Loud, boisterous laughs filled Milo's ears upon entering the large tent. Her eyes immediately gravitated to Rye, whom was standing alongside several other men in camouflage near one side of the tent.

Milo awkwardly nestled herself between the other 'hunters,' consisting of five men and two other women. She immediately identified one of them as the smug rule-breaker from the plane, Otter. Milo had to stop herself from rolling her eyes in annoyance, and glancing her eyes at the rest of them, only a few faces were memorable from the lineup. Surely most of them held better manners than Otter.
Unfortunately including Otter, most of them looked well-toned, tall, and athletic, making Milo shrink in on herself. She was the obvious runt of the group in comparison to stature and build, which she usually wouldn't mind if it wasn't for the tense atmosphere in the tent and the large array of weapons splayed on the table dividing the two groups.

While Rye continued to bicker with his comrades, Milo swept her gaze across the large tent. Everything from riffles, tranquilizers, and what appeared to be tazers were spread out on the long table with their ammunition sitting next to them. Milo's eyes glanced over each one, spotting an odd pattern of rusted-looking splotches covering the handles of each. She gulped at the likelihood of their source, choosing to dart her eyes instead to the map precariously hung up on the adjacent tent wall near the end of the table.

Milo recognized the familiar silhouette of the continent, but as for the several red X's covering the map, she hadn't a clue. Squinting her eyes, she could vaguely make out the main camp location, yet just south of it marked another bold red X with the poorly scribbled words next to it. Figuring it was some form of documentation, Rye and his team must've already been scouting the area long before Milo had gotten there, perhaps even a few months.

"Everyone, I need your attention." Rye clapped, his voice amplifying within the enclosed space.

Milo shuffled her feet, fingers loosely playing with her shirt's hem. She already was working up a sweat from the humidity combined with the stuffy tent. As soon as they were cleared, she would set her sights on a makeshift shower- if Rye had the resources for one.

"We are going to catch a Naga these next few weeks, and by we, I mean you and my hunters. And in case you've been living under a rock, this is what a Naga looks like-" He reached across the table and pulled out a sketch, which to Milo's view, looked comparable to a kid's drawing.

Milo had an idea what a Naga was from media and books, and the drawing itself confirmed the basics: half man, half snake. Her eyes immediately focused in on the very prominent, sharp fangs enunciated with two large, red triangles in the doodle. Well isn't that lovely.

"Wait, wait, wait." Gloria, a tan woman with long braids standing at the end of Milo's group, looked at Rye with a confused expression. "Are you serious about hunting for something like this? How do you even know its real?"

Rye pursed his lips, eyeing Gloria but continuing, "To catch you all up to speed, we have scavenged the forest for quite some time, catching glimpses of the Naga or Nagas. We are unsure how many are here, but they are thriving in the forest somewhere."

"Do you have any pictures?" She pressed, leaning onto her palm on the table.

Rye grinned proudly, "Actually, yes."

With the motion of his hand, one of his huntsman handed Rye a square film, to which he promptly slid across the table for the group to see. "I would've shown it to y'all first, but the picture is hard to make out at just a glance."

Looking down, the picture was almost black, likely taken at nighttime. Milo could vaguely make out what appeared to be trees, yet off to the side in the upper corner of the photo, the silhouette of a large snake tail covered up the majority of the tree's bark. It was obviously a very large reptile, Milo unsure if it couldn't just be a specie of boa like the anaconda. She was doubtful of Rye's superstitions, yet nodded along as he took back the photo.

"They are extremely fast and intelligent. Perhaps even smarter than some of you." He laughed loudly, knocking his knuckles against the table. "So far, five of my men have gone missing in the past three days, one of which who fortunately got this picture. It's a shame, which is why we need to find and capture the Naga before it claims any more lives- which is where you all come into play."

Otter interrupted Rye with an dismissive scoff, "Why don't you all just leave then? What's the purpose of trying to contain it?" Otter spat, crossing his arms across his burly chest.

