Episode One, Part One: The Scream
When the Gazelle was silent, the creaking of its wooden panels lulling its occupants to sleep, one soul stirred, staring up at the shimmering night sky. A breeze tousled her blonde and green hair, tickling her knifed ears. The little Vibranni’s mind refused to settle that evening, forcing her to remain restless and curious about the sounds she heard spreading above Fen Byen’s skyline.
Rilain’s head lifted suddenly when a woman’s scream echoed across the town, leading her heart to thump loudly in her throat. She would have automatically pushed the thoughts of possible murder or terror aside, but this scream sounded…off. It seemed like it had come from a human throat, but there was a tone issue. The vibrations that made up the scream clinked harshly against her eardrums and she could not push away that awful clawing feeling at the back of her head, the same feeling she got when something wasn’t quite right within any given situation.
“Alexander would be furious if he notices I’m gone,” Rilain mumbled into the cool air, but she shook her head and stood up. She strapped her rifle sling over her shoulder and shoved her shotgun under her belt. “To Hell with it, I’m gonna check this thing out. If he finds out I’m gone before morning, I’ll just say I was sleep walking.”
The Vibranni walked quickly yet quietly to the ship’s plank and hopped off, landing on the dock below. She took off running towards the lake, which she believed the scream had come from. She noticed that the townsfolk seemed to be all snug in their homes without the slightest belief that some innocent soul might have been in danger.
Rilain frowned slightly at that thought and glanced up at the waning moon. According to its position, it was a few minutes past one in the morning, long enough into the night for at least most of the town to be dreaming sweet, pleasant, and reassuring dreams.
Not for me, she thought, a breath catching in her throat as she heard the scream again, much closer than before. With the sounds bouncing off the lake’s still surface, she could have sworn it was directly to the left of her, hovering around the tree line. But she shook her head and continued onward towards the lake, slowing down to a jog when her boots sunk into the soft, white sand.
“Come on,” Rilain murmured. “Scream for me again.”
As if the being had heard her, it cried, the sound seeming somewhat garbled, like it was being choked, or it was actually…crying. Rilain stopped running completely, stopping directly in front of the forest. She looked up into its dark canopy, then down into its shadowy brush and heard a branch snap. She pulled out her shotgun and pointed it into the darkness, gritting her teeth to keep them from chattering in fear.
With a deep gulp and a slow exhale, she stepped quietly towards the tree line, her eyes wide and her ears twitching as she attempted to hone in on the smallest of noises.
Episode One, Part Two: The Attack
Every twig that snapped, every rustle of leaves, and every intake and exhale of breath, Rilain’s ears zoned in on, even if she was the one creating the sounds. However, upon hearing another scream—a much lower one, at that—the little hunter stopped and stared into the darkness. There was something not natural about these screams, especially the now sudden decreased tone of the last one.
“A-Alexander?” she whispered, her eyebrows furrowing as she continued walking once more. “No, it can’t be… He’s back at the ship…”
There was a rustle behind her and Rilain quickly zipped around, almost screaming herself. The sky was dark and any light coming from beyond the forest was being blocked by the tall, full trees themselves. Everywhere she looked, Rilain saw piercing darkness, her eyes growing weary as she strained her night vision.
“Bitch, where are you? I can hear you…”
She crouched and stiffened her finger on the trigger of her shotgun. Her left ear twitched as she heard soft footsteps grow slowly louder. However, after a few seconds of concentration, they stopped. Rilain could not hear anything, other than the wind tousling the trees’ thick leaves.
She raised herself a little, peering slowly around her, trying to absorb any possible sound within the area. Then, to her left, not even ten feet from her, she heard a low scream, matching the tone of Alexander’s vocal chords.
A ball of fear lodged in her throat and she dropped her shotgun, the being beside her launching itself at the opening. However, Rilain thought quickly and pressed the mouthpiece of her flute to her lips. She released a soft, quiet hymn that paused the creature in mid-attack, and she knew right then that it was not human. It was of fauna-origin, its heavy breath coming in shorter and shorter bursts in front of her. Rilain could feel the breath on her face, clouding across her skin as she stepped slightly closer.
Continuing to play her gentle lullaby, she tilted her head and squinted to observe the creature in more detail. Its face was blocky with a speckled black and tan fur, short pointed ears, and a large, wet, black nose. Its legs were white and black striped, supporting a very rectangular body on bulky wolf-like feet. Lastly, its tail, stood straight in the air, speckled along the top with blonder hair and fur on the underside.Rilain’s eyes glowed as she saw how perfect the specimen of tail was and decided immediately to take it into her custody.
