A large hand engulfed Nova's mouth, smothering it, halting her muffled yelp and screams. She tried kicking out and fighting back. It was utterly useless against their strength. Whoever had her was bulky and large in size.
Nova was being dragged away from the waterfall as she watched Yoa and the harpy eagle fall into the pool with a mountainous splash. It's screech chilled Nova's spine especially when the water slowly turned dark red.
"Yoa!" She cried out against the man's hand.
The man behind her grunted when she stamped on his foot in an effort to free herself. "Stop," he ordered, his bulky arms sliding over her waist from behind. A few feathers floated in front of her before she felt the man's body vibrate and those arms elongated, turning golden, hands sharpening into talons and she was suddenly thrust into the air.
Nova stared wide-eyed as the ground was drawing further away from her. Her body was limp, useless against the large talons caging her in. She slowly looked up to see another harpy eagle, carrying her skywards, getting higher from the waterfall. It would have been an amazing experience, like she was truly flying if it wasn't for the fact this huge-ass eagle had just kidnapped her.
Kidnapping or trying to eat her? Nova couldn't fathom what the eagles wanted with her. Should she stay to find out?
Absolutely not. Curiosity killed the cat, and she'd had enough to deal with the last two days than to wonder about something that would never have been an issue if she hadn't gone to this forsaken island in the first place.
Its wings spread wide, beating powerfully above her, pulling her gaze toward the bird. But then a roar like that of a jaguar tore through the trees. Birds fled from their nests, and the forest below fell silent. All creatures hid from the predator, now rushing through the foliage in a blur.
Nova glanced down and did a double take as her heart almost jumped out of her chest at a large black cat, a jaguar so lithe, so muscular, and at least five times the size of the others she'd seen was a mid-leap, claws extended to her.
Nova gasped, her stomach sinking. Was this it? Being torn to pieces between an eagle and a jaguar?
And how was that possible?! The big cat had leapt from the ground, and the eagle was already flying higher than the waterfall.
The predator's eyes were sharp, fixated on her. Water glistened on its inky fur and something like familiarity passed through her before its claws sank deep into the eagle's talons. Nova's hands shot up to her ears as the beast holding her screeched in agony. The black jaguar locked its jaw into the tough golden texture so deep it pooled blood.
The jaguar dangled as they drew higher, the eagle clutching tighter onto Nova. The big cat bit it again, it's legs scrambling for something to hold onto. Nova watched as the jaguar began lifting its bodyweight. It's claws scratched into the tough skin, dragging itself up, but the eagle screeched again and with one flick of its talon, the jaguar was tossed aside and Nova was freefalling.
She screamed from the bottom of her lungs as terror was ripping her apart from the inside out, watching in seconds at her impending death as the trees rushed up to meet her. Her hand and wrist scratched on the leaves before talons snapped at her ankle and she froze, dangling by one foot from the eagle holding her.
Nova's breaths were shaky, heart hammering in her chest as she stared at the huge leaves of the tree she would have fallen into and possibly broken her spine. Somehow, the eagle managed to grab her before her death and without causing her harm. The skirt of the light blue dress surrounded her, baring her toned, milky legs.
The eagle started to lift her higher, its leg drawing upwards while it hovered, flapping those broad wings, causing wind to rustle through the leaves below. She was tossed like a rag doll, flipped upwards. Her dress fell back down, and she watched, feeling utterly weak and useless as those talons started to cage around her again.
This time, though, neither the harpy eagle nor Nova expected a black furball, a blur, to appear out of nowhere. On impact, the air whooshed out of Nova's body, and black fur surrounded her. Once again she was freefalling.
An irritated screech followed them, but the harpy eagle was the least of her problems. Nova was falling again, and this time, a giant black jaguar surrounded her. She didn't know which way was up, but greenery rushed up to meet them.
"OOFT!" The grunt was ripped from her lips as they crashed into something, the big cat breaking her fall. They spun and hit something else again and again, falling through branches, the cat fortunately taking each hit.
When they landed, or more so collapsed, it took Nova a few seconds to orient herself and for survival instincts to kick in. Through the pain of feeling beaten up, she leapt away from the huge cat's body. The black jaguar was moaning, and although her heart twisted at the sound, she couldn't stop the adrenaline pumping through her body at the sight of the beast. It was either eaten by a huge ass eagle or eaten by a huge ass jaguar.
Nova chose neither. She backed away as quietly as possible, realising with even more horror that they were on some sort of higher ground in the rainforest. Her feet were on solid wood, a wide enough branch to act as a path. Other trees and branches were the same, and as she looked up, she saw a chaotic path of destruction from where they'd fallen.
Around the light shining through those gaps, large primates of gold and brown started to appear, their sharp teeth beginning to show on low growls. These weren't capuchins, they certainly weren't backing away like the spider monkeys. They didn't even look at the fallen jaguar that was still groaning, its head movement slow and disorientated.
Men started to dangle down from branches, their faces painted in streaks of black, brown and red like they'd wiped their hands along their features. It was like some sort of war paint. Their long black hair was tied back in knots. Guttural, discordant shouts erupted from their throats, unintelligible, much like the howls now ripping through the forest from the growing number of monkeys beginning to surround her.
Their deep, harsh, angry voices made it clear she was not welcome there. Nova's legs buckled beneath her as two men popped out of nowhere beside her. She stumbled back and gasped as her feet were swept from under her, and her backside hit a wooden slope. She flew down nature's slide and tumbled along the forest floor, scrapes and grazes roughening her usually smooth skin.
With a moan, Nova slowly lifted her head, and a scream caught in her throat.