'Velociraptors! 1 3 5 7! Seven bloody Velociraptors!'
These creatures were not the ones you saw in the movies that were basically bipedal lizards. They were worse. According to what Jason read, these had feathers and had some degree of flight, plus they could scale trees with some difficulty. And that's without mentioning that they hunt in packs.
They were what would happen if a velociraptor fusion danced with a cassowary and the result was given the brain of a hyena.
These were rookie adventurer killers. There was a 'run on site' rule when it came to them and here they were, too close to outrun, and they were really close to Sammy's hiding place. It would be only a matter of time before they noticed him.
'Just freaking great!' Without hesitation, Jason exposed himself and began to twirl his sling. This got everyone's attention.
"DON'T MOVE! I'LL LEAD THEM AWAY! TAKE OUT THE LAST ONE WITHOUT BEING NOTICED!" Jason shouted for Sammy to hear as the beasts began to run at him.
CRACK
After neutralizing one of them with a headshot, Jason took off running and they kept pace.
"I am so glad I did all that training in the mindscape! Now to take these things out before they jump me." As he was thinking up a plan, he heard one of the beasts scream.
"Good going, Sam! Now I have a little more breathing room." The surprise attack spooked the pursuers long enough for Jason to exploit the opening. Jumping while turning, he lets loose another projectile he had been preparing while running.
It was slightly less accurate but still struck a throat; and one predator was down and out, but not dead. Good enough.
Completing his 360 rotation, he lands and then continues his sprint, but not before noticing one trailing being the others while limping. Most likely the one Sammy shot at.
"Good. Almost halfway through them." He was able to gain some distance before the pack recovered and resumed the chase.
"Gotta distract them somehow. But with what? Oh, right! Food." Jason promptly activates his Mindscape and materializes a dead boar they hunted earlier in the day. It immediately falls to the ground behind him as he keeps running.
The first velociraptor doesn't hesitate to continue its pursuit; ignoring the juicy meal. The second is distracted for a second or two, but resumes the chase. The remaining two on the other hand stop in their tracks and begin inspecting the food.
This brings a smile to Jason's face as the immediately drops another body. This time the second one is brought to a halt, and the persistent leader begins slowing down until it eventually ends its pursuit.
Jason continues running till he's quite a ways away before he stops to catch his breath. He can't relax for too long however, as he still needs to get Sammy out of there. After a brief rest, he readies his sling. He intends to murder his way back to the killzone where Sammy hopefully still is.
Half-time soon ends, and Jason prepared to dominate the second half. The noise his sling makes alerts the two closest velociraptors who snarl at him in hopes of scaring away from 'their kill'.
"You wank-pheasants! Why are you acting like you're the ones who caught that? Forget it! Just die and let me through."
CRACK!!!
One velociraptor drops dead, while the other begins running at Jason. In a few seconds, it closes it gap and lunges at him with its mouth open wide to bite him to death.
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CRACK!!!
A rock rockets into its open maw and smashes its brain to smithereens. Jason sidesteps the beast; dead before it hit the ground.
"I'll end you all." Declared Jason as he rushed back the way the came. In no time he made it back to the two who stopped earlier for his first bait. The first died without knowing why, and the other took off running but didn't get far before it too was done with all it's living.
Jason continued making his way back to the killzone, but when he got there he realized it was devoid of life and the bush Sammy was hiding in was a complete mess.
"Crap! It's the one Sammy injured. It must have made its way back. Where did they both go?!" As he was beginning to lose his mind in worry, he heard a faint yell in the distance.
"Sammy!" Jason exclaimed in a mix of fear and relief as he wasted no time running in that direction. It only took a few seconds to reach the scene at the pace he was going. There, he was met with a fallen velociraptor; riddled with arrows and on its last legs, with Sammy crawling away from it with his heavily injured leg.
"Sammy!" Jason yelled as he darted to his friend. The shout jolted the teen as he looked back with a face full of shock and confusion.
As Jason got closer, he could notice Sammy was dirty and covered in small to medium cuts and scrapes plus his leg injury was a deep and nasty bite wound covering over 50% of his thigh. He held a bloody arrow tightly in his hand, which prompted Jason to glance at the beast which had one of it's eyesockets stabbed into a bloody mess. It didn't take a genius to piece together the what happen.
"Are you OK, buddy?!" Jason exclaimed as he looked over his friend's condition. Sammy could only look at him in bewilderment for a few seconds while panting hard. After which he could barely muster a "You're alive..." before promptly fainting in Jason's arms.
