Chp.9: Trouble

"Hey, Haku! I'm back. Could you at least lift your head to say hello?"

Haku looked away from the footprints he was studying and turned to where the voice had come from. Darbi was approaching with his paws covered in mud. "Sorry, I didn't hear you coming" he said.

"Sure, sure. As if I don't know that you keep your senses constantly active while we're out here..." his brother grumbled. "Anyway, you were right, the creek to the north has overflowed. Nearby there is only mud, debris and a great stench..."

Something new had happened the day before: it had rained. For the first time since they were born, the little dragons had seen the rain. Even though they had heard about it from their mother, this was the first time they had discovered what it really was. They had ascertained that it was much more than simple water that descended from the sky: it was a concentration of new smells and sounds that they had never heard before. And it had also brought lightning and thunder, scaring the little dragons to death. Most of their siblings had retreated deep into the cave, but Haku and Darbi had been forced out to find food, so they reluctantly ventured out. They had discovered that the rain made everything much more difficult: not only getting off the cliff had been extremely difficult, but the rain had prevented them from hunting as it made the ground slippery and erased scent tracks, and furthermore it was impossible to hear the sound of an animal amid the roar of thunder. Luckily they had kept some of their prey from the previous days, so they had been able to feed themselves, but Haku was worried that the rain would have continued for a long time, preventing them from getting food. He remembered that his mother had told him about rains that could last for weeks; if that had been the case, all his plans would have failed.

Luckily, that rain had turned out to be just what Neytiri called a 'downpour': a large amount of water that fell from the sky all at once, but which lasted no more than a few hours. By evening the rain had already stopped and the pale rays of the moon had begun to appear through the thick cloud cover. When the sun had risen the next morning, the clouds had cleared away and the sky was as clear and bright as ever.

Haku and Darbi had breathed a sigh of relief and had returned to the forest, expecting that everything would have been as before, but they had discovered that they were very wrong. The forest had changed: although the rain had stopped it had left behind a great deal of new smells, many trees had fallen destroying their old tracks, and the ground had become slippery and unstable with mud. After eating one more of their prey from the previous days (which were about to finish by now) the two young dragons had tried to hunt something, but they had discovered that being able to track down a prey and pursue it in those conditions was quite difficult. Therefore after a careful consideration Haku had decided that it was better to move to a more favorable territory.

However, the two young dragons were in a situation they had never encountered before: how to find a more favorable territory, if they didn't even know how the rain could change the so-called territory? So Haku had decided that as a first step it was better to split up and explore the various environments in order to draw conclusions. Haku had gone south, where there were lots of trees, while Darbi had gone north, where the two brothers had earlier discovered that there was a creek.

And now, the two brothers were reunited. And as Haku figured, places that were already normally full of water weren't a good option. "I see for myself that the creek has overflowed" he said, pointing to Darbi's mud-covered paws, which signaled how dangerous the terrain was. "In any case, you have a kelp on your right horn"

His brother snorted and shook his head to make it fall. "Don't tell anyone about this" he grumbled.

"I won't. But how did that kelp get on your head? And why are you wet?"

"While I was at the creek a karkadann came to drink and I had to hide under the water, ok? Now stop asking questions!"

Haku tried to not laugh. The two young dragons had already experienced firsthand that the karkadanns, when they sensed danger, didn't hesitate to charge. If he was alone in front of a karkadann, probably Haku too would have acted in the same way as Darbi, so he couldn't make fun of him. Unless he wanted to be a hypocrite, which he didn't dislike so much. "The south isn't a good choice either" he said, pointing to the footprints on the ground. "Look. These probably belong to an indrik or some other kind of deer, and they come from the south. They are full of mud. It must be a quagmire down there too"

"How can you be sure they're from the south?"

"From the position of the footprints. And this mud is different from the ground here"

Darbi nodded. "So, what do we do? Where do we go?"

Haku pointed to the east: "I think that's the best direction" he said. "I've noticed that the more elevated and sunny the land is, the less mud there is. So the south and north, where there is only flat land, aren't both a good option. To the west, there are only cliffs and mountains, but to the east there are several hills and the trees aren't very thick, allowing the light and heat of the sun to warm them easily. Therefore there should be no mud there". He pointed to the footprints on the ground: "And this indrik seemed to feel the same way too. These footsprints go in the same direction as us, so let's follow them"

"Do you want to hunt an indrik?" Darbi was a little disappointed: by now he had gotten used to hunting much larger prey.

