Treasure Hunting for the feast

Nico had survived long enough to feel confident roaming about more on this own these days.  His two bird companions seemed less concerned as well.  The two certainly still kept an eye on him all the time but they didn’t yell out every time danger, expecting Nico to pay enough attention to what was going on, or able to take care of himself against some dangers.  

Nico had heard about the feast and decided Jack needed to go with him to find something to give towards it.  Nico knew a place that would be great for it but, it was a bit farther than he’d ever roamed with his friend.  Nico had told Jack how he wasn’t going to show up tomorrow probably as he’d be on a dangerous adventure to find something for the feast the magical statues wanted.  That worked.

Nico told Jack all he’d learned of the statues so far.  The coyote had visited one of them, one that had cloaked the lands in mists that had caused the confused Nico to be all turned around for a bit but the way the season seemed to change in this pocket spaces was amazing.  The mist and losing track of his senses had been unnerving admittedly.  He also told Jack all about how the animals had actually talked there.  He had assured the familiars that he and Jack would bring the most amazing decoration to the feast ever.  They hadn’t seemed too impressed but they would be!

Nico leads Jack confidently into the swamp.  Nico’s smaller body moved with confidence in the swamp.  He’d already explored this part of it numerous times.  It was filled with all manner of food any coyote could hope for.  He knew where it was safe or dangerous to step.  The thing he didn’t know is what sort of treasure they could find but surely a place like this would have the most amazing of things.

They went in a short distance and then a bit more and as they got to a part Nico didn’t recognize he finally spotted an answer.  Nico didn’t inform Jack of course he hadn’t been this far, he liked his friend thinking Nico had all this worldly experience.  Not far away was a large alligator, half asleep on a mix of clay, mud, and some pooling water.  Grassy patches sprouted up right around it and a few feet away it turned to larger patches of grass with solid dirt beneath.  Well, the clay had to be pretty strong considering that huge alligator was on it!  Near him there was something sparkling, partly covered in mud and even under the alligator he thought there was a sparkle.  Blood was on the ground near the alligator but since they swallowed their prey in gulps there was no sign of what the blood had once come from.

“There we go Jack.  Next to that big ol’ alligator.  He looks sleepy at least.  Let’s get whatever’s sparkly near him.  I bet we can taunt him into leaving it.  Um, don’t get bit though.”  Nico trusted Jack to have about the same level of caution as he did so the black pup moved forward, head even with his shoulders as he snarled at the alligator.

It uh, ignored him.  Nico got within just twenty feet away from the head before the alligator’s eye seemed to really focus on him.  Damn.  It looked pretty impressively big.  “You’re an ugly thing, ya know.” Nico snarled at it after the comment.
Nico tried to move sideways thinking it’d be better to attack some part of the gator other than the head and it started to twist about to keep facing him.  Welp, Nico had its attention now.

"Niko"