The GATE Academy

Slaying the beast.

The forest darkened as I traveled up the large mountains. Trees were everywhere, and a dirt path I had been following this morning was gone. There was no sign of a cave. I looked at my surroundings as I walked. The nature here is really beautiful. After a while, I grew tired of launching myself over fallen trees, and going through bushes and other thick shrubs. The land was sloped, which naturally made it more difficult to climb up. I suddenly thought of a solution. I stopped walking and my red eyes began glowing as I shifted into my neko form. Now instead of just having neko ears, a tail and a human body, I looked like any other feral cat. I'd say the only thing that set me apart are my bright red eyes. Now that I was in neko form, I could travel more efficiently. I broke out into a run, leaping and ducking when there were fallen trees, easily evading bushes.

I travelled for hours in neko form. Clouds were floating through the sky and slowly built up, causing the sunlight to fade away. The dark clouds completely filled the sky now and I could feel drops of water hitting my pelt. It was raining. The cool drops of water slowly fell at first, but it soon picked up. It didn't bother me. Strange isn't it? A neko who likes water.

As the rain poured down I continued my journey through the forest and up the mountain. The plant filled terrain slowly diminished into a more rocky one. I looked up at a wall of large rocks. Maybe I could spot a cave from up there. I began hopping up on the rocks. I was at a disadvantage here because a feral cat and rock climbing don't mix. I could have shifted back to my normal form, but the purpose of this request was to challenge myself and that is what I will do. I continued climbing. When I put my paw on the next rock I could feel it crumble and fall. Luckily, I was able to cling to another rock above before I could fall. I heaved myself up, noticing that I was now on the top of the ledge. I stared out at the treetops from above. All I saw were trees and mountains. How far have I travelled from that village?

I finally decided to look around a bit. As soon as I turned around I was facing at a dark cave. How convenient. Entering the cave was fun. It was pitch black right as I went inside. Since I didn't know what exactly what to expect, my red eyes glowed as I shifted back into my normal form. I couldn't sense any form of life here. Hopefully that would change as I explored the cave. My combat boots made a quiet clunking sound with every step I took. I summoned my double bladed scythe, Inferno. I held it in my hand in front of me as the blades were engulfed in flames, giving light to the area of the cave I was in. My eyes adjusted to dim light in the dark cave after awhile. It was much more silent in here than outside. Almost too quiet. The subtle flames from my weapon weren't doing very good as a light, so with that Inferno disappeared. I could have made the flames stronger to creat more light, but I want to remain undetected by whatever could be hiding here.

In the blink of an eye I had taken a step and placed my foot onto nothing. I was falling. Without hesitation I summoned on of my many kunais and jabbed it into the rock wall beside me. I dangled from the single kunai and took a deep breath. That could have been a hard fall. I looked down just to see if there was any bottom, and to my surprise there was actually another passage in the cave about fifteen feet below. This one was lighted. From what I could see, there were torches in the cave walls. I decided to take a closer look. The kunai disappeared and I was falling again. This was on purpose of course. Fifteen feet is nothing.
I landed on my feet in a crouch. I stood up slowly, examining the new part of the cave I had discovered. I was right. Torches were nailed onto the walls of the cave, and it wasn't in just one area. The whole tunnel looked as if it was lit. The way the torches were set up looks as if the tunnel is an entrance to something important or big.
The dragon perhaps. As much as I was tempted to run, I didn't. Running risks being detected, and that's the last thing I need.

It took approximately ten minutes before I noticed a change in the lit tunnel, it slowly started to get more spacious and slope down. At that moment I could sense a living creature ahead. An animal, but this animal had a different scent to it. Nothing I haven't scented before, but not what I was wanting to detect. Whatever it is, it's demonic. I could only assume it was a dragon. I slowed my pace, knowing that whatever it was, it could already sense me nearby if it's awake. My questions were answered without hesitation as my bright red gaze landed on an open illuminated room in the cave. I could see piles of treasure, and to top it off, a dragon sleeping beside it. I hid behind a large rock, peeking out at the demonic sleeping beast. I stared at it for a long time. Well, more like two minutes. Basically, I was analyzing it. With my knowledge on anything to do with hell, I could tell it was a fire dragon, but nothing too special of rank considering I could not recognize it. Every demonic creature of hell is ranked somehow, whether the creature believes in tanking or not. It's usually by power, species, experiences, and strength. Once something is at a high enough rank to be recognized, it's talked about. Also challenged of course. Some demonic creatures will kill just to be a higher up in rank and more well known. It's stupid. If I remember correctly, word got around when I did all I had to to leave hell according to someone I grew up with there. Apparently some demons wanted to travel to Earth to kill or defeat me, to have their name spread around. Although, I don't see anything special about trying to kill or defeat me. I'm just an outcast.