//------------------------------// // From the Forest // Story: A New Culture with Old Ideas // by Xvern //------------------------------// Sliding to a stop, Odom undid his chinstrap, pulled down the neck gator, and redid his chinstrap. Breathing unrestricted, he sucked in air as he looked around. He was now in the middle of the thick forest, the tree coverage having restricted the growth of anything that wasn't a fungus. Looking down at himself, he sighed at how much the digital camouflage of the Army Combat Uniform stood out from nature. “Universal camo my left nut,” he muttered under his breath as he began jogging, deciding to alter his course to the left a little to, hopefully, throw off any pursuers. Though he bad-mouthed the camouflage, Odom knew what it was intended to do. Humans, by instinct, are able to spot another human from a distance simply by the familiar shape. Camouflage were designed to break up that familiar shape. With that shape distorted by the camo, one would then be harder to spot... at a distance. Once close enough, someone would still be able to spot the shape of a human body, even with the camouflage. That “recognition distance” grew or shortened depending on whether the camo matched the terrain or not. Woodland camo in an artic wasteland would stand out pretty easily and vice versa for artic camo in a forest. And since ACUs tried to be “universal”, they stand out everywhere, Odom thought to himself. Without stopping his jog, he reached to his left shoulder and grabbed the capped nipple of his CamelBak. Uncapping it, he brought it to his mouth and took a good long sip before recapping it and living it to hang on the strap again. All the while he did so, he never stopped scanning the forest around him. Squirrels darted along the forest floor, stopping to stare at the human trampling through their forest. The call of birds echoed in the treetops, Odom spotting a few flying from branch to branch. SNAP! “Fu- Oof!” Even with the pads in his helmet, he felt his head hit the ground as the snare took his feet out from under him before hanging him upside down. Keys, a phone, and loose change fell from his front pockets to the forest floor as Odom groaned from having his brain rattled about. It took only a couple seconds for the pain to recede enough for him to take stock of the situation. Looking up, down for him, he saw a small rope holding him upside down by his right leg, his boot having kept it from breaking his ankle. Even so, he could feel his ankle throbbing at the sudden twist. “The shit?” he whispered as he let his head hang again, wondering who had set the snare. It doesn't matter, he thought, Those Gryphons will find me if I stay hanging here. My knife is in my calf pocket so all I gotta do is grab that and cut the rope. He took a deep breath and, after a second of thought, undid his helmet and lightly tossed it so that he wouldn't fall on it, Five pounds less. Alright, let's do this. Grunting, the soldier contracted his abs to bend his body. Using his hands to help pull him up, he was able to reach his right calf pocket. Opening the veclro secured pocket carefully, he stopped the knife from falling to the ground, instead having it fall into his hand. Flipping it open, he ignored his screaming muscles and, holding onto the back of his ankle with his left hand, sawed at the rope with his right. “Come on, come on,” he growled through grinding teeth. Having sawed through half of it, the rope finally snapped from the stress, dumping Odom onto the forest floor. He hit the ground hard, all of the air in his lungs leaving in one surprise gasp as his head hit the dirt. A sharp pain from his left butt cheek served to inform him that he had also fallen on his keys. “F-fuck,” he coughed out, rolling onto his left side as he held his head in both hands, the knife having been knocked from his hand upon impact. Shouldn't have taken off the helmet. Having caught his breath, he rolled onto his hands and knees and spit out some phlegm that had caught in his throat. Pushing himself up so that he was now kneeling with his hands on his thighs, he surveyed his surroundings. He froze. There, not even six meters from his three o'clock, a Gryphon stood between two trees, staring at him with it's too big eyes. It's body was small and sleek, it's large wings folded at it's side. Dark brown fur and light tan feathers covered it's body and head. For but a second, Odom thought that it looked adorable, especially with the way it had it's head tilted in confusion. That adorable image was shattered as he spotted a leather harness of sorts on the Gryphon, a knife hanging from the harness over it's chest. Odom shook his head lightly before looking back at it's big, blue eyes. Eyes full of intelligence. Setting