When I woke again, in a tree, somewhat comfortably, I saw that the sun had begun to set, and the cold air wasn't what chilled my blood. I wasn't anywhere near any of the known trails on campus, and the thickness of the forest was disorienting. I wasn't completely recovered, but I was well enough to get myself down from the tree. A bit of wandering was the only thing I could think of doing, and it was a surefire way to clear my mind of the things that invaded my mind.
The woodland's harsh landscape would be quite difficult for those not equipped to deal with them, and thankfully, I was able to maneuver through them with more ease.
I flourished in this type of environment. The trees canopied above me and provided a loose umbrella for the droplets of rain that I sensed would be coming from the dark clouds. I walked for what seemed like hours until I stumbled upon a fairly decent sized clearing.
It wasn't as beautiful as the one I encountered when the bear attacked me, but it was pretty, and held a field of beautiful wildflowers. I made my way through the field and plucked a few of them before I realized that I didn't have my backpack. I mumbled a few curse words, and tucked one behind my ear, dropping the others to the forest floor.
I spent a little more time in the field before I had to actually find my way back to the main campus' building. It got darker out, eerier out. I regretted spending as much time wandering as I did. The stars began to shine brightly, and with much difficulty, I found the north star. It wouldn't help much, I'd still have to make my way through thick brush and nature's obstacles, but it gave me some sense of direction. Time was going to be my enemy at this point.
The crickets and other critters of the forest were vibrant with noise and engulfed me as I made my way out of the clearing.
A loud growl made its way to my ears, and I froze in my spot. Fearing that it would be another bear, I bounded into the nearest, and closest branch that I could. Fear had made its way into my blood as the sound multiplied. It was getting closer and I was sure that an encounter would be inevitable at this point. I looked to my right and saw that a few trees had begun to sway with rapid movement.
It was at that moment that I saw it. A large, abnormally large mountain lion. Teeth barred and foaming, eyes as red as a burning fire, and claws that threatened to shred every inch of my skin. I held my breath and placed a hand over my mouth. It had the same collar on it as the bear had and I knew that I had to make a quick and quiet exit in order to maintain my living status.
Using my abilities would draw attention to the ravenous creature, so I had to use my agility and stealth to my advantage. I climbed higher into the tree, hoping to get a better vantage point, and saw that the creature was sniffing vigorously at the ground.
Its head snapped in my direction, and a confused look grew on its face. I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that I was out of the thing's sight, but dread filled my lungs with the knowledge that no doubt, it was tracking me.
With a loud snarl, the lion pounded its claws into the dirt, pushing further and further in my direction. Not wanting to be its next meal maneuvered through the thick branches. I knew at some point the lion had caught wind of my scent, and was certain it was on my tail.
My feet seemed to have a mind of its own, and they carried my body through the tangled branches. Leaves were sticking to my face, and my lungs lost air as quickly as they gained it. I could hear the rapid footsteps of the lion gaining on me. Its snarls ripped through my soul and the fear in my body went into overdrive. I was swinging and leaping with all of the energy that I had left in me. It felt like centuries before I found one of the markers I had left that led to one of the cave systems and I thought quickly on my feet.
I wove my hands in the air and a vine appeared on one of the branches in front of me. I grabbed onto it and slid down. With all the speed I could muster, I ran in the direction of the cave, and dove into it waving my arm again and one of the larger boulders to the side of it rolled in front of the entrance. Placing my hands on my bent knees, I tried to catch my breath, but a loud smack against the boulder made me fall on my butt. I could hear the lion clawing and banging on the boulder, and I knew I had two options. Fight for my life, or find another exit out of the cave.
To my horrendous luck, this particular cave was one of the bigger ones, but it had no other escape other than the blocked entrance in front of me, so option one, though not my favorite, would be my only one. Nymphs normally worked with nature, tended to it, and loved it. This, however, was not nature. Sure, mountain lions were predators, and carnivores, but they never truly went after nymphs, unless threatened or severely hungry. I looked around the empty cave, desperately searching for something to aid me, and I gasped when I saw what was in one of the corners.
A makeshift bow with three arrows. I silently thanked -and cursed- my past self for forgetting it, and grabbed the weapon testing the bow's elasticity. It wasn't the best, and I would have to adapt my aim to fit it, but it was my only option.
The scratching was getting more frantic, and I steadied myself at the end of the cave. I placed the arrow's head on the anchor of the bow.
I had three arrows, but truly only one shot at this. With a quivering breath, I waved my hand at the boulder, and quickly took hold of the arrow again. The boulder slowly moved out of the way, and I closed one eye bringing the string closer and closer to my mouth.
A loud roar filled the cave as the lion sprinted towards me. I let the string go, and the arrow flew right into the eye of it, piercing its skull with a sickening crack.
It got a few feet further until it ultimately plopped onto the stone floor with a not so graceful thud. I loaded the bow with another arrow in case it managed to get up again, and brought the string back to my mouth, eyes not leaving the corpse for a moment.
I crept up to the lion slowly, the bow still taut in my grip, and kicked it, hoping it would be dead. Its uninjured eye snapped open and one of its claws scraped against my leg. With a shriek I let the string snap and the second arrow flew into the center of its skull. Blood splattered my face, some leaking down my chest. The howl that came from the creature is something that still haunts me. It wasn't normal, and I knew there was something going on, something evil.
"Goddess bless arrows. Shit" I mumbled out wiping some of the blood from my eyes.
When I was sure it was dead this time, I dropped the bow onto the ground, and looked at my injured leg. Blood was spewing from it at an ungodly speed, and my vision was getting more blurry as the moments passed.
I limped back to where the third arrow stood, and used its head to rip a chunk of material from my tattered dress. I would need stitches, but wrapping it would do the trick for now. When I got the cloth wrapped tightly enough around the wound, I hobbled out of the cave. Before I made my exit, I looked at the dead animal's neck and saw that the collar was still on, it's green light taunting me.
I found the collar's release, and took it off of the lion's neck, inspecting it further. There was a small red button on the top of it, and a black switch on the side of it with the word off written in white ink. I switched it off and held it tight in my hand, and made my way to one of the hiking paths that I knew was close to this cave.
I looked like a mess, my hair was sticking out in various places, my dress was ripped and tattered, and I had a sinking feeling in my gut that my leg would probably be infected within a few hours. I made my way through the path and found my way to campus as the sky began to illuminate with the rising sun. I groaned as I hobbled through various sidewalks leading to the campus' main building. No one was awake yet, and for that I was grateful.
My dorm, for once, was a safe haven, and I was actually glad to be there. I frantically scooped my backpack into my arms, opening the side pocket and pulling out the small sewing kit that I kept in it. I used it to patch up some of the other resident's clothes occasionally, and now I'd use it to patch up my leg. Just as I was about to thread the needle with the thickest thread I had I heard a loud knock at my door.
"Oakley? Are you in there? I need you." I held my breath as Ainsley's voice came through the cracks. A few minutes passed by and the knocking started again.
"Oakley , C'mon, I heard your door close. Open up." Damnit. I cursed Ainsley for being an early riser, and limped over to the door.
As I opened the door, I saw multiple pairs of shoes on the other side. I kept my head down, and opened it further.
"Ainsley, not now, please." I croaked out, not taking my eyes off of the feet in front of me.
"Oakley, what the hell happened?! Are you okay?! No, don't answer that, you're not okay." Ainsley pushed through the door and pulled me onto my bed. Coop and Trey had followed behind her silently. I didn't have the strength to see their reactions just yet.