The Ochman Hunt Chapter 1 - https://www.bungie.net/ga/Forum/Post/117112949/0/0 --------------------------------------------------- [i]Chapter 2 -[/i] The First of Many I immediately turned around and ran for my life away from the Hive hoard towards the tree. I never stopped for a second. The Hive were so plenty and enraged, that the ground was shaking incessantly as a result of their stomping, almost like an earthquake. I put my scout rifle on my back next to my sniper so I could have more maneuverability and options while I trekked across the arena, and I really kicked it into overdrive. I needed to get there fast. The Hive were gaining on me fast, and I had no grenades to impede their progress. After maybe ten minutes of nonstop running, practically dead, I finally reached the tree and climbed it as fast as I could. I placed my hands into slits within the trunk, and around branches to pull me up more, hoping I don't get grabbed from behind. I managed to get halfway up the tree before the Hive caught up. These Hive were not like the more organized Hive I'm used to seeing. They were more ferocious and savage, like wild animals. They were obviously kept here against their will for some time, and have adapted to it. As I climbed, they even threw one another at me, like rocks, trying to make me fall. A Thrall actually managed to grab hold of my back and scratch my helmet visor to the point of having giant slashes in it. I quickly reached back and grabbed its jaw, squished it so hard that it broke, and kicked it off of me. It fell screeching all the way to the bottom where a Knight jumped over the hoard to grab and eat the Thrall in one swift movement. I quickly made my way to the top of the tree, where I sat on a large branch and propped myself up against the trunk. Watching the Hive try and reach me was like watching zombies from an old pre-Golden Age movie clamber over each other to reach the humans who were running away from them. It was almost enjoyable to watch. They had no sense of what they were doing or how to do it. As I sat and relaxed, I looked on one of the giant walls of the arenas outer layer and saw a clock counting down. It still had a half an hour left until reaching 0, which I assumed was how long I had to last for. At least, I only [i]assumed[/i] as much. I kicked my feet up and sat on the branch for about twenty minutes before something happened. I heard an odd cracking sound. I can't even really describe it, to be honest, but if I had to guess, it sounded like the roots snapping from the ground below the tree that was keeping it standing. I was right to assume that, because once I looked over the branch to the bottom, I could see the Hive tumbling over each other pushing their combined weight against my tree, trying to knock it down. I knew I only had a short time remaining before the tree fell, so I frantically looked around for an escape I could take. I didn't have much time though, because the tree was coming down now! As it fell, I made be split second decision to jump from my branch onto the trunk of another nearby tree, quite a bit shorter than the first. I struggled to grab onto the bark, but once I got a grip, I quickly climbed to be top. It wasn't long before the Hive got to me. They knew how to knock the tree down now. But I had a new problem. The new tree was a lot shorter, so they didn't even have to knock it down. They could climb over each other and reach me easily. I looked up at the clock to see that I had to wait for five more minutes for the hunt to end. I didn't even know if the timer hitting 0 would end the hunt; I just put hope into it. I pulled out my scout rifle, aimed down the tree, and began to shoot Thrall and Acolytes in the head as they climbed up. It only took one shot for the Thralls, and two for the Acolytes which bought me some time. But I only had twenty seven bullets in the clip, so I had to preserve as much as possible. I was down to my last two bullets and a minute remaining the clock. At this point, Hive were climbing up the tree on all sides and I had no place to go. I slowly back up to the very edge of the branch, hoping it wouldn't snap. The branch was barely able to withstand my weight, let alone extra Thrall jumping on it. The first Thrall went to leap onto the branch, but I shot him down before hand, causing him to fall to the bottom. But immediately after I shot the first Thrall, a second swung up from under the branch and landed on it, causing it to sway and crackle. I quickly put him down with my last round, and swapped out my scout rifle for my sniper, which had only four bullets per clip. While there was a short break before another Thrall reached the top, I looked back to see a few smaller trees behind me that I could jump to, but from there, I'd have to sprint across the forest roof over branches if I'm to survive. There was only twenty seconds left on the clock, and I was more scared than ever, having nearly no ammunition and my only haven was slowly snapping. Just as I turned around, a Thrall who was crawling along my branch grabbed my legs and tried to pull me down. I tried to shake him, but I was mindful not to make any quick sudden movements and snap the branch. I leaned over the edge to get a view on the Thrall and shot him in the chest with my sniper, causing him to fall down luckily. But my luck soon ran out, because once I stood up to check the clock, the branch finally snapped, making me fall all the way down to the hoard of Hive below. I figured this was it. I tried to survive, and I did well for a time. But I suppose this old Warlock's time has just ran out. I hit the ground, and the Hive all jumped on me like lions, scratching and bitting at my armor. A few strikes got through the armor and actually sliced my skin. A Knight showed up and punched in my helmet, causing the visor to shatter and the helmet to dent. But something shortly happened that made me praise the God above. A loud siren went off, which caused all of the Hive to stop dead in their tracks, and stare towards where that sound was coming from. A few seconds later, the entire hoard sprinted away from me towards the sound, leaving me wounded on the ground. I looked around me to see me sniper laying a few feet from my right hand, and I leaned up to take my helmet off. I tossed it aside, and stood up completely, looking around at he crowd around me. I observed my armor to find many gashes and openings in it from the Hive. They surely would've killed me if it wasn't for that sound, whatever it was. I walked over and picked up my sniper, put it on my back, and the crowd suddenly began to cheer louder than they had ever done before. They were all standing up and, unfortunately, chanting the word "bitch." "Hahahaha, well, looks like our little Bitch here thinks he's top shit now, don't ya?" I finally screamed back at him, "Who in the hell are you?! What is this place??" "Well YOU'RE NOT TOP SHIT. I'M THE F*CKIN' LION IN THIS DEN, AND I SAY THAT YOU JUST BEEN PROMOTED TO D*CKHEAD. Which means your dumb ass doesn't have the right to talk to me yet. Prove yourself, D*ckhead, and we'll see 'bout gettin' you a special conference with your host. 'Til then, congratulations! You survived the Hive hoard. Truly a feat to behold. Now get the hell outta my arena and wait for your next trial, D*ckhead." Just then, another odd tube came soaring down to me and sucked me right up into it. I don't know where I am, or where the tube was taking me, but one things for sure, I [i]don't[/i] like that asshole. -----Chapter 3 https://www.bungie.net/ga/Forum/Post/127866749/0/0