[h2]Forest[/h2]
[hr][@ERode][hr]
As Esfir waited in the bushes, she would see the harpy continue to circle for several minutes. First it expanded outward, then crossed back over its previous path and corkscrewed inward, all centered on the tree it had been perched in before. But it landed in a different tree, looking at the tatzelwurm's skewered corpse. 

Then its gaping maw lifted upward as it fluttered its wings, and [b]it released a call of some kind[/b]--except that it was completely for silent for several seconds despite a visible vibration in its throat.

A shrill, grating ring began to rise in volume. It reached a nearly ear-splitting pitch, before the harpy clamped its jaws shut. The bird-monster fluttered a little lower--perhaps low enough that something thrown would reach it--and landed in a different tree.

Again, it trilled. The sound spread over Esfir like an itch, and even the grass next to her shivered. The harpy's head suddenly snapped in her direction, and it straightened up on the tree branch with wings snapped shut. Aside from a fidget as its weight shifted back and forth, it stopped moving.

Thus time went on. After another few minutes, the bird creature would look over its shoulders and sweep the rest of the area with its gaze. It looked down at the tatzelwurm again and hunched, as if it were considering leaving the tree after all.

Then it trilled again, and once again its head turned in Esfir's direction. [b]So again it straightened up, and waited...[/b]
[hr][hr]
[h2]Orc Camp[/h2]
[hr][@King Cosmos][hr]
As Akeno headed towards the voices that were mocking the same Orc who had been carrying all those baskets, she soon rounded a tent that revealed [url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094242197211185182/1094342874189025390/99889191-savage-orc-brute-warrior-wearing-traditional-armor-ready-for-battle-fantasy-themed-character-on-an.png]Builge[/url], an Orc Grunt known for bullying the Runts still left in the Brood Pits, as well as slapping around any other young orcling that would let him get away with it. Standing next to him was a taller, yet much skinnier, orc grunt with mottled ochre-and-brown tones, and a shorter, fatter grunt with lots of blue warpaint slathered over his stubby limbs and a mohawk that looked like it was kept aloft by copious amounts of animal fat-grease.

"Gyar har har!" hooted the bully and his two lackies. "Whatcher plantin' dere, Farmer Grukh-head? Some more o' dem tasty fish'eads from last toime?" The fat one wiped a tear from his eye as he chortled and called out afterward.

"Did da foist batch grow inter trouts yet?! Maybes ya gotta water 'em some mores!" The lanky one exchanged a round of backslaps with his fellow stooge, and all three continued laughing uproariously.

"Da fish don't grow, ya idjits!" snapped back the one with the baskets as he placed them next to the plot of cleared ground. "Dey rots in da ground, and da plants grow betta on top!" He sneered at the three grunts, despite being rather puny himself for an adult, and knelt down to dig at the earth with his hands.

"Oi! Who's ya callin' an idjit, IDJIT!?" Builge cracked his knuckles as he stepped forward. He glanced over his shoulder to see that his two followers were also showing signs of aggression--[b]and in the process noticed Akeno approaching.[/b]

"'old up bois! Lookie 'ere!" The grunt smirked, tongue darting over one of his tusks. "One 'a da babies FINALLY got back to camp!" He pointed, prompting quizzical looks from his minions as they also noticed Akeno.
[hr][hr]
[h2]South Caves[/h2]
[hr][@Kazemitsu][hr]
[quote=Kaze]The Runt described the beings in the northern caves. Giant bat-like creatures that were in colonies. That was not a good thing to fight out in the open. In a cave it'd probably be easier to deal with. The other Runt was excited by the footprints and drag marks. Grunthor was more interested in the stuff left behind.

In the abandoned 'camp' there were a few items, mostly junk that wouldn't interest anyone with half a brain. Ear necklace? Really? Useless. The gloves however, he picked them up while keeping an eye on the cave depths and the ceiling. Since he had his club he used his foot to scoot the stone dagger closer to the other Runt along with the bandana.

"If you know how to make a torch we'll go make one and proceed. I only know how to hit things really fucking hard and how to hurt organs with my fists." He said quietly before looking back at the exit. The light caught some minerals, all round bumps with a black luster. He knew jack shit about geology on earth nevermind this place.

"Maybe grab some of that and get going if you can't make a torch? We technically have evidence that they were here and I'm not hearing anything from deeper in..." Grunthor stated, he was naturally wary of giant web slinging scuttling things that could potentially take out three adults.[/quote]

"Well, at least you know something that's actually [i]useful[/i]." The orange-eyed runt chuckled. Taking his Wooden Stick out of his loincloth, the other runt wrapped the Red Bandana around it and then began digging around the remains of the fire. After at least two days it had no red embers left, but he was able to find a few bits of wood that hadn't burned and, upon digging up one of the bedrolls, a little piece of flint and a rusty steel striker. "Not like these other rubes with their "modern ejumacation" they can't actually reproduce."

