The Big Bad Tengu <Wilderness, Earth Kingdom>

[iikagen]

Walking alone after dark wasn't usually a smart thing for a traveller to do, but Ui wasn't worried. He'd come this way plenty of times in the past and his village was barely a mile down the road. Despite the nearly unbroken canopy of trees over the trail he followed, the dirth path was clearly visible in the little moonlight that pentrated the foliage. Yes, in just a few minutes he'd be home after his long trip and he'd be able to share a nice cup of tea with his family.

The slight rustle of a branch somewhere out off the trail drew his glance for a moment, but Ui figured it was just somerandom forest critter, or maybe even a hog-monkey. They weren't much of a bother. Still plodding along, he took up the humming of a slight tune to take his mind off of the sound of insects and birds.

About a minute later he was passing by a cluster of bushes when he heard a twig snap somewhere a little ways off the trail. Ui still assumedthat some manner of forest critter was nearby, but this time he slowed down to peer into the dark. There were no dangerous beasts in these woods that he knew of, so he hadn't begun to feel threatened. However, the sudden feeling of a light impact on the back of his head made him jump.

Whirling around quickly, Ui stared hard into the darker woods off the trail, After several seconds of scanning the area, his eyes suddenly widened when he noticed the outline of some sort of creature. It sat on a stump perhaps ten yards off the edge of the trail. It's outline seemed like a perched bird, and though the details were hard to distinguish Ui could pick out a blood red face and gleaming yellow eyes. The traveler's mouth went slightly agape as he stared at the creature.

"Hello?" he called tentatively as the figure. Whatever it was showed no sign of having heard him. Ui could feel a slight flutter in his stomach as he worked to keep his heart from beating faster. For a moment he glanced at the ground at his feet to see what had struck him. After a second or two he located a single acorn along the dirt and decided that must have been the projectile. Ui then peered back into the darkness, but this time he couldn't locate the figure on the stump.

"Is anyone there?" he asked, taking a sweeping glance all around him. Ui stood in the quiet of the night for several more seconds before deciding he would like to see his family as soon as possible. Picking up his pace, he started off along the trail with his eyes constantly glancing around into the surrounding wilderness.

Another minute passed, and Ui could swear he heard the the sounds of pursuit. Not only did the forest on all sides seemed to shake and rattle at his passing, but the branches above him creaked and groaned as well. Before long he was running in an all-out sprint. Finally, with less than half a mile between him and th edge of his village, he slowed his pace due to a lack of breath. Doubled over with his hands upon his knees, Ui looked around him in all directions and strained his ears though the sound of his pounding heart made it tough to hear. Still, it seemed for the moment that whatever was chasing him had given up.

Without wasting more time than it took to catch his breath, Ui resumed his swift walk. However, he barely got more than a ozen paces when he noticed that he had wandered across averitable bed of feathers strewn across the trail. And in the moment that he noticed what he was walking on, the sudden absence of ambient forest noise became apparent. The crickets had stopped chirping and the night seemed eerily quite. That is...

Until a chirping, clicing sound suddenly emminated from a few feet behind him. It started low and slowly rose in pitch for several seconds until stopping completely. Ui's hard literally skipped a beat, and after a moment's hesitation he started to turn around. What greeted him was the sight of a crouching beast, covered in leaves. But what stood out most prominent was its face. A blood read, angular face with giant yellow eyes. It also possessed a great, beaklike nose and a grinning mouth filled with fangs. Ui had barely a second or two to take the image in before the beast tilted its head to the side and started to take a creeping step forward.

At that, Ui decided he had seen enough and turn to run. There was a sudden sound of rapid footsteps behind him followed by a slight grunt of exertion. He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see the beast coming down at him from a considerable height, screeching like a diving eagle, and latching onto the pack that he carried over his shoulder. Ui screamed himself, flailing wildly to pull forward from the beasts grip and then deciding to just leave the pack all-together. The pack came off and beast beast fell back a step. Ui then ran as fast as he could the rest of the way to his town, not bothering to look back until he was out of the woods and standing before the gateway of the village's earthen wall. Still breathing heavily, he managed to work up the courage to look at the trail out of the woods.

There, to his abject horror, crouched the monster that had attacked him. Crouching in the darkness just away from the monnlight, it stared directly at him and tilted ts head curiously. It made the same strange clicking sound, and then seemed to vanish back into the woods.

Ui yelped one more time and bolted toward his home.


