Without a clock or wristwatch to maintain, Marcie's sense of time had long slipped away. In her restless attempts to sleep, she had no idea if she had rested for a few hours or only a few minutes. The day and night cycles on this planet may not even parallel Earths at all. For all she knew, they could be way shorter, or way longer. The extreme sizes of the animals so far suggests higher concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere at least, which could potentially indicate a slightly larger world than Earth.
If this were not a survival situation, Marcie could see herself getting interested in exploring and studying the natural ecologies of this planet. What sort of beautiful and miraculous plants were in store for horticulturists and arborists should they even gain the opportunity to come here on funded expeditions?
Her thoughts, however, were disrupted by the sounds of nocturnal animals making their usual calls echoed everywhere making it sound like a night prowling the great African savanna plains back on Earth. She was grateful to be far away from the forest floor.
There was especially a strong sound of feathers fluttering about. She wondered if it was a similar species to the owl, she always thought they were a pretty and adorable bird. Just as she was about to fall back asleep, a blue screen popped up in front of her. Marcie both cowered away from the sudden blinding and was shot wide awake at the same time.
~Ding!
* Cordanian Asprey. B-Rank. This flighted bird lives a solitary life and has very few natural predators. Known to carry prey much heavier than themselves. The fastest flying beast of this domain. This is a species close to achieving an evolved sentience.*
"What? Where?!" Marcie's eyes darted about. The part about the B-Rank had her immediately on edge. She pulled her pike from her inventory just to be sure. The silence felt like the moment before a horror movie jump scare, only this wasn't the cinemas but real life.
The hopes that the bird had flown away and completely missed her was in vain though. Huge beats of wind pressure smacked her in the side the way a taiko drum reverberates its beat in your chest. Grabbing the vine that had her tied to the tree was all she could do to stop herself from rolling off of it.
As soon as the harsh wingbeat gusts subsided, Marcie was faced with yet another foe in front of her. This giant bird had many characteristics of the Asprey's of Earth, but also of other birds. In the deep darkness of night, however, she couldn't really make out much of its characteristics.
If she could back up and hide, she would. But as this giant bird that even outrivals the Albatross in size came in closer towards her, Marcie had to suppress her panic. A flood of inventory windows dotted her view as she quickly flipped through it. "What do I do…. What should I do?"
Marcie doubted the bird was evil or vindictive. Rather, she tried to look at it as just an animal. So it was likely hungry right? Out for its nightly hunt. Unlike before with the Vorpal creatures when she had nothing, now she might be able to do something that doesn't involve harming anyone. Marcie touched the screen and held her hand out in front of her as if to toss something.
As though it were following her will, a few inches from her hand burst a huge slab of Vorpal meat out of seemingly nothing and landed at her feet towards the bird. The bird momentarily hopped back in surprise but the smell of the flesh offering enticed it to approach.
The bird inspected and smelled the piece with caution before ripping off a bite-sized piece and swallowing it whole. Marcie thought that maybe it would continue to eat then leave her alone, but instead, it hopped over the slab towards her.
The same motions of inspection and sniffing irked Marcie and she readies herself to grab her a weapon from her inventory. The bird let out a deafening screech and before she could take out her weapon, it had scooped her up in its talons. Without missing a beat, it picked up the slab of meat with its other talons and took off to the sky.
It was a new episode of ragdoll Marcie apparently as she clasped onto its talons and held on as tightly as she could. The beast's long sharp claws could easily turn her into human kebabs yet the hold was actually rather gentle.
The flight was a short one, perhaps only lasting a few minutes. But a few minutes of flight with a bird of that size could mean quite a far distance. Marcie found herself being set down upon a tall outcropping on the side of a cliff.
Most of the surface that jutted out was the same stone as the rest of the cliff face, but due to the air's dampness of the biome, some spots were edged with mosses and small plants with one twisted tree that seemed to form a sort of natural archway.
At the base of the tree was a very large nest, no doubt belonging to this bird, and within it was a clutch of five beautiful pearlescent eggs of varying shades and tones. Even in this darkness, Marcie could tell that these eggs would be considered treasures. Still, they were not free for the taking.
The bird quickly placed the meat next to the nest where it got comfortable to continue incubating the eggs. The bird relaxed as it casually ate the meal, no longer in a rush. Marcie could feel herself relax a bit as well as she propped herself up against a small boulder and looked out into the horizon.
Off in the distance, a strange light caught her eye. It seemed faint from where she was, but the light was unmistakably familiar. Marcie's eyes lit up in excitement as she pointed towards it while looking back at the bird.
"Look there! Those lights are made by my kind! They are here to rescue me and others like me who were stranded here!"
Marcie didn't expect the bird to understand her or even fathom what she was trying to communicate. The bird had paused its meal in response and gazed towards the light. It studied her expressions and gestures to make out the message before it got up from the nest.
The bird picked her up with his huge beak and placed her in the nest amongst the eggs. Marcie tried to climb out but the bird squatted on top too quickly. "Mmmff, n-no! I need you to take me to that light!" Marcie struggled in vain though as she quickly tired. The warmth from the downy feathers of the bird's belly easily overtook her sense of awareness as it preyed upon her fatigue like a spell. Marcie could no longer keep her eyes open.