The bandana was rubbed into the charcoal to give it a coating of the dusty substance, and then the other Runt slipped one of the grass-fiber handwraps over it as well. Within a few strikes, [b]a torch blossomed to life[/b]. When Grunthor mentioned possibly investigating that shiny black material, and then getting out of the cave with the evidence that clearly the other orcs were dead, the greasy-haired runt "hmmmed" for a while.

He picked up the dagger Grunthor had slid his way, then used its [b]antler handle[/b], rather than its stone blade, to strike hard at the section of floor with the bumpy round bits. 

"It's definitely--" he struck it again, "--some kind of ore." And again. "If we came back with some actual tools, we could get a good bit of it!" He struck one more time, and then made a breathy sound of triumph. He picked up a piece, turned it in his hand, [b]then tossed it to Grunthor[/b]. "You ever met Bowbh yet?"

[quote=SYSTEM:Grunthor]Obtained: Small Leather Gloves
Obtained: Raw Goethite Ore x1[/quote]

The black mineral was weighty, but rather smooth due to its "bubbly" formation. Underneath its dark luster, some of the earth that had come out with it had a rusty red dusting.

"But!" the runt continued, taking his torch and pointing into the still-forboding darkness, "[b]If we're gonna mine in here, we gotta make it safe, right? So what's say we soldier on and at least figure out what else we've got to worry about in here[/b], right? If we make it quick," he glanced at his burning torch, "[b]we can probably roast those webs on the way back[/b]! Eh? Eeeeh?" He wiggled his eyebrows at Grunthor conspiratorially. 
[hr][hr]
[h2]Deep Forest[/h2]
[hr][@ReusableSword][hr]
[quote=SYSTEM:Agar]
[b]Current Skills:[/b][list][*][b]Ingestion[/b] - MAX - [i]After consuming a required amount of biomass from a particular Creature, 1 of that Creature's Skills can be copied at its lowest Rank.[/i]
[*][b]Field Scan[/b] - Rank II  - [i]Ingested Skill. Detect life signs around the user within 30 feet, and remain aware of them for 1 minute.[/i][list][*][i]At Rank II, one can roughly sense the silhouette of the creatures within range.[/i][/list]
[*][b]Blunt Resistance[/b] - Rank I - [i]Ingested Skill. Passive Resistance against Blunt Damage is increased.[/i]
[*][b]Muffle[/b] - Rank I - [i]Ingested Skill. Muffle the sounds of your movements to become stealthy. The user's footsteps will be significantly more quiet, but this is only a deduction from the normal amount of noise they would make. Therefore, one's armor, weight, etc may still produce sounds beyond a certain level.[/i]
[*] >> Empty Skill Slot![/list][/quote]

With a mental "ding!" Agar's System gave him the level up reward. As he deliberated what to do, the Field Scan's effect wore off, but it didn't seem like anything else around him had moved much. All of the creatures should still be in their places...

The Orc Runt hurled his piece of debris. The movement startled the Jackalope, which sprang out from its hiding place. The noise attracted the large, vaguely-gator shaped creature. The red bird, which was the only creature he had a clear view of since it was brightly colored and high off the ground, drew itself up to be larger and ruffled its feathers, but made no sound.

[b]The gator, with unusual swiftness for something of its size, lunged with a deep, rumbling growl that escalated instantly into a vicious snarl![/b] But it wasn't coming at Agar.

With a meaty crunch and a high squeal, [b]the Jackalope was seized mid leap[/b]. Despite its impressive speed, the explosive forward plunge of the larger creature was faster and covered more ground. The beast shook its horned head back and forth even as its jaws clamped down, and even slammed its prey into the earth with a great deal of violence. [b]There were some shrill noises further on--the goblins, perhaps?[/b] These noises were followed by thumping sounds that grew more distant by the second.

Agar's vision of the other monster became more clear as it moved around. Once it had the entire Jackalope's body in its mouth, it then ran like a Komodo dragon towards a tree--headbutting it? No. It was shoving the entire, larger-than-Earth's sized rabbit down its gullet, whole.

[hider=HODAG][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094242197211185182/1094277384473153587/dedl2fe-3b5c2331-bc0a-401f-a550-7785ac9fa5a2.png?ex=6586f7bb&is=657482bb&hm=fd6527043d12e7ab92ae81f28180622bb7fc49ae1e68ea864f5c592f85b9437d&p[/img][/hider]

There was even more distance between the creature and the tree that Agar was aiming for, [b]so if he dared to run past it he could definitely make it to a safe place[/b]. There was also the option of trying to [b][b]attack the beast while it was eating[/b][/b], as well...By this point, the Jackalope was a slightly twitching bulge in the monster's throat, which it began to rub back and forth against the ground to further force its unchewed meal down. [b]And then...it went...very still...
[/b]