Come and Catch Me

I looked over the forest with pistol drawn. I could hear scratches from around me, and Tucker had perked himself up in that alert but quiet way dogs do when there's danger. Well, trained dogs at least. Never give a former MP a bright ball of fluff unless you want a cuddly attack dog. I dropped to one knee and tapped him once on the spine. He instantly dived into the woods. I heard a loud thump and then Tucker came rushing out. Bringing a sentient tree with him. So alien theory was both strong, and also still confusing. I glanced at him and saw a limp, then looked to the tree. I saw it had fangs and stopped there. Tree with fangs? Shoot it. Quick maths. I hit it with textbook failure drill as it charged. Or at least, as close as you can get to a textbook failure drill while screaming and shooting on pure reflex.

Of the two rounds I drilled into the creature's chest, only one graced its barrel. However, the headshot was beautiful and splintered the wood excellently. It fell into splinters on the ground. I lowered my smoking barrel before training took over again. I moved back a couple steps and clicked my tongue. Tucker limped over to me and sat beside me as we waited for more of a pack to show itself. Rule one of being ambushed, there's always more. I waited with bated breath as I desperately tried to remember the round count in my CZ. Sure some folks will tell you with enough training you'll be able to feel it, but in truth, once adrenaline dumps through your system you forget how to count.

I calmed down after five minutes of no attacks and remembered rule two five minutes too late. Keep moving. I let out a whisper. "Heel." And moved through the forest with Tucker. He kept as close as he could as we made out way through the thick woods, but that was familiar to both of us. I liked hiking, and Tucker was my alarm system in the woods. I slowly scanned the woods and tried incredibly hard not to think about skinwalkers. Actually, with all the snow it looked more like Wendigo territory. I paused for a moment and thought about that. Then I tried to ignore wendigos and tromped through the snowy woods. I walked forward more before I heard more movement ahead. I crouched low into a nearby tree before tracking the noise with my eyes. I kept a spare hand on Tuckers back to restrain him and waited.

I raised an eyebrow as I listened. I heard something that could have been construed as speech. I paused, tracking the voices as they moved closer. The language was foreign, definitely not something I could decode with my passing knowledge of German and Elvish, which left the field wide open. Granted knowing half of a real language and a language from Lord of the Rings was probably less than ideal for figuring out any real languages. And English simply was all the lost grammar from other languages, so it didn't help at all. So I waited, listening as the voices moved ever closer and closer.

I looked at my gun. It had a lot of use, even with three rounds out of it. I took the calm moment to switch magazines to my fresh spare while I debated what to do. The choice was made for me as the mag clicked into place. The voices stopped as soon as the CZ let out its solid click. I cursed under my breath at my own stupidity. Why would I have possibly reloaded at a time like this? I dug in my rear foot and aimed my pistol at the voices. I heard them creeping forward as I held my pistol in a two-handed grip. I let out a whispered growl. Tucker let out a louder matching growl and the creeping paused. I smiled as the voices let out calming sounding words towards my dog. Too bad he was currently dancing to my tune. I knew he wouldn't charge until I gave the command, but I didn't like the idea of fighting. Running would have been much better, but might qualify me for a Darwin award. Finally, the speaking creatures broke the cover of the trees.

I stared at the walking horse creatures in front of me. There were two, one purple with wings and a horn, and one yellow with just wings. They were bipedal and very clearly female. I could tell from the breasts, and seeing quite a few females in my time. They were wearing simple clothes. What looked like a school uniform on the purple one, and a plain sundress on the other. I refused to move as the purple one looked around and glanced right over my shaded corner. I wasn't that lucky a second time, as the yellow one locked eyes with Tucker. He raised his hackles as she stared. She let out more coming noises and I said a quiet word. "Threat." Tucker let out three loud barks in a steady rhythm. The yellow one paused as the purple one focused on Tucker. Then saw me crouched low in a firing position. I raised one hand and held it out in the universal gesture for stop.

Their voices picked up again and I growled, causing Tucker to let out a single bark. I smiled as their voices stopped. I took a half-second to think. I couldn't communicate with these things, but they seemed smart. First contact was not on my survival plan, and I really didn't want to fight. I made a go away gesture with my previously stopping hand. It wasn't worth it to get through the language barrier in hostile woods. Especially with Groot wolves wandering about. The two horse-things spoke more and I decided to illuminate the problem. "I don't speak your language genius."

Both creatures paused as I shoo'ed them away again. The voices began again and I groaned. "Tucker, be scary." Tucker let out a tirade of barks followed by a vicious snarl. The yellow one flinched back, hiding behind her pink hairdo. The purple one seemed shocked as she looked between us. Then something unexpected happened. Her freakin' horn glowed. Tucker yelped as a purple field enveloped him. I saw red as he looked around, obviously terrified if his low tail was any clue. I stood quickly, taking a clear firing stance and moved forward slowly. "Bitch, if you don't stop whatever you're doing to my dog right now I'm going to turn you into modern art."

Their voices spoke again as the yellow one tried to talk to the purple one. I didn't spare a glance to Tucker as I began centering my sights on the purple one's center of mass. She began trying to speak again. I ignored her and waited until I knew how my arms were pointed. Then with a flash, I fired a warning shot into the ground beside her hoof. (Freakin' hoof!)

The loud explosion seemed to jar whatever purple was doing and the glow stopped. I let out a whistle and turned around. Tucker was by my side in an instant, as we bolted. We ran through the trees before ducking into a bunch of dead bushes. I heard their voices from the distance, and I grimaced as I saw the footsteps in the snow. I stared down my path for five minutes as the voices grew closer, and then faded. I wasn't sure if my footsteps were covered by a group of wild animals, or they just gave up. Either way, once the voices were gone I stood up and helped my much more entangled dog out of his bushy prison. I smiled at his happy grin, only to flinch as my stomach growled. I hadn't eaten before my car ride and just now realized it. I glanced down at Tucker. "Hey boy, ready to go for a hunt?"