Chapitre 133: Gushy Geysers (Aletha: Part 14)
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Reality returned to her as the memory faced away.
Aletha noticed that she was located in a marsh, hearing the loud sounds of the rolling wheels resounding over the circular wall of pine trees. This could only indicate that Aletha as getting closer to the bull.
When Aletha's boots pounded heavily across the ground, it caused even more mud to slash up her leg then before; but that never mattered for her-- she still kept going.
"I need… to… do this."
As she approached an opening in the forest, where the sight of the green-tinted skyline could be seen above, Aletha turned to her right and saw a squirrel prance around the ground near her.
Like the birds, the brown squirrel hurriedly flew up the tree's trunk, scurried on a slender twig, and tossed an acorn downward.
"Huh? What's that?"
Suddenly…
(BONK)
The rock-solid acorn hit Aletha's head.
Instantaneously, her vision flickered in white, she fell on her knees and coughed loudly. Due to where Aletha was, her knees and skin scraped against the sharp stones dotted on the soil, forcing a pain in her.
She flew into the ground and curled into a ball, helplessly seeing the bull and wagon drifting away as her face pressed against the dirt. Her face flushed with red-patch blotches, feeling every corner of her body fueling with annoyance.
What made the situation even worse, was…
"He he he he he he!!"
The teensy, loud and annoying giggles that came from above.
Scratching and rubbing her head, Aletha tilted upward and saw a group of squirrels mocking and giggling at her. Her patience thinned. She was so, unbelievably close to the bull that it was enough to where her pinky finger could skim the chest's surface.
But what Aletha was treated with instead, was a dirty, no-food squirrel tossing an acorn on her head for no reason.
In return of nature's carelessness, Aletha's fury started to get on her. She grabbed the acorn, angrily clenched her fists, bared her teeth, and muttered tremblingly behind her breath-- crushing the acorn into bits.
"Heh heh. Wow, what a way for nature to be such a jerk." Aletha's nose crinkled as she heard the squirrels giggle.
"He he he he."
With an insane and pressed tone, Aletha made a fake smile, lowered her eyebrows, and mumbled to herself.
"Oh, so these tiny, little pipsqueaks are going to laugh at me? Heh heh, man... you're getting on my last nerve."
To make the situation even more complicated for Aletha, one of the squirrels tossed a branch on her head. Although it was of just a short impact, even if she was nice all the time, Aletha could never accept losing her chance on becoming strong. She gritted her teeth, kicked the trunk of the tree, and growled with steam rising on her heated face.
"That's it-- I'm DONE being nice. So are you all going to be the reason why I fail, huh? Huh?!"
Like a foreigner, the squirrels continued to laugh and giggle, wince they couldn't understand Aletha. Which in trade, plucked the last strand of forgiveness in Aletha. She grumbled as she stomped on the ground.
"Well… you little annoying pests…" She slowly bent over and picked up an acorn, analyzing it, grabbing it, and tilting up to the squirrels on the branch; staring at them with her lifeless gray eyes.
Immediately, the squirrels giggling ceased, cowering and shaking, staring as Aletha hollered to them.
"I have a gift for you too!"
The squirrels froze still on the branch, but seeing Aletha's goofy attire, they couldn't help but laugh and giggle, mocking her height.
"He he he he he he!"
Aletha reacted by shaking her fists, hearing nature mock her.
"Grr... you're testing me."
The squirrels expected that she wasn't going to do anything and continued to mess with her, all to just annoy her. But to their dismay, they never expected Aletha to do what would come next.
She prepared her arm, arched her back, and with a strong and propulsive swing, Aletha lobbed a large pine cone up towards the group of squirrels. Quickly, it smacked one of the squirrels off the branch, squealing in pain from the impact. Aletha smiled as she watched the brown creature fly down to the ground.
(PLOP)
Right after she heard that loud, but satisfying noise, Aletha smiled with a sinister look.
"Got ya!"
And then with pride followed by a rampage, Aletha hurled several acorns, stones, and even twigs at the squirrels like a machine gun. She then witnessed as each one of those twits flew and plopped onto the ground.
At this triumphant moment, Aletha couldn't be any more glad that she pushed each one off. This was revenge for nature being a nuisance to her. Aletha boasted as she walked away from the pile of squirrel bodies.
"Ha, look who's the weakest now? That's what you get, annoying beasts! I'm the goddess of this world, not you!"
As silence met Aletha afterward, she placed her hand on her hips, and realized.
"Oh, shoot. Now I'm even further from the bull. I don't think I can catch up."
It would be then that Aletha will discover that she messed up.
First, she felt a strong tremble shake beneath her feet. She stood there, confused, and curious about what it was, mumbling.
"Earthquake?"
Second, Aletha's eyes shrunk in horror, as she heard a screeching howl echo over the vast expanse of wood. Not just one howl, but several dozens of them. She whimpered and closed up..
"W… What's that?"
Last, Aletha's heart froze in shock at the sight of not just one huge, lavender-colored bear, but ten of them, charging directly at her at rapid speeds. Their blue eyes flashed and illuminated the shadows of the forest, making the sight all the more menacing for her.
If treasure won't urge her to run, this…
"B-Bears?! No, I. I made a big mistake. I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!"
…surely will.
And nature was right, Aletha started to run not for training, but for her life.
Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she tramped and trodden-limped across the marsh, up the hill, towards the sunlight. The loud rumbling of the beasts gradually grew louder, her feet desperately attempted to create a form of traction as the mud took a powerful grip on her boots.
