Weird scent

The night speaks in silent, subtle ways. Through the wind, gently brushing against scales. Through the stars, blinking in and out, showing the way one has to follow. Through the moon that guards us, like a giant eye staring down upon the earth. Ever so silent, ever so beautiful. The night is the safe heaven for those who listen to her words and those become rather… suspicious later.

Nightwalker is a beast that follows his dearest signs and ventures into journeys guided by the stars. Giant of an Acrocanthosaurus, with feathers painted like the night sky and eyes full of wonder and knowledge. He always listens to the night, follows her every choice and listens to her wonder, but lately there's something off about them. The subtle wind brings an unusual, new scent with itself. It doesn't smell like anything he ever felt, coming from the lands he never really ventured to. It gets his curiosity up, feels like a challenge and another little sign from lady night to investigate. 

So, the moment the sun went down, Nightwalker went into his journey to search for that weird scent. With each new location he could feel like something truly isn’t right, not only at night too. There are weird plants sprouting beneath his feet that, at first, he paid no intention to until he rested by them and actually noticed. It isn't the source of scent, so he resumed his journey. Nightwalker truly thought he knew this isle a bit better, yet the land is getting bigger and bigger, beyond even his own comprehension. His knees weren’t really happy with that, sun burning his eyes and making him all sluggish. Like a cat he rather… napped, most of the journey. Old man! Thankfully, the area around was infested with trees. Unfortunately, the tight squeeze made it a bit awkward for someone of his size. He thanked them for the shade, yet he barely made it there. Couldn’t even see well over his feet! Everything he could see were leaves and branches and even more branches when they poked his eyes. Feathers getting all messed up but it isn't anything new for him, not his first journey through such a forestry area. Throughout his entire life, home for him meant the forest, no matter how vast or how dense. He went through jungles with vines tangling him as a child, he went through pine forest with snow sticking to his body. He went through many such areas with plants bigger than him. This forest cannot take him down, but can easily annoy the life out of him. He was getting closer to his goal, he could not stop.

Finally, the smell was stronger, the weird scent was coming through every direction. The old acro looked around, the sight breathtaking.

He went down onto the beach, with the vast ocean rummaging through the soft sand. It felt like it came out of nowhere. Just a moment before he was stuck in the maze of trees and now, here he is. Over him, a giant arch has formed who knows how long ago. For him, it looked like a bridge to somewhere, somewhere behind the horizon. The end of it went down into the waters below but the structure itself was held by far more rocky pillars. It formed a roof full of shade that Nightwalker gladly went to check.

There were many entries to the caves that he was sadly far too big to fit into. He looked into each of them though before realising that none of them will hide him. It was okay, the arch itself was far more than enough. And here it was, the scent again. Some of it he could smell from one of the caves, whatever was hiding there had to be the source of it. On the floor, a few light feathers laid the next bunch of seeds. It created a little trailway, with someone clearly not being able to hold them or… did they did it on purpose for him to follow? While sniffing those tracks, he was sure that they were the source of that scent. Strangers? Were they from the laboratory too like his dads, or did they swim from another island? Intrigued, he had to follow.

The sights here were truly beautiful. The higher he got, climbing those big rocks, the prettier the horizon got. The arch so far away, yet so imposing and massive. This rich, brown color of the stone contrasted so nicely, that Nightwalker did not even mind the sun! It made the sand shine, the ocean glimmers. After his investigation he will rest here, for a day or two, admiring the sights (and checking for, maybe, new type of prey he could hunt down. He’s still a carnivore after all!!). Now, however, he has a mission to follow on and the clues? Oh, there’s so many of them and yet… so little.

The trail of seeds lead him to this rocky area, with even more feathers than before. Lots, lots of feathers. The scent was unusual, it kinda looked like a scene of crime of some sort. For a second, he was sure that he sees blood sprinkled around the rocks but, under closer inspection, it was some kind of… paint? Like those that the ancient had used in their weird cities. Something still had to attack that strange creature. Next to it, where the rock touched ground, he saw actual footprints in the mud. They were,, really, really small. A chicken, maybe smaller than styracos. Something feathery, something small… definitely something new, lady night was right. But what were they doing there? Where are they even now?  In the bushes, more and more tracks– really, how many feathers this chicken lost? Was it sick maybe? Those tracks ended on a clearing, with many dirt mounds visible. Lots of footprints too, how many of them are there? WHO are they? It looks like they were digging something but not to find food but to… hide those weird seeds in? It gets really confusing at this point.

Suddenly, a sound in the near bush. Nightwalker springs up, looking in the direction. Someone was there, he could still feel their eyes on him.

— I heard you, whatever you are. I can smell your scent, it reeks of… fear. — Nightwalker says with absolutely no threat in his voice whatsoever.

The bushes are silent, whatever it was it must have fled already. Or died from fear in this exact moment, one of two. He looks back to the pile of feathers and seed, sniffing them once again. He was far too tired to chase and hunt but he wont lose the lead, wont stop seeking answers. Right now, he went back down underneath the great archway to lay down, waiting for the night to come back. Just a little nap, he thinks, just a little nap to regain the strength. Those things may think they escaped from him but they are far from the truth: the night will show him the leads again. The stars will guide him and the air will whisper their dirtiest of secrets. What is he gonna do to them when he finds them? Unclear, for now. He has his questions but cannot shake the feeling that something much bigger is going on. That pain, those marks, those goddamn seeds and plants. What is even going on?