The Hovering Ingress: The Hidden World

Chapter 37

Caged 'Beast'

One Ninth Sune Later

Xengu growled as hunger gnawed at her belly, weakening her every move as she trudged through the blistering hot barren. She was lucky to find a forest just before this section of the Volcanic Region, with lots of prey and plenty of plants. Her only issue was that she had been too tired and too slow to hunt and too weak to pull some of the fruits from the trees. She would have taken berries from a bush that had plenty to fill about ten baskets when something told her to not touch it and almost made her hurl the last of the bile in her stomach.

A bush filled with mainly leaves and hardly any fruit to bear had been the one that she could take. Bruised or unripe, she didn't care, she chowed through it. She had wished she hadn't been so desperate for something to eat and taken them with her, because she was back to being hungry. Out past the waves of heat coming from the ground and distorting her vision, she found the biggest volcano in the region. This was supposed to be where the Sinister base was, according to Whiz.

A groan escaped the panther as she continued through the hot ground. At this point her paws were so scorched that walking anywhere hurt. She wanted to fly but didn't have enough energy in her to keep her very high up. Eventually she would run out and crash into the ground anyway. Sighing, the panther put her hands on her face and groaned as she continued forward. This was the worst!

As she came closer to the volcano, she spotted ophoree- no, Sinisters running along the field. She quickly hid behind a mound big enough for her and peeked over the top. She had to get through that place somehow, someway. Quietly she stalked around and got behind another mound, watching quietly as the Sinisters took one look at each other started fighting, green saliva flying from their jaws and shrill roars escaping them. Xengu scrunched her nose and rolled her eyes as she dove for another mound and continued scanning the area.

After a while of suffering through adrenaline from hiding place to place to avoid getting caught by Sinisters and flabirs alike, the winged feline came across a large mound that seemed to go around the volcano with quite a few sprints behind it. Quietly the panther stared at it from her hiding space before looking around cautiously and sprinting for it. Just as she went to jump over the mound, she was smacked by a paw and sent flying back a few paces.

Groaning at the scratches and burns that now formed on her body, she weakly got up when energy spiked through her. A Sinister stared directly into her eyes with interest, lowering its head to her level. A low snarl escaped her as her fur bristled, slowly backing up away from the creature. When she tumbled over the side of the mound she was on, she yowled and scrambled to her paws, running to desperately get around the Sinister.

She quickly dodged a paw and yowled as she was picked up by the scruff. Adrenaline rushed through her as she clawed the Sinister, her claws ripping through its nose and causing it to let go. Xengu then whipped around and lunged at its head with a flap of her wings, digging her claws into its eyes. The squishy flesh was easy to grab as it wailed and whipped its head around, desperate to get her off. The panther then dove to the large vein visible in its neck and dug her teeth into it, shrill roars and hisses escaping her.

Once she was done with her defense from the assault, she dropped to the ground, watching as the Sinister swayed before falling over. She panted, feeling the adrenaline course through her veins and keep her heart pounding. I need to find the others, she thought as she found a cave in the volcano's side. I don't want to lose this energy too soon. I'll need it. With a daredevil dash, she sprinted through the barren land, quickly wanting to make her way to entrance. She dashed past the Sinisters that ran through the place after hearing the commotion and dove into the entrance.