The Gift of Good and Evil One Shots: Volume 1

The Everboy and the Neverbeast

You inhaled the sweet spring air as you stepped out of your makeshift tent. It smelled of daffodils and rain, which you found somewhat pleasant. It had rained nonstop the last five days and finally some of the clouds were beginning to burn off. Though you suspected that wouldn't last very long and it would be raining again by the late afternoon.

You grabbed your satchel and your cutlass from your tent, not wanting to waste any of the rain-free time you had. You'd been in the forests of Valdonia for the last month, hoping to find and study the Neverbeast; and you could tell you were getting close. You had mapped out a few locations where you thought its lair might be, but due to the rain, you hadn't been able to explore them yet.

After prepping everything you needed, you began trekking toward the closest plot point on your map. It was about a 4 mile hike, but that didn't bother you one bit. You quite enjoyed the isolation of the forests. It was calm, quiet, and usually peaceful. That is, unless you met other researchers, travelers, or enemies along the way.

The sun was peeking through a few clouds in the sky, causing the air to feel somewhat steamy as it dried the wet grass and trees. There was no set path to where this plot point on your map was, so it left you having to cut your way through the forest, which took extra time and forced you to have to expend more energy than you would've liked.

Of course, you could just use your magic to blast your way through; but you tried to avoid that. Not that you didn't ever use your magic, but you were adamant about only using it when absolutely necessary. Most of the time, you just traveled through the forests and countryside, using weapons as your main way of defense. It was safer that way...for everyone.

Suddenly, a crack of a branch in the distance caught your attention. You stopped, looking around, trying to determine the origin of the sound. You weren't nearly close enough to your destination for this to be the Neverbeast; as they never ventured far from their lair, especially during the day.

Another crack sounded in the distance; this time a little closer. You grabbed hold of your cutlass, preparing for a defense, just in case something jumped out at you. You slowly crept closer to a tree that you could use as cover, ready to strike when whatever it was got near.

You steadied your breathing, glancing over your shoulder as you stepped around the tree a little more; waiting. Every now and then you heard another sound. The rustling of a bush, the cracking of a branch. But then...then you heard muttering.

"If I keep going this way I believe I'd land...oh no that can't be right...I swear I've seen this tree before."

Gods. You thought to yourself. It's another person.

Wherever they were going, it seemed to be in the opposite direction as you. So you lowered your cutlass, and slowly made your way around the tree, trying to remain quiet, in hopes that they would continue on and leave you be.

Wishful thinking...

As you backed away from the traveler, you accidentally stepped on a nearby branch and it broke with a loud CRACK!

You quickly rolled into a nearby bush, using it as camouflage as the traveler turned, trying to figure out where the sound came from. He moved towards where you had just been, observing the broken twig. And as he looked around, he caught a glimpse of your cutlass reflecting the sunlight from inside the bush.

"I can see you in there," he said, as he shifted to try and get a better view of you. "There's no need to hide; I won't hurt you."

You rolled your eyes. Hurt me? Yeah, as if.

But when you didn't move, he stepped slightly closer, causing you to get defensive.

You stood, holding your cutlass out in front of you; startling him so much he tripped backwards over a root and fell down. You couldn't help but snort a little at his disheveled appearance as you stepped further out of the bush.