章 4: Flames of Souls [2]
Before they went inside the portal, a barren wasteland was present. An infinite wasteland that could stretch as far as the eye could see, but when they went inside, the scenery changed in an instant. From a wasteland to a rainforest, with striving animals, insects, and a self-sufficient ecosystem.
This, was the world of 99th Floor, Aeturnus.
A small pond inside the forest, a frog on a lily pad spots a tasty meal which was a fly. It flicks out its long tongue. The tongue lassos the meal and pulls it back inside the frog's mouth.
Just then, a footstep could be heard in the distance. This made the frog sense danger and hatches away in order to escape from what it thinks is a predator.
Zion nervously walks around the forest with Talia behind his back, holding a sharp stick upright as an attempt to scare of bugs. While Talia tries to find something noteworthy and important, such as food and water.
"Zion, where do we go now..? I don't know what to do. T-There's nothing notable around here." Talia asks, while losing hope as she notices the sun was setting at a really fast pace.
"I don't know yet.. First of all, we need a place where we can.. live in. Maybe we could find food and water while doing so."
Talia looks at the tall mountain with her glowing pink right eye, and from a medium distance, she sees a adequate cave at the bottom of the mountain that could do.
In the middle of the forest, Zion and Talia walk towards the mountain, not expecting to run into anything peculiar. The appearances of trees became much more infrequent, and eventually they saw a mossy pathway that looked like it was ancient.
The kids were shocked to see the cave, as it turns out it was an mossy, old cave base used by species long ago. With broken-down pillars surrounding it, a warm and mossy inside, and it was still stable enough to last a couple decades.
"We're finally here.! This can be used as shelter, for now let's.. find some food, Talia!" Zion exclaims.
"Zion, how do we know which one can be eaten and which one can't? I've heard you can eat plants but not everything..."
For a moment, Zion thinks as his eyes flashes with excitement.
Let's just taste test things.. Why am I excited? I'm supposed to be scared or hopeless, I feel like I'm awakening something new!
"Let's just taste test it to see if it can be eaten or not. I'll do the honors!" He says, with a pure smile on his face.
After some time, Talia falls asleep due to fatigue and he gets outside the cave to forage for food.
Zion walks outside the cave to find some plants, and he finds a berry that was star shaped. He gets mesmerized by the look of it, and plucks it out and takes a bite.
"Yum..! It's sweet! Are there more of these fruits?"
It's called a starberry.. Wait, how do I know this? I thought it was new for me..
Talia woke up and sees Zion doing something at the distance, and screams at him to come back.
"Hey Zion!! What are you doing there? It's going to be night! Come back here already!"
Zion did not respond, since he was invested on something.
Ah.. It's too much stuff for me to carry by hand.
A light bulb flashed inside his mind as he figures out a plan to make it work.
He takes an extra shirt from his gear bag, and cut the long sleeves off, the neckline area, and the fringe. After that, he ties the fringe to make a t-shirt backpack that could carry food and firewood.
Nice! This could be used to carry stuff!
A few minutes later, Zion comes back with a bunch of firewood and starberries by using his shirt as a bag while doing some steps, and Talia lights a fire.
They didn't know that this was a huge mistake. Since Zion and Talia were humans and have no knowledge about upper floors.
"Woah, Talia, you know how to light fire?"
"Of course I do! Uncle Kenzou taught me.."
The atmosphere instantly became bleak. But after, they mourned for their loved ones.
After talking for a little while, time flew. The night came, a glowing orb emitted a soft light, which was the moon. The entire forest instantly covered with darkness, which the glowing starberries and the moon was the primary source of light. Zion and Talia was sitting inside the floor of the cave, clutching the campfire's heat as the temperature outside was cold. The smoke went outside the cave far and wide, which made numerous predators notice.
"Hey, do you really think we could live a good life? I mean... I don't know what to do know, since all of our parents are dead." Talia asks.
"Hmm... I don't know. Let's just do our best for now!" Zion replies.
They both went to sleep, and Zion slowly opens his eyes, and sees a weird sight.
He finds himself standing before Talia, trying to guard Zion from 2 wolfmen, a species that belong to the 90th floor.
What.. happened? No. This can't be happening...
"Zion! Wake up..! Run away now, I can't fight them back with this climbing equipment!"
He widened his eyes in fear as a another death would happen right before his eyes with the thought of not being able to do anything.
But as he attempted to drag Talia back and let her be safe, it miserably failed, his fingers trembling, his legs shaking, since he couldn't move a single inch.
It was like he turned into stone.
Huh? I can't move..? Legs, move. Move! I SAID MOVE!!!!
Just after, he sees Talia getting slashed by the sharp claws of one of the wolfmen, which led to a gruesome death that happened right in front of his eyes.
Zion turned furious, his left eye burnt on fire as he experienced a excruciating burning pain that was happening inside his retina.
"Aaaargh..!!!" Zion exclaims.
What's happening?! It feels like my whole body is in fire! No.. Talia! Please... I don't have anyone left..
His left eye slowly lost color, while the "50" imbedded into his eye slowly decreased in number, going down to 49, 48, 47.. until it reached 0. His eyes lost color, devoid of emotion, and his consciousness faded away slowly but surely.
"Ahhh!!!!!" Zion wakes up from a horrifying and traumatic dream, followed up by a surprised Talia that got woken up by his yell.
"Zion? What's wrong with you? Did you have a nightmare?" Talia asks.
"No, it's nothing.. Haha.." Zion replies, embarassed.
Nothing really special happened afterward, as they lacked sleep and energy, they instantly went back to sleep.
A few hours later, it was still nighttime, and the outside was difficult to see. But for some reason, the two kids "coincidentally" woke up at the same exact time.
The two became paranoid, and was getting a really bad feeling.
They hear unnatural noise outside, specifically, a howl from a wolf. Footsteps began to emerge. At first, the sound was weak and faint, but as the sound gradually echoed throughout the night, the footsteps became more clearer.
Unlike Talia who was scared, nervous and unsure, Zion on the other hand, knew what exactly what would happen next. He sweats profusely as he felt the similarities between this situation and the dream he had earlier.
What... wolves? Isn't this going the same way as the dream I had?
"Talia, let's find another shelter for now. We're going to get ambushed." Zion quickly informs Talia about this, and holds her hand and him and her pack up their gear and T-shirt bag, they leave the base as quick as possible, avoiding as much unwanted danger as possible.
"Did.. you really think you can escape from me?" A wolfman instantly catches up to the both of them.
The wolfman attempts to swipe them, but it miserably failed as Zion trips on a rock.
Damn it..! Can I do something?
The wolfman quickly gained back his balance and dashes on to them as Zion was still trying to get back up.
It's claws were right in front of Zion's face, with a thought that empowered his eyes.
Can.. I really do anything at all?
Zion's left eye suddenly started burning red. His airways expanded, his body became lighter, and he could see its movements as clear as day.
I.. feel refreshed..?
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