Chapter 101 - Solo scouting mission

Author's Note: Hello there Ladies and Gentlemen! In the last chapter someone said that everything was getting a bit boring. Sadly that is something I have to agree with, which is partially because there is no real powerful antagonist present here and if I were to insert someone the story would probably suffer because of that. As a result, to make everything a bit more interesting I decided to make a few changes to my plans which include the content of this chapter. Hopefully my new plans will spice everything up a bit more.

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As they flew through the air Aeolus was astounded by how little everything had changed despite him carrying more than double his own weight additionally. Through their telepathic link they could accurately communicate and from time to time check on the newest addition to their team. The same distance that had taken Kaiser more than two days to cover was easily completed in a few hours by them now. After Kaiser had found a suitable cave close to the passage between the foothills. Tired they entered it and went to sleep, not even waking up for the daily evening report.

---Meanwhile in the capitol ---

Today Ceasar and those that had watched the games had been very excited. Kaiser had encountered two new races of creatures and tamed one creature of each one. Following that he had completely scaled the mountain and presented the watchers with a wonderful view from the top of the mountain which captured the viewers as well as his flight underneath the moonlight which sadly couldn't be fully covered as they were in the air where they didn't have any stationary cameras although a flying invisible hovercraft soon filmed them flying above the clouds along the foothills. Needless to say that money of sponsors soon flooded the emptied pockets of Kaisers mentors. Besides his actions nothing major had happened as everyone besides the career tributes played it safe and tried to hide themselves and thus outlive the others.

--- Back in the arena ---

When Kaiser awoke the next day both Gaia and Aeolus were still deep asleep. Since the sun was already up he went to investigate the surrounding area since he hadn't seen much under the moonlight and wanted to check out how secure their location was. Before stepping outside he stuffs his cloak with a few nuts and berries for the way and secures his weapons on his belt. Leaving the cave he entered a small nearly straight plateau overgrown with grass and various kinds of grasses. A small river crossed it to his left as it flowed from the rocks directly besides the cave. To both sides the foothills rose high until somewhere to his right a large passage opened up. Towards the front there was a grass covered slope downwards into misty and foggy grassland. Wishing to proceed to discover the region he looked back. It was very unwise to leave without his familiars which were quite powerful. Cirb was still on the way towards the and would only arrive in a few hours. Trapped between both sides he finally decided to be a bit more impulsive and go alone. They could always follow him later by using the link between their souls. He even had a map. Taking a deep breath he began his decent.

When he encountered the first few wisps of mist he began pulling his cloak closer at the cold wetness. Looking back a bit hesitantly he ultimately shook his head. He shouldn't worry to much he had survived every encounter without any problems until now and trained for years.

The wet long grass underneath his feet and the lack of real sunlight was a bit unusual but he would be able to deal with it. Humming a sweet melody he went in deeper. Soon however, as he continued forwards, small puddles began to appear and after a while of walking they became larger and deeper with tall reeds that carried sharp bladed leaves surrounding their edges, forcing his to walk around them should he want to continue onward.

After a bit more than 15 additional minutes of walking the deep ponds and reeds had created an enormous marshland with few muddy paths between them. If he didn't have a great sense of direction he would have already forgotten where he had come from as he almost had to walk in circles all the time. After a few minutes with no change and the eerie silence in the air he decided to turn back and retreat. He could try to find the center but it would be best if he did that with his companions and not alone.

As he went back the way he had come from he stopped after a few meters. "Come out! I've already seen you. Who are you spear wielder?"

Seeing no response Kaiser began to approach, his eyes fixed on what he he had seen, a bony white spear. Grasping his large knife in his right hand he quickly extended his other hand to grab the spear. Before he could reach it however he was forced to pull it back as something quick and powerful tried to strike his extended hand. Stepping back Kaiser began thinking. The path in front of him was blocked by that thing. He could try to fight that person or go around it but would need to find other paths which might take forever. Before he could come to a decision the spear began to move.

Stepping onto the narrow muddy path in front of Kaiser was a large flightless bird. The spear he had seen had been one of his long bony white scaled legs. Additionally he assumed that the large long pointy beak had been what had probably attacked his left hand previously.

"Hello there", said Kaiser. "would you mind letting me through? I'm in a bit of a hurry to go back to my friends you see..."

The bird merely tilted it's head to the side. "It speaks? Food speaks. Food regardless."

Seeing that the negotiations had failed Kaiser readied himself. Grasping towards the small scalpel like knifes in his belt with his left hand he had to stop as the bird kicked towards him, forcing him to fully focus on retreating without falling. When the bird kicked towards him a second time Kaiser tried to block with his knife, the force behind the kick almost causing him to slip and fall into the muddy waters of the swamp. Cursing wildly Kaiser retreated with his shoes profile now full of mud, making walking on the already difficult and slippery path even more difficult, especially backwards like he was currently. Seeing that it was his only working option for now Kaiser began retreating while trying to go in a circle and retreat back towards the cave he had come from where he could fight better. Although Kaiser tried a few more times to throw the scalpels the bird gave him no rest. Soon he reached a point where he would be able to go back although he would have to jump from one patch of grass to the next as the rest of the path had been flooded. On the other hand he could continue on the intact path which led closer towards the center.

Cursing once more he turned around jumped on the first patch and soon after the second before stopping on the third. Looking back he saw the beak picking towards him. Ducking he managed to evade the beak that pierced the air where his head had previously been. Quickly he hurried along the path that led somewhere into the fog. The ponds on both sides slowly got deeper as the path turned and twisted before finally leading closer to the center. Hearing the noises of the bird behind him he knew that going as fast as possible was his only option. Then, about ten meters away he managed to make out a silhouette. Finally from beyond the veil of the mist another tribute emerged holding a spear, standing on a large piece of land. The tribute seemed skinny although at this point in the games that made little difference. He still assumed it to be a tribute from District 5 to 12.

"Retreat!" Kaiser shouted. "Go back or I'll kill you."

The boy looked up and now noticed the bird behind Kaiser. Seeing that Kaiser was cornered from both directions he jumped on the few patches of grass that separated Kaiser from reaching a larger patch of land. Although the boy didn't seem to experienced in using a spear he was able enough to give Kaiser a lot of trouble. Not only did he block his escape but could also support the attacks of the bird. Now that Kaiser had to deal with a spear, two long and powerful legs as well as a powerful beak and had to fight on the tiny slippery spot of mud and grass he truly was in for a lot of trouble.