The boat landed with ease along the jungle shores. Katamar had spent the day long ride practicing his new combat techniques. This was his first time using a weapon as large as "wolf," but the practice time made up for it. He reviewed his notes. "Jungle Menace" it was titled. Unfortunately, the requestor wasn't as educated as Katamar, and only had a crude description of the monster he was about to slay. "A big pink monster is in the jungle." it said, not bothering to specify species or anything else of use. Katamar would have laughed at it, if not for his need of the intel it lacked.
"I s'pose it'd be the Yian Kutku." he said to himself. He looked over his large blade again, just to make sure it was battle worthy. The blade was brown, like an old bone, with jagged velociprey fangs fused along side its edge, in seemingly random fashion. After accidently drawing blood from the tip of his fingure, he decided the blade was sharp enough for the hopefully soon to come fight. Katamar left his camp-boat, and safety.
After hours of tracking in the dense fortress of green that was the Minagarde jungle regions, he came upon his first big break. Barely visible beneath the undergrowth, a glint of pink could be seen. Unable to tell exactly what this remnant could be, Katamar attempted to retrieve it, only to be met by thorns that rivaled his blade's sharpness. He quickly withdrew, not yet accustomed to pain, and decided that he was on the right track.
More hours went by, and although the sun was no where to be seen, Katamar still could feel its heat attempting to slam him to the ground. Katamar stopped to rest. He reached for his canteen, but it was empty, he remembered. After the sound of his own panting had died, Katamar heard a sound more beautiful than angels.
"Water!" he cried. He dashed through the brush, disregarding the dangerous plant-life, towards the sound of the river. It was no time at all before he was on his knees, gleefully lapping up the rapid flowing water.
After finally drinking his fill, and restoring his canteen, Katamar rose. It was at that time, he noticed another glint of pink across the water. Although it was as equally unidentifiable as his last clue, this was not just a clue. This pink was huge, and although Katamar couldn't figure out its species, he was sure this was the target he was assigned to kill.
Katamar, did what he never did, he acted on impulse. Caught in the moment, Katamar rushed atop dangerously scarse stones, until he reached the other bank. Then he darted towards the beast, which heard his clumsy stepps with ease, and began darting through the forest himself. Katamar fought to keep up, regretting his rash move. Undergrowth was no problem for the tall beast to overcome, but it was like a fortress to puny Katamar.
Katamar was about to give up, when he caught a break. The creature had instinctively ran toward its den, a cave that seemed familiar to Katamar. Katamar brushed of the dejavu, And entered the montrous mouth of the beasts dark cave.
Katamar remembered an important tool, that he felt would come in handy. He quietly placed the stun-trap, a test item for his exploration weeks ago, under some leaves and pellets.
After some time, Katamar realized that the beast wouldn't come to him. Katamar, in another ill-planned attempt, wandered into the darkness screaming wildly. He made out a large silhouette, which he took to be the beast. Katana drawn, he rushed blindly at the beast. Katamar lost his nerve however, as the huge shadow changed shape, then grew larger. The silhouette roared an almost human yell, as it rapidly approached the now fleeing human. Constantly looking over his shoulder, Katamar ran towards his clever trap.
The monster let out another shocked roar as it tried to rear up, but was forced back down by stunning volts of electricity. The shadow twitched, but was unable to make any threatening movements. Katamar ran at the beast's side, slicing his left leg. In his pained fury, the beast escaped the trap, and leaped to the best of his ablity at Katamar, who rolled nimbly out of the way, and managed to slice the same leg again. The monster writhed in pain, unable to run. The monster, fully exposed now outside of the cave, was not a Kutku, but a rare babakonga. Katamar, just glad he had the upper hand, began charging the limping beast.
Just before Katamar raised his blade, the beast turned its head. It's eyes seemed betrayed, and upon his grey snout was a large scar. Katamar felt his heart flee. This beast saved his life. Katamar could find no reason worthy of killing this beast, that despite starvation, chose to spare him. Then Katamar's focus changed. He thought of his wife and his son. In his paranoid thoughts, they were on the street, starving because he failed to provide food. They would be picked off by wild animals, unprotected by the shelter of a home.
His heart returned to the battle, but it was cold and dark. Katamar, with tears in his eyes, plunged his blade into the skull of the beast. The monster screamed, pained and betrayed. Katamar answered its desperate call by removing the blade, then stabbing the beast again. This proccess continued well after the gorilla was limp, as Katamar focused angrily on his family's future.
Katamar was correct, in that he'd return to his family within a week. However, this did not make him happy. He felt even though he was victorious, that the beast had still managed to kill him. He'd become another pawn in a war he blamed himself for creating, but he saw no other way.
When his wife gave him her same irresistable smile, he faked one in response. He went back to his nightmares, only this time he could see the monster. A pleading babakonga with a scar on his nose.