It was not her job. It definitely wasn't. About once every couple of months the base dispatched a researcher to Ohara as part of its nature preservation program. While the island was largely independent from Marine affairs, it was considered a bounty of wildlife with rare plants and animals. The government saw fit to at least monitor its condition and ensure there were no anomalies in the environment. Unfortunately for Zeppelin, the researcher who was typically tasked with this job had fallen ill and she was the only other free member of the research department. Though she had read several books on the subject, biology and ecology were not what she would consider her forte or even area of interest in her pursuit of science. Still, she figured the experience might be worthwhile in its own way. She had also never been to Ohara and so this was a good chance to scope out the island.

The first part of the survey was actually an interview of the locals who lived in the village nearby the forest. The inhabitants would of course know best if there were any unusual happenings in and around the jungle. Their responses and opinions would serve as a good starting point for how she would like to conduct the investigation. For the most part, the folks living there were a pleasant bunch. They were unexpectedly very knowledgeable about things and Zeppelin enjoyed their conversations despite some of them occasionally bringing up topics that were not exactly related to her job there. For instance there were a couple of requests to increase Marine presence on the island as pirates had been active lately. She was not really in a position to make promises regarding that but she resolved to look into it as best as she could.

After a rather productive morning, she stopped by the local bar for refreshments before setting out to the forests. The barman commented that they did not get Marine customers very often and was quite chatty the entire time she was there. Upon sharing that the purpose of her visit was a wildlife survey, the barman told her a short story about a creature known as the "King of the Forest" that lived in those parts. It was supposedly a great bear as tall as a tree. Not very many have actually seen it as it lived in seclusion. Most believe it was some sort of guardian. This was not the first time today that Zeppelin had heard tall tales, but it was certainly interesting as there was a reasonable amount of accounts to prove its validity. She thought it was worth looking in to if she had time.

As she paid for her meal and got up to leave, the barman gave her a warning about a shifty group of fellows who had shown up earlier in the day, bringing with them weapons and hunting tools. From what he overheard, it looked like they were also interested in the King and were looking to capture it or kill it. The area where the bear was said to reside in was not a place you could hunt in without permission, but the villagers present were too afraid to confront the thugs. That was understandable. It seemed Zeppelin's little trip was not fated to go smoothly. After casually reassuring the barman that she would try to do something about it, she exited the pub and made her way down the road to forest in question.

The road leading to the forested area ended after taking no more than twenty steps inside the jungle. What Zeppelin found waiting for her were numerous forest paths that people and animals alike traversed. The spaces between the trees were fairly wide at the start but the canopies were huge, providing ample shade. All in all the sight that greeted her was one that she could consider mildly impressive. The flora and fauna were in full display. Birds chirped overhead while hopping or flying between the tree branches. Smaller animals like rabbits and squirrels were scurrying about. She even  caught sight of a couple of caribou that, upon seeing her, retreated deeper into the jungle. It was no wonder that she found herself taking notes like mad. There were just so many things to see and take in and she wanted to do her observation logs justice. She was not the type to halfheartedly do a job that she already accepted even if it wasn't out of personal interest. For the first few minutes of her walk, she had almost forgotten that there were dangerous people in the forest right now. Thankfully, a rather loud and distinct roar snapped her back to reality.

A bear? That was way too fast. Bears were normally solitary animals who did not want anything to do with people. Or at least that's what the books said. The cries of agitation were unmistakable though. Either this bear was in trouble or someone was in trouble with the bear. Neither situation was likely to be pretty. She followed the noises cautiously, sticking to the trees to stay out of sight as much as possible. Her eventual destination was a small clearing. Peering through the gaps between the trees, she spotted three armed men slowly approaching a large brown bear that was backing away from them, occasionally growling loudly or taking a swipe at its hunters. These were the poachers she was warned of earlier. The scoundrels were armed as follows: One man had a gun, another had a spear, and the last one had a net. The net man was clearly trying to get into a good position to throw it over the bear while the spear man put pressure on the creature. The gunman had his weapon aimed at the bear and was probably just there for insurance. They most likely didn't want to shoot the poor thing if possible as its fur would get damaged.

Zeppelin clenched her fist. She was not particularly an animal lover, but she would not stand for the men's actions. Never mind that the entire thing was illegal in the first place. She quickly formulated a plan of approach in her head and moved in closer to bring down the poachers.

