Spirit Animals: The Keeper's Book

Chapter Eight: The Scorpion

Perhaps Jenna had eaten a bit too much, because she had a very strange and yet familiar dream. All around her seemed to be the faint outlines of the mountains from the mist. She seemed to be plunged into mist and everything around her had became blurry colors.
Jenna soon watched as everything had came into focus to see her younger self standing with her parents at the Eura docks. She smiled softly as she watched as her younger self helped out by moving the boxes and gave the boxes to the rightful owners. Her younger self unintentionally caught the attention of three boys, two brothers and their servant.
One of the eldest of the dark-haired boys stepped forward as he watched her curiously. He resembled Devin Trunswick greatly (Mustela told her about him). Maybe Jenna did meet him before she lost her memory at the shipwreck incident.
Devin soon cleared his throat, which caught Past Jenna's attention. "Um... H-Hello." His younger brother and his servant both let out muffled laughter, which earned a glare from Devin before he gazed at her. "So, what's your name and where are you from milady?" 
"My name is Jenna Wiseheart," said Past Jenna as she stood up and kept a hand on one of the wooden crates, who was eyeing the boy warily. "I'm from Amaya." Past Jenna eyed him up and down before she asked. "What about you? What's your name?"
"My name is Devin Trunswick." Devin puffed his chest proudly. "I'm from Eura, Trunswicks."
"How about you tell me about yourself?" asked Past Jenna curiously.
He hesitated for a little bit before he spoke again, but a little softer and more uncertain. "I am about to be the future Lord of Trunswicks and... Umm... That's pretty much it."
Past Jenna's gaze softened as she looked at him. During her time on the Essix's Spirit, she had came across a boy Niloan-Zhongese boy named Kirat, who is pretty much like Devin, born and raised to live up to his family's reputation and the family name with nothing else in mind.
"What about you?" Devin asked curiously.
"I'm here with my parents," said Past Jenna with a smile. "They're both sea traders. We travel together nonstop, so we won't be separated from each other."
Jenna's teenage counterpart watched the scene nonstop, stunned to the point of silence as she continued watching her past self and Devin have started to become close friends. Jenna swallowed nervously. She finally understood that Devin was really heartbroken that they were forced to face each other on opposite sides and she wasn't able to recognize in the midst of her battle.
As Jenna woke up, she soon noticed that she was leaning against Destiny like a comfy pillow. But she noticed that Worthy is missing. The three of them has settled down in the courtyard and build up a camp for them to temporarily rest in before they continue on with their journey.
By the time Jenna came from the courtyard with Destiny, she noticed that Worthy was missing. She hadn't seen Worthy coming back to her after his scouting trip and reporting back to her. As she continued looking for any sign of him, Destiny barked and Jenna spun around to look at her spirit animal. Destiny soon stepped back to reveal the messy trail to Jenna. It looked like a trail, as if someone was being dragged away and headed into the darkness of the underground world. Jenna and Destiny both looked at each other in concern. Even though they barely knew Worthy, they had to rescue him since they're in this new mess together.
"Let's find him." Jenna gazed at the dark tunnel determinedly. "There's no telling what could happen to him, so we have to act quickly."
They walked through the tunnels below the world, casting a train of eerie silhouettes, all stretched out and flickering against the cave walls. Jenna tried to focus on her companion and the footprints instead of their monstrous shadows, but she couldn't stop her eyes from wandering to the rock walls, where their distorted versions twisted and hovered.
But at that moment, they had entered a giant cave that had four ancient pillars in the shape of a square. Jenna frowned when she saw a giant scorpion walking in an abandoned courtyard. She spotted a disturbing gray spiral on the giant scorpion's forehead. Jenna noticed that Destiny started growling at the sight of the beast.
Jenna caught sight of Worthy tied up by some spiderwebs. With a slight nod, the two partners both ran towards the infected scorpion together. That's when a fierce battle has begun between the bonded partners and the infected scorpion. The infected scorpion against the young Keeper, the scorpion is enforced by the spiral while the other is bonded by Nectar. The scorpion was a fierce opponent, but so was Jenna and Destiny. Her weapon clashed against the infected scorpion, fiery powers against power and enemy against enemy. Destiny's agility and strength is a strong match against the infected scorpion's abilities. Jenna had used her skills and powers to get out of trouble more than once from the infected scorpion's attempted attacks at her and Destiny. After a few more hits, there was a white flash and it turned back into an ordinary scorpion. They watched as the scorpion scurried away.
Jenna ran towards Worthy and freed him from the cobwebs with Destiny's help. "Are you okay?"
"Arax's Wool — that thing was big! I thought I was dead for sure." But his eyes shone with gratitude as he gazed at Jenna and her spirit animal. "Keeper, I owe you my life. If you hadn't..." Without a warning, Jenna was pulled into a warm embrace by Worthy and she felt him purring against her neck. She smiled softly as she returned Worthy's embrace and felt Destiny leaning against them, giving them her own embrace. Once Worthy realized what he was doing, he pulled back from hug and Jenna did the same thing while Destiny stepped back from the hug. Worthy seemed to be smiling at his two rescuers. "Thank you. I hope I can repay this someday."