15 CHPT 15: Call to the Wild

The forest retained its unearthly silence, the only thing that occasionally broke it was the giant mother snake.

Claude couldn't feel any of his injuries— which he knew were serious, all he could feel was the weakness of his knees and his trembling hands. He knew his adrenaline was the only reason he was still standing so he decided he'd buy Ursula as much time as possible right now...while he still could.

WOOSH!

The snake watched Claude speedily jump to the side to try and attack its exposed side but it immediately lunged at him headfirst. Claude was barely fast enough to dodge the wild attack but he did, he took the opportunity to lunge back in and cut the snake.

SCHLICK!

The cut barely did anything but further agitate the snake. Claude could feel the sweat drip down his face and body and the burn in his quads from all the lunging and dashing, "its time for a new gameplan." He thought to himself.

Claude quickly looked around for any ideas and saw the tree on the right side of the snake that it hit to send the wood splinters at them had tipped over, slightly creating a lopsided triangle above the snakes head...but it also made something else.

Claude suddenly remembered Lucy standing on the tipped over tree looking down at them snobbishly. That memory gave him an idea of what he had to do.

"ALRIGHT YOU LIMBLESS BASTARD, I GOT A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR YOU!"

Ursula could see a light blood trail from where Claude was moving around to try and hit the snake making a detailed map of red all over the forest floor. She realized he couldn't lose much more sending a flood of anxious fear and anger through her. She continued to try and get up but her leg wouldn't budge, "GOD DAMMIT COME ON!!" She thought as she tried to get up.

Once Ursula was up balancing on one leg she saw Claude take off for the snake from the left. The snake made an expression that could only be described as a sadistic smile.

Claude charged at the snakes left side going slower than usual to bait the snake into attacking. It worked, the snake sent its massive horned head straight for Claude. He dashed out of the way sending the snakes large head into a equally large rock out of pure coincidence. He was now on the right side of the snake....next to the tipped over tree. "Got you, you scaly meathead." He thought as his plan came into play.

Claude dashed towards the tipped over tree. He bounded up its earthy red bark with the nimble grace of a wildcat, all while he lightly soiled it with his dark red blood.

Once Claude reached his desired height up the tree the snake was still dazed from hitting the rock—which it shattered, he could see its exposed side with the cut from Ursulas axe perfectly.

He jumped from the tipped over tree with his sword held up in both hands yelling, "WHY DONT YOU TRY THIS ON FOR SIZE!!"

SCHLICKKKK!

Claudes blade found purchase, as he slid down its side while the blade cut a long gash down the snake. It let out a deafening roar in pain for the first time.

RWAORRRRRRRRR!!!

"Nice job, you just alerted the cavalry." Claude said tiredly through barely opened eyes.

Claude heard nothing after the snakes roar so he was sure it was dead, "kind of anticlimactic." He thought. After what felt like forever Claude turned and looked back at Ursula.

"So Ursula, how do you want to split the silv—"

Before Claude could finish his sentence the snakes tail coiled around him up to his stomach squeezing the life out of him.

Ursula watched as the snake grabbed up Claude and brought it face to face with him through fear filled eyes. Once they were face to face the snake roared in Claudes face in what seemed to be a display of dominance or triumph over Claude.

RWWWOARRRRRRR!

Ursula watched in awe as Claude roared back.

RRRRAHHHHHHHHHH!

Although his didn't sound as menacing, the snake still flinched like a ravenous beast just roared at it. Ursula was shocked into movement at the sound of Claudes voice and started limping over to the side of the snake clutching her battle axes like her life depended on it.

Claude could feel the snakes hard sand paper like underbelly grinding against his skin, scratching his already opened wounds and creating new ones. He held the snakes blood red glare refusing to look cowardly in death. The snake opened its mouth preparing to eat Claude, it's vast open jaws made it look like he was going to be plunged into the abyss instead of a snakes mouth.

WOOOM...WOOM....SQUISHH!

Before Claude was put into the snakes mouth the sound of something flipping through the air and hitting flesh incredibly hard stopped the snake from eating him.

Ursula threw her axe harder than she ever had before, the whole blade of the axe sliced barbarically into the snakes side stopping it from eating Claude.

The snake still held Claude with its tail but was now looking at Ursula, its slitted nostrils flaring in anger. The snake lunged at Ursula furiously, before it reached her she dodged out of the way landing awkwardly due to her bad leg.

Claude watched helplessly as Ursula battled the snake on one leg barely dodging critical strikes, "come onnnn, I have to do something....ANYTHING!" He roared in his mind as he hoped for anything to save his teammate.

Ursula continued to dodge and dash out of the way of the snakes strikes but she could feel how tired she was becoming. The snake stopped for a while and just looked at her, a small spark of intelligence lit behind its vermillion eyes. The snake charged in again and Ursula dodged, but this time the snake stopped mid attack...it baited Ursula to move just like Claude did to it earlier in the battle.

Ursula watched in horror as the snakes eyes followed Ursulas side dash, she was now sure it was smiling.

