Chapter 87: Popcorn?
Leah had cornered him the following morning so Ryan was forced to endure another lesson on leatherworking instead of testing his new toy. At least she had decided that Ryan was ready to progress to the actual crafting part of the Profession after she had required him to identify a wide variety of tanned leather and suggest appropriate applications for the variety of parts he had been handling. Ryan would have enjoyed the lesson save for the fact that he had been chomping at the bit to take his bow to the range.
Which he had done once Leah released him. And he’d been impressed by the performance of his new set-up. The arrows, thanks to their doubled weight, were only an estimated fifty percent faster than the shots he made pre System. Still, it resulted in a flatter trajectory and extended his effective range to about fifty metres. Their penetrating power was impressive and, except for Carmen’s custom made armour-piercing bullets, greater than any ammunition they had on hand. This made them superior against the at least partially armoured foes they had been facing lately.
His practice had quickly shown him that he needed to up his strength to comfortably handle the bow for more than a few shots and so the next few days had been split between leatherworking and smithing lessons, getting familiar with the bow, scouting for suitable targets to level the combat team and the occasional opportunistic kill while at it. They had also resolved how to attempt to get Miguel the martial eagle chick he desperately wanted to tame.
What surprised Ryan the most was that he had actually forced himself to take some time and go through his menus. In particular, with the help of Alexis, Tanya and Marnus who had been a Physiastrist prior to system initiation, he had figured out some of the intricacies of his recombinant omnivore mutation. The trio would be assisting him with a couple of mutations this evening, once he returned to base, that was.
Which might take longer than expected, Ryan admitted to himself as he carefully bent back the branch obstructing his progress. Fury had found their current target early yesterday morning and the two had been following and studying the herd of buffalo since then. It was the same herd that they had observed when crossing the mountain but had grown slightly stronger in level. The plan was to confront the herd with the combat team so that everyone could get a boost in levels and Ryan and Fury were supposed to determine the best approach.
The two had quickly figured out that an ambush would be the best option and that best point of ambush was the ravine of the stream that the herd had chosen as their watering hole. It was the only point within their range that they returned to regularly enough during the previous two days. The problem, and Ryan was about to figure out why, was that the herd was always highly alert when approaching their watering hole.
With the mid afternoon sun pouring heat into the thick bush Fury and Ryan made the attempt to figure out why the herd acted in that manner. As soon as they were satisfied that the herd was safely out of reach the pair carefully stalked through the ravine on approach to the watering hole. The heat was cloying and Ryan was sweating buckets. He made every effort to capture the sweat that threatened to drip to the ground as he took the utmost care to leave no sign of his passing beyond his smell. Fury in the lead, they slowly inched along the compacted path that defined the herd’s usual route through the lush vegetation. With all his senses strained to their maximum Ryan felt under immense pressure as he followed his bond.
Predator’s Awareness alerted Ryan only split-seconds before a massive shape that had launched itself from a rocky overhang impacted and he wrenched himself and Fury through space. Then, not yet fully processing what had happened Ryan Shifted them to the nearest exposed open location he could spot. Only then his conscious awareness caught up to what happened. With a deep sense of shock he realised how tiny the margin between safety and imminent death had been as he felt the burning pain of a shallow gash on his scalp and the trickle of blood that was running from his hairline down his neck.
Shivering all over and with shaking hands Ryan turned around and looked back. The Shadow Leopard was slowly fading into the background of the vegetation surrounding it when Ryan spotted the site of the near disaster where it had overshot and crashed through the vegetation. He had instinctively identified the hurtling shape before he Shifted and actually only understood the nature of the threat now. There was no need to Identify the creature that had nearly cost him his life but, with line of sight on the fading shape, he put a Hunter’s Mark on the creature and Identified it.
‘Level 31’ he thought at Fury. ‘Not bad, two levels in twelve days, our friend has been busy.’ “Fuck, that was close!” he stammered out once the encounter had sunk in a bit more. ‘We need to deal with that first before we can attempt the herd.’ he sent to Fury. The lioness was rubbing her head against his thighs in an attempt to reassure him and herself, the waves of caring concern that emanated from her soulscape soothing the adrenaline high. After a self-depreciating chuckle Ryan took another couple of deep breaths and forcibly calmed himself. It had been a close call but the Shadow Leopard wasn’t moving in their direction but was rather stealthily returning to its initial ambush position.
After a short mental discussion with Fury the two decided to stay at their current position. It was uncomfortably exposed to possible aerial threats but provided an excellent vantage over the small valley that was the buffalos’ territory and the opportunity to observe the upcoming conflict between the herd and the predator in relative safety. Ryan was confident that the encounter would happen before his Mark faded from the cat and thus was willing to wait until that time. It might only be after dark but the moon already cresting the eastern horizon was waxing on full and visibility would be good even then.
So they settled in to wait. The first order of business now that his hands weren’t shaking anymore was to inspect the gash that was still bleeding. Carefully Ryan touched the ragged edges of the wound. The pain wasn’t excruciating and the little bit of pressure he exerted didn’t result in any worrying give in the area. ‘Just a flesh-wound.’ he decided. He grabbed some toilet-paper and folded it up. ‘I’ll just put some pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding’, Alexis can deal with it later tonight.
Once the wound had stopped bleeding he settled down in a depression on the smooth rock. Throughout his inspection and provisory treatment of the gash Ryan kept a careful eye to the sky and regularly checked on the herd that was slowly browsing along a path that would take them back to the watering hole. At their current pace they’d file through the ravine just around sunset and with half an hour remaining until then Ryan could feel his anticipation rising. Then, thinking that it would be nice to share the experience he called his brother. “You have time and want to see something amazing?” was the first thing he could think of as the call connected.
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“Sure, what’s up?” William’s tone was curious.
“So, our two main antagonists are going to have a show-down. I thought the combat team would like to see them in action.” Ryan teased.
“The Leopard and the buffaloes? I’m in. Gimme three minutes and open a Portal? I’ll get the team ready” William sounded rushed. Ryan knew that he was already collecting the team and waited. While he was on hold he continued watching the herd that had increased their pace and were approaching the ravine quicker than he originally anticipated. Ryan deliberated just opening the Portal in preparation when William sent a “We’re ready.”
Quicker than ever before Ryan spun up the portal and watched as Mike, William, Liz, Carmen, John, Linda, Alexis, Johannes, Gabriel, Jaco, Celeste, Miguel, Leah, Tanya, Lucy, and three others filed through.
“Wow, that’s more people than I expected?” he questioned his brother.
“It’s actually all combat members and John, Leah and Lizzy. Miguel and I brought our girlfriends. John’s here because we were in the midst of a brainstorming session on team compositions. So, we’re all here. The three you probably don’t know are Marc, another gun user, Phillipus who’s a tracker and Carsten who’s another scout.” William knew him all too well Ryan realised as he heard the last sentence. Carsten was most likely the younger guy with the recurve. The brute carrying a double barrel was probably Marc and by process of elimination the skinny black gentleman was then Phillipus.
Ryan nodded a greeting at everyone and pointed to the ravine. “The leopard is set up on that rocky overhang and you can all see the herd heading to the water. You guys are just in time. Anyone bring any popcorn?” he joked.
Everyone quickly settled down and the rock that Ryan had thought of as spacious actually felt slightly crowded. Conversation was non-existent as the group followed the herd’s approach to the ravine. Shaking his head side-to-side the battle-scarred Guardian was in the lead. With eyes tightened in suspicion the old bull carefully took the first steps onto the well-trodden path. Ryan clearly heard the snorting snuffles as the bull hesitated after a few steps before he carefully continued his march. One by one the herd followed. Cows, calves and younger bulls in turn. A second, less grizzled older bull took up the rear-guard and was the last to step on the path.
“The old bull just passed the leopard’s position.” Ryan commented while they watched in anticipation. The herd was closely bunched up, still in single file but tail to nose while they moved along the path threading through the thick bush in the narrow ravine. One after another the buffaloes moved past the overhang and Ryan knew the tension was rising by the absence of movement and the held breaths of those around him. Finally the rear-guard moved past the danger zone and the collective intake of breath sounded like a thunderstorm to Ryan.
“Seems like the cat is smart enough not to mess with the herd in such close confines.” commented the gravelly voice of Marc a few seconds later. “Probably waiting on safer prey.”
Ryan couldn’t help it. “Yeah, like me.”
‘What?” Alexis sounded perplexed.
Ryan regretted his statement immediately. He had had no intention to tattle about his close encounter with the leopard but now saw that his little slip required him to explain himself. So he did, as shortly and concisely as possible he recounted the experience. He didn’t underplay the danger he had been in and actually asked Alexis to heal the clotted gash that was hidden under his dense hair.
Alexis scanned the area and then said. “Well, if you want a scar I can hit you with a heal now, if you come to my table later I can clean it properly and heal then. Scar will be near unnoticeable. Your choice.”
Ryan indicated that he’d come by later. Alexis’ Heal was near miraculous but if the wound wasn’t treated properly there was only so much it was capable of. William was waving his hands in a circle while Ryan talked to Alexis which probably meant that he wanted his brother to open a Portal back to base.
Ryan obliged and seconds later the group started filing out, most with a disappointed expression because they weren’t treated to the epic showdown that had been promised.
Before she left Alexis gave his hand a squeeze. “Hey. Stay safe, ok. I’ll see you later.” she said as she passed through the Portal. Ryan, left on his own once more, settled in to keep the leopard under observation.
The sky was a lurid shade of sunset and Ryan could feel the edges of his mark fraying. Soon it would be time to Shift to base and Ryan was already reviewing the sequence of mutations he’d queue this night when a change in the contour of a tree’s shade down below alerted him to the possibility of imminent action.
A truly massive bull baboon scurried from one cover to the next. The baboon was hunched over, its movement irregular. It moved like an injured animal. Ryan had to pay close attention to discover that its face was viciously scarred. With a missing ear and a gaping hole were its left eye should have been its visage was hideous, which was only accentuated by the partially exposed cheekbone. The wounds looked old, healed as best as possible. Its body however looked hale, unbroken. Still, it moved as if in pain. The bull baboon was alone, probably the only survivor of its troop.
Ryan could observe its cunning nature by the way it moved. It was always slightly angled to the ledge Ryan knew the leopard was waiting on with its remaining ear facing the ledge at all times. Clearly the wily old bull was aware of the leopard’s presence. Ryan imagined that its body, moving as if crippled, radiated tense readiness for the imminent conflict. If he’d had any takers he’d have bet that it was out for revenge and Ryan understood that the leopard wasn’t the hunter in this scenario. The question was, did the leopard understand this.
The inevitable happened as the baboon stumbled just before it reached the overhang. Ryan couldn’t see the cat but felt it move as his Hunter’s Mark rapidly changed location as the leopard pounced on the hapless baboon.
Ryan could vividly picture the cats surprised expression as the baboon bellowed a challenging bay as it crouched down and thrust the sharpened stick it had hidden into the air. Ryan’s expression probably mirrored that of the cat as he witnessed the use of an improvised spear.
The thrust had been true and the short spear penetrated the leopard’s chest cavity fully before the driving weight of the pouncing cat ripped it out of the bull’s grip. It was a mortal blow but with flashing claws the cat reared up and savaged the baboon that remained in range. The blood spurting from the baboon’s neck in rythmic sprays shone ominiously scarlet in the broken light. Still, with a herculean effort to not be cheated out of its victory the bull gripped the cat’s head and wrenched it aside before it ripped its massive canines through the leopard’s throat. The equally scarlett spray of the severed femoral artery soaked the victor’s fur as the struggles of the cat subsided.
It was a pyrrhic victory, Ryan knew, as the steady pulse from beneath the baboon’s jaw attested. It wasn’t long for this world and Ryan couldn’t forfeit the sure experience of the kill. So he Shifted, landing crouched on the ledge with his bow drawn. His arrival didn’t go unremarked and Ryan swore a fleeting expression of resignation crossed the baboons scarred visage as it turned to face him. It stretched into a posture of challenge and with a bellow that sounded more like a hacking cough spit out the blood that was flooding its lungs. The leopard had truly done a number on the baboon in the short time it had the opportunity to do damage and Ryan could only acknowledge the survivors tenacity as he released the killing shot.
The experience notification that followed the bull’s collapse underscored how bittersweet the moment had been. Ryan didn’t dwell on it as he called in the two kills for harvest and got started on the process. He’d tell the story of the valiant avenger later but doubted that many would believe him.