An (Un)Easy Silence

Catch and Release, Then Caught Again

So far, so good, I thought, propping up an unconscious Jackson against a wide oak.

Taking him out had been particularly satisfying. Now only one other guy remained. I turned back into an owl to pick up his trail.

I was closing in on the nameless man when he suddenly turned around. Thankfully, I was perched on a branch close to the trunk of a tree. My twany feathers hid me from his gaze.

"This is pointless." He kicked a rock. "That coward is miles away by now."

He started heading back to the warehouse. As he passed under my tree, he stopped, glancing from side to side.

"Guys?" He must have noticed the quietness of the forest. No sound of crunching leaves or snapping twigs that would indicate his companions were still searching for me.

Crap. I stealthed too well.

He raised his gun again, scanning the trees with renewed vigor. "Jackson? Jackson, fall back!"

Damn this guy was paranoid. I mean, yeah, I was systematically taking out his friends, but seriously, take it down a notch.

He slowly made his way back to the warehouse, spinning around every so often to make sure he wasn't being followed.

Which was unfortunate because I was following him.

I knew it was only a matter of time before nameless guy spotted me, so that left me with one option: take him out.

I waited until he turned his back again, then jumped down from the tree in human form.

"Hey, what's that over there?" I shouted as I landed on his shoulders, using my momentum to swing him down to the ground.

He struggled under my grip, but I planted my knee on his chest. Nameless tried to lift his gun, so I grabbed his wrist and twisted until he dropped the weapon.

I panted as I tried to get his arms pinned.

Oh wow, I didn't realize how exhausted I was. Wrestling with Nameless here was harder than it should have been. I guess all of that shapeshifting took it's toll on me.

"Ah, ah, ah," I shook my head, slamming his arms down. "None of that...uh...what's your name? I've just been calling you Nameless."

"Get offa me!" He continued to writhe more than I did in snake form.

"Get Off Of Me is your name?" I said as I tried to subdue him. "That's rather unfortunate."

"Jackson!" He called out. I clamped one hand over his mouth before he could yell anymore.

"Dude, seriously? I just wanna talk."

Nameless glared at me, but he stopped struggling so much.

"Are you gonna behave?" I asked.

He slowly nodded.

"Oh, I am so going to regret this," I sighed, climbing off of him.

He sat up, rubbing his jaw. "I'm not telling you anything."

"Well that's a problem. The only reason you're still conscious is because I want info. Oh well..."

I stepped forward, but Nameless held his hands up.

"Wait, wait, wait," he stammered. "I'll talk, okay?"

"Okay!" I chirped, my threatening demeanor vanishing.

"What do you want to know," he said, his shoulders slumped in defeat.