The rising sun basked over the mountain side, in its wake a winding road lay caked in shadow as the sun peaked and greeted this new day. Trees of pine and evergreens abound, the snow capped mountains settle a chilling wind down below where the forest ground bor no blankets of white, instead lay the bounding woods unkempt and untended. The road was old but still it held back nature about its confines yet it could not stop itself from blending in with the woodland paths. The only breaking of this calm, a single figure strode forward, a cloak of brown with boots that crunched the ground below.
Forest calm as a home in morning, but soon disturbed by a snapping branch and the woods were soon alive with excitement a bounding deer ran forth on the road the figure in cloaked darkness from trees and mountain still, a lifted glove drawing a quick symbol in the air, followed by a spark that sputtered a hand on a chipped blade, crouching in a moment the figure paused and waited, a low huff escaping this figure as a faint misty breath escaped from its hood. The Forest returned to calm, birds chirping once again and the sound of low buzzing from a hive of bee's busy at work.
Rising slowly the figure let go of their blade, clenching a fist before slouching slightly and rolling a shoulder, but soon enough one foot after another and the figure was off once more. Hand lightly over a chipped blade, one who walked among the woods continued a pace slow and steady as the sun had only just risen and would take some time to crest the mountainside to bath the land below in its illumination. This one who walked the path carried a backpack of hide, a satchel of goods, a dagger strapped to the left boot, and one dagger across the chest. Blade resting at the hips side, an older blade not of great quality but one that had survived a few scrapes, a rugged fellow as a gloved hand moved up and slipped off its hood.
The boyish figure had little stubble on his face, brown hair down to his ears overgrown slightly, his green eyes narrowed in a scowl that bore his face ill. Hand now ruffling his own hair, Jason gazed over the light incline in the road, marching up its steps he huffed before returning to a proper breathing technique thankful for his years of running, still a hard hand gripped his blade while he ascended the incline, the path twisting more around boulders and felled trees. No sign of civilization but still he pressed on feeling his ears cooling he pulled his hood up once more, and with it a scarf to cover just below his nose for warmth feeling his hot breath on the cloth as it seeped into his cheeks only to cool again.
His steps tilted and movements slowed to a near crawl but still he moved forward, hand on blade he inched his way up, eyes narrowed as his battered thick cloth gambison offered some warmth but still failed to keep its creeping embrace from holding his body, rolling his shoulders Jason picked up the pace near the top of the crested hill, needing to take place his hand on a bolder to push and kick off to get over one such rock that bared his path from the road, a faint whisper in the wind causing him to freeze, the silence was deafening furridly twisting on his heels blade holt gripped tightly he quickly jumped back onto the path away from the bolder, breathing heavily as his shaky grip only just started to pull his blade free, eyes wide open as his eyes met with another nightmare of this world.
Rolling back from his position he tumbled a few feet off the path as the grass seemingly clung to him falling down further he rolled on his shoulder hand already drawing his blade as he flicked it up in a batting motion a Screeching clicking sound echoing in the woods a clanging sound and a crack, landing on the path below a good twenty feet his emerald eyes looked up to now gaze on his foe, a bipedal monster that resembled an ant or praying mantis the size of child, its chittering intensifying as it raised itself up, one claw noticeably drooping with faint yellowing sap dripping from its cracked shell. The other a bladed mandible two flat eyes on its head with a thousand hexagons bobbing and weaving as it stood above him making snapping motions left and right.
Jason with blade drawn flicks it slightly, eyes never leaving the foe, narrowing his eyes while his breath remained calm, he tried to remember his lesson, he forgot their name, but knew these creatures were only hostile when a nest was involved, he would glance around but scowl as he discarded going around, the woods away from here were much denser and he was no ranger, better to face this bugger than go into the woods and be mauled by any number of creature.
He would slowly begin walking up the path again, following it while he flexed his blade moving from a high guard to a low guard, then back to a high guard boots slowly moving as the monster above cluttered and slapped its claws down, a show of challenge or a threat? he lamented not remembering more as his eyes glanced about to insure it was alone, these creatures hunted alone? Or in pairs? sweating internally from his lack of knowledge he would slow his pace to a crawl, only shuffling further along the path when the monster jumped down to a rock behind him, now needing to turn swapping to a front guard blade trained on its chest as it batted at his sword trying to grab it, a quick step back and a flat bladed slap making it chitter and watch him slowly climb up back to the bolder from before.
