Chapter 143: 143: Kindred

The scenery of the forest seemed to blur as Cygnus moved, and forcing his eyes to stay open, he was able to take quick glances at everything he noticed within the sea of green leaves.

The dangerous predators with sharper eyes that lurked inside them, all happened to glimpse a spark as something shot past them. And, four more blurred snake figures followed after the first in quick succession.

They were not quite as skilful as the first, but their speed was formidable all the same. Unfortunately, before the hungry creatures could give chase, the figures disappeared into the undergrowth, never to be seen again.

The force of the wind rushing over his scales was the only true indication of just how fast Cygnus was moving. He sometimes felt the wind was an obstruction and yearned to move so fast it would no longer bother him. Nor did he want to feel the sting in his eyes as they watered, or the pain when his muscles tore from overuse. But that was just his wishful thinking.

With repeated practice, the pain had continued to lessen, and this thrilled him to no end, but it never completely went away. His pain resistance was only a temporary measure that didn't fix the real problem. And this told him one thing.

He had yet to perfect it – which meant he wasn't the fastest, yet.

His team traversed the forest floor in the arrow shaped formation Typhon had taught them. He stayed in the lead with two snakes flanking him on either side and this was how they had continued to travel without facing any obstructions. However, he was much faster than them and he often found himself surging farther ahead than his team.

Rather than stopping completely, he practiced slowing down to a normal pace and maintaining that for two breaths, before picking up the speed for five. Doing this repeatedly had slowed him down enough to prevent himself from outpacing them, and all without causing a break in their formation.

However it wasn't without fault. His team had encountered some dangerous obstacles in the form of creatures too large to bypass. Since he was the fastest one, he always spotted them first and would scout the creature for a while to determine if it was something they could beat as a group. But sometimes, these obstacles proved too difficult.

Flighty feline creatures were always the worst because of their heightened senses, but they were other beasts that were dense and slow but came with the added protection of tough hides his fangs could not penetrate. Whenever these obstacles occurred, he would mark out a new scent trail for his team to follow, making sure it completely avoided the creature.

However, if the obstacle he encountered was weak, he would poison it and chase it down while waiting for his team to catch up, and then they would finish it off together. They had defeated many foes in this way, with Cygnus remaining cautious enough to never underestimate any creature they encountered, by ensuring they cut off every possible escape route. Due to this, nothing had slipped through his team's formation yet.

Cygnus took his role as scout rather seriously. Before he was made captain, it was his role to lead away any predators that strayed too close to their cave. This measure of security had enabled him to practice his speed as much as possible, so it wasn't a surprise that he became very good at running. It had also taught him to recognise the signs of predators from the claw markings they left on trees in a particular area.

He knew the layout of the land, which monsters resided where, and from the tracks they left behind he could tell just how many they were altogether. An additional goal along with training his team was to cast a wide net of the area, to spot the nests of any creature that could prove to be a real problem for them later.

Due to his hunting methods, he had spotted numerous such problems, but fortunately, only four were close enough to their cave to matter.

The silver wolves were first, followed by a rather vicious gathering of canines that hunted together in large groups. There was also a large flying monster that prowled a particular area up in the hills, and below it he had discovered a deep pit in the ground, housing many gnashing multiple legged creatures.

Because of his speed he had traversed much farther than any other, but after scouting for many hours he had seen everything that needed to be seen. They could have continued hunting like this without any problems, however, with repeated practice, their kills began to come all too easily, and Cygnus was starting to lose interest.

Most of the thrill of hunting came from that fact that the danger was unknown. And by refining the hunt down to a series of steps, the thrill factor had lessened a great deal.

The hunt left Cygnus wanting more - this was why he wanted to go further.

He sought a challenger he could not outrun and hoped to find this in another snake that was much faster than himself. And so, once he and his team had killed to their fill, he set out to explore, intending to reach much further than he'd ever done before.

