when it did, she would be waiting.

The graceful elegance in which Faye moved so silently before had departed as she hurriedly scrambled among the trees. She scrambled along the length of the larger branches, letting them start to bend beneath her weight before using them to springboard through the canopy to the next, using her claws to dig in and gain purchase. It wasn't uncommon for her to make use of her tail when moving through the dense jungle, matching to the underside of branches to swing herself about, but the pain was still so bad, even the swift breeze she was leaning in her wake was irritating it.

Despite all her speed and agility, she was leaving a trail. Falling leaves, visible gashes on the branches, and a lessening speckle of blood left from her tail gash which had already started stitching itself together. It was a slow process, but no different than her with feats of shapeshifting to mend the tissue back together. In her panicked fleeing, she spared a glance back, easily spotting the unnatural white through the vegetation. The huntress was hot on her tail. She leaped over another great distance, landing in a heavy crouched across a thick branch that creaked under her weight. With a flex of her fingers, her clawed fingers morphed into thicker black talons with a razor's sheen. She swung her arm down, hacking into the wood hard enough to split nearly the entire width of the tree limb, the entire branch started to buckle. She jumped from the branch, kicking off hard enough to break it loose and send it hurtling back the way she came towards the pursuing huntress.

It was only the first of what would be the next three branches she moved between. Varying sizes in length and thickness were all hewn from the trees and sent crashing to the jungle floor below, propelled bouncing along the ground towards the woman who wore white. It was as much a means to assault her assailant as it was distracting for when Faye finally reached the edge of the treeline and dove from the branches into the tall grass of what was an otherwise open clearing. Her body shifted, proportions folding in on one another as she started to shrink until she was no longer Faye… but a simple tiny house cat.

Perhaps a sneaky transformation, but it remained wholly unnatural as its coloration was more suited to her tastes rather than actually mimicry. Much like her usual hair coloration her fur had become a shifting shade of purple and pink while her paws faded into a vibrant green. While her wound had healed, along her now thin and fluffy tail was the dried trickle of blood that had previously been gushing from it. The oddity would stick out immediately to anyone who knew what a cat looked like but Faye thought her ruse rather sneaky. Moving along the tall grass she crept as a cat, trying to healthfully keep her distance and try to circle back around the hundreds trying to sneak back the way they had come to throw her off the scent.