Disclaimer: Nope, don't own them. Wish I did, but I don't. Que Sera Sera.

Legends

"What could have done this?" Sara asked, looking around the campsite

The place was a complete and total mess. The tent was shredded, the contents of the fire pit had been scattered to the winds and there were body parts and pieces all over. By the looks of things there had been two people; a man and a woman. On the forest floor there were some extraordinarily large footprints and blood drops as well as strips of shredded clothing for nearly as far as one could see. It truly looked like the single worst attack that either Sara, Grissom, Jim or Greg had seen, and Grissom, with his knowledge of obscure creatures and random bits of information trapped in his head, was almost at a loss for words.

Greg was snapping photos of the scene in all it's gruesome nature. There was what looked to be an arm sticking out of some low lying shrubbery and about ten feet from that was what he could only describe as "maybe a toe" in the middle of some grass that looked like some animal had patted it down or slept in it. On the edges of the scene Jim was standing, his hand braced against a tree, vomiting, while Grissom and Sara stood over the remains of the tent.

"Indian legend tells of a large hairy beast that, near as anyone can tell, was sort of a cross between Sasquatch, The Jersey Devil and a large carnivorous canine. Parents would tell their children "be good or the RaRa, so named for it's call, will get you in your sleep." Needless to say, for a small child, the fear of this creature making off with them in the middle of the night caused a great many young children to be on their best behaviour and when they were bad, they'd sit up all night, shaking with fear." he explained

"This coming from people that dress up in animal pelts because they think they make them strong. How old is this legend? I mean, nowadays something like that couldn't possibly have any effect on even the most gullible of people." she commented

"Well I'm not sure, but from what I remember, its been around for the last few generations. The first American encounter with the myth was about a hundred and seventy five years ago by a man named Thomas Hammond. He was an explorer and was doing topographical studies and map making of the surrounding areas; he was a pioneer." Gil continued

"And what became of him? I've never heard of him"
"He disappeared. Apparently he returned home, documented his findings, filed them away somewhere and on his return trip back out here to find the creature and make it publicly known, he just upped and vanished. Neither his grave nor his remains were ever found."

From his tree Jim could hear Grissom's explanation and couldn't help but think it all a big steaming heap of crap. Standing straight and wiping the sweat from his face, he turned to Grissom and Sara and managed a few words.

"Horse bunk...or more likely Sasquatch bunk."

Greg laughed, not because he thought Jim's comment was funny, but more because he was trying to suppress his gag reflex. Approaching them on very unsteady legs, he set his camera down and picked up his kit.

"So, who does what?" he asked

Looking around, Grissom surveyed the grounds and shelled out assignments.

"Greg, you take the camp site, Sara you take the top half of the surrounding area and I'll take the bottom half of the area. Jim,..."

Jim looked like he was trying not to honk again, so Grissom just told him to give a yell if he saw anything suspect. Silently thanking him with a wave of his hand, Jim began to wander around a bit looking for any other body parts or pieces of whatever. Pulling his cell from his pocket, he growled when he saw that there was absolutely no signal whatsoever out there. It was just the four of them; no officers, no coroner as of yet and no one but the four of them. At hearing that there was a suspicious scene out at Pyramid Lake Grissom jumped at the opportunity and recruited people to come with him on what he promised would be an amazing experience. Sara had agreed to go because it was as close to a vacation as she'd have had in quite some time. Greg went along because Sara was going to be there Jim accompanied them as a sort of chaperone and Grissom decided to go it overnight because he was tired of Catherine's whining about needing time off and her serious lack of a personal life.

So there they were, the four of them, in the middle of the woods with their cameras and their kits trying to get as much done while it was still light out as they could. They brought no tents as they would sleep in the trucks as they would most certainly be more sturdy than some flimsy nylon tent. As soon as they had arrived they had drawn straws to see who would be bunking with whom and much to his displeasure he drew the "Greg" straw and that having been done, he offered the young man 100.00 each night they were there for him to sleep up front, letting Grissom have the back all to himself. Reluctantly Greg accepted, but only because he was going to apply the proceeds to his and Sara's date; only she didn't know it yet.

As the sky became dark they brought out the camp stove and prepared a lovely supper of MRE's and bottled water. Exchanging theories over meals, each person had their own ideas as to what this creature was and what it's motivation would be.