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Later that night, Iikagen lounged in his humble abode. A simple hammock hung between the large branches of a tree in the heart of the forest was the only thing that distinguished his home from any other tree. That, and the assortment of travelling packs, purses, chests, and even a barrel that he'd lovingly 'borrowed' from the people who liked to travel in his particular neck of the woods.

It had been at least three weeks since his second daring escape from a Fire nation prison, thanks to a rather treacharous (and insanely appealing) bounty hunter. Without much more than the lint in his pockets and the goods he had stolen, Iikagen found himself looking rather rugged. His black hair had grown into a half-inch thick mat of fuzz on his head, along with a scruffy beard. He hadn't bathed in a week, and the dirt he used to cover himself with during his little nighttime escapes was really starting to make his odor mind-numbing.

But still, regardless of his hardships, Iikagen had to admit he was having fun with his new alter-ego. The Igni cast a glance at the Tengu mask hanging on a nearby branch. Just because his face had become too recognizeable didn't mean he couldn't still do what he loved most.

[tali]

I'd been three weeks and six days since she left home, not like she kept track or anything, that'd just mean she was home sick.Traveling had it's ups and downs, some of the downs were not understanding the lay of the land, some of the ups had to be meeting new people. It wasn't three days after she left home that she'd regretted not taking an ostrich horse with her.

When her father asked she turned it down. If she could go back she would have hugged him and cried thanking the spirits he was so considerate as to think of her. Still she felt so much stronger than when she left. Any baby fat she had left over was boiling up and dissipating quicker than she could ever imagined it would. She had a lot more energy too, to earn a free nights stay in towns she'd done chores as simple as cleaning or as straining as chopping wood. She never griped or complained, it was all training, every bit of it would help her in the long run.

Everything she took in stride, her bag had become heavy with mementos and clothes. After the first five days of travel she realized how horrid one outfit could get after many days walking. Now she had allivated that. Taking time to wash and bathe whenever she could, Carefully rotating between outfits to keep herself clean.

A good sense of hygiene was generally the difference between people allowing her to work off a nights room and board or sleeping outside. Shaking her head lightly she walked down the path that a man said should lead to a town. "about a hours hike" he'd said, well it'd been half a day and it didn't seem like she was anywhere but lost.

Her eyes looked up to the filtered light in the sky. Tree branches obscured her view as she passed from light to shade smoothly. Blowing her bangs out of her face she noted they were beginning to grow a little long, a trim would need to be in order. Her eyes focused ahead and she saw something that made her smile a bit.

She shook her head as she saw a sign reading "One mile to Town".And here people in the last town said walking along this path was dangerous. Stretching her arms up into the air she tilted her upper body back feeling a definite crack in her spine. She whimpered slightly and let her back drop off her shoulder into the dirt. The hard part was over, now she was looking forward to a little bit of rest and defiantly something to eat.

Swiping her sack up from the floor she proudly walked down the path, happy with the progress she'd made so far. At this rate it'd only be another month before she got to the air temple.

[erlang]

A twin snapped, in the silence of the trees it was as loud as a cup shattering. The ostrich horse and its rider continued along the trail using the light of the moon too see the otherwise invisible path. Behind them six similar riders crept along in pairs keeping a length between them. The lead rider glanced down at the offending twig.

If they were expecting combat such a noise would have resulted in his chastising himself but since they were merely traveling through passive territory it went ignored. In the dark one couldn’t see the features of the lead rider or his men but even those not used to traveling at night would be able to catch the moons faint glint off the three bladed spear resting in his lap. A closer look would reveal a few javelins secured behind him next to an unslung recurve bow. Secured to the front of the saddle was a short saber for use as a backup weapon. At the back were two similarly armed riders, one carrying a simple spear and the other a strange spiked weapon that did not reflect. The four men in the center each carried compact but powerful looking bows.

Even in the dark the lead rider was able to make out what appeared to be slash marks on nearby tree. After several minutes they were able to see the outline of the wall. “What say we sleep in beds not made of leaves tonight,” the leader said loud enough for the others to hear.

[iikagen]

The morning after his latest successful haunt, Iikagen rose early in order to erase any lingering evidence of the night's events. After a short walk to the main trail that cut through the forest, he found the location where he'd stolen the last traveler's belongings. With a bit of effort he managed to pick up the mess of feathers that he'd scattered across the path yesterday. He chuckled at the thought that even the pluckings from his dinner could prove useful. Once the feathers were stored in a small purse, he took a branch and swetp the dirt of the trail to eliminate his tracks.

