Monster Hunters

“I'm not sure we're cut out for this,” Chase worried his lower lip,

“You'd be bored otherwise,” Jordan replied from the branch above him,

Jordan had binoculars pressed to her eyes with one hand and was balancing on the branch with her other. Chase had his eyes trained on the same spot in the distance. Trees bent and rustled angrily. It was on the move.

Chase hissed in a breath,

“Don't get nervous,” Jordan advised, “We've seen worse,”

“It's the waiting,” Chase half-whined,

Wuss, Jordan rolled her eyes.

They could feel vibrations through the tree. Jordan stored the binoculars in her skin and leaned forward on her branch.

It had teeth. And fur. Six legs, two tails, one ear and no eyes. Chase nearly choked on the smell.

“Oh god, I think it's in heat,” Chase complained,

The monster lunged at their tree. It was easily twenty feet standing. Chase had to hop onto another branch. The tree bent and snapped back. Chase and Jordan remained unimpressed. The monster lunged at them and the tree twice more before giving up. It propped itself up on the tree and began to study them.

Don't move, Jordan signaled,

Yeah, boss, Chase whistled back,

The monster flinched off the tree at the sound, bounding away into the tree cover.

Sorry, Chase glanced sheepishly at Jordan,

Don't worry about it, Jordan shrugged imperceptibly, It'll be back.

The monster came back, ear back and head low to the ground. It sniffed around the tree, circling it several times. It propped itself back up against the tree to sniff at Jordan and Chase.

After a half hour of more investigation of Jordan and Chase, the monster sat back from the tree and made a strange bird-like noise. Chase made the noise back. The monster was up against the tree again, sniffing at Chase. Chase repeated the noise. The beast made a whining noise back. Tried to paw at Chase's feet.

Get down, Jordan leaned forward a bit,

Off the branch? Chase looked at her incredulously,

Yesss, Jordan artificially hissed at him with a nod and a glare,

I'm gonna hate you if I get eaten, Chase sighed.

Chase hopped down, branch by branch. The beast heard him coming to it and backed off to wait for him on the ground. When Chase got his feet on ground again, the beast sniffed around him while Chase tried not to breathe. Finally, it laid down in front of him. Chase, on impulse, reached out to scratch the beast behind the ear. It relaxed even further into the ground, so Chase continued.

Jordan landed behind Chase without much noise.

Cool, Jordan stood confidently, as if this what she had expected from the start,

There's no way you could've known this would happen, Chase furrowed his eyebrows,

I tamed a dragon, remember? Jordan rolled her eyes at him,

Jump on, Jordan instructed with a wave,

I wish you would stop trying to kill me so Max will be your partner, Chase looked at her as he sat between the beast's shoulder blades.

Jordan giggled at this.

After running the creature into a few trees, Chase steers with his knees back towards where he and Jordan had come from.

“I guess I'm safe from monster movies with you around,” Chase comments on their way back,

“I hope so,” Jordan grins at him.

I watched The Host last night. Apparently it has some sort of social commentary...but I'm not sure what that commentary is besides "Don't dump chemicals into rivers because bad shit is gonna happen," Which they blatantly state at the beginning of the movie. Anyways. Chase made a friend :)