The gunman was the biggest threat. Skilled as she was, bullets were not something she wanted to have to deal with while unarmed. She timed her dash to bear's attempt at taking a swipe at the poachers and quickly closed in on the gunman, striking him hard in the gut before he realized what was going on. He dropped his firearm which she promptly kicked into the bushes out of anyone's reach. The man staggered and tried to take a wild swing at her but she caught his punch with ease, using his momentum to throw him to his surprised companion, the net man. The two crumpled in a heap as the gunman crashed into him. Her sudden assault confused the spear man and he seemed to be at odds between paying attention to her or the bear. This was a fatal mistake. Seeing an opening, the bear attempted to slash him but the man managed to block the swipe with his spear. It would cost him his weapon however as the wood snapped at the point of impact. Panicking, he fell on his back and tried to scramble away, only to find himself at the feet of the waiting Zeppelin. With a well-timed kick, her foot connected solidly with the side of the man's head, knocking him out cold.

Normally this would have been a victory right there, but there was still the bear to deal with. The very upset beast charged at her and she just barely managed to sidestep out of the way. She did not want to hurt the poor animal but it was pretty clear it did not think of her as a friend. She held up her arms and slowly stepped backwards, trying to show she meant no harm but the bear continued to advance. Just as she resigned herself to try and incapacitate the creature without hurting it too much, a second roar resounded through the forest, causing the approaching bear to pause. It stared at her for a moment before turning around and going in the direction of source of the cry. Zeppelin presumed another bear was cornered by the poachers in this one went to help it. Even in the midst of all the happenings, she still noted that it was strange behavior for sure.

She walked over to the knocked out poachers and helped herself to their gear. It was not robbery. She was confiscating them. Finding some ropes on one guy, she tied up the three for later pickup. She had a few more of them to apprehend and so she had to find the other bear as soon as possible. From among their equipment, she grabbed two knives and the net from earlier. She then proceeded with her pursuit.

The brown bear from earlier did her a huge favor by rushing to its companion. The large creature left a very obvious trail behind it which Zeppelin followed with relative ease. As she made her way through the forest path, she noticed it had grown a bit quieter compared to when she first entered the place. There were only a couple of birds chirping and she didn't see any of the smaller animals around. All the commotion being cause by the bears and the poachers must have scared most of them away. Technically she was now part of the commotion too but she was on the animals' side, even though they probably don't realize it. Up ahead, she could hear some thrashing against the the trees as well as voices... panicked voices. Did the poachers finally get what was coming to them? Maybe they ran into the elusive King and the guardian was teaching them a lesson. She smiled at the thought. But it was a pipe dream to think that things would go that well. Humans were smart and dangerous creatures. Even a mighty beast would be felled if it took people lightly.

The scene she arrived at was one that would leave her speechless. It was nothing short of a terrible sight. On the ground some few feet away were two men unconscious and heavily wounded. Their weapons lay on the ground beside them, broken to bits. The more shocking thing however would be the sight of a large black bear, savagely attacking the brown bear from earlier. Weren't they friends? Zeppelin couldn't make heads or tails of the situation but if she didn't do anything, the brown bear would soon find itself lying in a pool of its own blood as it struggled to fight back against the black bear.

She circled around the vicious creature, being careful not to draw its attention. It wasn't too hard. The brown bear was keeping it fairly distracted though every second that passed made Zeppelin feel even more sorry for it as it continued to take a beating. She climbed up a nearby tree and, getting into a good position, she quickly threw the net she was carrying over the black bear, catching the creature by surprise. It struggled to get the net off but it got caught in the lower branches and trunks of the large trees and gave the animal a hard time moving. It inevitably tripped and fell on the ground, becoming tangled up even more. It roared angrily but was helpless against the trap. Meanwhile the brown bear retreated to a tree a bit further away, switching between watching the black bear and licking its wounds.

Zeppelin slowly approached the black bear and upon closer inspection, she noticed that it had blood shot eyes and was slightly foaming in the mouth. She was not an expert in biology but even she could tell this was unnatural. It took a minute or so but she finally spotted what was the most likely cause of the animal's savage behavior. Stuck on its back was a dart of some sort. She carefully yanked it out, causing the beast to growl angrily. It was the kind of dart that would be typically laced with chemicals. Hunters would use relaxants or poisons. She had not heard of a drug however that caused animals to behave that way.

