Parable of Arcastia: Journey between the dual world

(3) Unkown Predator

   The singing pulled Zaidan through the forest as if it had a mental rope tied around him. His legs moved quicker than his mind, as he progresses onward. He moves, almost as if he is in a hypnotic trance, and as he approaches the ball laying next to a tree, he immediately comes back to his senses. Zaidan quickly looks around.

"How'd I get so far, so fast..." He then notices the ball resting gently on the grass. Zaidan's heart begins to speed up with anxiety. He has never been this far away from civilization. He hand's began to moisten, yet his outward appearance was nothing short of confidence. With the ball in his possession, he starts his walk out of the wild. As Zaidan threads back to civilization be starts noticing an intense rustling sound coming from the behind. He quickly looks back and sees nothing but leaves falling gently to the ground.

He continues to look around more, knowing for sure that someone or something is right there with him.

Wonder what kind of animal it is?

In the middle of surveying the area, Zaidan bumps into a tree while walking backward. He turns around and notices deep scratch marks on the trunk of the tree, and for some reason the marks are wet. His eyes grow large. Suddenly he hears the leaves again, followed by a strange low moan, that sounded very animalistic. Beginning to become very anxious, he doesn't take another second to think up a strategy and makes a run for it.

As he runs he hears the something following his trail from the side. He moves so quickly that he trips. The ball bounces ahead of him a great distance, and he is stuck laying on his back. The sounds of the leaves become more rapid. Just by listening he can tell that whatever is there with him, has begun to circle him. He hears cracking of the wood. Whatever this creature was, it sure was fast.

He stood up as quickly as he could. Even though the believed to animal had caught him in an inescapable vortex, the ball didn't bounce outside of it. Thinking quickly, he rushes for the ball. With it, back in his hands, he looks to which direction the animal seems to be going. Bracing himself by holding the ball on the side that will attack him at, he rushes to it.

Okay, whatever this thing is. If it tries to get me from the side, the ball should block or harm it for a few seconds.

Zaidan's heart begins to race as he nears the unknowable animal; and lucky for him, he is able to dodge it all together. He takes a moment, just to see if he was really that lucky. Coming back to the sense that this is a life or death situation, he resumes his run. Zaidan keeps his vision focused only on the pathway ahead. He hears the creature stop circulating.

Must have just noticed I left.

The only sounds Zaidan can hear now are the sounds of his own footsteps, the worst sounds he could ever here in this situation. Without the creature making even the slightest sound, Zaidan is unable to judge his distance from it, as well as the direction it is traveling in. He has no choice but to run out as blindly has he did coming in.

Getting close to the entrance, Zaidan has a moment of relief; however, it is cut short as a tree falls directly in his path. Zaidan quickly jumps back. Staring at the tree with eyes filled with fear, he notices that the bottom of the tree's trunk is soaking wet. Flabbergasted he looks all around him, and suddenly discovers water dripping from the top of the trees.

Something about this thing has to do with water somehow...

Zaidan's thoughts are hastily interrupted by the sounds of quickening footsteps coming from behind him. Whatever it was that was chasing him, was far more intelligent than he could have hoped for. It blocked his forward path so that it could come up on him from behind, knowing that Zaidan' would freeze in fear by almost being crushed by the tree.

It was too late to run. The creature was getting closer by the second. He had to think of something and fast, or else he would die right here and now. The only thing he had on him was the ball.

Maybe I can stun it, just long enough to get out of here!

Zaidan closes his eyes and turns around—throwing the ball has hard has he possibly can. Without his knowledge, the ball hurls directly at the creature. It coming out of the shadows to reveal itself as sea-imp, it charges straight for Zaidan. It's speed, combined with the speed of the ball, causes it to collide with it within seconds. The force disrupts the sea-imps movement, and it explodes and collapses onto the ground, it is now nothing more than a corpse, a puddle of pure water.

Zaidan opens his eyes to the sound of the explosion and sees that whatever was chasing him, was now gone. The only thing he sees in front of him is the ball covered in water, floating in a puddle. He picks it up and gives one last look around.

...Guess I must have scared it off. Whatever it was...The ball must have it on the nose, which must be sensitive. Yeah, that's probably what happened. It left behind...drool? Gah, whatever, I'll just have to clean up later today.

Zaidan sighs loudly; having survived such a threatening encounter on mere luck alone, he cannot help but burst out with laughter. Returning to his confident walk he climbs over the trunk of the tree and heads out of the wilderness.

***

Coming out back into civilization, Zaidan sees Cohen sitting on the eagerly awaiting his return with his head tucked in his legs, with his hands shielding the back of it.

"Aw man. Zaidan... Please be okay..."

"What you so bent out of shape about?" Cohen quickly sticks his head straight up and looks at Zaidan with delight. He hugs him, with the ball separating them by a few inches.

"Haha, Zaidan!"

"Hey! Come on Cohen easy."

"Apologies, but man was I worried."

"Well no need to anymore, I've got the ball."

"that's not what I meant!" Cohen pauses lament. "Zaidan, look. Sorry, I didn't go in with ya, it's just that... That's a pretty dangerous place and-"

"Hey, come on Cohen. I didn't expect you to come in with me anyways. Besides, I got the ball back and that's all that matters, right?"

"Gah, just. Just be more careful, 'kay?'

"I promise." Cohen smiles.

"Ya know I can tell when you're lying right?" The two of them share a laugh, and they head over to a large public pool, meant for practicing. Now that Zaidan's moment of terror was over, it was time to start preparing for the big game. 

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Zaidan really didn't thin things through just barging into unfamiliar territory. Let' just be glad he's safe. Now that, that's out of the way the boys can get to practicing. 

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please vote and comment; and have a great day, and a great time reading.