The thick forest, a plush of thorns, leaves, vines and natural traps encompassed the island. In all it's majestic greens and violets and royal reds and blues, it bowed and waved all around the party. Tiny, fireless dragons flew around them and hundred legged creatures scurried beneath them. Every bird high above sang it's own tune, each a melodious, indecipherable conversation told from the tiny beaks to the most colorful feathers.
Though they had only been walking for a few mere minutes, with each step onto the wet forest floor and each duck under a low hanging branch they felt as though they'd been walking for hours. If not for the patterned cuts into each tree (an ingenius idea of the captains) getting lost in the beauty of the jungle might have been an easier task. Every step on soft leaves left an imprint that, after only a few moments, was barely able to be seen with the minuscule amount of light finding its way beyond the trees. A glance back revealed what a few had dreaded. The shore behind them, the ship, the remaining crew and the warm sands, it was all lost to palms and ferns.
Christof, astonished by the various flora and fauna surrounding him, had taken time grab a few flowers. He would write a few notes about them, remind himself to pick a few more on the way back, press the plant into the page and grab another. If a creature happened to cross his path, he hurriedly captured all he could and translate it to the page.
"Absolutely stunning," he'd whisper, "What a beautiful thing you are!" His untamed excitement seeped through his eyes and hands and leaked beautifully into his book with every entry.
The sound of water crashing against rocks below told the group to rest. A large collection pool moved before them, clear almost as crystal. Heaps of gray aquatic beasts performed great acrobatic stunts up the wall of water.
The crew had been traveling for quite awhile now and were more than happy to finally settle down for a moment. They deserved it after all, they decided. One man, an appointed mapper of the lands many marks, lied against a tree and quickly sketched a few lines and rough circles. "Waterfall," he wrote next to it.
Above the relaxing basin and resting sailors, a rock jutted out of the waterfall creating a platform. It was on this platform, nearly halfway up the waterfall, Christof saw something move. Human like, he thought, but... bigger. Much bigger. Though it wasn't clear enough to make out who, or what, it truly was, he knew it was watching them. Hunting them, no, studying them. As if they were some strange, new discovery.
It waved, a slow, arced, wave. At least it looked that way. Christof waved back, mimicking the behavior of the figure above them. From his position, Christof could barely make out anything other than a silhouette. He scanned the area, searching for a way to climb up to meet this queer new creature. There, he thought, spotting a another trampled path leading away from the waterfall. He looked up again you the rock where the figure stood, only catching a glimpse as it turned and vanished in the glowing rays of the sun.
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