With that done, he backtracked parallel to the main trail, keeping fresh prints from littering the dirt. When he spotted the trees marked with simulated claw scratches, he stopped for a moment to check the ropework that he'd rigged throughout the dense underbrush at that point. Eveything seemed snug and secure, and the main line that extended up along the rear side of the trees flanking the path were also just as he'd left them. A single tug could set the whole underbrush into motion. In order to prevent any daytime travelers from spotting those ropes, he pulled the ropes down and stored them under a bush.

The Igni wandered further along the trail, checking a handful of other key locations for ambush as well as the pair of snares he had set up furthger off the trail. So far he'd only managed to catch two long-eared rabbits with those traps, but still he kept them well maintained just in case.

By that time, the sun had come up fully and he decided to go about his own business until it got dark again. Iikagen spent the next few hours making the lengthy trek to a creek that cut through the forest a good distance away. He stocked up on water using a large waterskin he'd pilfered from some travelers a while back and even managed to snipe a small sparrowkeet that made the mistake of perching too close. He'd fashioned a new blowgun for himself after a week of tedious carving, and even managed to find decent tip for its darts in the form of some rather foul fungus that grew at the base of some of the forest's trees. He had taken a daring nibble of one of the mushroom-like growths on one of his first days without food and felt like his head would never stop spinning. With a larger, more concentrated dose created by heating the moisture out of the fungus, the Igni found that small birds would drop from the sky in less than a minute after contact. It wasn't the infamous Igni Sleeping Poison, but it was good enough...

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Night started to fall and Iikagen made his way back to the section of the woods he called home. The Igni made haste in donning his Tengu attire. He smeared himself with mud and donned armbands lined with strips of fern leaves, finishing the costume with his stolen mask. Iikagen grabbed his three shortspears and set off toward what he called his 'game trail.'

However, after barely a half hour of patient stalking in the darkness, the Igni realized that this night was not bringing the usual travelers to his woods. A rather noisy procession of ostrich-horses ( noisy, at least, to the Igni who thrived on night-time warfare) was making its way down the trail. Iikagen took care in making himself indistinguishable from the darkness and watch curiously as over a half-dozen men filed down the dirt trail.

Despite an urge to leap out and start a fight, Iikagen held himself in check. He spied a few archers among them, and at first glance they didn't seem to be carrying more than the weapons in their hands. If he did attack, he would likely be overwhelmed by their numbers too quick to enjoy the fight.

Regardless, Iiky simply held his ground and listened to the men as they passed. Perhaps another time...

[tali]

Nothing seemed to be going her way today, it was a little irritating, even the sign that said "one mile.." had to have been lying, because now it was dark now and she was still walking on the path. Who ever decided to move signs around should be hung. Was she just walking slow or what? Her hand gripped the fabric wrapped around her staff idly assessing it's weight idly as her feet kept rhythm with the brush of the wind. Walking all day left her feet rather sore and spirits low.

Honestly she felt gross, hopefully there would be a bathhouse in the village she was supposed to have arrived at hours ago, she hadn't washed her hair in a day or two and she was wearing her last clean outfit, the others would need to be washed throughly. Her shoulders rolled back awkwardly as she shifted her bag on her shoulders,

it was slung across her left shoulder now. Soon she'd switch it to her other shoulder to give her left side a break. Perhaps she'd stay in the next town for a while untill she could work for enough cash to buy an animal of some sort. That would make things a lot easier, a mount, perhaps an ostrich horse or something of the like to carry her bag. Her father offering to buy her an ostrich horse came back to mind, she was going to beat herself up for that one for a while.

With a glance at the trees just beyond the path she found she couldn't see much. The forest seemed a lot thicker in the dark then it was in the light. Her brown eyes searched in the darkness for something interesting, perhaps an animal or a bird but to her dismay nothing was there. With a shrug of her shoulders she kept along the path thankful for the moonlight that kept the path somewhat lit. Her shoulders shrugged the shawl on her shirt inplace giving her a little shelter from the cool night air.

[erlang]

Erlang didn’t turn around when he heard the door behind him. He sat at the table in the center of the fairly large room they had bought for the night. He propped his feet on the table and tipped the chair back. “Is the word the same?” he asked.