As she carefully examined the dart some more, a twig snapped behind her, drawing her attention to a third poacher who looked like he was planning to sneak attack her while she was distracted. His cover blown, the man decided to just charge at her anyway, attempting to stab her with a knife. She parried his thrust to the side and used his momentum to wrestle him to the ground and lock his arm behind him.

"What did you do to this poor animal?" She asked sternly as the poacher winced in pain. She made it very clear that  she could break his arm if she wanted to and that pressured him into responding.

"I d-don't know! A-a scientist joined our group recently and paid us to test it on some wild animals! Ouch! W-we thought it was a new relaxant to knock out b-beasts faster so we brought some on this hunt. B-but that bear suddenly went wild after we hit it! Ouch!"

Zeppelin twisted the man's arm a little more. "Where is this scientist now? Where are the rest of you for that matter?"

The man yelped in pain. "T-they went deeper in the jungle! We were originally going to meet up to try and catch the King of the Forest! E-even if we had to kill it, the pelt would fetch a pretty price!"

Zeppelin had heard enough. With a quick chop to the back of the neck, she knocked the man out and then proceeded to tie him up as well. She walked over to the two other bloodied men to check on them but found that they weren't so lucky and were long gone. They were definitely messing with things they shouldn't have.

Looking back at the black bear, it seemed to have calmed down a bit more ever since she took out the dart. It was breathing heavily though and was clearly exhausted. She had no choice but to leave it where it was however. There was no telling for sure that it wouldn't attack her or anyone else if she set it free. And there were more pressing matters. She had to catch up to the remaining poachers and stop them. Without a doubt the King would be far stronger than the bears she had see thus far. If that great bear went wild, it would be a disaster. Once again she picked up a few things from the poachers' scattered equipment before proceeding. She managed to grab a third knife, some rope and a small case filled with darts similar to the one from before. She would have to get it checked back in the lab. For now, she pressed on.

The poachers were trapped like rats. The gunman fumbled his bullets while reloading after seeing there was no where to run. The man with the net pulled out a knife though that probably wasn't going to do him much good. The King approached the two and got up on its hind legs, towering above them. It barely growled, giving off the impression that the poachers were just an annoyance, before bringing down its claws on the men. It deliberately missed, the powerful strike hitting the ground and creating a small 2-foot crater. It was as though it was trying to say it could kill them anytime. The men's knees gave way as they slumped to the ground, with any will to go on sapped from their bodies due to the shock.

Zeppelin cautiously walked over to the two men while keeping her eyes on the big bear. As she got closer, they made eye contact but the King didn't display any outward hostility as if it was aware she was not an enemy. What an unusual but intelligent creature. The King continued to watch her as she tied up the two men nice and tight. They didn't really struggle at all, being paralyzed by fear. She confiscated their net, knives and gun to ensure they didn't attempt any funny business later. Seeing that she was done, the bear snorted once and then turned around to leave. It was over now wasn't it? Now she had to find away to drag all those men back into town and throw them behind bars. It was a bit of an oversight on her part to have not thought of this beforehand. She would probably need to make a couple of trips.

As she pondered this, her train of thought was broken by the sudden roar of the King. She looked to see what was up and saw the beast reeling to the side looking a bit dazed. What happened? She focused carefully and then spotted it. A familiar looking dart was sticking out of the King's shoulder. On the ground about twenty feet away from the bear, the poacher who was caught under the fallen tree earlier was aiming a blowgun at the bear, prepping to hit it with another. Did he still perhaps think those darts contained relaxants? This was bad. She sprinted to the man and before he could shoot again, she kicked the blowgun away from his mouth. A heel drop to the back of the head a second later would knock the man out cold. The damage however was done.

The King was thrashing about, clearly under the effects of the drug from the dart. It was making short work of the nearby trees. If it turned its attention to the poachers again, they would die for sure. Not to mention if it ever found its way to the village. It was in a dangerous state. She had to do something. But a beast like that was a formidable foe. If she got hit directly even once, it would end badly for her. She steeled her resolve. She had a few tools at her disposal courtesy of the poachers. She would have to take care of this alone. First she ran to the side to try and get its attention. The further away she drew it from the injured men, the better. It seemed the drug also deprived the beast of most of its intelligence as it did not hesitate to follow the new target that appeared in its sights. She intended to lead it to the clearing earlier where the poachers set up camp. That was wear she would disable it. She weaved through the trees with impressive agility but the bear simply knocked down everything that was in its path.

