Glistening water (standard:adventure, 727 words)
Author: Kinslayer	Added: Jul 18 2003	Views/Reads: 3643/4	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Washed ashore and alone, a mystery of a lost idol and a not to typical pirate.

The sun glistened off the water, sending rays of light this way and
that. The light beams fell upon a woman's face, waking her up from 
rest. She lay on the beach, soaking wet, a sword clasped in one hand 
and a stone idol in the other. She lifted herself off the beach and 
looked around. There was nothing but forest spread before her, and 
behind, the sea. 

She lifted the idol into a velvet bag at her side. It was of a closed
clamshell, about the size of her palm and weathered to the point it 
resembled a stone. She gave it a kiss and slipped it into the bag. She 
fastened her sword to her belt and checked for her pistol on the other 
side before she hastened to the forest. 

The paths through the forests were old and overgrown, and as she hacked
her way through the foliage she could hear animals scurrying through 
the underbrush to get away. She judged by the sun that she was headed 
west, toward the port town of Oota. Green sunlight filtered down 
through the leaves, making the forest dark and foreboding. 

Hoping to make it to town before it got dark she quickened her pace,
racing through the forest as quickly as she could. A chill ran up her 
spine, forcing her to slow down and eye the forest around her 
cautiously. A rustle of leaves came from above her, then to the right. 
She stopped in her tracks and began circling around, looking for signs 
of movement coming from the brush and trees. 

From behind she heard the rustling again. “Come out or I'll run you
through.” She yelled into the forest. She drew her sword slowly and 
held it before her. The woods became silent and still, eerily quiet. As 
she slowly slid her sword back into its sheath a screech echoed in the 
distance. She quickly pulled her gun to her side and fired a shot in 
that direction. The blast roared amongst the trees sending a group of 
birds billowing into the sky. Again the forest grew silent and the 
woman sat on a nearby log to catch her breath. 

Before long she stood up, refastened her gun to her hip and continued
down the path, this time more slowly, making sure to pause and listen 
for anything approaching. In a few hours she could make out the sounds 
of people and knew that the town must be just beyond the trees. As she 
reached the clearing, again the rustle of foliage came from her right. 
She dove to the ground in time to have a dark coated jungle cat bound 
over her and take off full speed into the town. As she looked up she 
saw two more emerge, just a few hundred yards down. 

The cats were dodging and weaving between the people and buildings,
sending people scattering for their homes. Quickly she took up arms, 
wielding her sword in one hand, her pistol in the other. She fired a 
shot as she emerged from the forest, just grazing the top of a jungle 
cat's head. It quickly swung about and without missing a beat headed 
full bore for her. She took aim once again. As she sighted it, she saw 
another come out of a window about three houses down. In its mouth it 
held a small child. 

“Damn!” she swore, and adjusted her aim, firing the shot just over the
charging cats head and into the side of the other. Before she had a 
chance to see what had happened, she was shoved to the ground, as the 
jungle cat pounced onto her chest. It was heavy and clawing viciously 
at her face, but she held its two front paws, trying to restrain it. 
She felt blood coming from her abdomen, as the cat dug her hind legs 
into her stomach. She could feel herself warring out and was not sure 
how long she would last, when a blast came from behind her. The cat 
grew limp and she sluffed it onto the ground next to her. She began 
breathing shallow, and was exhausted from her wounds and the struggle, 
but before she past out she saw a blurry vision of someone standing 
over her. 

The man said, “Get some sleep Captain Redding.” And she did. 

To be continued... 


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