Lost

Chapter 3, Moonrise

Heat. Scorching heat filled the air, drowning the terrified screams out. Flames leaped and roared, hissing against the downpour of cold wet rain. They were shaking, calling a name. The ground beneath them was soaked thoroughly, and their balance betrayed them, throwing the figure off the side into the churning waters below. A face appeared, scared green eyes followed them into the waves, a hand extended as they opened their mouth- yet no sound reached their ears.

The girl sprang up, drawing heavy breaths. They ran their hands through their hair, to when they realized they were sweating. Pulling themself together, the girl shook away the thoughts. It was just a nightmare, yet the freezing rain, the powerful waves, it all felt too real.

The moon was still high in the sky, casting a glow over the island. With a few shaky breaths they calmed themself, hugging their backpack close. The fire had long since died, and the trees moaned softly. The girl stood up, kicking sand over the ashes and looked around, their fate to the island setting in again.

An owl hooted somewhere far off, and the girl flinched away from the noise, cursing themself as they did so.

They scanned the area, eyes landing on a butterfly- it had perched on a log, its bright blue wings glittering in the moonlight. It seemed magical almost, as the butterfly took to the air, fluttering away. They watched the butterfly as it left, it seemed lonely in a sense.

Sighing, they took a hesitant step towards the forest, almost wanting to follow the butterfly. Was this a good idea? Probably not. We're they going to do it anyways? Hell yeah.

Looping the backpack over their shoulder, they set towards the forest. They paused just outside, the fog rolling over their feet. On closer inspection it seemed like a pale purplish color, but that could be the moonlight. The girl peered into the forest, not like they could see past the heavy vegetation, but it was worth a try. Despite not being able to see much farther than an armlength ahead, they still pressed on, batting branches away and avoided best they could any sticks on the ground.

They had been at it for a while, and the deeper they went the heavier the air got. It was getting a little humid, dew settling on the leaves. They batted away a great fern in their way, and paused, holding the fern up. A small clearing was laid out before them, moonlight settling in the barren area.

Not so barren after all, as something shifted upon their arrival. Whatever it was, it was big. Blue eyes met purple, and the next moment- they we're running.

The girl decided to not take a good look at whatever it was, and instead ran for their life. Literally. The beast's furious snarls were lost in the racket they made as they sprinted back the way they came, its heavy paws thundering against the forest floor.

Wait. Was that a second pair?!

Casting a quick glance over their shoulder, they now noticed two sets of eyes following them. Oh, lovely. They ran a little faster, their breath coming in short and shallow. They veered to the side, trying to lose whatever it was and ended up stumbling, and began to roll downhill.

Their leg was burning even more now. Great.

They crashed into a tree, and scrambled up, grabbing onto a low branch and struggled to pull themself up. And not too soon, as the creatures tore past. They sat there for a few moments, listening to the creatures' yelps die away. They let out a breath they hadn't known they were holding. and relaxed for a moment.

They couldn't count on the creatures being gone forever or being able to get back to the beach. They shuffled closer to the trunk, leaning their back against it. They took a moment to catch their breath, letting their eyes take in their surroundings in the dim light.

Something shifted. It was there, just barely. They turned slowly, now spotting the creatures from before stalking low to the ground. One moved into a spot where the light of the moon shown through, and they slapped a hand over their mouth so they wouldn't scream.

It was not normal, that's for sure. It had teeth poking out through its jaws, its eyes shadowed over in a purple tint. Curved horns protruded from the back of its head, another set curving down over its long thin ears, it had a short neck which led to a long-legged muscular build, with two twitching tails at the end.

Scary blob with teeth.

Hold up, what? They blinked, confused as to what their conscience named the creature, before focusing back on it. The scary blob made a hissing noise at its companion, before the two left slowly, at least that's what they would have done, if it had not been for their dumbass.

They forgot to breathe. So, when they sucked in a breath, one of the creatures turned, eyes landing on their form. A low growl rose in its throat, as it lunged forward, sinking its claws into the tree and attempted to scramble up the tree.

The girl shrieked, clambering up further, grabbing one of the wet books- 'Secrets of Alon', and threw it down at the beast, the books edge smacking the creature's snout and it dropped down, snarling. They shouted something, grabbing another book and waved it around, hoping the sudden noise would startle the creatures. It yelped, eyeing them warily. They threw the other book, and it sailed past the creatures' horns and smacked into the other one's leg. The creatures ultimately decided that the girl was not good prey, and left, heads low.

The female let out a long sigh of relief, clutching the bag closer. Their night adventure into the woods? Not a good idea. At least now they knew that there we're scary blob things with teeth and they are not nice.

They sat there for quite a while, before climbing down hesitantly, trembling slightly. Once they were sure the beasts were gone, they left the side of the tree, and walked slowly through the forest in the opposite direction of the creatures.

Now is not the time to getting chased.

~1044 words~ WOOOO Just above 1k words!

Authors note- Hope you've enjoyed this so far, and this chapter was more of an insight on what sorts of creatures you can expect to meet on the island, and maybe it will give the main character some better judgment- who knows!