[Matriar]

Jennadelle stood in the woods now. Here it was a likable calm and the air was sweet with different odors from different plants... which were strangers. The ground was a bit uneven and the odd trees had big roots which sidled to anywhere. They also did above the ground. You had climp on them.
Jennadelle went some steps till she heard something abruptly.
There seemed to be somebody... yes there was! She saw a shadow disappeared! Immediately she hidded behind one of these odd trees and watched for possible dangers.
The hat wearing, big shadow which Jennadelle saw ran straight out the forest. He seemed to be in a hurry. It took Jennadelle's breath away. Hopefully, he didn't see her.
Then, right now, she slipped off the slippery root she stood before. It happened so fast and surprisedly that Jennadelle could not abide by anything and fell. Fell deep. From her tree it got precipitous downhill.
Bumm.
She fell hard on her stomach. Seconds later soils and leaves dropped on her.
"Ouch...", Jennadelle groaned under pain and shaked her head to get off the mud. As if her head didn't experience enough...
Short something growled loud. An animal or something. Right previous to Jennadelle.
"What the...?", she aked herself and lifted her head to see what it was.




















Five bad looking, snarling, little creatures with brown fur layed in front of Jennadelle's face. Their carnassials, which they showed Jennadelle snarling, were as big as their whole bodies.
And they were pissed off.
"Wow!", Jennadelle shouted scared and and jumped up a tree immediately.
And how she did! She could jump and climb like a cat.
Memories appeared at this moment. Jennadelle reminded of dark times when she jumped around, ran and climbed. She always was better and faster than the others.
But which others? She didn't remember anymore...
Well, on the tree she was safe for the moment. Jennadelle climbed higher and watched the strange creatures which presumably lacerate her if she didn't seek shelter. These animals still rested in the place they stood before. Jennadelle's heart was in her mouth by the scariness... while she heard abruptly a shot in the distance!
Birds flapped away from their hides loudly while the brown creatures began to growl and to spit. But they didn't flee. No, they stayed. Jennadelle wondered about this. She climbed a bit higher and felt that there was danger coming.
She heard a second shot. Then another one. And it became louder! Somebody came closer. And directly to her direction!
Jennadelle minimized between the branches as good she could.
Short after that she could hear wild stamping and scroop.
Jennadelle watched carefully under herself and then she finally saw who it was.
The hat wearing shadow which one she saw before was here again. He ran along her tree. Now, Jennadelle could see him much better.
He was a bearded guy with a sun-blessed cowboy hat, a lion-like face with shining green eyes, big leather botts, pale-brown pants with two belted bags on both sides and a loophole brown poncho. Furthermore he was hunted by a disgruntled guy. Jennadelle had a look at the pretty big, fat person behind him. His face beared a likeness to an ugly sort of frog. He also weared a hat, a too small shirt with dark pants and there were some cartridge on his outsized belt. And he carried again a big gun.
So Jennadelle didn't understand why the lion-head which was hunted did grin like this!
She was interested to watch this scene.
The frog-guy tried either to shot his prey or to beat him with the rifle over and over again. But the poncho wearing man, which ran on all fours like an animal, avoided the frog-guy all the time and the space between them always got shorter and longer. It almost seemed that the grinning lion-head willfully let him came closer sometimes. But why?



Jennadelle saw how the lion-like man his haunter induced straight to the place where the brown carnassials-animals stayed. Here he really could wait for his haunter for some seconds without the beasts did attack him. Although they standed right close to him...!
These five predators just growled low but stayed on the ground.
Finally, the frog-like guy came closer to the lion-head very fast and strucke out his big riffle to beat him a last time. But the lion guy avoided again with a jump and the gun landed with a such hard rumbling on the ground that all trees quacked for a little moment. Jennadelle had to grab hold of her tree. That guy was really strong!
But it became worst for him now.
First he tried to lift his rifle out the ground to continue with hunting the lion-like man.
But his gun was pinned. It didn't move a bit.
The frog-guy primarily pulled two times very strong but he still didn't get it out.
Only now, when his rifle pulled the other way back in one fell swoop, he confusedly watched at the end of his gun out for the reason.
And he scared terribly!
The little predators became deeply absorbed in the muzzle and looked at him with evil eyes.
"Oh! No!!", the frog face shouted but right in this moment he got attacked by these little beasts.
Bellowing with pain, the frog-like man made desperate efforts to get them off him. He fidgeted and galumphed till the ground abruptly began to crack. Surprisedly, the frog face looked at the ground under his feet. Even the beasts did. But it was too late to flee. The ground, which was primed with limbs, broke in like a trap and the frog-head fell screaming in a precipitous tunnel between plants and roots.
Something was clear. That all had to be planned before. And Jennadelle did know who was considered. She had again a look at the cowboy-hat wearing bearded man which standed at the end of the tunnel. He hold a sort of a crossbow ready. It was a strange fold-out and retractable one which was belted on his right arm. The lion-face opened his crossbow with a "clack-click-clack-clack-click"-like sound. But in place of some arrows or something he really charged... with a little animal!
Jennadelle looked closer. A spider?
The fat frog-like man sleded out the tunnel very fast. So the lion-head shoted his live ammo and hit him in his fly. The angry spider wraped the frog-like guy with its net up immediately and was done right before he finally fell on the ground. Now, the frog guy was riveted on the net. He lost his hat and his rifle while he was fell and they landed in front of his face now.
Jennadelle, which saw the whole scene with her own eyes, was lost for words.
What was this for a strange man with the crossbow? Shoting live ammo and running on all four?
Jennadelle climbed soundlessly to the next limbs to see better. And to draw near the events. She had to exercise caution.
Now, she mustn't get spotted! Maybe that was her death. It was the best not to tangle with him for sure. Just beeing soundless.
She watched how the man with the crossbow did a great jump and landed on his feet next to the captive haunter. All creatures which ones attacked the frog-guy took fly when the haunter was landed on the hard ground.
Now the two men were alone. A procumbent frog-face and a strange lion-head standing in front of him, baling the fists, watching at him threateningly.
"You jerk! You broke my favorite rifle!", the frog face inveighed.
The lion head put the big gun next to him in his paws. He eyed it skeptically. Then he hold the gun under his nose and sniffed the malodor of
sulfur and gunpowder. This stink let his shoulders cringe.
"Never liked guns...!", he just said.
Crack!
The rifle fell with a rattling sound in two pieces on the ground.
The frog face had a sad look at his broken favorite rifle.
"Oh, man!", he moaned, "what do you have to do now...?"
While the captured haunter did say this, the lion-like man took a piece of paper and had a look at it. Jennadelle saw it. It was a wanted poster with a picture of the frog man and bounty.
Now it was clear.
This man was a bounty hunter!
The outlaw still grawled about his bad luck but tried anyway to loom large. The bounty hunter grinned again.