aside that it's a Gryphon, this thing is not a normal creature, he thought as he spotted his helmet laying next to him. Without taking his eyes off the Gryphon, he slowly reached out, grabbed his helmet, and dragged it back to himself. It hasn't ripped me apart yet, he thought. As if on cue, the Gryphon let out a squawk, causing Odom to freeze and tense his muscles to bolt. Shockingly, the Gryphon seemed to read his stance as it's face softened and it began to coo at the soldier. It's claw was raised and held in a placating manner, if it was anything similar human mannerisms. Odom recognized the behavior as he, himself would do the same thing to skittish cats and dogs back home. Fuck me, this is weird, he thought as he glanced down at his helmet. His goggles and cat eyes were still wrapped around the helmet, held in place by loop retainers in the back and the rhino mount in the front. Keeping an eye on the Gryphon, who was now just watching him curiously, he donned his helmet and buckled the chinstrap. Out of habit, he gave it a couple love taps before looking at the Gryphon. Again, it had it's head tilted in confusion. Whatever, so long as it doesn't come closer, he thought. A distant squawk momentarily drew his attention away from the brown Gryphon as he scanned the forest. That had come from where I had came from. The parents are closing in, he thought. He had to move. Seeing his knife a couple feet away, he scrambled over and grabbed it before jumping to his feet. The Gryphon near him had let out a squawk at his sudden movement and when he started running, he heard it squawking at him. A quick glance back showed that it wasn't following him, however. With that bit of good luck, lessened by the throbbing pain in his ankle, Odom closed the knife and slipped it into his front pocket as he sprinted once more into the forest. -_-_-_-_- “Hey, wait!” the Gryphoness shouted at the retreating bipedal. It was something that she had never seen before and she had watched it escape one of her snares and run off. The loss of food didn't disappoint her as she had no interest in eating it. Instead, she was curious about it. It's eyes were so small, yet seemed to be filled with more knowledge than most of the Gryphons she knew back home. That wasn't to mention the fact that it was wearing some kind of armor and clothes made of a strangely colored fabric. “It's coming from this way!” The Gryphoness turned toward the voices to see a small party of Gryphons charging through the forest with reckless abandon. Upon seeing the lone Gryphoness, they changed course and headed straight for her. They look to be a hunting party, she thought, examining their blades and the crossbows on their backs. Are they after that creature? she asked herself as she turned her head to see that it had already disappeared into the forest. Hearing the party slide to a stop, she looked back at them to see one was already picking at the ground under where the creature had hung from her snare. “The ground is wet,” the examiner, a dark gray Gryphon with black feathers, announced, “It must have urinated here.” Another of the party, an all gray Gryphon, picked up a ring from the ground, three or four keys jingling next to a strange shaped item. Sitting down, the same Gryphon used it's other talon to grab two metallic circles from the same place he had picked up the keys. “Keys and,” he peered closely at the circles before arching a brow, “coins, by the looks of it.” “Ahem,” the Gryphoness loudly cleared her throat, drawing the attention of the party. As if they didn't see me before, she thought with a roll of her eyes. The apparent leader of the party, a Gryphon whose feathers were a bright white and fur was two shades darker, stepped away from the group and approached her. Five steps away, the Gryphon gave a small bow with a claw to his chest. “My deepest apologies Miss, I am Marius of Winterpeak. Have you seen a strange bipedal creature come through here?” The Gryphoness raised a brow as she put a claw to her own chest and reciprocated the small bow, “I am Silvia of Leafwing. You are far from home, Marius. Hunting trip with the guys?” The Gryphon frowned as he set his claw back on the ground. Silvia let her claw drop as well, hiding a smirk at the male's irritation. Behind Marius, Silvia spotted the other four of his party examining a small, black rectangle that must have also fallen from the creature's pockets. “Pardon my rudeness Silvia, but I do not have time for small talk.” Silvia let her smirk show as she nodded her head, “Of course, of course,” she paused as she put a claw to her beak in mock thought, “strange bipedal creature,” she hummed before snapping her talons in a dramatic 'Ah-ha!' moment, “I did see such a thing. In fact, it had been