Chatterbox: KYNGDOM™ Archive

I tread through the forest. I come here to look for new, magical animals, but I know there is strife beneath the surface of the animal world. I cannot stay. Slinging my aeropack onto my back, I look around. Nothing. The forest is deadly still.

And then I sense it. Tickling at the back of my mind. The Connection. I hate how it always turns up tardy.

By the time I realize what the Connection is saying, it's too late. The Grobusk is already here, his hungry thoughts tickling the back of my mind. I sprint towards the forest's edge, snapping the toggles on my aeropack. The amber-tinted glider wings shoot out, and I'm lost in the tumble of adrenaline and fear. I come crashing down to the real world as the aeropack's left wing catches on a vine.  I disengage the toggles. Why do I never plan on vines? Just because the Cheshire Republic doesn't have any doesn't mean I can just ignore them when I travel to Bonairobi. The breath of the Grobusk is on my neck, stinking, hot, rancid. I get purchase on the densely overgrown ground, yanking a root that tcatches my foot straight from the ground. I reach the forest's edge just in time, with the Grobusk vanishing behind me- it cannot come to the forest's edge or it will dissipate, as sunlight kills them. I dust off, doff my aeropack, and begin writing in my journal. I have to remember everything about the Grobusk to add to the Compendium back home. 

Then I remember the Connection. It's still there, and the Grobusk is gone. I turn-

-when a hand slaps over my mouth, and I'm thrown in a huge sack. I've seen them before-collection sacks. They capture the very animals I research.

A voice filters through the bag, and I cease kicking so I can hear it.

"Ordinarily, we would have sent you a letter. But your unique gifts and passion for animals have made you a tough case, so force is required. We hope you are not angry: we wouldn't like you to be angry. We would rather you did not escape, or even attempt to: we don't want the filthy creatures learning of you."

And everything goes black.