Post by Bianca Sabbato on Jul 2, 2020 20:22:09 GMT -5
Once again, I found myself scouting the outskirts of one of the many grooves and forests nearby the limits of Ground district after loudly declaring for the thousandth time I would never come back... Yay me.
It’s not like I didn’t try to stay away from it, concentrating in my training, meeting new people and prospective allies, studying hard so I would be able to graduate in a couple years with any luck.
But even then, something seemed to exist in the back of my head that always brought me down there eventually, even despite my own stubbornness in self-assuring myself that I’d never set foot again in that place. Like an invisible force dragging me down underwater the very same moment, I stopped swimming with all my strength.
This time they were the concerning news of disappearances in the area that had left a bad taste in my mouth. And even though I had found some disturbing things while exploring the Mogwai mansion a week prior; nothing there pointed to being related to the recent reports of spirited away people of every age and gender in the surrounding area.
And this was Ground, so the police assumed the people had just run away or went into hiding for one reason or another... That, or plunged directly into a life of crime somewhere else in the city... Another way of saying they didn’t give a crap about it.
And somehow that pissed me off enough to make me begrudgingly return to my old stomping grounds. This time without neither the knowledge nor sponsorship of the inhabitants of the area. Money was good, but no fucking way I was gonna charge any money to people whose husbands, wives, or children had just gone missing.
I didn’t want to give them vain hopes of my success, that’s the reason why I told no one of my current endeavors.
Back to topic. Animals could be seen and heard every now and then, which was a good enough clue on not being a lot of grimm nearby. Still, I knew I was taking a big risk by doing this alone... Maybe some other time I could invite some other student to come with me?
That would undoubtedly be an upgrade from my current condition, we could cover more ground and track more efficiently. As for all my talk I had no particularly great skills in the tracking department, all in all, my knowledge of the forests were more passing than any other thing, as I was more used to a jungle of rock and concrete than a real one, only seldom venturing into the forests in the past and usually to well-known places.
Still, I was not completely useless in that situation, for even I didn’t fail to notice the rather obvious marking of heavy-work boots accompanied with regular, everyday footwear, a strange combination that led me to the belief that one of them may have not had time to prepare for such an expedition. Nor the irregular way these intertwined every once in a while.
Whoever was behind this, it was clear it was not an expert, they had tried to cover their steps, and managed to do so well enough for me to lose track of them at about 500 meters into the woods. But that still gave me a lead regarding the general direction they may have taken. And whoever it was, I at least could be sure no seasoned hunter would be so careless.
Picking the most reasonable direction, I embarked on a quest to search for each and every clue that could lead me to solve this mystery. Unfortunately, after doing about 2 kilometers in that route and not finding a single clue, I had to backtrack to try a slightly different path more than once, with similar results each time.
To cut things short, I lost their track and now I was basically searching blindly and with a tactic that could be described as questionable at best. But at least I made sure I wasn’t selling out my position to the enemy. (if it even existed)
Marvels of having a tail I had to guess, I simply strapped some leaves and branches to it and swung it softly behind me to sweep away any footprint left behind me, compacting the floor again with my semblance for good measure.
It was then that I noticed something strange on the corner of my eye, a flash of color passing by on the horizon, nothing more than a grey dot in the distance at that moment, but singular enough to catch my attention.
Squatting low as to go unnoticed, I focused my gaze on the shape for a couple seconds, only being certain of it being a living thing when I caught it strolling at a slow, almost lazy pace through the forest.
I still couldn’t tell what the heck it was, so if I wanted to get some useful information out of it I had to get closer...
Falling into all fours and with my spear safely strapped on my back, I began to move as close to the ground as I was able, using any bush and ground protrusion to hide my frame from the creature. Once again I was grateful for my tail, since maintaining a pose like that would have been extremely uncomfortable and even painful if not for the extra stabilization provided by my faunus traits.
I just hoped no one saw me like that or the “faunus are animals” commentaries would go on forever or until I had to slap a fucker to make them stop. But with the sun shining so brightly and my white tunic not being the most inconspicuous attire in the world, I had to cling to any advantage I had.
Crawling at a reasonably high pace, I approached the creature with weariness in my mind, since the closer I got, the more flabergasted I was left by my inability to categorize it under any label whatsoever.
It looked big, but not as big as a grimm. It seemed to have clothing, but the way it walked and moved made me think more of a wild animal without completely losing the feeling of it possessing some sort of intellect.
Sharp looking nails and a long tail made me think of a faunus... But still, there was something highly unsettling about his appearance that captivated and made me nervous at the same time. Like contemplating some kind of abstract sculpture more fitting to be displayed inside a modern art museum than being the body of a living being.
Besides, I could not shake the feeling I had seen it before somewhere...
Little did I knew, the figure itself had more than one way of noticing my presence maybe even before I had first noticed his. And probably was perfectly aware than I was stalking it from behind a bush no more than 30 meters away...
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