“Yes,” responded Gen, “they all say the same thing, some sort of bird spirit, feathered with a sharp nose.” The larger man sat opposite Erlang and passed a large cup of wine. “They’re saying it can run up trees and fly as well as any other creature in these parts.” Gen handed Erlang a crumpled piece of paper he’d acquired.

Unfolding it with one hand he looked at it, it looked like the artist was either drunk or possibly shaking with fear when he drew it. The creature had a head and wings like a bird and the body of a monkey. It also seemed to have four arms.

“According to Bai Ma,” He responded, “there have been a few disappearances as well.” (Bai Ma happened to be securing the mounts at that moment.) After committing the image to memory he handed it to Baek who was behind him tending to his bow, Beak was the most knowledgeable of spirits out of the group but even he could only shrug as to what it was. “Do you think it‘s a big enough threat to get involved?”

[iikagen]

Like the very spirit he was posing to be, Iikagen trailed the handful of mounted warriors all the way to the town. By the manner in which they seemed to settle in, it seemed like they were going to be staying at the village for a while. The Igni stayed around the edge of the village, eavesdropping as best as he could from that distance. More from sight than sound, Iikagen watched as the warriors seemed to disperse around the town and then reconvene. Even if Iikagen were not arrogant enough to think his deeds during the past week had earned him a healthy fear from the villagers, it was a safe bet to assume that someone had informed the newcomers of the demon in their woods.

Iikagen lingered for a short while longer and then started back through the woods. He followed the main trail, but stayed a few yards off the beaten path. In his mind he was already running through some preparations that needed to be made in the chance that those men came back through the trail. Even if his guess that they had stopped by the town to resupply weren't true, a significant part of him was excited by the challenge.

Preying on untrained villagers was a way to make ends meet, but so far he'd never had to exert much more effort than it took to frighten them with theatrics. And despite how fun it was inducing fear, nothing compared to the thrill of fighting a worthy opponent.

Granted, Iikagen would have to thin their ranks a little before enguaging in a preferred melee, but the art of ambushing was an equally fun method. Either way, the Igni was lost in thoughts and fantasies about that potential battle as he made his way through the underbrush without paying much heed to the trail ahead.

[tali]

Tali smiled happily seeing lights up ahead, it couldn't be more than a mile away now, she was so relieved to see a town she could literally cry. The lost bounce in her step made it's self known once more. It seemed like things were finally looking up for her. Soon she'd have a nice bed and some food, the trip had given her a good appetite, having some calming tea would be pleasant as well. With a glance to the side she blinked once seeing a shadowy figure traveling in the opposite direction pass by her. It was defiantly a human, but what he was doing going the other direction? She really didn't know, her interest was centered on the town at the moment, perhaps after she had stable lodgings she'd come back and poke around.

The rest of the trip was short, she found an inn rather easily the couple owning it seemingly surprised she made it through the forest in one piece. It was almost like they expected her to come out a quivering mass of a girl. The entire town seemed spooked. It was very different from other villages she passed through, usually people had their own legends, here it seemed more like a ghost story. With some of her reserved cash she paid for two days board, no one seemed in a giving mood, apparently there'd been a string of thefts. Honestly she couldn't blame people, though she did feel bad.

With in a few minutes she was picking at a hot plate of food in a reasteraunt next door to the inn. There was no sea food so she stuck to her vegetarian morals ordering steamed vegetables and rice, okay maybe she wasn't quiet vegetarian, the yakitori smelled really good. Her table was settled close to the street near the bar, from what her travels taught her it was the best place to sit when you wanted to hear the local gossip. More people were seated at the bar then there were at the tables so she got the pick of the area.

All the conversations seemed to revolve around a spirit in the forest. Tenderly she popped a clump of rice in her mouth watching the men idly as they drank sake and told tall tales. One man seemed rather panicked, appearantly he'd been attacked last night by a large red bird. While Tali doubted the exsistance of a red bird spirit.... something had people spooked. Tale or not Tali was now interested. Her chop sticks tapped lightly against her bottom lip as she did her best to eaves drop, curious as to what else she might be able to pick up from the increasingly roudy group.

