Carnivore

by Recteik Shade

Further In

Cumulus landed, the brush and foliage too thick to do any productive flying. He breathed heavily, his lungs attempting to catch up to his racing heart rate. However, the humid air was thick and heavy and the burning sensations in his muscles didn’t help. Hearing the slight rustling of foliage from behind him, he ignored every ounce of discomfort he felt and ran into the thicker brush, galloping for his life.

‘They’re too close!’ he thought, ‘I have to get away!’

He heard the excited chirping around him, speeding up his pace as he did. Objectively, he knew that getting away was unlikely. The feathered creatures were too fast and knew the terrain better than he did. However, fear and instinct were his main motivators for any action he took, removing any necessary thought processes.

One of the creatures leaped in his path, spreading his claws and snarling. More on instinct than anything else, he turned left into a patch of ferns, dodging trees and fallen limbs with every hooffall. As much as he wished to spread his wings to take to the air again, he couldn’t. The brush was pressing in about him sparking the natural terror in every Pegasi: claustrophobia. His new terror fueling his desperation, he found speed he was unaware he had, pressing further ahead.

Unfortunately, the beasts were still slightly faster. As they approached, they nipped the air close enough to graze his coat. He knew he could only run and dodge for so long and it was only a matter of time before they caught him. However, he saw a spark of hope ahead of him.

As though it were a gift from Celestia and Luna themselves, an opening to the open air presented itself. Beautiful sunshine filtered into the opening, more welcoming than a lover’s embrace. He pushed himself faster, despite his burning legs’ protests, bursting through the brush. As soon as he was through, he flared his wings and leapt into the air with new vigor.

His elation was brought to a grinding halt as he felt himself hit the dirt. More bewildered than anything else at the moment, he turned to his wings wondering why they had failed him. Looking on them, he noticed the feathers had been broken or pulled out, leaving bits of bloodied flesh behind. He felt fear well up in his throat as he wondered if it was the jog or the creatures that had caused this. In any case, his nearly naked wings left him grounded for the immediate future. A future which was beginning to look bleaker as the seconds ticked by.

Several of the beasts burst through the foliage, much as he had done and blocked his escape Cumulus backed away from the hissing creatures, scanning for any possible way out of this predicament. When he felt his flank hit something solid, panic took a firm hold of him. He turned his gaze slightly so he could see what he had hit.

As though mocking his plight, a huge rock cliff jutted straight from the bowels of the earth. It stretched as far as the eye could see in either direction, disappearing into the jungle and blocking any hopes of escape.

Before he had the chance to bemoan his fate, he realized that this had not been chance him running here. These creatures had led him here, taking any possibility of escape along with his wings. In spite of himself, he smiled a little at the fact that he had been trapped. “Clever bastards,” he swore under his breath.

The creatures took a stance that he had seen in Timberwolves and Manticores when they had their prey cornered. Seeing the creature in front of him lower himself to the ground, Cumulus braced himself for the inevitable, painful conclusion. With an ear shattering shriek, the creature dove forward with jaws opened and claws extended.

---

Cumulus jumped to one side, hitting cooled sand as he landed. He gasped shakily for air, fanning his wings to check for the damage done to them. Seeing nothing, he quickly came to the conclusion that what he had witnessed had been a nightmare, one that even with Princess Luna’s help would plague him for several years if not the rest of his life.

Calming enough to think coherently, he looked about to figure out where he was and how he had gotten there. Looking about, he noticed that the darkened air of the tent and remembered flying into camp like his tail was on fire. After collapsing in the middle of camp, he remembered losing consciousness.

As those memories surfaced, he also remembered the gruesome state dead Dogs. He remembered every detail, from the involuntary twitches in Ruddrick’s muscles to the tears streaking down the other’s Dog’s face as they were both gutted and filleted alive. Remembering these caused Cumulus to rush outside, ignoring the searing pain in his retinas from the sudden shift in light.