He had never been given the free reign to go wherever he wanted like this before, so he was rather surprised when Typhon had given him his instructions. Usually he would stay around the cave to spot any threat before they came close enough to hurt them, but with 'her' return, all of that had changed. But he didn't know when he would get such a chance again.

His decision to leave the area took his team by surprise, but none of them complained. Just being able to keep up with him at his speed was already commendable enough. Yet they stayed quiet and waited on his command out of respect. 

[Letting you go alone would be much worse.] One of the snakes said to reassure him.

[We can't leave our Captain behind.] Another added. 

Cygnus frowned. How could they say such things. Were they so ready to die with him?

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He recognised most of them from the speed training he taught, and all had shown they were capable and fast - still he felt rather strange about them agreeing so easily to his selfish request.

[You're not the only one who wants to see more.] Another snake mused in thought. [I too want to see what's beyond the forest.]

His team members all nodded in excitement and Cygnus frowned more. He didn't like the idea of being in charge of their lives. The role of captain did not suit someone like him who preferred to be on his own. If he took a risk, at least it was only his life he was gambling with.

But when his team stared back defiantly, Cygnus sighed in defeat. [It's decided then. There's no turning back now.]

He instructed them to move in formation again, separated but maintaining a much wider distance between them than before as they followed him. They were travelling much further this time and if they remained close together like before, their group would be easier to spot through the trees. However, there was greater danger in being spaced apart. If any predator happened to spot them and decide to give chase, it would be much harder for the others in the team to know.

But Cygnus did not want to stop for anything until they made sufficient headway, so he told his team to do what he usually did when he encountered a creature too hard to beat on his own – shake them off with their speed, and if that proved impossible, then head underground immediately because most creatures could climb.

Their pace was steadily maintained. Twice, he got ambushed by a predator, and both times he was able to skilfully manoeuvre his way out. However, since he couldn't see his team, he wasn't sure how they were faring. If he had encountered a predator, chances were high that they had too. And so after travelling for a long time, he decided to stop and do a head count.

However, it wasn't long after that he heard a crash from the trees behind him. One of the creatures he had bypassed, a large, segmented creature with a spiked tail, had spotted one of his team members. The snake saw it coming and rather than retreating like he expected, the snake stopped to confront the creature.

As it lunged to attack her, she seemed to disappear as she moved to evade with a burst of speed, it only lasted for a second, but the creature missed, allowing her to slip through the gaps between its legs.

Cygnus watched on in amazement as she shot out from the other side where she continued to run, getting out of the creatures attacking range with ease. He thought she had handled that quite well and all without any fear. It wasn't so far off from what he would have done in her situation.

In no time she arrived on the side of him, and they vanished into the undergrowth, leaving the enraged creature behind.

[What is your name?] Cygnus asked the snake.

[Name? I don't have one.] The snake laughed in reply, before tilting her head to ask. [Do I need one?]

Cygnus couldn't believe it. She was clearly capable, so it was strange that she was still unknown.

[And if I say you do?]

The snake seemed to think for a while before answering. [Then give me one.]

[Hah!]

Cygnus was taken aback. Didn't she know only the leader was allowed to do so?

The snake smirked at his shocked face. [Do you dare to?]

Cygnus was stunned, but at the same time he was intrigued. He could already tell this one was going to be troublesome for him. But as carefree as the snake appeared to be, she also highlighted a flaw in an otherwise perfect plan.

How did 'she' plan to highlight talents when the majority had no names? Galahad had been noticed for his rebellion and Typhon and Ophelia for their 'oddness' and Morgana and Artemis because of their proximity to them. But what about snakes like her who stayed quiet?

He too was only noticed because his ability was one that was difficult to conceal.

Cygnus quickly made up his mind. When they returned he planned to speak to their leader to ensure she wasn't overlooked. And also to discuss the other creature he had spotted, so further steps could be taken to maintain their safety.

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