Rilain stared back at the creature’s face, its rows of sharpened fangs seeming to curl up into a relaxed sort of smile, and carefully pulled out one of her blades with one hand as she continued to play her flute with the other. She pressed the sharp side of the blade upon the creature’s neck, the creature taking no mind to the cold metal, and rapidly tore open its esophagus, a broken and terrified scream issuing from the crevice.
The Vibranni shoved her flute back under her belt, licked her lips, and plunged her hand into the creature’s wound as it squirmed violently.
“Hold still!” she screamed as she pressed its face into the ground with her free hand. “You’ll die quicker, this way!”
Then she grasped the creature’s spinal cord and snapped it with a quick tug. The furry, canine-like animal stopped moving, one last breath releasing out of its lungs. With a smirk, Rilain sawed off the rest of the skin attaching the head to the body, and then proceeded to carve off its skin. She delicately created a makeshift bag from the pelt and quickly filled it up with hunks of meat, the feet of the animal, and couple of interesting-shaped bones. She gingerly sliced off its tail from the hind quarters and attached it to her belt, to be added to her growing, secret collection.
Once her bag was full, and a few bites of the animal’s salty yet tangy muscles ingested, Rilain slung the bag over her shoulder and stuffed the creature’s head under her arm. She figured it would be like some type of reward to show Alexander the creature she had dealt with.
Perhaps this way, he’ll accept me a little more… She thought, smiling as she exited the woods. He’ll understand how quickly and efficiently I can take enemies down, especially animals! She was at least hoping for a pat on the head, or a, “Good job, Rilain! I’m so glad I made you my companion,” but she never quite knew how to get Alexander’s attention.
“I sure as Hell am covered in enough blood,” she mumbled, walking along the shoreline of the lake. “Perhaps that will grant me enough gratitude from him.” Rilain smiled at the thought.
Episode One, Part Three: Sleep
As Rilain walked into the village, the sky just turning pink at the horizon, she passed a bar and noticed a bulletin board on its front wall. There, a notice was posted with an artist’s rendition of a “Crocotta.” She narrowed her eyes and stepped up to the bulletin board for a closer inspection, running her eyes along the sketched lines of the image underneath the text. She looked down at the head under her arm, and looked back up at the image. The creature on the paper had a similar body structure, but it wasn’t quite exact. Rilain believed whoever the artist was, had not actually seen the creature, but had simply gone off of a description, perhaps even the description listed right on the notice.
“Wanted: Capture of the Crocotta, Alive or Dead.
“The Crocotta is a large, canine-like animal that feeds off both human flesh and livestock. It often lures its prey with a mimicked human scream, similar to that of a loved one. It is typically striped or spotted, with a large mouth full of sharpened fangs and a tail mainly used for balance and soft prowling.”
“Well, I guess this thing was the Crocotta,” Rilain muttered, looking back down at the head under her arm. She shrugged lightly and set the head down on the ground below the bulletin board, face outward towards the road. She then pulled a pen out of one of her pouches, licked the tip of it, and wrote on the flyer in green ink, “Contact me at the Land’s Edge Bar in Conwell if any more abnormal creatures reveal themselves…” She didn’t put her name down, for security reasons, but she figured the green ink and the location would be enough contact information.
Afterwards, she tacked the Crocotta notice onto the top of the creature’s head with the pin that was used to attach it to the bulletin board itself. She hoped that whoever had posted the notice would definitely be able to see the head she had left.
Well, yeah, it’s a fucking Crocotta head. In front of a bar. Right out in the open, Rilain thought to herself, rolling her eyes at her stupidity. She was originally going to bring the head to Alexander, but figured it’d be better as proof that the creature existed and she had killed it, perhaps even to get a little extra cash on the side, if the original poster was looking to pay. Even if he—or she—didn’t plan on paying the hunter, Rilain at least got a pelt and some chewy bits of raw meat to snack on later on. She even thought about making jerky out of some of the meat, and her stomach grumbled tremendously in response.
“Might as well head back and start on some of these delicious prizes,” she said, wondering if she was more hungry or tired, since a long yawn escaped her mouth.
Approaching the Gazelle’s plank, Rilain rubbed an eye with her free hand and made her way onto the deck. Her stumbling and tired footsteps must’ve woken Alexander, because as she was settling into a corner of the deck, he came up from below.
“What are you doing up here so early?” Alexander asked, scratching his head as he looked at her.
“Sleeping,” Rilain mumbled, curling up with the sack of Crocotta bits.
“Okay,” Alexander said slowly, “but why are you covered in blood?”
All Rilain said was, “I was hungry,” and quickly fell asleep, her face buried into the shaggy yet somewhat bloodied pelt of the mimicking screamer.