[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Iilanthys - Teryn

"I don't see why we both had to come out" Teryn grumbled, pushing a large leaf out of his way with his arm.

The sun was bright overhead, here on the outskirts of the swamp, and he wiped at the sweat that fell down his face with the back of his sleeve. The buzzing of insects was all around their little boat, and he could hear the croaking of an Anura somewhere nearby.

"I told you, wrangling one of these is at least a two-man job" muttered Iilanthys, carefully steering their little boat as it glided over the murky water.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Besides, it wasn't as if you were busy - from what I hear, you'd have been lucky to have a contract come through before Christmas. Next Year." Iilanthys had been quiet, but from Teryn's answering growl he knew he had made his point. Contracts were thin on the ground at the moment, and many game hunters - or agents, as they preferred to be known - were teaming up to split the profits. Bigger game meant bigger rewards, but also bigger risk, and it was no time to be going it alone.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"So is this a kill-or-capture mission? Or were they specific about what they want us to do with it once we have it? Are we supposed to just hope it doesn't kill us as we wrestle it all the way back to Lamenolai?" Teryn knew he was being grumpy, and he was grateful for the offer of work - as Iilanthys was well aware, it had been a lean year. That didn't mean he was happy to be meandering through the swamp in the middle of a hot day with the insects out in force.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Iilanthys ignored Teryn's grumblings, seeing them for the mild irritation they were. He had kept tabs on the younger agent since they had crossed paths a few years back, and knew he was capable, if irritable. This wasn't exactly his first choice either, mind - nobody enjoyed coming to the swamp except those who lived in it, and their target would have been a difficult one even if it didn't have the upper hand in the murk and gloom of the swamp water.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Teryn ducked his head as the little boat sailed under a low-hung mangrove branch. "Hey! Watch where you're steering!" he called out angrily, eyeballing Iilanthys from where he was crouched. "I'd like to finish this with my head still attached to my body!"

Iilanthys snorted at his dramatics, but ducked his own head as the branch loomed towards him. He glanced above himself, and calculated they would only have another hour or so before it began to get dark - time they would need to find a suitable place to bed down for the night.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Keep a lookout for somewhere suitable - I'd rather not spend the night in the boat" he commanded, steering carefully to avoid a large patch of algae with bubbles rising in the centre of it. It didn't really matter what it was he was avoiding - the boat wasn't the strongest craft he'd sailed in these waters, and it was very likely whatever was making those bubbles was strong enough to damage it, if not destroy it altogether.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Teryn muttered a mild insult under his breath, but he understood - and agreed - with Iilanthys' sentiment, so he squinted his eyes and began searching for a suitable docking point. There were small groups of rocks around, but none of them seemed big enough to pitch themselves for the night, until they came across the stump of a large, dead tree. The tree itself had collapsed a long time ago and was lying half-buried in the mud, but the stump was wide with a ring of bark around it, a small gap serving as an entry point.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"What about that stump?" Teryn called out as he pointed, squinting his eyes as they passed through a patch of open sunlight.

Iilanthys glanced up and narrowed his own eyes. It seemed only too easy that they had found a suitable place to moor for the night, and as they drew alongside it he tapped the edge of the stump with the blade of the oar.

"No good" he muttered, as the stump crumbled under the pressure of the oar; "We'd sink right through it - no telling how rotten the rest of it is."

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Teryn slumped in the front of the boat, but kept his eyes narrowed, scanning the trees as they passed for one strong enough to bear their weight.

"What about that one?" He pointed at the squat tree in front of them, with two wide boughs having formed a natural platform, between which thick vines had coiled themselves into a natural net.

Iilanthys glanced up, and raised an eyebrow. The gap between the boughs seemed like it would fit the boat well enough that they could rely on it not falling through.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Go on then, get ready - I'll keep her as steady as I can." Iilanthys handed over the guide rope for the ladder, and Teryn nodded before fixing his sights on the end of the nearest bough, swinging the rock on the end of the rope in a loop to build up momentum until he let it fly, landing neatly over the bough.

Iilanthys steered them slowly towards the dangling rock, until Teryn was able to reach out and grasp it.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Teryn pulled the rock towards him, looping the rope over his arm until the rope ladder had been pulled up and over the bough. He then tied the end of the rope ladder to the mooring loop at the front of the boat, and carefully shimmied up the ladder until he was sitting on the bough itself.

"Is it strong?" Called Iilanthys, using the oar to keep the little boat in place as best he could. He glanced up to see Teryn crouching on the bough, moving it around to test its strength.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Strong enough" muttered Teryn; "Throw me the guide rope for the other end and climb up. Let's get her sorted out."

Iilanthys missed with his first attempt, but Teryn was sharp and grabbed the rock the moment it made it near the branch, lowering it to dangle in front of Iilanthys who knotted the rope around the morring loop at the end of the boat, before climbing up to the boughs himself and jumping on them, not trusting Teryn's careful examination of their strength.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Teryn rolled his eyes, and looked down just in time to see a dark shape pass underneath the boat. Whatever it was, it was large - bigger than the boat itself - and he pointed at it as it turned around a short way off.

"There's something huge under the water - we need to pull the boat up now."

Iilanthys didn't even look to see for himself; in a state of urgency, he began pulling at the hoist rope attached to the back of the boat whilst Teryn pulled at the other one.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

The boat was only a few feet above the water when the enormous head of an Insonia - bearing only a single head, which was unusual for that species - reared above the water, snapping at the boat.

Teryn and Iilanthys heaved and pulled as quickly as they could, and soon the boat was hauled over the side of the boughs and nestled snugly into the gap between them, tight enough that there was no fear it would slip through and fall to the water below.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Teryn lay back on the bough and tried to catch his breath, as he glanced down at the insonia below which was now circling their tree. He breathed a sigh of relief as it seemed to swim away at last, disappearing beyond a patch of bullrushes in the distance.

"See what I mean? It's a two-man job hunting in the swamp, even before you find your target creature." Iilanthys mopped at his brow, and swatted at the large black buzzing fly that tried to fly up his nostril.