[ Crystal Forest ]
The group went inside the forest and is now exploring it. Kee has his sword out and is leading the group, with everyone following him close by.
"So, what do you guys think we should kill? Have you all seen a monster before?", Riv breaks the silence.
"Nope, I did read some books about them though", Hugh shrugged, Luis and Cattleya shook their head too when Riv turns to them.
Kee glanced at his teammates before answering, "I have seen one."
Riv perks up, "Really? Damn Kee, you're the only one with experience here then, did you defeat it?"
Kee didn't stop and continued walking, "I didn't fight it, I was too young."
"Oh...", Riv decided to not ask further questions since it seems like it would touch a sensitive topic.
The trees around them are getting bigger and taller the more they go into the forest. Maybe it's the magical power giving the plants more nutrients to grow in size, but nobody knows for sure. It's eerily quiet and the sun's ray cannot easily get through the thick and dense trees. Light is slowly fading and soon enough the sun will set.
"Do we stay the night in the forest?", Hugh asked.
"More monsters come out at night.", Kee added.
Luis sighed, "We also haven't had any encounter."
"How deep are we anyways? We better decide soon cause we gonna need a torch if we're going deeper in.", Riv looks around for nearby thick branches or sticks to use as a torch.
Cattleya wasn't scared, or maybe she's just ignorant, "I think let's make camp here and take turns watching throughout the night."
Kee stopped and turns to his group, "I think so too. I'll get a fire going."
Luis walks around, starting to pick up twigs and fallen branches, "I'll get wood enough to fuel the whole night."
Hugh sits near Kee who is now trying to light a fire. "I brought some jerky! Let's share food instead of looking for them, it's dangerous after all...", he started to dig into his big pockets on his pants and pulls out a big pouch.
Luis chuckled, "Hugh, you sure have come prepared, aren't you? That pouch worth of jerky could feed a big family on a picnic."
Kee and Riv giggled a little at Luis' remark.
Hugh laughs, "Hey! A man needs a full stomach to be able to do battles!"
Cattleya laughs along and sits across the two guys. Riv offered to help Luis gather wood, and to be safe. It would be dangerous to go alone when one is this deep into the forest. After a few attempts, Kee successfully made a fire, and Riv has also returned with Luis, carrying lots of wood. The squad shared food and small talks, then decided the order of watching out for the night.
First shift will be Cattleya and Riv, with Luis and Hugh after, and Kee last. The three guys rests close to each other and kept their weapons close with them. While Cattleya and Riv kept the fire up and sat close to each other, being fully alert of their surroundings. Riv noticed that Cattleya was constantly rubbing her hands together and has been hugging her knees a lot, probably cold. It does gets cold and windy during the night in Thuringia, but since they're in the forest, it's colder.
Riv thought maybe its her small body, not being able to regulate heat well or something, "You should sit closer to the fire if you're cold, Cat."
Cattleya, embarrassed, "Ah so you noticed... I think I'm going to be fine, shouldn't be more of a burden than I already am..."
Riv sighed, "Are you still feeling bad about the sword? It's fine, don't worry about it. It's not your fault."
"I know, it's just frustrating...", Cattleya smiled weakly.
Riv patted Cattleya on the back, "No need to be so hard on yourself.", and earns a wider smile from the smaller girl.
Time passed and its time to change shifts, Riv woke both Hugh and Luis up. Cattleya laid down beside the fire, trying to get comfortable and hopefully she can get some rest. Riv stayed up a little longer, talking to Luis.
With no troubles at all, Cattleya had fallen asleep. The night went on peacefully.
--
"Cat, wake up. It's sunrise.", Riv shook the sleeping girl lightly.
Groaning, Cattleya opens her eyes a little, squinting, "Riv...", then rubs her eyes before sitting up straight.
Riv smiled, "I'll wake Luis and Hugh.", then she got up and left.
Cattleya looks around, the forest looks pretty with the light shining through the leaves, albeit not much, but it has its own charm. Her eyes then fell on Kee, who is sitting across from her. He had put out the fire and is just looking at her with his normal expression.
"Goodmorning, Kee. Did anything happen at night?"
The guy shook his head, "No."
Riv got Luis and Hugh up. After giving everyone some time to fully wake, the group sets off deeper into the forest.
--
Quite some time has passed and it's still the eerie silence with no encounters, not even seeing any fellow squads. They're starting to doubt the books they read in school, that said Crystal Forest is filled with monsters roaming everywhere inside.