After retching any remnants of food or liquid in his stomach, he buried it in the sand and looked about the state of the camp. He noticed that a giant wall of sand had been erected, encircling the perimeter of the camp. He noticed some of the Diamond Dogs had taken to leaning against the structure. Even though he wasn’t looking at it, he was aware of the ocean off to his right.

“Doc, glad ta see yer alright!” Cumulus turned to see the Jackal twins approaching him. Upon seeing him, Denda chuckled. “Well, glad ta see ya up an’ about anyway.”

“Tha Cap’in wants ta know wut happened out dere,” Ad’e contined, “Gotta say Ah'm mighty curious myself."

“We met some of your feathery friends, Ad’e,” Cumulus explained, seeing the Jackal scowl at the response.

“Figured that when one o’ da bastards tried to get in da walls,” Denda said casually.

“Did he get away?!” Cumulus asked in wide-eyed terror.

“Ah weren't 'bout ta miss my chance at a lil' payback,” Ad’e stated smugly with a grin, “Da lil' monstas don' last too long afta ya take deir heads."

“Good,” Cumulus stated in relief, “That was a scout. Had it escaped, it doubtlessly would have lead its entire pack here." He paused thoughtfully for a moment. "What did you do with the body?"

Denda grinned. “In da freezer on da ship. Cap'in figured ya would wanna take a closer look at it."

"He was right,” Cumulus stated rising, “However, for now I believe it would be best if I spoke with Jaffar." He glanced about at the clustered gathering of tents. “Which way is his tent?”

“Dis way, Doc.”

The Jackals and Pegasus turned towards the water, walking between the narrow gaps of the tents. Cumulus found himself observing the base camp, noticing that the layout of the shelters could be best described as haphazard. He wondered briefly if the Diamond Dogs had done this without supervision of any kind.

As they pressed on, Cumulus noticed the glares of several Diamond Dogs leveled at him as they passed by. When he passed a group of about eight of them speaking in hushed whispers, they silenced all at once giving muted growls at him. Deciding that lingering would be a bad move, he got closer to the twins and unconsciously touched the Sonic Whistle around his neck. He only hoped he wouldn’t be put in a position where he had to use it.

As they approached the sea and the longboats, he noticed a pair of tents set up larger than the ones he had been passing. They were close to the water’s edge, but not close enough to be affected by the tide. Upon closer inspection, one was slightly larger than the other and the sound of raised voices was coming from it.

"I don't care if they're on their deathbeds!” Jaffar roared, “I want to know what in Ra's name happened out there!"

"And I keep telling you they won't talk about it!” Sappra barked back, “They won’t talk about anything!! They won't even leave the ship! If you want answers so bad, why don't you wake up the pony and make him talk?!"

Knowing he wouldn’t get a better cue than that, he pushed the flap of the tent open and entered the tent. He saw that Jaffar and Sappra were muzzle to muzzle until he entered and turned their glares towards him. Before Cumulus realized what had happened, Cumulus found himself pinned to the ground, the cold bite of stone beneath him cutting through his coat on his back.

Sappra pressed down onto his windpipe, her stubby digits wrapped around his throat and her sharp claws cutting shallow furrows into his neck. She leaned closer, her breath washing over his features. “What! Happened! To my Dogs?!” she growled.

Ad’e and Denda swooped in quickly, one of them grabbing her unoccupied arm and the back part of her neck while the other went for the arm pinning Cumulus, prying her arm off of his throat. Cumulus greedily sucked in air while he coughed to get his lungs working properly.

“Sappra, that enough!” Jaffar said, Sappra showing little interest in anything he had the say.

“Answer me, you!” she barked, struggling in the twin Jackal’s grasp, “What happened to my Dogs?!”