caught in my snare, the remains of which is dangling over the heads of your fellows.” She watched Marius's eyes widen, “It was caught in a snare? How did it escape?” Silvia raised a brow, an act that she found was becoming common with this Gryphon, “It drew a knife and cut the rope. How else might it have escaped?” “It has a knife?” Marius asked, shocked. Silvia nodded, “It was small and the blade seemed to fold into and out of the handle but, yes, it has a knife.” “A folding knife?” Marius mumbled incredulously, looking at a spot on the ground a meter to Silvia's right. “Hmm, a strange concept indeed,” Silvia noted, drawing Marius's attention back to her, “May I inquire the reason to your pursuit of this creature?” “It's dangerous!” Marius replied with vinegar. Silvia tilted her head and smirked, “So are you.” Those three words caused Marius to take a step back in shock and blink rapidly. He opened his beak but whatever words died in his throat as a member of his party called out. “Marius, we have a direction of travel!” Marius nearly snapped his neck as he focused his gaze on the speaker. Silvia couldn't keep back a chuckle as she lazily swing her head to also look at the speaker. It was the same gray and black Gryphon who had been examining the wet ground. “Good work Pantera,” Marius complimented, “Make haste, I'll rejoin you shortly.” “Understood,” Pantera nodded before taking off at a brisk pace into the forest, his eyes solely focused on the ground. The other three followed him in a loose 'V' formation, their eyes scanning the forest for any threats to their group, the creature included. Silvia looked back at the Gryphon to see him giving another bow, his claw on his chest once more, “I bid you farewell, Silvia. May the winds be in your favor.” “Not so fast, Marius. I wish to join your pursuit.” This caused Marius to raise a brow at her, his claw still held to his chest, “Why? Surely the loss of a snare is not worth the effort to pursue the creature.” Silvia shook her head, “The snare is not the reason, no.” The Gryphon looked at her with expectation, awaiting for her to reveal the true reason she wanted to pursue the creature. Instead, she remained silent, simply smirking at the male. Finally, the Gryphon sighed, “Alright, you may join my party but just remember that I am in charge,” he stated. Silvia bowed her head, putting a claw to her chest, “Of course Marius, I would never dare to challenge your lead.” Marius snorted before turned and taking wing after the other males. Silvia unfolded her wings and rose to a hove a foot above the ground. She gave a hearty laugh before flying after Marius. Today is promising to be interesting, she thought as she easily caught up to the Gryphon. In just under a minute, they had caught up to the rest of the party. While Marius joined Pantera at the tip of the V, Silvia took up the empty spot at the of the V's right “leg”. Now I just need to find a way to convince these males that capturing will be better than killing. -_-_-_-_- Marius looked back at the Gryphoness who had joined his party. Silvia from Leafwing. Leafwing was a village residing within the outskirts of the forest and was where Marius's group had rented their inn rooms. Pratius and the cubs should have made it back by now, he thought. “Why did she join us?” Pantera asked suddenly. Marius, realizing that he was staring at the ground in thought, looked to Pantera. The Gryphon was still scanning the ground for tracks but Marius knew that he had glanced his way. “She asked,” Marius answered. “Why?” “I don't know.” Pantera gave a quick glance back with a raised brow before looking back to track the creature. “Let's just say that I have a feeling that having a local with us will help,” Marius explained. The Gryphon tracker merely hummed at the explanation. After a moment of silence, he stated, “Well, you may wish to know that Zoticus more than likely backs your decision to bring her along. Though his reasons for it may not be as... logical as yours.” Marius smiled at this before looking over his left shoulder. He spotted Zoticus easily enough at the back of the formation left “leg”. The Gryphon's fur was a light gray while his feathers were a dark gray and his orange eyes were locked on the Gryphoness across from him. Marius chuckled at the sight as he looked forward again, shaking his head. Zoticus was the only adult Gryphon in the group who didn't have a mate and kids. Having just recently entered adulthood, Marius invited him on the trip only because he was Pratius's nephew. “He has much to learn,” Marius commented. “Aye,” Pantera began, “thought the best lessons are those learned on your own.” “Aye,” Marius agreed. Let's just hope his “learning experience” doesn't let the creature get a jump on us.