A few more steps and suddenly Kee stops. He glanced back and gave signal for the other four to move quietly to him. Once everyone has caught up, he points to a tree quite far in front of them, "There, behind that tree."
Hugh spoke softly with excitement, "Woah, that's a silver saberfang tiger!"
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Cattleya observed the creature. It looks like a tiger, but bigger, almost three times their normal size, and it has two long, sharp fangs protruding from it's upper jaw. It also has a faintly glowing silver fur, with the usual black stripes unique to tigers, making it look like a majestic creature. In the books, it was said that these tigers' fangs are equally or is even sharper than the swords of man. It also runs faster than an average tiger.
The squad, encountered their first monster, got excited and devised a plan. Since it might run away if it's surrounded, they think it's a good idea if one of them lures it to where the other four is hiding. Then launch an ambush on it. However, there is just one flaw, they do not know the exact speed of the creature. The plan would be in vain if the saberfang is much faster than expected and catches the lure before they get to the ambush site.
"I'll lure it.", Cattleya volunteers.
The other four looks at her with doubt, but none of them are confident that they can outrun or at least run at the same speed as the saberfang. Cattleya is small, by default she has a build of a prey and is probably the lightest and fastest among the group.
Hugh looks worried, "Is there no other idea, a better one, maybe?", earning no response from everyone.
"I don't think there is a better idea, if it's strong it might be hard for us to take it down without the element of surprise", Luis added.
Kee looks at the group, then at the saberfang, then back to the group again, "Let's set the ambush space not far from here then, but we will have to find the perfect place. Luis, I'll need to borrow your sword. Here's what we're going to do."
--
Cattleya drew a deep breath, preparing her mentality for what she's about to do. She glanced back and saw Riv behind a tree, giving her a thumbs up.
Okay, they're ready. Time to do this. What if I die though? No, no, let's not think of such things. I should be able to match its speed and not get caught. I run fast, I think.
Clenching her fist, she then exhaled and set her light blue eyes filled with determination, on the saberfang. She makes sure she cracks branches and crushes dead, crunchy leaves, with every small step she took, in hopes to draw its attention. Still keeping her eyes on the tiger unmovingly.
The tiger's ears perks up and it turns its head to Cattleya, locking their sight. Cattleya feels herself cold sweating from the intensity of the stare. Making sure she looks like a weak prey, she breaks eye contact and walks slowly to the side.
The tiger growls softly and got into hunting stance. This is it, she thought. Cattleya turns her back to the tiger, a sign of extreme vulnerability, and just as she glanced back, the tiger starts running towards her. Cattleya put all her might into running as fast as she could to where her squad set up the ambush.
Heart throbbing fast, legs running fast, breath running out fast. Halfway to the ambush set, she took a quick glance back, and surprised that the saberfang is dangerously close behind her, claws almost reaching her back. She turns face forward and focus on running. The distance was not much but for her it felt so long.
Oh no, oh no, oh noooooo it's coming close. So much for 'let's set up not far from here' eh, Kee? Damnit!
Three quarter of the way, she felt the back of her cloth torn and her back stings as air got in. She must've got scratched by it's claws, and fresh blood starts to trickle down. The wound was pretty deep and sizable too. Considering the saberfang's paws are as big as Hugh's plump round face, its claws should be about the size of Cattleya's small, thin arm.
It hurts!!
The pain drove Cattleya to run even faster, over her limit. For a bit, the gap between her and the saberfang widened. The saberfang, smelling blood and knowing its prey is wounded, is getting more excited and frenzied in chasing. The gap is now closing at an alarming rate.
Cattleya saw the marked tree and thanked whatever god that exists for her not being dead yet. She yelled to alert her squad members as she's coming close, "Now!!"
Just as the saberfang leaped to catch Cattleya, Kee drops from a tall branch directly above it with swords in both of his hands, piercing the saberfang on its neck and back, the weight of the impact pinned the creature to the ground. They would think the blow would've killed the saberfang, but no. The saberfang's thick skin did not allow the sword to pierce thoroughly. Even with the combined weight of a full grown adult and the gravity, the sword only pierced halfway into its body. The saberfang roared in pain and shook Kee off his back with both swords still sticking to it. The mighty force sent Kee flying into a nearby tree bark, knocking him unconscious. Luis ran towards Kee immediately.
