Cryptotrappers!

Cryptotrappers- The Ninja in Green

Seth came back before we'd finished, carrying a few dead rabbits; four to be precise. Another reminder that we were one short as a team. Randy's face, though caked with mud and hardened sweat, still showed clear signs of concern underneath and all the little reminders that he wasn't here didn't help.
"Hey, it's more food for us." I tried to argue, knowing that what I was saying was a weak defence at best. I was getting just as worried. We paused to try lighting a fire, eventually succeeding with a flimsy flame and cooking the meat, which we ate in uncomfortable silence. Clouds were beginning to build in the sky as the three of us fed, and Seth flew out again before the downpour started. But unfettered by the weather, we continued to dig, and by the time the sun had set and rose again, driving off the storm, the trap was complete. Now all we had to do was lure the Mantis Man over to be trapped inside.

If digging the hole through the rain had done anything to aid my chances at taking the Mantis Man by surprise, it was by coating me with mud. Yeah, the same thing that would be ensuring that we could see our threat was also working in my favour by blending me into the browns of the forest around me- at least that was the hope. My darting eyes scoured the scenery, though sight was not my main focus. I was putting everything into listening for that one, distinctive click that would give the beast away. My head snapped at every noise, but none of them gave anything away. If only Seth was here with me. As soon as I heard that one, distinctive echoing click of raptorials, I began my assault of dirt, landing mark after mark and revealing my hideous foe. Now that we knew of each other's positions, it was time for our final duel.

As I slid through the mud beneath another oak projectile that was launched at me, my one priority was staying alive and luring it to the hole. Another tree blocked my path, I swerved to the right to avoid it. Running onwards and dodging whatever attacks it tried to land on me, skidding to its left and right more than once, I started to panic that I hadn't gotten back to Randy yet. Hearing nothing now but the rush of blood in my ears and my own footfalls, I paused and looked around. I'd lost the Mantis Man, true. But I was also completely lost myself.

I stood frozen for a solid five minutes, unsure even of which way I had just come from. There was nothing but trees to guide me in every direction, and only distant birdsong in my ears. I had no idea how to get back to Randy, hell, how to even get out of the forest on my own. I could walk in one direction and hope, and sure that might get me out of here, maybe even towards somewhere civilised. But I'd be trapped in a foreign country with no way out, and on his own, Randy would be a sitting duck. Besides, there's no guarantee I'd be out of here before the Mantis Man picked me off. I had no food, no water, nothing at all. All I could do was walk and try to find something, anything that could help me, and hope that Seth found me before anything else did.

As I paused to rest, my ears pricked at the sounds of distant hope. And running towards it, not caring how much attention I was drawing to myself, my spirit soared as my eyes were cast on the running water of the Musconetcong river! Joyfully, I ran into the clear water, taking gulps of it and washing the mud from my clothes and skin. And as I looked further up the river, my heart raised again as I spotted backpacks, rope and a deep hole! I'd found the old campsite! Splashing towards it with a beaming smile, my face fell and time seemed to slow down as I bore witness to what had happened after we left.

The liquid mud of the site was mixed in with a slick, dark red; a lot of it too. I began to feel a cold fear through my body as I scoured the area, fearing the worst. But I saw no signs of Sid, there was no sign of his clothes nor a body, and the rain had washed any tracks away. Rooting around the backpacks, I managed to find one good flare, untouched by the rain. Firing it off, I sat in the mud and waited for Randy to find me. And soon enough, he came to the campsite, his mud-caked face changing from relief to horror under the crimson light of the flare.
"Randy, I-" I began to console, until we were both taken aback by the sound of something large coming towards us through the forest, disturbing the trees. Shaking our shock, we hurried to the packs and armed ourselves ready for an encounter in the worst possible spot- that was until Sid nearly collapsed into the clearing.

"Sid!" I shouted as we both ran over to stop the hulking man from falling. I grabbed his left shoulder to hold him up, and when my hand came away, it was sticky with blood. Gasping, I recoiled as I saw that he had a deep gash in his shoulder that was profusely seeping and soaking into his shirt.
"Damn thing... nearly took my arm." Sid mumbled, clearly in pain and not entirely conscious. Panicking, I ran for the backpacks to try and get some gauze and tape whilst Randy helped him to sit.
"We- we thought you were dead." Randy admitted, a lump clearly in his throat. Sid grimaced and shook his head woozily as I began to treat and wrap the wound."
"No, not today... I'm not dying today."
Turning his head to the injury that I was continuing to work on, Sid winced and sighed as he held onto his arm.
"New shirt too. Shame, it was pretty comfortable... Don't you have any of that tears stuff from Seth to help with this?"
"Nope, it's all back with Eva." I replied grimly, finishing my work. "I could try and get some straight from the source but if you chew a teabag, don't expect a cup of tea. Besides..."
I looked out past the trees, brow furrowed as I tried to pick out Seth's colours in the browns and greens. Behind me, Sid took a wobbling stand and began to walk towards the backpacks.
"Well, sooner we get the Mantis Man captured, sooner we get back." Sid stated gruffly, sounding much more like his usual self. "I saw smoke rising in the distance on my way here, guessing that was you Randy."
"Yeah, I piled the campfire up with wood before I left so we could find our way back."
Taking the lead, Sid stepped out into the forest in the direction of the smoke.
"Then let's finish this."

We heard the battle ahead of us at the base camp before we saw it; in part due to the thickness of the trees here and in part due to the fact that one of the participants had camouflage that made it for all intents and purposes, invisible. Even from this distance though, I could recognise that both participants of the duel were the two cryptids known to be around here, and that Seth was losing.
"On three." Sid ordered in a whisper, as we prepared to run in with armaments out. "One, two-"
The missile that was once a tree barrelled towards us as I dove to the right, with Randy pulling Sid to the left to avoid it too. There was no more time to strategise; I rolled into the clearing to check Seth, and climbed to a knee before firing at where the Mantis Man should be. The dart bounced off armour-like chitin that became visible, but it got the bug's attention firmly on me. As it lumbered towards me with malice in its compound eyes, I ducked and rolled through the legs, and though it turned to attack me again, it was too late. A combination of still slippery mud, proximity and Randy charging at it with a shove led to the Mantis Man falling backwards into the hole, trying in vain to escape but only further caking itself in viscous brown mud. The three of us looked down; we'd won. With one final shot that hit the muscle beneath the shell, Sid sent the creature to unconsciousness. And finally, we could head back to base.

As we arrived at the comfortable warmth of the base, Eva had clearly been pacing for a while. When she noticed us, she practically ran towards us with a combination of relief and panic on her face.
"Where were you!" she asked, looking us over. "I've been calling you all for hours!"
"We didn't have our phones with us." I explained, before quickly changing to the more important topic. "Sid was injured, it's bad."
Looking towards his torn shoulder, Eva regained her authoritative poise.
"Randy, take Sid to the medical wing; bandage his wound with a fresh dressing and I'll be with you in a few minutes. Exo, we need to talk. Follow me."
As she walked quickly down the corridor towards the wing where we held the cryptids, I had far more questions than answers. Finally catching up, I attempted to stop her with a hand on her shoulder so I could talk.
"Eva, what's going on? Did we have a containment breach or something?"
As Eva continued, she finally stopped in front of an undecorated containment chamber as she answered.
"Not a containment breach, a security breach. When you came to work yesterday... somebody followed you inside."
My heart sank to my stomach as I looked into the cell. Almost directly in the centre of the sparse white space, a girl lay face-down, hair sprawled around her body and unconscious. Even if I hadn't seen the strip of red in her hair, the hoodie would have given her identity away.
"Lucy..."