[erlang]

shiiing

Insomnia sucked. While his men slept away he was sitting on the edge of his bed, his mood always seemed to grow darker the closer he was to his home town. Every few seconds he would drag a small bar shaped stone over the edge of his back up saber. Unlike his glaive-like spear which so far had not incurred any damage to its cutting surface. The blade of his saber was now beginning to resemble a saws blade, one of the gouges was nearly an inch deep.

shiiing

You would think the ring of steal on metal would keep the other members awake but they had long ago gotten used to they’re leaders habits. It also helped that each of these men could sleep through a thunderstorm without so much as stirring. This would seem a bad trait for warriors who spent most of they’re nights in the woods but Erlang knew perfectly well that with a snap of his fingers each of them would be up before he could blink.

shiiing

Baek had been able to negotiate a trade with the inn owner. The cavalry was fairly well known here so they offered to investigate or possibly exterminate the spirit that had disrupted the towns day to day life. Many protested that the spirit could not be killed. Erlang had simply responded, “nothing under heaven is invincible.”

shiiing

shiiing

[iikagen]

Iikagen only barely noticed the girl navigating the dirt trail while he was making his way deeper into the woods. Ordinarily he would have been disappointed at himself for the lack of attention he was giving to his surroundings, but when this new traveler seemed to hardly notice his presence as well he let it go. She might have made a decent enough target considering the large bag she was carrying, but the Igni was not exactly in the mood to stalk her at the moment.

Such a feat required a certain degree of showmanship and preparedness to truly make his victim feel like they werre being hounded by a spirit. After all, he was no common brigand... he was an artist! Iikagen puffed out his chest a little and walked a bit prouder as he considered how successfully he'd fooled the villagers with his presence. The Igni wouldn't cheapen his illusion by performing a half-assed robbery on a girl who possibly already glimpsed him.

Still, though, the night was relatively young and there was plenty of time to accomplish some of the tasks on his budding 'to-do' list. Once the Igni reached the section of the trail that he commonly used for his ambushes, he set about the task of plotting the events of an ambush. He considered several different numbers of opponents and weighed the likelihood of their armaments. He also considered some good evasive locations and laid out a mental blueprint for some traps.

Iikagen worked on into the early hours of the morning to set up the battlefield to what he considered his greatest advantage. Though once satisfied that everything was as it should be he left evey trap sprung or well-concealed to avoid detection by anything but a determined search. Then, as the sun was beginning to climb in the sky he started back toward his little encampmnet to get some food and rest.

Unless he missed his guess, he would have a decent battle waiting for him in the near future.

[tali]

To her disappointment the conversation drifted off of the red bird spirit onto other dissatisfying aspects of the world. Fire nation convoys invading villages crops not going so well and the like. Tali just sat there sipping her tea fighting to stay awake despite the growing haze in her mind. An hour went by without her noticing and still the spirit didn't come up, what fun was that?

Her eyes lulled shut for only seconds to her at least until her mind crashed and she saw white for a second, the unpleasant feeling of being suddenly roused from a light sleep left her body and mind shaky, With a glazed over expression she stupidly looked at the bartender, he was saying something but it didn't click right away. As soon as her mind caught up with the world she flushed and noticed the area absent of all the previous customers she was listening to. Getting herself up and bowing several times she made for the inn she was staying at. " Can't believe I fell asleep...."

As soon as she reached her room the embarrassment faded easily. Her head hit the pillow and the rest of the world dissapeared in the comfort of a real bed. Silently her head nuzzled into the pillow with her hair all a mess around her, it didn't even occur to her that there was a touch of droll in the corner of her mouth. It would wait until she woke up.

As she slept her mind wandered from one topic to another but it kept coming back to a red fanged bird with yellow eyes starring at her through the darkness of the forest. She chased it until it felt like her legs would give out under her but she couldn't get any closer to it then when she started. In her sleep she tossed and turned physically displaying the futility she felt. With the first rays of sunlight she finally lost sight of the demon until she felt some hot breath at the nape of her neck. Turning slowly she saw a red beak and then...

BAM!

Startled the Gaoling native looked around the room and then at the covers, partially over her and partially still on the bed. From the floor she winced and got to her knees groaning, she'd need to get dressed and see what she could find about the demon. A nearly audible whine came from her stomach and mentally she noted that the search could wait until after she bad something to eat.

[erlang]

Right on the outskirts of town the members of the tiger cavalries third unit was getting ready. Originally all seven had planned to investigate the tengu sightings but as it had turned out there was some fire nation activity to meddle in. After some discussion they had decided to split up, Erlang would take Bai Ma and Lu into the woods while Gen and Baek would take Doki and Enma the newest members to recon the rumored fire nation problems.

“Try to be back here before tomorrow night,” to mark the location Erlang swung his spear down into the fencepost. Even with one arm the glaive-like blade clove through it for three feet till it was stopped by the dirt. The others smirked, as stoic as Erlang was they knew nobody could resist an occasional dramatic statement.