"Ugh, come… on!"
Aletha tried to budge and move the boots, but it was of no use; the bottom of it stuck onto the damp and moist ground like glue.
"No. Why is the mud sticky?!" Was this nature's response?
Latched on the mud, just centimeters close from reaching dry, grassy land, Aletha was stuck in a predicament. While she heard the loud stampede of the cluster of bears, Aletha whimpered in a cold, and fearful tone.
"H… Help…"
The bottom of her boots were taped on a thick gluey substance, the feral roars of the purple bears behind her gradually increased. Her breathing quickened, she squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, mumbling to herself as she heard the bears growing closer.
"Please… anyone?! Help!"
The ground beneath trembled, rocks and pebbles shuffled back and forth her boots, and streams of hot gas and steam rose from moistened pits. Her heart pounded as she attempted to free herself from the sturdy grip of the soil. But it was of no use, her feet glued on mud.
All Aletha felt was sheer, hopelessness. There was nothing she could do to escape.
She even thought of any method to escape this scenario, like taking her boots off; but she felt like she couldn't do it because she had just received them.
Stuck on her thoughts much like the mud, Aletha tried once more to shuffle herself out and escape.
"Roar!"
But the beasts were ferocious, bloodthirsty after what she had done to those squirrels.
It was as if to Aletha that this forest was connected, as if each action would affect everything; it amended her suspicions in her changed world further. And now having remembered those poor squirrels, made her reconsider her actions.
She shrugged and muttered as she heard footsteps trod behind.
"I guess… my actions DO have consequences."
With one final budge, she felt both the ground and her boots beneath her quiver through the one-meter thick marshland of mud.
An emotion of liberty flew in Aletha afterward. Droplets of thick murky substance flew down onto the ground, relieving Aletha's anxiety with its strings detaching on her. She immediately took complete advantage and kept her pace away from nature, sprinting up the cliffs, and feeling the breeze enter her.
Soon as she knew it, her face glowed under the unveiling golden rays. The clouds could be seen again covered in the green tint of the blooming air, followed by the reflecting soil of the tall mountains of Linuxinia. Her eyes stood still as they caught the surreal sight of a field of active, water geysers, gushing pillars of water all around the plain of brown.
"This isn't the Alpine Glitterfy Range." Aletha muttered. "This…" As she tried to take a grasp at her own words, suddenly…
A gargantuan inverted-waterfall flew upwards into the sky, pushing even the clouds back and plastering the entire forest in warm water droplets. Even Aletha's muddy face was drizzled in wet substances, completely washing away the dirt off her legs, arms, and even boots.
At this moment, as the sun was seen shining on the huge field of Geysers, Aletha's mouth curved into a smile, she turned back and exclaimed.
"This is GUSHY GEYSERS!"
The bears were seen retreating back into the forest, coupled by the giant eagles, worms, serpents, fog, and other creatures she had no idea were chasing her. The sheer weightlessness she felt after the pounds of weight of her anxiety fell off made Aletha feel as if she was on top of the world.
When she looked to her right and saw the colossal mountain piercing through the skies, she found out that it served as a reminder just how far she was from her goal. And…
"Speaking of goals… s-should I?"
There, her eyes flashed with realization. The deer-antlered bull she was supposed to chase, it was kilometers away from her; just a tiny speck in comparison to the gigantic field of Geysers, lakes, and waterfalls in front. She knew just from the sheer view of the vista in front of her, this would be more of a challenge herself.
* * * * * * *
Feeling the wind whip her face, Aletha started to chase the bull across the dangerous field of geysers. From every corner, inverted turquoise waterfalls were everywhere, spewing up into the sky like pillars.
Her boots were coated and relieved from the warm waters, but the mist that resonated around the thick patches of vegetation caught up to her legs, decreasing her speed.
But she clenched her fists, and with every pinch of determination, ran at her fastest.
"I got to keep going…"
Her breaths were sharp, but her steps were soft.
One wrong step inside the community of geysers… could set off and detonate pillars of water to shoot out into the sky.
Although breathless, Aletha threw her hands up in the air and dashed away the geysers around. She saw plenty of animals getting caught in the storm of water, getting juggled in the air and falling just close enough to where damage wouldn't be inflicted on them. Aletha kept her gaze focused on the green speck, dashing over hills and vaulting over a field of flowers.
With her eyes over, she skimmed through the shallow pools of water, and dared to travel at her own ease. She gasped as she stopped for a breath, sweating uncontrollably.
"It's… almost…:
Now, the 'speck' Aletha saw before could actually be recognized as a bull from her distance
However, as she continued wandering around the field of geysers, waterfalls, and shallow pools of water, there was a problem. If Aletha were to tread further, she would have been caught up in a colossal geyser six-hundred times the size of her. This quickly made her think.
(Umm… what should I do now?)
Suddenly, from in front she heard loud squeals echo over the lands of geysers. Aletha hurriedly raced over to the edge of the green-tinted pond and just as she was about to turn back to the mountain, a whacking-sized whirlwind of water flew into the firmaments, collapsing the ceiling of clouds and tossing all the wild animals into the sky. The wonder on seeing such a beautiful sight almost made her forgot what she was a out to do. And even then,
Aletha commented.
"This world looks so beautiful." At the expense of being left behind, Aletha couldn't help but gaze at the beauty of this world.
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone