The Creature in the Forest ((closed))

[understated]

A constant drizzle tapped on the roof of the forest, a thousand drips that blended together to make a general rumble. The water found its way to the forest floor in trickles and splashes and a soft, hot mist. The tree limb was high and wide, and so covered with moss and vines it was like the forest floor itself done in miniature, and he perched there, under the shelter of the trunk, while a brief squall of heavier rain approached.

At least it sounded that way from a distance, but as it got closer, he could tell it was not more rain that was coming at all. It was some thing that moved through the air with a sound like an insect's buzzing, but far louder and constant. the thing was tossed by the wind that swirled through the valley, updrafts and downdrafts that the birds of prey rode with ease and practise, but which took this thing by surprise.

Then it appeared out of the clouds, a huge, roaring bird with a lightening face and fiery wingtips, swept down by a trick of the wind. It was there for a heartbeat, and he flinched away, as if it were true lightning, and then it was past. The next thing was a gigantic crash as it found a tall tree, and more crashing. The tearing of wood and the strange bird's flesh, until it finally hit the ground with a tremendous whomp.

For a moment, the only sound was the rain. Then an animal whimpering, thrashing through the ferns on the ground where the thing had fallen. An animal like those outside the valley, that ate trees and raised giant mounds like termites. He had seen them, but never in his valley. He darted along the limb he had been resting on, through the rain, and leapt to another branch of another tree. In the dark, he was only able to see the shadows of the branches that he jumped to, but he was fast and silent, and in moments he was at the place where the bird had struck the tree. He could see the great scar where moss and bark had been scraped away. Below, smaller branches had broken off, and a smell rose from far below. A noxious smoke that made him ill, and there he saw the flicker of flames.

The rain would wash it away, he knew, and he dropped down through the branches, quick as a panther as he moved to investigate. The bird was caught in a low branch, and it was its blood that was burning. The hairless two-legged creatures had been its prey, and two were still inside it, their bodies still warm, but dead. Another lay broken on the ground below, back snapped. He heard a fourth moving through the bush.

He went up and over, tree to tree, moving ahead of it as best he could, though it seemed to have no true direction. Then it grew silent. He had its scent, though, and when he dropped to the ground he was close enough to touch it. A female, body covered in the unnatural hide that they wore, sheltering from the gentle rain in an old tree hollowed out by time. It smelled strange, dangerous. It was hurt, but not crippled. It would live.

He leaned closer and sniffed. He felt the impulse to mount her and reared up on his hind legs raising his arms overhead and baring his fangs in a display of power. She was asleep, though, and was not of his world. He did not wake her. He climbed back into the trees, and lay on a branch above her. He closed his eyes and lay still, resting, though he stayed alert.

There was no safety in the jungle.

 

[Angeltears]

Sara’s day had been going along brilliantly. Just another perfect day on her holiday with one of her friends, partying , relaxing by the pool, dancing until the early hours of the morning. Then it all went wrong in the worst possible way.

It had started with two of the local guys that they had met had invited them to come flying with them to look over the forest. The idea of flying over the forest and seeing it from above thrilled her more than it had her friend, but in the end her friend had given into her pleading and agreed to come along. All Sara was left with was fragments of feelings and images of what had happened. The amazement of the sight below them even though it was raining had turning quickly into panic as they had realised something was wrong with the plane as it started to go down. The sight of the forest getting closer and closer, looking as if it was reaching out for them, to take the plane and it’s passengers into it dark embrace. The feel of her friends hand and the terror on her face as she grabbed her hand as they both tried to brace themselves for a crash. Pain as they hit something, the loss of the hand in hers, shouts and a scream of pain and then a moment of nothing.

The smell of fuel woke her, the sight of her friend laying limp beside her greeted her when she had opened her eyes. She scrambled to see if her friend was okay, it hurt to move but that didn't stop her. Nor did the deep down certainty that her friend wasn't okay. No matter what she had done her friend wouldn't move, wasn't breathing. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she moved through what was left of the plane. She found one of the guys and then the other when she had slipped from the plane trying to escape the fumes of the fuel growing stronger. He was broken and she knew the sight of all of them would never leave her.

She remembers running, not knowing where she was going or truly why. The face's, chasing her as she ran. She felt something run down her leg and down her face, wiping her face. Spreading the trail of blood that was running down from her forehead, it mixed with her tears and the rain, yet she didn't stop and look at her hands. Didn't stop at, even as she tripped and stumbled over roots and ducked low branches. Until she finally tripped one last time and was unable to keep her feet under, making her to fall only just managing to get her hands under herself. Crawling she found herself in a hollow of a tree and curling up she finally came to a stop, in more ways than one as darkness claimed her.

Sara woke with a cry, as the eyes of the broken man stared up at her. Looking around relief flooded her as she realised she was alone and there was no dead man laying before her. The relief was soon washed away as she started remembering the crash. Sara sat there trembling, what was she supposed to do now. Her friend was dead, the guys were dead, she was lost and she couldn't remember which way the plane was let alone which way they had come from.

After awhile of just sitting there not knowing what to do, she knew she should at least try and find the plane or some sort of sign of people. Slowly climbing out of the hollow, still trembling she looks around scanning her surroundings before venturing out. Taking this chance with the little light that was coming through the leaves above her she saw the blood and scratches on her hands. Her leg hurt slightly and she went to pull up the leg of her jeans when she saw the rip in her jeans seeing the dried blood on her jeans and the gash on her leg. Maybe she would find water as she walked some were she could wash away the blood.

Heading off aimlessly into the forest.

 

[understated]

As the sun rose, just as he was readying himself to find a safe crook of a tree and sleep through the heat of the day, the creature below awoke. As it moved, the cuts on it's leg opened. The smell of its blood filled the air, and he knew that he was not the only predator in the forest. He watched as it moved through the underbrush, noisy and clumsy. He wondered, had it been hurt more severely than he thought? He followed, curious to see what it would do.

The thing made its way downhill, moving uncertainly towards the place where its bird had died. He watched, moving through the branches overhead, listening to the jungle. When the wind carried her scent to him, he felt the stirrings of lust. She was not the same animal as he, but truth told, he had never seen another of what he was. She was not so different from him, either. She walked upright, and seemed to use her forelimbs only for moving branches that she could have crawled under. She had small teeth and no claws to speak of. Though she appeared mostly hairless, the hair that grew on top of her head was the same dark brown as him, though a little longer than his silky pelt. Her body was shaped more like his than any other creature, though she had soft curves that he found dangerously distracting.

The sun was creeping higher, and most of the forest slept in the fierce heat. The sky had cleared, and the night's rain made a sultry haze that softened the edges. Maybe it was the heat, or maybe the way his eyes kept darting to the strange female creature. Whatever the cause, he missed his jump. He had worked his way out a branch, and when he darted ahead and jumped, crossing the space between the tree he was in and the next, but his foot missed. He caught the branch with his hand, grabbing hold and stopping his fall, but the branch bent, the leaves rustled, it made an awful noise.

He glanced down towards her as he pulled himself onto the branch. She had turned and was looking in his direction. He darted along the branch, getting behind the trunk of the tree. He wasn't sure she had seen him, but for a long moment she was still. She was not the real worry though. If something else had heard him, things might be dangerous. He was far from the biggest hunter in the forest. Still, as the moments slipped by, it seemed that nothing was coming.

When he heard her begin to move again, he moved, more carefully now.

 

[Angeltears]

Walking she tried to focus on where she was going but to Sara it all looked the same and she had no idea where she was going. It didn't help that she didn't remember much of her run through the forest the day before. Part of her knew she really shouldn't be moving around so much, she shouldn't have ran from the plane either. Yet she hadn't been thinking when she had run, she had just needed to escape from the dead bodies.

Brushing back branches and ducking around them as well she continued on. Eventually she would have to stop but Sara knew that if she stopped she would have to think about what had happened and then what will happen to her. She had never been in a forest before, she had no way of surviving out here alone. Shaking her head she shoved those thoughts aside. No she wouldn't think about that now, later maybe.

The sound of rustling behind her made Sara turn around. What was that, she could have sworn she had seen something, with in the trees. There was nothing there now, maybe she was seeing things. She stood there staring at where she had thought she had seen something. When nothing appeared she turned and headed in the direction she had been heading. The possible sighting made her think, she hadn't heard much wildlife in the forest as she had walked, yet that could have been put down to her passage through the forest. But what about other things that she had been told that live in the forest. Bigger creature that might think of her as dinner. This thought sent a shiver through her and her picked up her pace. Keeping her ear out for the sound of anything she couldn't hear anything more than her own movement.

Finally she come across something that made her stop still. Slowly she stepped out from under a tree and she saw the plane above her. Her eyes slowly moved to where she remembered the body of the guy being. But there was nothing there, moving across to were the body had been she couldn't find any sign of it. Looking around she had a bad feeling about the missing body. Searching through the things on the ground that had fallen from the plane she wondered if the other two were still up there and if there was anything that might be able to get her saved. The question was how was she supposed to get into the plane.