[Issue 11] Run Through The Jungle

[John Hino]

John continued to race for the site of the screams, seeming to be chasing Steph even though he was lagging behind.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Steph had shifted to her fully canine form to better dart through the forest, an stalk if need be. Her arm already felt a bit better, but she still ran on all fours with a bit of a limp.

[Narrator]

Though they'd been making good progress towards the noise, Stephanie would be the first to come upon something very distracting.

The freshly-killed carcass of a deer.

It had a very dainty dinosaur-sized bite taken out of it.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Stephanie stopped in her tracks and tore into the thing. She needed sustenance! She knew John might not be that far behind, but if she ate quickly...

[Steve Jones]

John caught up, eyes locking onto the carcass. He growl-hissed a warning and approached.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Stephanie looked up, her face covered in gore and growled, backing away from the carcass slightly. She nodded down at it, indicating he could eat, but her eyes looked for an exit.

[Narrator]

Though the fresh carcass was by far the most overwhelming scent, there was a recent trail of... something with feathers and... a fish? But fish couldn't walk...

[John Hino]

He regarded her with suspicion as he crouched at the carcass and tore in.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Steph, having generally gotten her fill, started sniffing around the trail and following it cautiously into the woods.

[Narrator]

The trail was a bit confused around the carcass itself, but after some searching Steph could tell the fresher end of it went deeper into the woods.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

And follow it she did, keeping an ear out for John behind her.

[John Hino]

John rose from his feasting, sated for now, and sniffed the air. He soon found the trail and followed after Steph.

[Narrator]

As the two of them followed the trail, they started to see signs of foraging, in particular a few logs that had been upended. There was another scent here, another territory they'd entered into.

A bear's.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Stephanie growled, her hackles raising as she caught the scent. She rose onto her two hind legs as she shifted to her hybrid form.

"Fucking bears..." she growled.

[John Hino]

John's attention moved from Steph to the scent of the bear, but he kept following the trail.

[Narrator]

What became evident through the thick fog was that something large in their path was moving.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Steph growled a warning, standing her ground.

[Narrator]

The large creature's attention snapped to Stephanie as she growled, and it lumbered through the mist towards them.

It was as big as a bear, and a grizzly at that, but it was... differently shaped. Broader at the shoulders, almost.

It was also wearing one of the collars.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Stephanie snarled. She HATED bears.

Before any part of her could be talked out of it, she charged the bear, going straight for its throat--and the collar.

[Narrator]

The bear tried to swat her away, but was a second too late.

And that was when both their collars delivered a painful, debilitating electrical shock.

The bear was not quite prepared for this, and its eyes rolled back as it slumped over, twitching.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Steph let out a pained yelp and fell to the ground gasping for air.

[John Hino]

John came closer, bur kept some distance as he regarded the scene.

...bear... bear... Bear.

A thought flashed into his mind, cutting through the haze of instinct like a knife. What would Bear think of him now? It didn't bring him fully back to his right mind, but the hold his instincts had on him lost its iron grip.

He closed in on the bear and gave it a closer look.

[Narrator]

The bear, much like his teammate, was still reeling from the shock.

[John Hino]

Collar? Is it... food... no... not food.

He looked to Steph. Instinctual hunger flared and he shook his head.

No. Steph isn't food either.

In his moment of clarity he decided to head away before he lost it again, and began to do so.