Markus enjoyed hiking. He'd spent a good amount of his life traveling in the great outdoors. Whether it was climbing mountainsides, cresting hillsides, or, as he was at the moment, simply walking through a forest near his hometown. He was heading towards a small lake in the forest that he'd been to fairly often in his life. It had been a few years since he'd been back to the place he was born and he was looking forward to it's crisp, clear water.
As he moved deeper into the forest he unknowingly missed the turn towards the lake and found himself following an unmarked trail that he didn't remember being there. He didn't realize that he had taken the wrong path until he came upon a small clearing that hadn't been on the way to the lake. Upon this realization he stopped and took out his compass to see if he was even moving in the right direction. After confirming he was going the wrong way he turned around and went to walk back down the trail but was stopped by the sound of a breaking branch from the direction of the clearing. Turning to look he watched as a strange creature walked into view, noticing him at the same time.
It resembled like a stork in proportion but that's the only part of it that resembled anything. Long, green scaled, bird-like legs with wicked black talons supported a bulbous yellow-green body with a chicken-like tail. A whip-like neck extended upwards like an ostrich and was tipped by a black fuzzy bulb with two fish-like eyes and a long yellow trunk hanging down from the front. Markus felt his mouth hanging open at the sight of the strange creature as the curiosity lowered its head and centered its body the way a cat would before a pounce. Its trunk snaked upwards and a trumpeting chirp sounded out that only heightened the strangeness of the encounter before a watery fluid sprayed from the trunk towards the lost man.
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Markus quickly jumped back and narrowly missed getting splashed with the liquid. The creature took a step forwards and let loose another trumpeting chirp as Markus stepped backwards. A smell caught his attention and he glanced down to the liquid, noticing that the plants coated in it had begun to wilt and fall apart as though it was being digested. His eyes widened and he felt his adrenaline finally kick in, giving him the presence of mind to get him out of there. He turned and ran back down the path, paying no heed to the slowly quieting sounds behind him.
He ran until he breached the edge of the forest and practically collapsed into the road. He rested only as long as he needed then forced himself up and moved along the road until he was able to catch a ride back to town. He tried to explain what had happened to the driver but not only did the driver find him crazy, he also couldn't find the correct words to describe what had happened. All he knew was that he needed to warn others of this possible threat.
