Baaul: A Change of Heart

Chapter 6: A Detour

Baaul stared down at the mangled mess before him. It was a literal ball of animal parts, sewn together in expert precision. The decomposition of the gruesome scene told him that this experiment had occurred before the humans that he had found in the warehouse. The blood had been drained from their bodies, leaving their leathery skin a dull gray color which helped the stitching look cleaner.

He reached down with his claws to gently roll over the mass. He was able to determine that it consisted of at least twelve different animals, all of different species. The legs of a frog that may have been brightly colored in life protruded out like a macabre fin. That's when he realized that the Yautja was trying to create something new with his fusion, but why would he do this? He surely knew that the parts he used came from animals he had killed, making it impossible to morph them into a new animal. Was his purpose something more along the lines of a vulgar and primitive taxidermy trophy? No...he would have taken this experiment with him if that was the case.

So what was this Yautja's purpose? His motive? He wasn't entirely mad, because it took thought and knowledge to stitch the way he did. He needed more information still. This male had purpose in this forest, but his trail also seemed to lead back toward the ooman city on more than one occasion. Why was he coming back?

Baaul stood, ready to leave the monstrosity and continue following the tracks of the male when a shining light caught his eye. It was the ooman facility that he noticed yesterday. The sun was hitting the building just right so the glass walls reflected the blinding light. He cocked his head, chittering curiously and on a whim, started to make his way over to it.

Though he was in his camouflage, the animals could still sense him-some could even still see him- and their chatter ceased as he passed. Though, many oomans wouldn't have even noticed with how loud the surrounding lifeforms were. The oomans from yesterday were still out and about, determined to find the one responsible for their comrade's death and seemed a little more aware, however, he knew they were a little farther east.

The facility was ridiculous in his opinion. It was so exposed and would take a mere rock tossed to shatter the barriers. There were oomans bustling about inside that were clearly doing a job. Oomans were odd in how some of them spent their lives working for paper at the expense of their happiness. Some even found happiness in it, which he'd never understand. There was no honor in doing something so insignificant.

He scanned the building and using the ooman's internet, mapped its interior into a 3D architectural rendering. That made it easier to map out the actual ooman's that occupied the space. One stood out to him because she seemed to be alone in a room that was locked from the inside according to his masks information. She was talking on the phone with a male ooman and his mask's data on voice recognition, it was a male that was currently courting or trying to court her, though she didn't seem very receptive.

He wondered why she was being confined, but that thought abandoned him as soon as he detected Yautja tracks on the roof of the facility. Baaul almost missed them due to his vantage point, but he lept onto the top of the ooman facility. There were dozens of tracks up here, some of them very recent. He focused on them let his mask pull them up from the mess of tracks so he could easily follow them. 

***Author's Note***

Sorry for the short Chapter. I sweat I have about 7 more chapters after this one already written. I just haven't been feeling very good and I fell asleep super early yesterday. I try to stay about 8 chapters ahead of what I post so that way if I have days like last night, I have something to give you guys. I just passed out. Lol. My bad. 

***End Author's Note***