It was already nearly dinner time by the time the group of Rainwings and Nightwings landed in the middle of the Rainforest, only a few hours of light left in the day. Glory wanted to have left earlier, but getting the Nightwing Village evacuated had taken longer than expected, and then just flying to the proper area had taken several more hours. Now they had an extremely short time left to begin their search before they'd need to make camp, and Glory intended to make the most of that time.
"Ah, it's so wonderful to be out and about again," Mastermind said aloud as they landed in a small excuse for a clearing amidst the plethora of trees that filled the land below, "It's been so long since I've been able to fly like that."
"Really?" Glory asked, "I thought you had regular exercise. Supervised flights so your wings don't go limp from lack of use."
"Well, yes," he waved a claw, "But those weren't real flights. Nothing long, not like this." He gave a wistful sigh, looking back up at the sky.
Glory ignored him, looking away and back to the other dragons in the group, all of which sported various weapons. Mastermind, of course, was the only one of them armed with nothing save his claws and fire. Deathbringer had his chakrams, as well as a variety of blades. Caiman carried two small knives in addition to the blade he normally kept with him. Lemur and Tarsier each had packs of supplies which included long and sharp not-quite-knives-not-quite-swords (she'd seen Rainwings with them before, but could never remember their name) which were more for cutting foliage than attacking, and Preykiller bore a lethal-looking sickle at her side. Aside from that, all had spears on them, including Glory, who's spear was her only weapon not naturally part of her.
"This looks to be as good a place as any to begin," Deathbringer spoke aloud to the group, "I can't imagine the last group went any farther than this. We'll start north, single file, and keep our eyes and noses peeled for any sights or scents."
"Sounds good," Preykiller said, looking around them, "We'll need to stay alert for an ambush. We could easily fall victim if we're not on our guard."
"Agreed. I'll take the lead," it was Lemur who spoke next, unsheathing his long hacking-blade. "We'll switch periodically, I'm sure."
"Of course," Deathbringer nodded, then turned to Glory. "You and Mastermind stay in the middle. I don't want you getting lost, or him thinking of flying away," he motioned to Mastermind, "Caiman, you've got the rear. Preykiller, keep with Caiman. I'll stay up front with Lemur and Tarsier will watch the middle."
"Will do," Tarsier nodded, "Anything specific we should be looking for?"
"Tracks and markings," came Deathbringer's answer, "Anything that looks like it could be big enough to be a dragon…or something big enough to kill a dragon."
"And if we see something beyond markings?" Lemur asked.
"Kill it."
Although he didn't ask the question, Caiman lashed his tail in excitement, a gleam in his eye. "Excellent."
"Everyone ready, then?" Deathbringer asked, looking them over. "Good. Let's move out."
Glory watched as Lemur led the way into the Rainforest's heart, using his blade to slice through the largest of leaves and branches in their way. Deathbringer followed him in, quickly disappearing into the veritable sea of plants ahead. She took a step forward, but paused, looking again at the trees that made up her tribe's home. She'd never thought it before, but they looked somehow…sinister now. Uninviting. The darkness from the canopy seemed to give a warning of what was to come, warning her away from pursuing their prey into such under trod territory.
"Are you coming, Queen Glory?" Tarsier asked, snapping her out of it. She nodded, and followed him out of the clearing and into the midst of the forest.
Walking in the Rainforest's terrain was not usually a problem Glory faced. She was a Rainwing, after all, made to survive in such a climate and setting. Even so, she quickly found herself struggling even as their trek began. The ground was uneven beneath her talons, and branches pushed aside slapped back hard against her scales as she walked. Thorns unexpectedly caught her claws or tail, and her talons sunk into hidden pits of mud. All she could really do was keep up with the tail of Tarsier in front of her, almost forgetting to even look for signs of their quarry.
Quickly, she felt her previous eagerness—and even excitement—of joining this expedition begin to wane. She winced as she hopped over a log just to land roughly on her left claws, then again when she scraped her forearm against a protruding branch that Lemur had neglected to cut down.
This isn't the Rainwing Village anymore, she groaned within herself, realizing for perhaps the first time just how different it was out here than back home. The Rainwings had tamed the terrain around their home. Sure, it still had trees and all other plants, but there were paths and open areas, locations meant for gathering and walking. The places where Rainwings frequented—where she frequented—they'd crafted to better serve them. Out here, nature was uncaring for any animal, dragon or not. It was wild, full, and unknown.
Still, that wasn't the only thing bothering her. After all, since coming to the Rainforest she'd been taught to move through it in a very specific way. And she couldn't help but notice that what she was doing now was the complete opposite.
"Why aren't we in the trees?" Glory asked aloud as she pushed through yet another batch of ferns and branched in her way, "It's easier to navigate, and we don't have to deal with this low-lying vegetation."
"Because there's nothing we'll see from up there," Tarsier called over his shoulder. She couldn't help but notice he was having an easier time of it than her, "Dragons barely leave any marks on branches high up. If we're to get anything, chances are it will be a print in the dirt or a discarded meal. You'd be hard pressed to see something like that from up there."
Glory just grunted at that, then kept moving forward. She glanced back at Mastermind behind her: he seemed to be in a worse state than she was. He was mumbling and scrambling over logs and rocks that even she had passed with ease, and she could tell he was struggling something fierce.
Good, part of her thought, although another part did pity him, The more miserable he is, the more likely he is to say anything else he might know.
She trudged on, the buzzing of insects ringing in her ears, first metaphorically and then literally as she was assaulted by a swarm of yellow-flies that buzzed all around her, exploring her face until she shook her head and waved a claw to chase them away. She snorted, having inhaled one, and spat in disgust. It would not be the only time in the trip, let alone the next several minutes, that she was so assailed by the insects of the Rainforest.
And all she could do was keep walking.
"How are you doing?" Deathbringer's voice asked from beside her some time later. The positions had switched, with Tarsier taking the lead and he the middle spot. Glory was happy that he was there, especially since he went out of his way to make sure the path was clearer for her.
"Fine," she half-lied, although her tired voice probably gave her away, "Any sign of anything?"
"Nothing yet," he shook his head. "Not surprisingly. We'll need to make camp for the night here soon, though."
"I know," she sighed. The sky ahead was getting darker, and the amount of time they could even search effectively was limited. "Any idea where we even are?"
"We're making good time. My guess is halfway through the area that the first group was searching," he answered, "I'll fly overhead and make sure before we go to sleep, though. It's a lot of forest, and much of it may have never even been walked on before."
"It sure doesn't feel like it has been," she mumbled, "How are you so good at navigating it."
He flashed her a charming smile, "I'm an assassin—or was. It's my job to know these things. And besides, I was here in the Rainforest a long time before you were."
She supposed that was true, although she didn't admit it out loud. She wondered just how much of her Kingdom Deathbringer had been in, doing the work of the Nightwings. It was quite possible he knew the whole place better than she did.
"Found something!" Tarsier's voice rang through the trees, and Glory suddenly found a burst of energy to rush ahead. Soon the whole group was together again as they stopped in a more open patch of ground, with Tarsier pointing up in the trees. It only took her a second to see what he had: there was the remains of something's meal half hanging off a branch.
That meal was a jaguar, she could tell a moment later, and that was certainly significant. Out here, those large felines were the apex predators—save dragons, of course—and almost nothing she could think of except a dragon would dare to make a meal of them. At least nothing that would also be able to drag them up a tree like that.
"Good eyes," Deathbringer complimented Tarsier as Lemur went up to fetch the remains.
"More so my nose," the Rainwing snorted, "I could smell it before I saw it."
It did smell bad, Glory noticed, although she couldn't help but also notice that the Jaguar wasn't that old of a kill once Lemur brought it down. In fact, it had barely even begun to rot. Yet a much stronger smell of death and decay surrounded it then she would have expected.
"Any indications of what killed it?" Deathbringer asked Lemur, as well as Caiman who had stepped forward to examine it as well, "Any teeth or noticeable claw marks."
"Unfortunately not," Caiman answered once a thorough search was made, "Just looks like whatever killed it got the good parts."
"Left plenty behind, though," Preykiller spoke, eyeing the kill, "Some of it still looks tasty."
"I wouldn't eat it if I were you," Deathbringer told her, and Glory almost rolled her eyes at the Nightwing dragoness. But to Nightwings like her that had liked to eat infected and disgusting prey, half-dead was practically the same as dead, she supposed.
"At least until we know what killed it," Caiman added, and Preykiller almost reluctantly nodded.
"How old is the kill?" Glory asked, "Is whatever killed it still around."
"Several hours, at least. Probably happened late this morning," Caiman told her, "As for your second question, it's hard to tell."
"Did you see any tracks or other indicators of where it was heading from up there?" Deathbringer asked Lemur, pointing up to where he'd retrieved the slain feline, and the Rainwing answered with a shake of his head.
"So, we still don't know anything," Caiman gruffed, "How wonderful."
"We do know we're on the right track," Deathbringer corrected him, "I'd be willing to wager that our killer is whatever killed this prey."
"Still not very helpful in terms of finding him, though," the green Rainwing mumbled.
"What now, then," Glory asked Deathbringer, ignoring Caiman, "We keep moving forward?"
Deathbringer nodded, "Exactly. It's all we can do, really. Just that and keep looking for more signs. Although, if I'm not mistaken…" he motioned for them to stay where they were a moment, then disappeared into the trees. He popped back out several seconds later, a satisfied look on his face.
"There's a small stream over here—I knew I heard water," he told them, "Night will be here soon. We can make camp and rest, then continue in the morning."
Rest did sound good, although Glory couldn't help but feel a little wary of sleeping so close to where the killer had struck, even if what it had killed wasn't a dragon. But it had been a long day, and the trek though the Rainforest was tiring, and so she gave Deathbringer the go ahead to make it so. Soon he was leading the way the short distance to the stream.
Although, before she left the remains of the Jaguar, she could not help but notice Mastermind—silent throughout the whole exchange—give a long look at the dead creature. He observed it carefully, perhaps even more so than Caiman or Tarsier. But the look on his face was not wonder or confusion, but of a studying interest. Emotionless. Then he gave a satisfied snort and followed along.