The Beast of Sonian (Open to all)

Samuel Grayson didn't get to travel often. He was by no means a wealthy person, in fact, he was far from being even middle class. Whatever money he made was sent away to his family and or was put towards the things he needed to live, food, clothes, an any other small thing he would need to get by. So! When he was given a job in Belgium it was well received! He had always wanted to go to Europe...or wherever Belgium was! To put it better, he had always just wanted to travel to another continent, not that he hated America, he just never thought he'd be able to leave. People often thought that with his abilities he'd be quite the traveler, but that sadly wasn't the case. They were always short range portals, he could never open one to another country or state or province. He couldn't even open one to next town over! Of course, this was a business trip and not something for pleasure, but he was happy nonetheless!

The job he had received was to investigate a strange creature in Sonian Forest area. It had apparently been wandering into nearby towns, though had yet to actually enter the nearby city. It had injured several people, but no one had really gotten a good view of it, only that it was "Unlike local wildlife" and "Definitely not human." Sam had already dealt with a few weird creatures in the state which is probably why he was asked to go look into this. It was an excuse to travel and Sam was happy to take it. More than travel, he loved weird and interesting creatures. He loved weird things in general. It became a fond hobby for him ever since he had first developed his powers. There was some concern though, the fact that no one had actually seen this beast even though it had injured several people was worrying and Sam wasn't even sure how to begin the search for the creature or mutant or beast or whatever it was. So! He'd do what he always did when he didn't have a plan.

Just dive right in.

The plane had landed in a nearby airport and he quickly hiked out to the edge of the forest. It was more imposing than he thought it would be. The tall oaks and beeches loomed over him which made his stomach turn a bit. He loved that feeling! He started in, heading for the thickest part of the woods, avoiding walking along the trail. Once he was deep enough in he started to set up a small campsite. Tent, campfire, and then put a small line around the small area of his camp. Attached to this line had put several tin cans so that anything that would trip over the wire would alert him. That was pretty much all he had to do in terms of camp set up, he didn't have any other traps or plans. He'd just wait and hoped that the monster, creature, beast, mutant, or whatever it was would show up and he'd go from there. Improv his way out, try and capture the beast without killing it, then report it to an authority. He wasn't sure how he would report it, given he didn't know the local language, but he'd figure it out as he went along! That was usually the best course action.

With a heavy sigh, he sat down by the fire and set a small pot over it, boiling some water he brought along. It was getting late now, the sun had set and it was growing darker, minus the glow of his fire. Each squawk or squeal or chirp of an animal made him turn his head towards it, worried it might be the creature. "Alright..." he muttered, "I don't know the area or wildlife or the beast...it's dark, I only have a sword and some portals. Yeah. I got this." He nodded once to himself, trying to mentally prep himself for whatever was next.

For an American Kolson sure is in Europe A LOT. It does keep his mind off of his past, however.

This time Kolson finds himself in Belgum for a wedding, his roommate during his freshmen year in college is getting married and has invited him. After Kolson arrived earlier than expected he decided to take a short trip downtown to grab some alcohol. As Kolson walks around downtown he overheard people talking.

"Have you been keeping your kids in too? That thing is still out there"

"I hear it lives somewhere in that huge forest then comes to hunt around night time it's been terrorizing us for a while now I wish someone would put a stop to it."

"Yeah I heard the bounty for it is a couple thousand dollars"

Kolson then decided to go investigate "a couple thousand dollars? major bet." Kolson said to himself. for something that shouldn't take him more than an hour or two that gives him just enough time to sneak back without being noticed gone by his friend's bachelor party.

Kolson headed towards the forest he kinda guessed he was going in the right direction the flyer he found didnt have much information on it.

The water in the pot had reached its max temperature and was ready for cooking! He reached back into his bag and produced some produce! A couple long ears of corn! It wasn't much, but it had been ages since Sam had corn and the local market by the town he passed by before had some and he wasn't allowed to bring food on the plane. If his hunt tonight didn't turn up anything worth while he'd after go back to the town to get more food. Until then, this would do just nicely! Keeping close to the fire he began shucking the corn.

A few minutes went by and the corn was soon in the pot, baking away. Sam quietly watched it, not having much else to do. He let out a small yawn, a bit of exhaustion touching him. He had slept on the plane, but he was still tired from the flight. It was always so exhausting to just...fly places and recently he was doing it more and more, much to his dismay and enjoyment. Dismay from the exhaustion of traveling and joy for getting to see all these wonderful new places.

He leaned down and stared into the pot, the corn was just about done. He grabbed his clippers and dunked them into the hot water, reaching for one the cobs. Right before he managed to grab he heard something. A sound that he had never heard before nor could even place to any form of creature. It was strange and foreign even for this area he knew that it was foreign. He wasn't local, but neither was whatever made that sound. He had dropped the corn back into the water which caused a small splash up, which in turn burned his arm slightly. Not to a serious point, but enough to make him wince a bit.

He ignored the pain to the best of his ability and began to turn in circles, looking around at the surrounding area. Most of the wood was dark, but the fire had given him some illumination, shining against the thick layer of trees that seemed more like hands reaching out in the dark. He swallowed once, nervously reached for the hilt of his blade. He didn't dare draw it, but he was ready to. He had to be ready to face whatever that creature was. This wouldn't have been so bad if he had had company, but he was sent on this job alone. He just needed a friend or something and this situation would infinitely more times less scary.

He swallowed once more and straightened himself out. "Who's out there?" He called. "Come on, show yourself. I am not gonna hurt ya. I am just looking for a strange creature." He thought for a moment, pausing himself. When he continued he finally managed to bring a smile to his face. "If you are the creature and can understand me, then I don't want to hurt you either. Just trying to figure out what's going on out here, alright?"