"Whoa! Whoa! Easy there. Don't you worry, I'll have you fixed up and get you home in no time. Just sleep, buddy. You've been through a lot."
Jason proceeded to rip the pants and administer first aid: stopping the bleeding and wrapping the wound. He then took the unconscious Sammy in his arms and jogged back home at a brisk pace.
Multiple minutes pass and the make it back to the compound. The first to notice the two were the twins: Sage & Sinclair, playing on the back porch. After staring in shock for a brief moment, they both rush into the house.
By the time Jason made it back into the house, Samantha was rushing down from upstairs and Susan was turning the corner.
"Sammy! Jason, what happened to you two?!" Samantha borderline demanded.
“Velociraptors, ma'am." Jason calmy replied.
"What! How the hell did you two survive, then?!"
"Now's not the time, Susan. Come help me with your brother." After saying that, Samantha and Susan carefully took Sammy from Jason's arms.
Knowing that the blond was in good hands, Jason turned around and was making his way back outside.
"Jason, where are you going?"
"To get everything we caught today before something else eats it all, ma'am."
"Don't be reckless! It's getting dark, so more creatures with me active soon. And that's no counting the ones attracted by the earlier commotion. Plus you're going alone without backup. Which adds even more danger."
Jason stops at the door and half turns her way.
"I'm aware of the risks, but I'm not letting all our effort go to waste. Besides, I can handle myself. It's just to grab out catch and return. I've no intention to fight the whole forest." After saying his peace, the darted away before the woman could respond.
"Wait! Dammit! You better not die, kid! Cuz I'm gonna kick your ass when you get back!" Samantha was practically glowering at this point.
'Oh, wonderful! Now I reeeaaaaally want to come back. Oh well, not like she's no right to be mad. Her kid almost died, and she thinks I'm running off to my death. Now that I think about it, didn't her husband die no too long ago? I may have hit a sore spot and reopened some old wounds. Oh boy...'
While dreading his return, he dropped every beast in his Mindscape off at the smoking shack, grabbed a pound off well smoked meat and and ran back into the forest while eating it.
Throughout the Velociraptor event, he's been getting a lot of Stat gain notifications because of his running around, and has noticed a mild increase in his overall speed and stamina. The meat he's eating will restore him back to peak condition gradually overtime.
In due time, he stumbled upon the two raptors that chased him the farthest. One of which was in the process of being swallowed by a huge python. A rock to the skull, then he promptly stored their bodies plus the one he used as a a distraction. He did the same for the next duo of raptors where a short faced bear was tearing into on of the cadavers. So far so good, he hadn't encountered too many parties as he continued packing up the raptor bodies.
When Jason got to the killzone, he was both shocked and enraged by what he saw. The cart was uncovered, and some of the bodies were being dragged away by a group of creatures.
"Goblins!"
Goblins were an interesting existence in the world. They were of your stereotypical appearance: green all over, pointy nose with ugly face, and the size of a preteen as well as the intelligence of one. Individual goblins would join larger groups for protection and mutual benefit.
Despite his rage, Jason was still able to think straight. He remembered these creatures were strongly dependent on structure and would usually fall into pandemonium once their leadership was taken out.
Scanning the group, he soon finds his target. Promptly arming his sling, he let's it whirl for a few seconds and let's loose the projectile. A sickening crack later, a Hobgoblin falls and the rest of the goblins lose their minds.
They all take off running in all directions with or without the bodies they were carrying. A few do make to attack Jason, but he materializes his spear and makes quick work of them. Then switching back to his sling, he takes down most goblins trying to escape with his catch.
Jason proceeds to carve up the goblin and hobgoblin bodies to retrieve their hearts, then proceeds to store as many animal bodies in his mindscape as he can to make the cart as light as possible for him to pull back.
The return trip was hard as the cart was still quite heavy. The sun was down, and Jason had to remain vigilant at all times to ensure he didn't get jumped by anything on his way back.
Suddenly, the cart jolted then became somewhat lighter. Jason burst into action ready to defend himself. However all he saw was a large bear disappearing into the treeline with a body. Jason remembered watching videos about how bears could sneak up on people in forests. He didn't expect to be on the receiving end of it.
Not feeling like giving chase, he continued his trek back home. Halfway back, he heard from the distance a howl.
Awooooo!!!
"You have got to be kidding me!"
Tatter Town, Dakota Dukedom.
World: 33 days.
Clarksons: 28 days.