When the girl fell into the pool of water, a curious noise bellowed from beneath. Bubbles rose from the now steaming pool, a large beast then leaped with the girl cradled in her arms, harpoons and swords which looked like splinters were stuck in its hunching back, it's eyes covered by hair which matched seaweed. it grabbed the man and threw him to the side as if he were a doll, he barely survived the fall. The girl noticed the pool turning a dark grey as the beast had left, now black, bubbling and full of hot tar. The beast leapt a second time but now towards a mountain in the west.

@Dyece@Alisdragon911@Shmektheshmuck

Even though the girl kicked him, Esmond grunted and tightened his grip. "Calm down there missy," he said, already trying to figure out what he was going to use to bind her hands. He cursed to himself for his stupidity. He should have figured that out ahead of...

He was suddenly airborn, his grip ripped violently from the girl. Dazed, he lay still where he landed in a heap.

Gregor looked up just in time to see some kind of beast fly right over him and disappear into the distance. It actually gave him pause. He stopped in the middle of the trail and looked curiously down at the water skins. The Serpent Riders carried a potent hallucinogenic soup called, appropriately, Serpent Venom that they drank before a dangerous hunt that they said allowed them to perceive the true shape of their prey. He shook the skin and looked around at the jungle. He didn't feel high or particularly perceptive of the spiritual side of things, but that just meant that whatever just jumped over his head was real enough that he could see it sober.

"Island mysteries," he said to nobody. "What can you do?" He kept walking. Slightly faster now.

The beast had now stopped into a walk, moving towards the now close by mountain, he jumped again, this time towards a cave high up on the mountain top. It was wet, snowing as well, the beast entered the cave and placed the girl down on a bed of leaves, it then sat down and began shovelling snow into its mouth, it waited.

@Kelewen@Gentlemanvaultboy

Rain notices a rip in her shirt stolen from someone on the ship, she is a bit shy what she is wearing under it. She pass the guy who is in a heap in a tree as she runs quickly to follow that beast with the red hair girl. She runs into another guy who look like he could kill her, she steps back wondering if he is gathering up slaves as well. She brush her long dark brown hair and sighs as how more she had to deal with at the moment.

It didn't take long for the slavers to arrive at the village and the elder was notified before they arrived by the scout. There was no need for subtleties, upon listening to the scout's reports he knew these weren't your everyday slavers, they knew they were being watched. The elder walked out from his house to welcome the slavers, he was flanked by two native warriors armed with spears. He did not want to threaten the slavers, but he wanted to make his authority clear.

Ulric stood in front of the group and he was clearly the leader, Matahari said to him, "I know why you're here, and we can both agree that you want to leave with your property as soon as you can." Matahari took a deep breathe and sighed, "They were here, no point hiding that fact from you nor do I intend to, but I chased them out. Your kind always bring trouble here, no matter who they are, I rather not get my people involved." The elder wanted to get the whole thing over with, the sooner the better and preferably without any bloodshed. He was confident that his men could take on the slavers, but the casualty would make the village susceptible to attacks from other tribes.

Ulric kept a relaxed stance, cigar dangling loosely from his lip and his hand well away from his weapon as the old man and his guards approached. His gaze swept over the village, taking a quick survey of the number of huts and armed men, as well as places that might offer a tactical advantage should things go very wrong in the next few moments.

He cocked an eyebrow in surprise when the old man spoke in the common tongue. That was unexpected, but certainly made matters easier. Even better, the elder seemed to be anxious to cooperate. "Then no need to trouble you further," Ulric said. "Which way did you run 'em off to?" he asked, pulling another cigar from his breast pocket and offering it to Matahari, knowing that sometimes a small gift could buy him all the information he needed.

Matahari shook his hand at Ulric. "No need for bribery, I'll tell you what you want as long as it makes you leave us sooner, but sadly I can't tell you where they went for even I have no idea." said the elder sternly. "As soon as they were out of my village, I paid no attention to where they went for I was expecting your arrival. I have no care for those who leave, only for those who are arriving, or rather, have arrived." Matahari then paused for a moment to give himself some thought, surely the slavers won't leave if they don't get a satisfying answer. "Ahh yes, right before they left a man arrived who seems to be one of the members of your crew, I believed he mentioned that he help the slaves escape?".

"The bloody blazes you mean someone of the crew aided the slaves?" The Dukw's mustache twithced with barely contained rage before he managed to again gather his composure. This area was completely foreign to him, but Alexander was if nothing else a smart man. "The slaves might try to make their way to a waterway... Damnable..." The tall nobleman adjusted his coat slightly. "Well, we best be on our way then. Now, are you certain you do not have a clue where the slaves headed?" The aging gentleman sounded sincerely hopeful that the village elder had just forgotten some minor tidbit of information.

Willow looked at the huge spider web that went across the trail. "Dammit..." she muttered. "This is going to hold us back unless there is some way around it."

John looked at teh elder, then the nobleman, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the obvious statement.

@Alisdragon911

Gregor stops on the path, mystified as a girl runs out of the underbrush to his side a stares at him. Was she from the ship? She didn't look native, and the clothes were right, but he couldn't remember seeing her in the hold. Then again, he had been just at the edge of the convict section. Not far enough to see all his fellow prisoners or many of the "special acquisitions." The chain dragging behind her, though, was a dead giveaway. It was bigger than his.

He took off one of the water skins and threw it to her. "Hoi. We should keep moving, downriver. There are boats. We had a guide, I fell behind. Chop Chop!"