But Haku was more rational than him. "At the moment we cannot afford to be squeamish. Our food reserves are at the limit and we don't know if another rain will come soon. We must take everything we can find until the ground returns favorable for hunting"

Darbi was forced to agree with him. By now all they had left was a piece of a leg of an ophiotaurus; they had to find a prey at all costs, so it was best to follow every available track.

The two of them walked towards the hills, following the indrik's tracks very carefully. Luckily it seemed that Haku was right: as they went deeper into the hills, the ground became firmer and less muddy. Which made them optimistic: with a little luck and a lot of skill, they could get a decent catch.

However, something suddenly happened.

A strange smell filled their nostrils, an extremely good smell. As soon as it did, it was as if their minds stopped working for a moment, so that the two little dragons staggered.

"Is this... an ophiotaurus?" Haku murmured when he recovered, smelling the strange smell.

"What are you saying? To me it looks more like the meat that mom brings us every day!" Darbi exclaimed.

Haku inspired deeply. Something was wrong. The meat that their mother brought them and an ophiotaurus smelled completely different: how could they be confused? But for some reason he couldn't think of a solution. It was as if he couldn't concentrate, as if all his attention was focusing on that smell.

The two young dragons moved silently through the forest following the scent trail. Without realizing it, they found themselves traveling a longer journey than they had done in the previous days. As they went on that smell got stronger, and the same was true for that strange feeling of lightheadedness.

"I still think it's an ophiotaurus" Haku muttered.

"It's the meat that mom brings us, I tell you!" Darbi exclaimed with a strong confidence in his voice.

Haku swayed slightly on his legs. That strange smell made it nearly impossible to think by now, but his brain was still managing to hold on for a bit. "I don't like it. It's as each... of..."

'As if each of us smells the food he likes best' were the words he wanted to say, but he forgot them before he even said them. No, he completely forgot what he had thought. It was as if the smell that entered his nostrils penetrated his mind and erased everything, forcing him to follow it.

In the end they found what was emitting that delicious scent. It was a large piece of meat placed between two trees. At that distance, the smell was so strong that Haku couldn't take his eyes off the meat, drooling as if he hadn't eaten for months.

Suddenly what little reason he still had woken him from the trance; for a moment, Haku was able to think again and summoned all his rationality to resist. He was dying to taste that meat, but there was clearly something wrong! "It's obvious, what's a piece of meat doing in the middle of the forest? There are no bones, there is no carcass, nothing. Just a big piece of meat. It is impossible that some animal left it there by accident! And this smell is nonsense! Darbi and I both smell different based on our favorite foods, but it's a thousand times more intense! It almost seems to control us! It's clearly a trap!". Panic made its way into Haku's heart. "We have to get out of here now! Whatever had built that trap, it is clearly dangerous! We have to run!"

But sadly for him, Darbi didn't feel the same way. "Yay! Easy food!" he exclaimed throwing himself on the piece of meat without any restraint.

"Darbi, no!" Haku called him back, but it was too late.

Darbi grabbed the piece of meat, but as he did it vanished in his fangs and with it its smell too. Suddenly the two young dragons were able to think straight again, and there was pure terror in Darbi's eyes as he realized that he had fallen victim to an illusion, but now the damage was done.

In the next instant there was a snap and golden strings appeared out of nowhere. The strings wrapped themselves around Darbi binding him from head to toe, preventing him from moving. It was such a rapid process that the young dragon barely had time to figure out what was happening before he was completely immobilized.

"Haku! Hel... mpphhh!" Darbi screamed in a strangled voice an instant before the strings covered his mouth too and his paws became unable to hold him due to their grip, causing him to fall to the ground.

Haku panicked, and forgetting all caution he ran out of his hiding place and with his jaws and claws tried to detach those strings from his brother, but they seemed made of rock from how hard they were. He pulled and pulled, but he got no result. He was only able to hurt himself, because every time he touched the strings they emitted a sizzle and gave him a small jolt.

That was really a desperate situation, the situation that Haku had always tried to avoid by any means possible: they had fallen into another predator's trap! And almost certainly, since it could create such traps, it was a much more specialized predator than them! Even if Haku hadn't been captured, he wasn't sure if he could beat this mysterious new predator in a one-on-one fight, since he didn't know what animal it was and he had no idea what its strengths and weaknesses, if it had some, were and if he could exploit them, and even if he had been abel to win there was no guarantee that defeating it would have freed Darbi! They were really in trouble, and he couldn't think of a way to get out of it in a quick time!

Suddenly a shouting distracted him. "Look, I can't believe it! A lindworm! We took a lindworm! No, not one, two of them! We find two lindworms! Unbelievable! This must be our lucky day, guys!"