clack-click-clack-clack-click


















"No, no! No! No! Look!", the outlaw pleaded hastily while the crossbow aimed at him, "Don't do it! Please! Nooooo!"

Boom!

This time it was a hard stone which hit the head of this outlaw very neatly. The frog guy passed out immediately.
Jennadelle watched this attentively. She saw how the bounty hunter closed his crossbow and put some sort of a can out his poncho.
He came closer the lying outlaw and hold the green shining opening in his direction.
Now the can began to soak up air.
And it did really hard!
It was so hard that this odd can even made it to soak up the big, fat guy too. He seemed to shrink en route to the can to take a seat there finally...
What the hell was this for a can? And who was this bounty hunter?
The cover of the can closed with a "plopp" and the bounty hunter put it back in his poncho.
Right in this moment cracked a little limb which one Jennadelle hold with her paw before. She could redress the balance but any moment was dangerous now... she was not soundless.
Jennadelle climbed quickly on the back side of the tree to be not spotted. It just took about two seconds and she was not louder than a squirrel.

clack-click-clack-clack-click

Jennadelle took her breath away.
It seemed the bounty hunter noticed that he wasn't alone...
This moment took awful long. Jennadelle still sat on the back side of the tree and listened to every sound she could hear. She knew that the bounty hunter with his unlocked crossbow still had to stand on the other side and watched out for strangers.
Go away!, Jennadelle thought, It was just a little, stray squirrel! Nothing else!
Nothing happened. But Jennadelle didn't want to had a look at the other side of the tree. So she listened attentively.
The bearded man still stayed very long just for a little, stray squirrel indeed. Jennadelle only could hope that the lion face didn't want to look the stranger up.
Then she heard steps... and felt how she turned pale.
Please not in her direction! Please don't! Go away!
But the steps became quiet...
Jennadelle waited till she didn't hear his steps anymore. And she breathed a sigh of relief. He was finally gone. Slowly, Jennadelle climbed down the tree. The last meters she dumped and landed soundless on all four. Then she stood up and knocked off the mud from her clothes. Thereby, she noticed that she had a belted bag around her side.
Sure, she forgot it.
Jennadelle also didn't remind what she put in there. So she had a look at this thing. Her fingers felt around for something long, metallike.
Finally, she saw that she hold a harmonica in her paw.
There appeared some memories again. Jennadelle didn't had any melody in mind but she perceive clearly to play. But first she looked around if she really was alone. It would be too bad to betray herself now. But the only things she heard was the rustling of the limbs and leaves of the trees in the wind. Sometimes there sang a lonely bird. But else, Jennadelle was alone.
A bit unsurely she put her little, silver musical instrument on her lips and blew gently in one of these innumerable holes. It sounded a little soft tone which gave Jennadelle's forgotten memories more food.
Wait... first I need to blow this hole... then this..., Jennadelle remembered more and more, And now this one. Right. Now this one here...
An unknown but familiar melody which she had in mind, Jennadelle played the first time. Or didn't she?
Mysterious memories... many persons... horned ones... ones with claws... who were they?
Loud screeching birds flew away and Jennadelle came out her thoughts. She paused scared and looked around. The birds were in such a hurry that they flew close to Jennadelle away without taking notice of her.
It seemed that something flushed them. It was a predator or something else for sure because Jennadelle didn't hear a shot.
She suspected that this forest was not safe for her anymore.
Hastily she put her harmonica back in her bag and ran the path to the next town.

She didn't forebode the lion which one followed her all the time...
He looked after her with his attentive, yellow shining eyes till Jennadelle left the woods.