Rain was pelting his body and face, but Xen was glad that he could still see his surroundings during this downpour. And thanks to Makutsi, all of him except for his feet and ankles, had been liberated from the embrace of mud. However, he still stunk like a sweaty hog going on an all mud holiday. Yet, despite being in the presence of the sulking earth and bothersome rain, Xen felt an odd sense of oneness with the jungle, with nature around him despite it all.
He had fallen in the mud and crawled through it; he'd been silently creeping through the undergrowth in search of his companions while avoiding danger at the same time. The situation, the fear and anxiety, relying on his instincts—all these things and stimulus's—seemed to roil a deep, dark, and primal part of him.“ Ah... This...feeling... I'll never forget it. To sprawl in the mud like a beast within the primordial depths of nature. To lose one's self...To be consumed by monstrous....impulses.” The rain and the sound of the swaying canopy seemingly slows around him, as though time was slowly being replaced by quiescence.
Xen continues forward, traversing the soaked path before him. Along the way he sheathes his katana, putting it away, so that he could move more freely. With his left hand covering his left eye, Xen tries to calm himself “ Remain focused, Xen. There are those relying on you ” He thought as he follows and observed the trail of flattened shrubbery and tracks. The more time he spent tracking the beast responsible for this mischief, the more his understanding of this creatures size and power grew.
This creature was definitely strong as the jungle terrain did not seem to hinder it's movements at all. Xen became so engrossed in his search and details around him that he did not notice the incline he'd been moving upon. However, watching the tracks swerve round the body of a large and impressive tree, and then looking back at the path he and creature created, made him aware of it. Xen takes a step, crouches then hides behind the large tree. And while trying to conceal his presence as best as he could, he peeks to see what was beyond the tree.
“ .... ” Xen wordlessly watches the creatures; almost instantaneously their forms seemed to meld into his mind. He'd been overtaken by their strangeness and instantly began to memorize their body color and features in hopes that he'd be able to take up their forms using morphing later on.
“ Their skin looks thick and rough, hmm. I bet its actually smooth and well defined like expertly crafted leather, ” Xen mused as he studied the strange creatures.
Then a large hand suddenly grabs his shoulder! Xen jumps, as though the soul within his body was trying to make a hasty retreat for Lhex's office, and quickly turns around. He was expecting an enemy of some sort, but it was only Nor. Xen sighs in relief and follows the veteran hunter until they both reunite with Taylir, who did not look relaxed at all.
Xen was willing to be quiet and listen to the conversation going on between the two experience hunters, but upon noticing Nor's glance, he resigns from his place in silence.
“ By the way those creatures were interacting with another one and behaving, it looks like they work well together, ” Xen kept his voice low as he spoke “ Like they're a pack or something similar to one, ” Then his eyes suddenly widened like he had seen some kind of horrific abomination. “ Are...are these creatures led by an even larger creature or alpha? ” Xen did not want to think that there were more creatures. He especially did not want to think an even larger variant of these creatures were lurking around, or worse....that these creatures nearby were just younglings.