When she reached the clearing, she turned around to face the huge bear charging at her unflinchingly. She sidestepped to the right, letting the beast pass but it turned around rather quickly to come ate her again. It may have lost its intelligence but it retained its fighting instincts and there was no confusing those. Seeing that Zeppelin was not running away, it got up on its hind legs and began to take swipes at her. It was deceptively fast. Each claw slash she barely avoided felt like she was having a brush with death. One if its strikes landed on the ground near her feet causing it to tremble and make her stumble. She had to quickly roll out of the way to dodge the follow-up strike. Taking out one of the knives she confiscated, she threw one at the bear's hind leg but the cut was shallow. Tossing knives was not her forte. It did distract the beast though causing it to take a couple of steps back.

Zeppelin got back on her feet again and tried to get behind the bear, only to be met by an incoming bear's paw taking another swift swipe at her. She leaned back as the claws just barely caught the front of her top tearing it up a bit and leave slash marks though thankfully it didn't cut her skin. She back-flipped out of reach and put some distance between them. She then took out another knife and threw it in an attempt to distract it once more but the beast only swatted it out of the way. It was like fighting a human trained in martial arts, only with monstrous strength to back it up.

Zeppelin reexamined her options. There was no beating this huge bear straight up. Her techniques might allow her to parry a few blows but throwing something of this size was out of the question at her level thus leaving her with no real options for offense. She was down to two confiscated knives but as with the first couple of times she tried to use them, they were barely effective at best. The only other useful thing she had was the net but it was proving to be tough finding an opportunity to use it. There was also no guarantee it could hold the beast down like it did the other bear from earlier. If she remembered right, it only worked because the net got caught in the trees and tangled up the bear even more. The King of the Forest however looked like it would just drag down any tree if not tear the net apart first. It was around then that an idea hit her. Recalling how she took down the other bear, she remembered that it began to calm down after taking out the dart. She hoped the same thing would work in this case. But first she had to create an opportunity to even get close to the King to pull it off. She would have to sacrifice the net.

She continued to move backwards, drawing the bear to chase after her until they got close to a group of trees. And then, before the beast could knock them down, she quickly climbed up to get some height. The bear stood up on its hind legs again and took a swipe at the tree trunk. True enough its strength once again trumped the poor tree and it was on its way down along with Zeppelin, but that was fine. She managed to climb high enough and jumped as the tree fell, dropping the net right over the bear's head. It struggled but the net managed to hold for now, keeping it distracted. She took out a third knife and threw it at the bear's leg again, causing it to stumble from the combination of the sudden pain and its furious attempts at getting the net off its face. She then saw her opportunity to execute her plan. She bravely clambered onto the bear's back, found the dart and took it out. In the process however, the struggling bear managed to throw her off. She slammed into another nearby tree and nearly lost consciousness from the impact.

As she tried to get back up, Zeppelin saw that the bear's movements were starting to get sluggish. She observed a similar thing earlier. It seemed to be the side effect of the drug that, after it is removed, it leaves the victim terribly exhausted. She sat herself up against the tree and just watched as the King finally started to settle down. Thank goodness that worked. She didn't really have much fight left in her that day. As she wondered how she was going to transport the criminals back to town in that state, her thoughts were answered by distinct sound of people moving through the bushes.

The first person she saw was the barman from the pub. His suit was a bit dirty and he carried a rifle with him. At first he was taken aback at the sight of the King lying on the ground breathing heavily but he found his courage and walked on over to Zeppelin, asking if she was alright. She nodded as he helped her up with walking. He explained that some townspeople heard noises and gunshots in the forest and felt they should check it out. He was glad they did. As she talked about the events that happened he looked impressed at what the single Marine managed to accomplish alone. He assured her that he would have the other villagers bring in the men to island jail on her behalf.

That evening, there was a small feast in the pub to thank Zeppelin for her efforts. The barman told her that after they picked up the captured poachers, one of the townspeople saw the King calmly sit up from where it was lying down and took off the net covering it fairly easily. It then walked back deeper into the jungle without a care. She chuckled a bit. That bear really was too smart. She would probably be worse off if it kept that intelligence during its rampage. Still she was glad she had the chance to meet it face to face. She would have a good story to tell the other researchers back at the base when she returned.