Rye squinted his eyes at Otter, "Aren't you all scientists? You of all people should know the purpose of collecting specimens."

Otter shook his head, "You want to study them? For what? For anti-venom pharmaceutical research, public education?" He chuckled with the wave of his hand, "This thing isn't real. None of this is- you can't possibly make me or others believe in something so stupid."

Rye slowly walked down the table, no longer looking at Otter. His boots thumped against the uneven ground, hands crossed behind his back. Waiting for Otter's rant to dissipate, he finally turned to the makeshift map before speaking again.

"Think more personal, Otter. Scientists and doctors seem to forget why they chose their calling, forgetting the roots from which they were originally planted."

Milo could only watch as he walked up to the map, reaching his clothed arm upwards to rub his thumb over an X, the red chalk smearing over his skin. Rubbing his fingers together, he stood in contemplation. Milo bit her cheek, his question weighing heavily in the air.

"Do you want to know why I chose to go after the Naga, some make-believe creature?" Rye asked quietly.

'Why do you want to be a science researcher?' Her counselor asked, sitting across from Milo in the highschool guidance counselor's office. The old yellow wallpaper was slowly starting to peel above the cabinets pinned to the wall behind her, the moldy-musty smell of the frayed carpet scratching against her shoes. The older woman tilted her head, her hands folded neatly on the desk while she waited for Milo to reply.

Milo sat with her shoulders hunched in the flimsy four-legged chair. Before she could answer, the counselor answered for her.

'Your GPA is outstanding, that cannot be denied. You've taken more advanced classes than any graduated student in my entire career. You fit every requirement to be selected into an ivy league university. Yet you choose to be something so ambiguous, so unachievable, a career that will forever lead you in circles?'

Rye turned his head back at the group, smiling lightly at a memory hidden admist his cold, black eyes. "I sought to capture one for the good of humanity. To show the world what new discoveries are lying right under our noses this very second." He looked at Milo pointedly then. "I need facts to help me capture the Naga. And for that I need you. So, what do you bring?"

Milo stared at him wide eyed, fidgeting on the spot. Even though she was with another group of scientists, she felt Rye's questioning was directed at her. At the silence of the other members, Rye's eye twitched in aggravation, his nails tapping away on the wood of the table.

Milo didn't know anything about Nagas, but she did have a plunder of knowledge on snakes, so she carefully took the bite. "W-well. Most snakes are fleeing creatures- some even docile. They don't like danger nor are one's to confront them. They analyze, and if pressed enough, attack." She said proudly, the morsel of confidence shriveling up upon the dismissive look she received from Rye.

"Well this here Naga took a bite outta several of my men. You consider that docile?" Rye stated sharply. Milo didn't care for his immediate degradation, biting her cheek harshly but answered nonetheless.

"I said some of them, like typical garden varieties and even corn snakes. But the other, more aggressive, kind can include rattlesnakes, mambas, and vipers, which are venomous and made to fight." Milo stood confidently. "However, they only will attack if provoked."

Rye eyed her last declaration, suddenly grinning widely, "Well, we definitely pissed it off. We have made attempts to subdue it through bullets and tranquilizers on several occasions, but the damn thing is excellent at dodging and hiding away."

"They are fast and highly intelligent creatures." Charlotte added to the right of Milo, or 'Charlie' from Rye's new nicknaming. "In my other international trips, I've seen Egyptian Cobras sneak into camp and steal a fowl within the dead of night."

Milo nodded in agreement, "They are resilient enough to overcome challenges like drought, lack of food sources, and even human invadement of their land. It would only make sense that these... Nagas your talking about have started taking action... in eradicating the problem." Her words fell heavy in her mouth, but the truth was practically an elephant in the room already.

Rye cleared his throat, "Exactly. Which is why we need a new plan on capture. What's the best way we can obtain one?"

At that, the room fell silent. Sure, Milo had a few inputs on the proper catch and release technique on the many desert snakes she caught back in America. But for a snake-man as large as her supposedly? For a creature she's never laid eyes on to study its behavior?

"To do that, I'd need to study it myself."