Feathers and Knives

[1]

Another day, another round of checking the traps. Mumbo really hated when it was his turn, it was always just hours of patrolling the woods and never finding anything. Really, why did Impulse think that these would catch dragons? They're much too smart to fall for a stupid snare in the woods.

Little did Mumbo know, today would be different. As he made his way through a particularly thick patch of trees, he heard growling and struggling further ahead. After a moment of shock he raced ahead, eager to see the supposed dragon caught. Lo and behold, he found a multicolored dragon struggling on the ground, wrapped up in wires. It was colored like a parrot with feathered wings in red, yellow, and blue, with a feathery tuft also at the end of its tail and under its horns. It was thrashing around on the ground, biting at the wires, until it spotted Mumbo and glared at him while growling.

Mumbo inched closer, pulling out a knife as he went. The dragon was panting and seemed worn out enough to get closer so he went straight to its head and raised the knife, intending to put it through the dragon's skull. As he prepared for the strike he found himself looking closer at the dragon, and with a jolt realized it had a look in its eyes that could only be described as human. It's eyes were full of fear and also... defiance? It seemed aware of its situation and, despite the threat, was unwilling to go down resignedly.

Mumbo faltered. He looked between his knife and the dragon, seemingly making up his mind. Then he brought the knife down in a sharp arc, and the dragon flinched as the strike came —

— the wires fell to the ground and the dragon blinked, looking confused for a moment before a dangerous glint replaced the fear in its eyes and it pounced, trapping Mumbo against a rock with its claws around his neck and pressing against his chest. He struggled to breathe with the dragons weight pressing down on his chest and constricting his airways, and black dots danced around the edges of his vision. The dragon sniffed at him and he could hear a growl building up in its throat, before it opened its mouth, baring its teeth, and roared in his face. Then it bounded off through the trees without a backward glance, leaving Mumbo propped against a rock nursing his sore neck and chest.

When Mumbo returned to the hunters base it was already dark out, so he hoped to sneak in without attracting any attention and then go straight to bed. However, it seemed luck wasn't with him today and as soon as he walked in he came face to face with none other than the lead Hunter, Impulse. He turned around and tried to walk right back out the door, only for his shoulder to be grabbed by Impulse, who promptly spun him back around.

"And where do you think you're going?" Impulse asked with a smirk, quirking up an eyebrow while waiting for Mumbo's response. "I.. um.. Nowhere?" He internally facepalmed at the lame answer.

"Alright buddy, sure. Anyways how was patrol? Any luck with the traps?" Mumbo fumbled through his words, trying not to act suspicious: "Er, no, no luck today. Haha, I'll be going now, y'know how patrol is, so tiring!" Something about the encounter left him wanting to keep it to himself, it felt like his secret to keep. Impulse had a troubled look, and before Mumbo could try to leave again he said, "Hey... what's with those bruises on your neck? I thought you said nothing happened on patrol?"

Mumbo's eyes widened. "Well uh, that's, um, goodnight!" He then ran off to his room and slammed the door before Impulse could follow.

He pressed his back against the door and sat down hard, exhausted after his encounter and the long walk back. He wanted to tell Impulse what had happened so they, and the rest of the crew, could go and take down this dragon that had proved itself to be a threat. Yet, something inside of him told him to keep it to himself. The encounter felt special somehow, like a unique experience to keep between just himself and the dragon.

Something about the look in its eyes left Mumbo wondering too: those emotions seemed too human, too aware for him to see the dragon as just a creature anymore. And if it wasn't just a creature to be caught, just one more to be added to the list, then what was it? It was a rational being, Mumbo could see now, but what did that mean for his job? The hunters' whole purpose was to catch magical beings, but if they were catching and killing rational creatures what did that really say about them?

But, Mumbo rationalized, just because this one dragon was capable of human thought (well, at least emotion) that doesn't mean every creature is. But thinking back to other jobs they'd been hired to do, it hadn't mattered to them whether or not something was rational: they'd been hired to hunt wizards, fairies, nymphs, and other magical beings, all of which were clearly capable of "human" thought and emotion.

Mumbo shook his head and yawned. Maybe, after a good night's sleep this will all make more sense. And with that he climbed into bed and fell asleep immediately.

...Nope. The first thought when Mumbo woke up was: "If I'm thinking like this, is hunting really the job for me?" So, there goes that.

With a sigh Mumbo got up and dressed, making sure his bruised neck was hidden as well as he could, then headed downstairs for breakfast. "Morning, guys," he said while he grabbed a plate and helped himself. "Hey Mumbo, how was patrol yesterday?" Stress asked him around a mouthful of food. "Oh um, it was okay. Nothing in the traps or anything, so.." He stood at the counter and bolted down his food before heading straight for the door.

"Where are you going? It's not your day to check, and none of the others jobs today require going out," Impulse called from behind him. "Yeah, I just need some fresh air.. I'll be back soon, don't worry." Mumbo closed the door and immediately started toward the forest. He wanted to see that dragon again, it was all he could thing about and the thought of seeing it again pulled him toward the forest.

A couple hours later, spent wandering throughout the forest in the general area from the day before, and he found not even a sign of the dragon. Frustrated, tired, and growing increasing cranky, Mumbo decided to head back to base. When he got home he was bombarded with more questions, all of which he avoided on the way to his room. The other hunters exchanged concerned glances; he had been acting weird since he got back from checking the traps and they couldn't figure out what had happened to him to make him act like this.

A week later, Mumbo was still acting strange and disappearing to the woods everyday. He was dejected, but didn't want to give up, so he continued going out everyday, hoping his luck might change soon. It helped his mood, although creeped him out at the same time, that every time he went out it always felt like someone was watching him, though he couldn't find them. He hoped it was the dragon, but it could have been any sort of creature.

Regardless, he wasn't going to give up.

wc. 1273