---

@Marcus XVI@xChrome@Kelewen@Nikki Moonlight

"You don't think it's Szandor, do ya?" Dinah asked. "We threw his ass into the drink durin' that storm. If he made it here that'd be a proper god damn miracle."

@Nikki Moonlight@Hundsgugel

Brinley halted a few feet behind Willow, Water Snake, Oliver, and Szandor, trying to catch her breath and glancing nervously back over her shoulder, half expecting to see the hostile natives barreling down the trail after them. But it was strangely quiet. "Where... is... Gregor?" she asked, still huffing and puffing.

Had he been captured or even killed by the same men who put an arrow into Oliver? She swallowed hard as her breathing started to even out and looked toward the obstacle that had stopped Willow. She barely had a chance to recognize the web before the enormous arachnid lunged down from a tree near the small group, trying to snatch the albino girl. "Look out!" she screamed.

---

@Gentlemanvaultboy@Marcus XVI@xChrome

A private smirk swept over Ulric's face when Dinah suggested Szandor. "Could be," he said. "Guess we'll have least one replacement for one a' the drowned ones."

He considered the elder's words, finding it slightly unbelievable that the man didn't know at least which general direction they had headed. Unless of course they were still here and Matahari was covering for them. "We'll see if we can pick up their trail then," he said, glancing about at the gathered natives. If the slaves were still here, perhaps one of them would inadvertently give away their position. A few glanced to a well worn path that seemed to lead out of the village opposite the trail that they had come in.

"Forgive the intrusion," he said, pushing the refused cigar back into its place, and began heading toward that trail. It left his back exposed, but he trusted that the natives were happy enough to see them on their way.

@Kelewen

Willow cried out, jumping back in a nimble way, then cut the spider with the spear she wwas still gripping for Snake.
-----
John began to follow Ulric. He bit his lip and sighed. "Hm..."

"All I know is that they left the way they came." said the elder sternly while pointing to the main entrance. He then said to Ulric, "Not a problem, I want to see this matter solved just as much as you do." Matahari was glad that the band of slavers are leaving, he didn't care whether or not they find their slaves, all that mattered to him was that they were gone. He went back into his house to catch a breather, hoping all of them will be gone for good, one way or another.

---

Snake turned around to see Willow cutting the spider with his spear. He was worried that Willow could not handle the weapon, but she handled it marvelously. He looked on as the spider shrieked in pain but not quite dead yet. He realised that the natives were no longer on their tail, but there's no way they could outrun the giant spider. Snake placed Oliver down as gently as he could and went for the spider. He lunged forward and grabbed the spider by its fangs as it was distracted by its wounds, they were the most dangerous parts of the spider, also the most vulnerable. With strength and grace fitting for a hunter, he twisted the fangs and they snapped right into his hands. Even if the spider is still alive, it's no longer that big of a threat.

@Gentlemanvaultboy@Kelewen

Rain catches the water skin Gregor threw at her, she will save it for later as she is not thirsty anymore. She notices the chain had unraveled from her leg and notices it made a trail, she hopes that guy who try to grab her at the waterfall did not follow the trail the chain left. She quickly rewrap the heavy chain around her leg again as she notices this guy is in a hurry, "have you seen any of the other slaves?" She ask as she walks beside this guy with the sound of the chain move as she walks.

@Alisdragon911

"Yes, yes, gods yes. Whole group of them." Gregor replied. "There's even one that can help you with that nasty chain predicament of yours. Got to hurry though. This jungle is full of natives and monsters and Ulric, unless I was imagining that middle one. No time to be split up. No time for anything, really. No time to even introduce ourselves. Gregor Heartway, by the way." He stopped momentarily to give a little bow before continuing down the trail. "Charmed!"

---

@Nikki Moonlight@Kelewen@Marcus XVI

Dinah eyed the back of Johns head, before speeding up beside him. "Somethin' on your mind, big guy?" She said in a conspiratorial whisper. "Seems like your heart ain't in it today. Thinkin' of a gal back home, ey?" She elbowed him playfully in the side. "Ya know that, whatchamacallit, wistfulness is the death a sailors."

@Gentlemanvaultboy

John rolled his eyes. "I ain't got a girl back home...I'm just thinking that the slaves won't take too kindly to bein' caught again. Especially not that albino one, she was more fiery than the deepest pits 'a hell when I caught 'er..."
-----
@xChrome@Kelewen

Willow watched with wide, wild eyes as Snake grabbed the fangs of the spider and tore them right out. She looked at around the path. "We need to go around the path. There's no web there..." She began to go around the web.

Snake wiped the internal fluids of the spider on his tunic and picked Oliver back up. He's still alive, but barely clinging to life. He followed Willow around the web and continued running. The docks isn't far now, he could hear the slight sound of sailors shouting.

@Gentlemanvaultboy

"They are real, a monster took away a red hair girl near a waterfall away to the mountainside." Rain said as she continue walking at a fast pace , she is glad to get the chain off her leg. "Rain and I am not charmed." She says as she shivers a bit as horriable memories came rushing back to her as she walks further away from him. At the moment she did not want to talk about it.

The spider made a loud and horrible shriek of pain when Water Snake tore its fangs. Quickly, it retreated up the tree nearest the web. It's dark form well hidden by the dark leaves of the tree.

Brinley stared at it for a just a moment, both scared of and fascinated by the huge spider. If she hadn't just watched it scale the tree, she'd never know it was there. But once Willow and then Snake were around the web, she followed, carefully keeping an eye on the unmoving spider while avoiding touching the sticky strands strung across the trail.

Unfortunately, this left the spider's trap perfectly intact for Gregor and Rain...