Report - W.Caravan - ... WIC edition

Chapter 23 - One More Remnant of The Dark Days

Were close to ending the day. In an hour and ten minutes we should end, before that I will check a spot and make sure it's viable. 50 meters none, 100 meters few, 150 meters couple, but it's a half and half, the likelihood of a battle ensuing far away is very likely. 
"Keep formations, I'll check slightly ahead"
The trees here are smaller and way too dispersed for their species, it's a geographical sign. Not too far from here is an old abandoned camp. It acted as a miniature logging camp in an attempt to clear out the periphery and make scouting missions easier. That's been cited as being the largest confirmed reason as to why the nomadic fort was destroyed not too long after. The fungy-infested logs and shrubbery are all that remain of the loggers and whatever stampede came from this direction. It's not long until I see it, well what's left of it. As painful as the collapse itself was the realization that the beasts have a natural drive to destroy all that we have built. They broke down houses and stampeded through the fields with the intention to destroy it all. Forts are harder to rip apart so for this one only the bottom base remains. Everything else that wasn't dragged off now sits in rocky piles all around. Should have shown these instead because this is a sign of our struggle, but it's not as good at proving the history that they have intentionally destroyed. Even still there is some light to be found here. This fort received all of its water from a bog slightly off the path.
"Caravan march! The coast is clear"
A reed-filled swamp appears ahead. Our backs will be covered and with enough boiling it'll be safe to drink, just gotta make sure none of our friends used it as a bathroom. 
"Alright, we'll encamp here, but we wake early tomorrow. If all goes to plan... after 4 days we're done"
"Oh man the end!"
"You're telling me"
"Boys come on, 4 more days and then we can run away and live the rest of our lives as beggars"
"I hated sleeping, eating, drinking, bathing, walking, singing and whatever else we did with you, I'm not begging on the street corners with you"
"Prefer to die out here?"
"At least my corpse won't be desecrated," He is kind of correct with that statement.
It is a nice sight now. The band of misfits that people like me could tell apart at first glance have been turned into something cohesive. Sadly a fair bit does come from fear, I still hold absolute power, but other than that, we're looking good. We have a good supply of amenities and sickness has been... climbing actually, I'm still keeping an eye on one man with a wound in his leg. Our combat effective strength has increased and ammo should last one more major engagement. Even with their exhaustion they seem to be continuously  improving and improving, orders are being followed and even now without any direct orders they all disengage form their chat and get to work. The supply drop by the old fort provides even more joy, even if it month old crackers. And then another gift appears.
"Hey, boys! Wanna see a magic trick?" Lets experiment.
"Are you gonna move an entire fortress and its garrison over here?"
"If anyone could do that then you wouldn't be walking this trail with that kind of armament. No, over there across the ponds. Look, but remain quiet"
Slowly 2 hooves appear out of the reeds and step next to the edge of the water. Evening itself out reveals a large puff of dark brown hair slowly rising in scale as it goes from the legs to what is the face. At the top rests a large hairball. From the side angle it's hard to believe that inside of that bag lies a face, that that is from where it breaths, sees and eats. And if those were the laws of biology, then it would shake reality as it lovers the hairball to take a sip from the filthy water in front.
"Sir?"
"Wild bull. It's large and hairy. They fight with horns and thick headbutts. Below that frontal ball rests a face, believe it or not. From there it sees and it hears. That's a charger, I can tell because it has an additional set of horns. Most bulls grow horns pointing forwards, but growing over to the sides. Chargers have one pair on the sides pointing to the sides and the second wraps around their eyes and forms a sort of 'frontal face dagger pair"
"Is it hostile?"
"If it sees us then maybe. If he doesn't have friends nearby then he will be scared because we have the numbers and we're looking at him"
"Why does it... seem so... I'm not saying peaceful of course, but it-"
"I know, of all the creatures we must remember that not all are complete carnivores. Having faced and feared crawlers for so long it is a breath of fresh air to look out and see something our size and yet be... 'peaceful' you could say."
"Why does it look... familiar?"
"There is a mystery concerning these creatures. Most biologists haven't been able to explain the evolutionary process of some of the creatures that came after the World Shaker. One of the most ellusive ones is the bull since no domesticated bull or cow has ever grown to become like these ones. They had the same shape, but with a brighter coat and most didn't have that much hair. They grazed large swathes of land that weren't really fit for agriculture. They were bred and slaughtered for their meat and their warm hides. Unlike goats they produced far more milk. Don't think I need to anything more"
"Do we shoot it?"
"Well for 1, we're around 2 quarters of the way down in bolts and you don't know where its main organs are. 2 their not as aggressive as the rest, if he comes I'll handle it, but if he comes then the chance of backup being near is immense"
Soon the monster stops and raises its head. As the water pellets begin dropping from its beard the creature looks around. Then it sees me, us. A row of humanoid figures standing upright, anyone who's faced a hunt from our kind before would know that this is the moment to run. Before we've blinked the hair mound has snapped to the sides and begun to run towards the trees.
"And what if it's a scout?"
"Then more would have been waiting behind it and they would've been in a tighter formation"
Once It reaches the trees it swiftly changes direction before coming to a halt. Now he's waiting for our move. Gently I walk in the creatures direction, slow and easy steps. My right is secured by the water and there's more than enough space left. No one is coming to save him. An opportunity of showmanship is rare, but I am not willing to risk a sleepless night and a fight in the morning. I pause near the halfway mark between the thing and my onlookers. Slowly I pull out the tome, none of my weapons. This time I'm not writing down anything nor am I looking into its pages for guidance. Instead I wrap my hand around the top of the book and press the opposing end against my hip. Slowly my body weight begins shifting to the left as my left leg gets pulled out more and more, it has to have noticed my right leg lowering and lowering itself from the weight. It sees that I am unable to immediately begin running - no chase and no escape. Nothing yet, the creature remains. Confusion hasn't worked yet so I need to show off some of my strength. It starts out as a whistle and then slowly it morphs into a calling, even this herbivore would recognize these bird sounds being uttered by a human. Confused it may have been, but ultimately steadfast it remained. Another whistle that turns into a call. A flock of many a type of birds begin to arrive, I'm just that good, and that finally grabs his attention. If only they could speak 'a human is speaking the language of the creatures?' that's what I think he would be saying right now if he could talk. And yet as incredible as it was to both man and beast, it fails and the creature remains. It can't be thirsty and it wouldn't be here if hungry, he's not willing to take a fight to show off his valor. Though it's not the rarest thing to find cattle nests near such fields and openings. I haven't found anything, but if it's being territorial then it's hard to make him leave, though it's much harder for it to make us leave. I call again, but in a much quieter voice. The calls turn to incoherent grumblings, as if I was sick and attempting to cough, but I don't cough nor do I stop, instead I keep going. Slowly the pitch begins to rise simultaneously growing louder and louder, it still retains its rocky vocals that make it confusing and threatening. Then a step forward and a very loud shout towards the creature, the sort that others repeat before a massive attack. The bull flees and doesn't look back.
"And now we have one more creature that's going to find the 4 eye nests for us. Assemble camp!"
A victory and I did nothing other than stand and shout. If only most visits inside the MZ were as pleasant.