As the memories of the jungle came flooding back, his ears drooped. He didn’t want to tell her or anyone else how he had froze when those creatures started their butchering, how the Dogs were left alive as their skin and organs were removed and sliced into, but they had a right to know, especially Sappra. He sighed before looking into Sappra’s rage-filled eyes. “They’re dead, Sappra,” he said as simply as he could.

This seemed to take some of the fight out of her. She seemed a little smaller than before and a little of the color drained from her. She then clenched her fist as a growl began to build in her throat.

“Did the two that head this way make it back?” Cumulus asked before Sappra could launch into another tirade.

“Yes,” Jaffar answered, “As soon as they entered camp, they swam to The Horus and locked themselves onboard. They won’t say anything except that they won’t set paw in this place.” Jaffar gave Cumulus a serious look. “Exactly what happened out there, Dr. Granted?”

Cumulus tried to swallow in an attempt to moisten his throat, but his parched mouth did him little good. Denda passed him a water-skin and he drained half of it before Cumulus was satisfied. “You might want to sit down for this,” he warned.

---

“...and blood loss was finally enough to take the Dog at that point. I swear that creature was disappointed that his plaything was dead. I can’t blame them for freezing like they did. By the time I was able to get them to run, they were in a panic. I’m not sure how long we were out there for, but the attack itself took only a few minutes, maybe five at most.”

Cumulus looked at the others in the tent, seeing their varied expressions. Sappra’s coat seemed to shift to a pale green one and she had a look like she was going to be sick. At some point during the story, Ad’e and Denda had released their grip on the Diamond Dog and wore looks that bordered somewhere between uncomfortable and horrified as they snarled slightly at the ground. Jaffar’s expression however was completely neutral. Cumulus moved to take another swig from the water-skin, but it had been drained earlier.

“It’s unprecedented that these monsters could be so sadistic,” Jaffar stated, his cool eyes meeting Cumulus’, “yet it changes nothing. We still need drinking water.”

“If you send another party in there on foot, none of them will be coming back,” Cumulus stated, “I know that doesn’t help with the current dilemma, but it’s the truth.”

Jaffar nodded. "In that case, what do you recommend we do then, Dr. Granted?"

Cumulus frowned at the question. What, in fact, was the best course of action? The logical answer would be to fly over it, but he was the only one with wings. However that sparked an idea

"The Horus!" he shouted, drawing all eyes save for Sappra’s to him. "The Horus is an amphibious airship. Why don't we use it to fly over the jungle and touch down in a lake or river inland?"

He saw the twin glance at each other as Jaffar sighed and shook his head. "That will not work, Dr. Granted."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"Well, you see,” the Horse stated, getting slightly flustered, “The Horus uses hydrogen to fill its flight bladder, but the pumps we would need to refill the hydrogen canisters aren't on board the ship."

Cumulus felt his is eyebrow lift even higher. "And where exactly are they?"

Jaffar seemed to spot something interesting on the canvas wall to his right. "Oh, well... Os Pubus Bay."

Cumulus began to glare at the Horse. "Back in Saddle Arabia!?” he all but shouted, “What on earth are they doing there!?"

Ad'e stepped forward to explain. "Well, ya see Doc, dose pumps t'ain't easy ta build an’ dey cost a fortune ta repair. If we ‘ad dem, we woulda nevah ben able ta buy da Horus odawise."

Cumulus started rubbing his temples. "So we get one trip, fan-flanking-tastic!"

'Okay, options!’ he thought ‘Going in on hoof would be suicide, so searching from the air is our only hope-' he grimaced '-and I'm the only one with wings.'

"Everting alright Doc?" asked Denda, "Ya look sick."

Cumulus sighed. "No, I'm fine. There is only only one option I can see-" he looked from Jaffar to the twins "-I will have to scout ahead for water."

"Absolutely not!" Jaffar snapped, "That jungle is too dangerous to send you into it alone! If one of those monst-"

"CAPTAIN!!!" Cumulus shouted, holding his hoof up, causing the roan to stop. "I am quite familiar with hazardous environments. Need I remind you that I spent weeks on end living in the Everfree Forest? I know how to keep myself safe-" He gave the Horse a serious look "And besides, this is the best plan to keep someone from getting killed."