Hugh emerges from the back of a tree and lands a blow on its side with his mace. At the same time, Riv stepped in between the saberfang and Cattleya, launching an uppercut from below its jaw. Both strikes hit perfectly and the saberfang seems hurt, taking few steps back. It roars again, annoyed that some obstacles has appeared in the way of it hunting its prey. The saberfang launches itself forward and tries to bite the bulky guy, but as soon as it opened its jaws, Hugh shoved the end of his mace inside, and Riv came over quickly and did a knee uppercut right below its jaw, forcing it to close down on the mace, hurting its mouth.
The saberfang growls in pain, jaws hanging open with blood dripping from inside. Seeing this opportunity, Hugh raised his mace, ready to bash down the tiger. Before the swing hits, the saberfang rammed its head to Hugh's body and flings him to the side, the fangs slashes his chest as it did so. He then crashed to the ground with a loud thud. It was going to chase after Hugh but was stopped by Riv.
"Hugh! Shit! Luis!! Hugh's down!", Riv shouted loudly to make sure Luis can hear as she punched the saberfang on it's head to gain its attention.
Riv and the saberfang stares into each other, Riv slowly circling it, with the saberfang following her movements. Riv gulped hard. They had clearly underestimated the strength of the saberfang. To think this one can still stand and fight so well despite being injured, having two swords on its back. Imagining it's power in its prime sent chills down her spine.
Cattleya looks around, Luis had went from treating Kee to treating Hugh. Kee is still out cold, and Hugh looks badly hurt. Riv is on a standstill with the saberfang.
Come on, Cattleya, think. What can I do? ... I guess I can try mounting it and extract the swords, but what then? Shit. Whatever, act sooner, think later.
Cattleya turned to Riv, "Riv, distract it and make an opening for me to grab the swords."
"You sure?", Riv can't think clearly anymore, the intensity of the standstill is taking too much of her focus. It feels like if she miscalculated just one move, she'll be dead. Deciding to trust Cattleya, she glanced at the short girl for a second and nodded, "Okay."
Cattleya circles the saberfang opposite way from Riv, with Riv facing its head and Cattleya slowly positioning herself behind the saberfang. The fiery haired girl lets out a cry and jumps forward, raising her elbows up and hammering it down on the tiger's head. The saberfang quickly retaliates and knocks her back, its fang slashing upwards but Riv was able to block it with both arms to front, shielding her torso. Her gauntlet is completely slashed off though.
On the other hand, Cattleya had jumped on its back and grabbed the sword that was lodged on the saberfang's back. With little struggle, she pulls out the sword and some blood spurted out. The saberfang noticed the extra weight on its back and tries to shake it off. Cattleya, being so light, was thrown off but she managed to land safely on her two feet. The saberfang is still fixated on the unarmed Riv. It will strike anytime now.
"Riv! Run to me!", Cattleya, not having much time to think, charges towards the saberfang , holding the sword with both hands. To her, Riv's safety is more of an urgent concern. Riv dashed towards the smaller girl with the saberfang immediately following her. Due to its injuries, the saberfang wasn't as fast as when it was chasing after Cattleya.
As the two girls approaches each other fast, Cattleya saw a tree stump just right nearby, it's as tall as her hip. An idea struck her instantly. She picked up her pace and head towards it, "Riv, keep running forward!", Riv is too busy running and can't mouth an answer, but she did hear and is doing as said.
Please work. Please.
Cattleya almost reached the stump and glanced to see Riv that is quickly approaching. Perfect. She dashed even faster, and used the stump as a stepping stone, aiding her to jump higher into the air. She quickly raised the sword with both hands and points it downwards, relying on her weight and gravity to do the job. Sharp pain surges through her body from lifting the sword from still having the wound on her back.
As the small girl dropped down, the sound of metal piercing through flesh was heard. Cattleya had landed right on its head, with the sword piercing through the saberfang's upper jaw. Both her and the creature lost balance and immediately stumbled, with Cattleya rolling to the side and the saberfang falling forward. She got up and quickly distanced herself.
The saberfang was writhing in pain, squirming on the ground, trying to detach the sword from it's jaw, blood were dripping and scattering everywhere. A few minutes has passed with no avail, and finally the saberfang stopped moving, most likely dead.
Still panting heavily, Cattleya sighs in relief. She fell to her knees, and her vision blurred. The burning sensation on her back is getting worse and she can't keep herself upright, falling head first to the ground. The last thing she heard was Riv calling for her from the distance. Then everything turns pitch black.