"Its most likely some evolutionary missing link that has lived out here for hundreds of years and only now is surfacing because man is encroaching on it's territory." Greg said

"While I agree with my colleague's summation, I believe there's more to it than just urban sprawl. We have to consider that there are most likely more than one of them, as its highly unlikely that there has been just the one for the last 175 years. Maybe one of it's young ran off or was captured or injured and its retaliating against the likely suspects" Grissom contributed

"I think its just some displaced bear that's just really hungry." Sara hissed

"Nah, its just some guy in a fur suit that has homicidal tendencies.." Jim said while nipping on his flask

It was around midnight and everyone had gone to their respective bunks and as Grissom sat up writing in his journal, Greg was still trying to get comfy, his back against the driver's door, his knees over the centre console and his right leg thrown over the passenger seat headrest. In the other truck Jim was snoozing contentedly as Sara was debating on whether or not she should wake him to stop his snoring. Finally she got fed up and gave him a good smack on the chest, causing him to shoot up and hit his head on the inner roof of the truck.

"What……what happened?" he asked, yawning

"You were snoring. Take one of these." she said, pulling a Breathe-right strip from her pack

Placing it on the bridge of his nose, he went back to sleep with no more nasal orchestrations. After about half an hour she fell asleep and dreamed happy dreams of being on a beach somewhere in South America with no work, no problems and no Grissom anywhere in sight.

It was around 03:00hrs when Sara woke with a terrible pressure on her bladder. Having to pee with some urgency, she popped the hatch of the truck and stuck her head out, making sure the coast was clear. Grabbing her flashlight, she climbed out and nearly fell flat on her back when she heard a voice.

"And where are you going?" Jim asked "I gotta pee"
"Me too."

He got up and climbed out with her. Going to their individual trees, Jim watered the plants while Sara spent a few minutes like a scared squirrel, shining her light at every little noise she heard. Laughing to himself, Jim approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to jump out of her skin.

"Dammit, Jim. Are you trying to give me a heart attack"
"You go pee and I'll guard you." he said, still laughing

"With what, your flashlight?"

Reaching into the waistband of his jeans, he made to pull something out.

"Jim, that's just wrong on so many levels." she said, trying to contain her nervous laughter

"In your dreams, sister." he said, pulling out his sidearm

With his back turned and Sara squatting behind a holly type bush, Jim looked around making sure everything was cool. Exposed in every sense of the word, Sara heard a snap in the distance and nearly fell over. Bracing herself against the bush, she recoiled her hand in pain from the pricklies.

"Jim, was that you? Where are you?" she called out in a whisper

"I'm right here. Don't worry, I didn't peek"
"No, not that. I heard something"
"Its probably just a llama." he said

"Llamas are not indigenous to Nevada"
"Then it was probably a peacock or something"
"A peacock? Are you smoking something"
"No, I'm not. Just pee and leave the kangaroos out of it." he said, continuing to mess with her "You're a freak, do you know that"
"If you only knew." he mumbled

Sara heard this last comment and wondered about the symbolism behind it when she heard something very loud and very close. Hearing the same sound that Sara heard, Jim stiffened up and trained his weapon towards the noise.

"Come on, Nature Girl. Finish your business and let's get back."

Not wanting to take any longer than absolutely ness carry, she hitched up her jeans and came running back to him. Running for dear life, Sara collided with Jim and fell back on the flat of her back. Shining the light at her, Jim extended a hand and pulled her up. The noise, whatever it was, was getting progressively closer and as they both tore ass out of there, their movements woke the occupants of the other truck. Having heard the hatch from the other truck slam shut, Grissom sat up and looked around. The flashlight was on in Jim and Sara's truck and he could see through the windows that there was something up. Wanting to find out what it was, but having more pressing business, he opened the rear driver's door and climbed out, stepping about ten feet away and relieving himself. He had just zipped himself up when he heard what he could only describe as a herd of stampeding buffalo approaching from the tree line. His imagination running away with him, he virtually flew back to the truck and slammed the door shut, waking Greg. Looking around, Greg wondered what was up. No sooner had he wondered, then they all heard the same thing.

"Ra-ra-ra-ra Ra-ra-ra-ra! Ra-ra-ra-ra Ra-ra-ra-ra!"