Claude watched in surprise as the snake baited Ursula into moving where it wanted her to. Once she skidded to a halt the snake effortlessly swung its head smashing into Ursula.

WOOOSH

NOOOOO

OOUF!

CRACK

As the snake came toward her all she could hear was Claude yelling before she was sent crashing into a nearby redwood tree.

Claude watched Ursula hit the tree so hard the leaves up above fell slowly to the forest floor. Seeing this triggered something violent and cruel in him. He no longer felt his physical injuries, he didn't even have all of his senses, he couldn't hear anything or smell his own blood as the snake wrung it out of him like a wet wash rag.

"Hey.", Claude said

The hate in his voice was so strong the snake could taste it. It wretched after Claude spoke feeling physically sick, it met his eyes and they no longer looked wild and furious like it's own, now they were cold with the slow and steady burn of hatred behind them. The snake reflexively wrapped its tail around Claude twice more coiling up and around his shoulders.

Claude didn't notice his arms where completely bound until he tried to move them, he didn't feel pain from rubbing against the snakes underbelly, he just felt like he was being held by a large mass.

The snake lifted Claude up to its face again to eat him. Claude knew he should be afraid as he approached his end...but instead he was enraged, enraged at the fact that he was a disappointment in school, he had no friends and he was going to die on his first mission and be the result of someone else's death.

Claude looked at the snake with tear filled eyes and teeth bared, he pulled his hand out of the snakes death grip with surprising ease as he reached for the snake. The snake smiled in dark amusement. Claudes bloodied and mangled arm was no longer reaching for the snake as he it made a fist aimed at the snake.

"Y-You better keep me bound like this f-forever, because If you let me go....I swear to god I'll tear you apart."

Claude delivered the haunting message to the snake through bared teeth, he said it so aggressively saliva flew from his mouth like a wild dog...but that wasn't the worst part. The last part of Claudes sentence seemed to silence the world completely so everyone and everything could hear his promise. The forest seemed to inhale in response to his message, trees began to hum despite there being no wind and the ground started to shake like a stampede was near. Only after observing all that, the snake remembered to breathe.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSH

The snake heard flapping and leaves in the distance, it was so fast and loud that all the noise seemed to blend into one sound. Whatever the noise was it was getting closer at an alarming rate.

***

Prof. Raizen was low on mana from dashing around to watch different students fight the snakes so he had to run after a fear filled Warren came and notified him that Claude and Ursula were in serious trouble. "What kind of trouble could they be in? There's only Plated snakes here." He continued to think as he ran behind Warren who was leading him and the class.

"..."

SSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

Everyone felt the forest go more silent than it was previously, then they began to hear something loud and numerous above them.

"WHATS THAT!!"

A student asked as it pointed to the sky, Prof. Raizen looked up and saw a black mass fly above them towards the direction of Claude and Ursula, it was so loud some students covered their ears or ducked out of fear.

As they got closer they noticed the black mass stopped and began circling above something.

***

Prof. Raizen and the rest of the students reached the scene and saw Ursula on the ground out cold and Claude was being held by...a monster. Students gasped in fear and surprise as they noticed the damage the two inflicted on the monstrous snake. The last thing anyone saw was the hundreds of birds dive down as a collective black mass straight at the snake.

SHKICK

RIIIIP

RWOARRRRRR

CRUNCHCCH

Hundreds of birds began to attack the snake most of them went into the cuts Claude and Ursula previously made while others clawed its eyes out and went into its mouth.

After a minute of everyone watching the carnage ensue, the birds began to disperse.

Claude felt the snakes grip loosen as the birds ripped and destroyed it, he felt like he was getting weaker and weaker as time went. Then he was dropped as he hit the ground the birds began to fly away but they still swarmed around him lightly, like a shadow. He felt so weak he dropped to one knee, as he brought his head up to look at the snake he noticed the birds completely hollowed it out from the inside, the cut on its side was ripped wide open where the birds forced themselves in, he also noticed something else.

He could see perfectly, almost too well. He could see the divisions and light scratches on the snakes scales, he also saw a hole. It was so tiny nobody else would've seen it, he shouldn't even be able to, he also noticed scorch patterns around it like whatever punctured it was incredibly hot. "What could poke a hole in a Plated snake like this?" He wondered.

His thoughts where interrupted by the birds flying away. He watched them all fly up and away from the bloody scene..but one stayed. The hawk was bigger than average and its large yellow eyes seemed to hold intelligence and understanding as it looked at him.

"Come." Claude said to the bird as it flew to his shoulder.

Prof. Raizen watched as the birds flew away revealing a cut and bruised Claude holding the snakes tail in one hand..with a large hawk on his shoulder. Everyone was completely silent, Claudes bronze skin seemed to glow under the sun light, highlighting his deep gashes and how his blood leaked all over the floor, they questioned how he was still standing. After a while Claude looked up and the bird flew off, then he turned around and looked at everyone through dazed bright green eyes saying, "Urs- save Ursula." He took a couple slow steps dragging his feet before he passed out after killing the snake.