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The creature moved faster as it leaped up to the bolder aiming for his leg, a quick slap with his hand, leaving the hand and a half sword in one hand, while its one working claw clamped down around his arm, biting into the cloth and sawing it, its maw opening as it went in to bite at his neck, but he had already twisted the blade into a backwards grip and fist met its face, the padding of the glove did not help as his fist slammed into a thick chitinous face, his swords hilt however slammed into its exposed eye causing it to cry out in a shrill skittering, trying to pull away its clawed hand with small barbs were stuck to his gambison, and so when it jumped back Jason was pulled forward but his body mass allowed him to pull back and slam the creature down on the bolder his boot quickly finding its way to stomp on its chest, while he grabbed his swords blade hand hafted as he swung the hilt like a spike oozing with amber blood from the creature as it cracks into its slim chest.
It bellowed and snapped its jaws biting down on Jason's boot as it squirmed and attempted to trip him up, his iron toed boots clanging against the beasts pinchers while its clawed hand attempted to break free, its four legs slapping and squirming uslessly as Jason brought his blade down again and again on its chest the cracking sound echoing through the motion like swinging a bat down on a hard floor before it cracked and caved in a sickening crunch and tang as the hilt embedded itself deep into the creature its squirming intensifying but Jason, held the now stuck blade down, gloves cut slightly from the sliding blade but he soon slammed his foot down on the one holt protruding causing the blade to fall to the side as it pointed away from him, hand now on his chest he pulled free his dagger and went to the creatures limp arm cutting under its plate and dragging the blade over its shoulder wedging the blade in as its chittering screams echoed over the forest, cutting up its neck he wedges the blade finding it hard to sink deeper in before he is nearly bitten by the still living creature, his foot coming free of the embedded blade, now coming down squirly on its throat making sure to kick down the dagger and twisting it mid kick.
The last cracking sound from his iron boots causes the creatures chittering to stop but its body still twitched, breathing heavily Jason looked down at his torn arm, thankfully no blood had been spilt but the creatures arm was entangled in the cloth like armor, its twitching motions being unsettling, he reaches for his trapped blade and wedges it free, now that its twitching was calming down, he stood over his kill looking down over it a sigh of relief while he stumbles back before kicking the beast away a heavy breath escaping his lips while he moved to lean back against one rock along the path knees shaking while he looked over his blade, chipped in another spot, and the hilt was bent in slightly, the handle thankfully holding as he held the blade close, double checking for wounds he sighs in relief.
Beast twitching still but he moved to take back his dagger, and for good measure cracked the rest of its neck as its two fist sized head limply rolled free, picking it up he scowled but still he would be paid for his word, kneeling he opened his backpack and set the head in, beside a striped black wolfs pelt, along with several ears all of the left side. Mostly green and pale green white, in a sharp shape small as a childs only having two or three in his pack. Wrapping it all up in the wolfs pelt he once more took its pelt, dried blood on one side as the bloodied side was used to wrap around his blade and clean it of that monsters blood, dagger too, while he moved the duller blade back into its place, and his blade. Closing the pack and slinging it onto his back, he stood and finally grabbed the corpse, crested that hill, below laid a much more defined road the steep hill was much more lax over the hill.
Sighing with relief before his nerves overcame him and quickly made his way down the road, only nearly tripping near the bottom as his body shook some more, eyes glancing about and hand still on his unsheathed blade, while carrying the monster's corpse arm still stuck to his gambison. kneeling by the road he began to tug and pull at the strands attached to the monsters arm, taking his time but his fingers twitched and jerked eyes glancing up and around him, breath shaky he finally makes progress tearing at the gambison to rip the creatures arm free, Once detached from his arm, he walked down to a normal incline he inched his way from left to right looking for danger, before rushing fifteen feet and throwing the corpse as far as his arm could take it, dashing back to the road, nothing happened for a long moment and that was enough to make Jason carry on as the woods sounds had not returned, his blade held tightly, free hand now opening and closing as he walked along the path.
The sun now crested the mountain side, and bathed the woods in light, a skittering form rushing from the woods up a tree, where it chewed on the fresh corpse its razor sharp teeth digging into the chitin and sinking its fangs into flesh even as it clawed its way into the hollow of a dead tree, covering the entrance with the bones that rattled with the sun, this rattling echoing in the distance and soon more creatures began to emerge for the day, the creeping sun brought with it the dawn and safety, as the shadows receded life bloomed in its wake. The Figure now once more walking forward, blade returning to its sheath, in his wake a bundle of horned rabbits emerged quickly rushing to the oozing blood that had been spilt, Jason did not turn to watch, nor did he slow his Gait, his supplies low, and the town still a days walk.