“Enjoy your kite hunt,” called Gen before swinging him self onto his ostrich horse and leading the archers away. Instead of responding Erlang only secured his happuri to his face and gestured towards the trees.

[iikagen]

From the early morning til well after noon, Iikagen slumbered peacefully in his hammock. By the time he awoke, the sun was past its zenith and the day was half over. With a series of yawns and an eventual burst of motion, the Igni rolled out of his hammock, hooked his hand on a branch below him to slow his fall, and hit the ground in a roll. Without even breaking momentum he was on his feet and circling about the camp, picking out a few pieces of food from a designated storage pack.

Munching down a few mouthfuls of scavenged nuts and berries, Iikagen was also shaking loose the stiffness of sleep. The Igni went through a regimen of stretches that he tried to do whenever he had the chance on the road. Despite the intensive strength and conditioning training Igni warriors underwent, flexibility was equally important. Iikagen's lengthy frame might not make it obvious, but he was practically a contortionist compared to the stocky earthbenders he'd seen on this continent.

After a short while of limbering, iikagen then went about the task of foraging for some of those nauseating mushrooms he'd been using to tip his darts. For the next hour he crushed the fungi into a paste and heated them over a fire before mixing it with some sap from a tree. He then tipped each of his six previously carved darts with the mixture and stored them into a small pouch along with his blowgun.

By the late afternoon, he had managed to find himself a bit more to eat and had set off to begin watching his hunting trail.

[tali]

By the time Tali came down from her room she was able to spy a group of seven men leaving the inn. To her at least it seemed a little odd, but then again, with the firenation attempting to take control of smaller villages an armed group would be rather useful. The men seemed rather strong, no doubt the firenation would think twice before rumbling with the lot of them. She paid them little attention as she walked out of the building just after them. Anyone willing to protect and serve the earth kingdom was alright in her book. Still her mind didn't linger on the topic too long, she had a lot of other things to worry about.

Her hands tied the sash at her waist tightly making sure her outfit was snug. As much as she hated being exposed she hated loose fitting clothing, at least aside from her legs, they needed room, thus her tendency to wear mens pants. Her top and obi was fitted with the utmost modesty kept in mind. The built in cloak on her top hung neatly around her shoulders, as she rolled her shoulders back she was happy to find that her newly laundered clothing were acceptable in her tastes. Now with a bath and clean things packed neatly in her bag she had a few things on her list to do for the day. First of course was find something to eat, she'd held off in favor of getting her bath in and her chores done but now the protest of her stomach was becoming more urgent.

Walking into the same establishment as she'd visited the night before she took the same seat and ordered a typical breakfast of rice porridge tea and fruit. She was distracted through the entire meal thinking about the red bird. It had haunted her sleep so now she really wanted to see what it was about. Her lips drew into a thin line as she picked at the honeymellon on her plate popping a piece into her mouth to chew idly.

There was so way a spirit was just randomly attacking people and just stealing things, there must be more to it, perhaps a racoon-baboon? She'd heard stories about them stealing things in mountainous hot spring communities, only this wasn't exactly a mountain village... and racoon-baboons weren't generally red. Letting out a small sigh she knew there was something she was over looking. Just what it was she couldn't place her finger on.

That left her with one option. Snoop about for answers. If the spirit attacked people in the village then someone had to have seen it. Crossing eye-witnesses stories together would lead to some answers, there was no way she was just going to let this go.

After a few hours of investigating, doing chores and eating a quick lunch she found herself circling the same questions she was before. With a sigh she imagined that going after the so called spirit would be the best option. The one thing that was consistent was that the beast came out at night, now night was only a few hours away, so it was the best time to start looking.

[erlang]

The three riders trotted through the thick trees. One would expect them to make a racket with they’re armor and weapons but at the moment they could pass within ten feet of you and not be heard. The armor of the riders was perfectly fitted and the leather well oiled. The ostrich horses were trained better than most soldiers and had clothes between their own protective plating which differed slightly from standard armor as it offered more forward protection while offering less in the back.

Erlang looked to Bai Ma who was spaced about 10 yards away. With his free hand he an obscure hand gesture. The lancer nodded and began increasing the distance between them, all members were able to visually communicate without sound easily.

Though the sun had only just started to move down and cast a pink light over everything, but under the trees it seemed hours later when the average man would need a torch to get around.