Jaffar opened his mouth, but promptly closed it again. Cumulus knew he saw the logic in it, but was reluctant to admit it. “Assuming the worst happens and you perish, how would we know?”

This gave Cumulus reason to pause. If that were to happen, there really wouldn’t be a way of knowing. He ran a hoof through his mane, running through every possibility in his head. He remained that way for several minutes before Jaffar cleared his throat.

“Well, Doctor?”

After a moment more of thought, he gave a shrug. “Give me three days worth of provisions. If I’m not by sunset on the third day, assume the worst. Hopefully I can find something and be back before then-” He glanced at Sappra, who was still sitting slumped on the sandy floor being very quiet- “That way no other Dogs have to put themselves in harm’s way, either.”

“I cannot believe I am listening to this!” Jaffar stated, rubbing his forehead.

“He’s right, Cap’in,” Ad’e replied, stepping forward, “Ya know he is. Da Doc is da only one who can come an' go freely.”

Jaffar stomped his hoof upon the ground, the sound of hoof on stone causing a slight echo, before glaring at the Jackal. “I very strongly dislike it when you are correct, Ad’e,” he said, shifting his gaze to Cumulus, “It would seem that your suggestion is the only choice we have. When did you plan to leave.”

“Tomorrow morning would be best,” Cumulus stated, “seeing as how today almost done anyway. And besides, I want to examine the creature Ad’e killed.”

Jaffar was still glaring, but nodded. “Very well. Ad’e, assist Dr. Granted, if you would.”

“O'course Cap'i,” the blue eyed Jackal stated, motioning to the tent flap with a paw, “Dis way, Doc.” With that, the pair walked out of the tent into the fading twilight.

---

"Sappra," Jaffar said, turning to the Dog as soon as Dr. Granted and Ad’e left the tent, "I want you to see to your clan."

Sappra nodded absently and left the tent, not saying a word.

The Horse turned to a small lockbox, opening it in the process. He pulled a withered bit of parchment from it, placing weights upon the corners. “It’s a shame that Sparrow didn’t mark freshwater sources on the route. It would’ve been most helpful.”

“"Pirates can be stingy wen it coms ta dere waterin’ holes,” Denda replied, “Prolly didn't want nobody else ta figure out how to survive down here."

“Indeed,” Jaffar agreed smirking, “It was very altruistic of the good doctor to volunteer as he did. I doubt he would’ve been as eager had I suggested it myself. I do believe I am getting the hang of this acting business. While he plays with his monsters, we can focus on the true prize-” Jaffar’s smirk fell “-Now that I think on it, what was the reason you gave him for our being here?”

“That we was scoutin’ out resources fer Saddle Arabia,” Denda replied, a grin playing on his lips as his eyes flashed.

“Brilliant!” Jaffar exclaimed with a chuckle, “He’d never think to question it!” He examined the map critically. “The way I see it, if we sail east for twenty nautical miles, it should be a straight shot to ‘Deep Bay’ where our prize lays.”

Denda glanced at the map, gesturing to it with his digits. “Wut he called a ‘bay’ is a sea in its own right, but dis here points ta sumeting in dese mountains here. Dat ust be where it is!”

Jaffar squinted at a particular section of the map before gesturing to it. “What would you make of this symbol?”

The Jackal strained to see what the Horse was pointing to. “Don’t know. Nevah seen nothin’ like it before.”

Author's Note:

Crew Countdown Meter: 49

Sorry for the long wait everyone, real life and all that crap. Anyway once again I'd like to take a moment to thank my friends Graphite Sketch and Noble Valor for helping me with this. YOU GUYZ ROCK!!!

Even though it late Happy Christmas and have a great New Year!
-Recteik