13 World of Beasts
Rie was currently running across the rocky terrain. Hot on his heels, a two headed wolf ran with its fangs bared.
Rie hurried to scramble atop a boulder. He climbed atop a number of nearby rocks, reaching a ledge that was high enough to make him feel safe.
Upon glancing back, he saw that the wolf had remained at the foot of the boulder.
His eyes momentarily wandered toward something behind the wolf, but then his focus returned to it. It was snapping and growling, intent to wait him out.
It kept that up until an ear piercing sound ran out. There was a small boom, then a loud ringing in his ears.
"Perfect. Controlled deadly force, and enough meat left behind to cook." Rai and Niu walked out of the tiny cloud of dust.
Rai had been trying to perfect a deadly bomb that would kill an animal but not destroy its entire body. They needed the meat after all.
He succeeded that time, so Rie and Niu could finally rest easy. They got to work with the wolf's corpse, separating what they could.
Eventually they built a fire and got to work roasting the meat. The meals weren't the best, but they were still great. There was a certain happiness in ignorance; when you didn't know there was something better you would think you had the best.
They enjoyed their breakfast and then prepared to leave again.
They were now on the flats. In the distance they saw grassy hills and converging dirt roads. However, they could not see beyond the hills. They were lined up, like a wall of hills to keep whatever was beyond it out of sight.
Rie decided that they should go there, walk along one of the dirt roads and hopefully find the capital.
Niu and Rai got into a scuffle over the last piece of meat. They were so hectic that the meat ended up in Rie's hands and they didn't even notice.
"Alright. Niu, come on." Rie lowered himself so that Niu could climb up, then they were off.
Rai had crafted a tiny shell from a dead beetle that stored the ingredients for his mini explosives. Needless to say, the shells were new and improved bombs.
They advanced quickly while relying on Niu's senses, not worrying about anything.
It was because of their total reliance on Niu, that they never saw it coming. When relying completely on someone or something, you would often be reducing your own ability in the process.
For instance, if Rai wasn't casually strolling along but was keeping an eye on his surroundings, he would have the noticed that the rock had morphed into something else. It was soft but not soft; they left footprints in it as they walked.
However, they did not realize.
They stepped onto one of the dirt roads that lead up the hills. The world was silent.
Had they been thoroughly exposed to the truly unfathomable world that they were currently in, such a silence would have alarmed them.
As such was not the case, they suspected nothing and kept walking. The stillness of the world had Niu on edge. No insects, no wind. Just the sound of his brothers' unhurried steps.
As they approached the top of the hill, there was a faint buzz. As soon as Niu heard it, he put his palm out in front of Rie's face.
Rie immediately stopped, waiting for Niu to say something.
Niu listened quietly as Rai stifled a yawn.
They stood there for a few minutes in silence before Niu heard something else. This time it was the sound of the wind, which was strange.
Did it just suddenly start blowing? Was that suspicious or not?
Niu was beginning to suspect something, but his suspicions were still far off.
He motioned for Rie to keep walking, then realized that after they continued walking the sound of the wind stopped.
However, the buzzing noise came back-- and louder that time.
Niu didn't understand what was happening. He was about to tell Rie to stop again, but hesitated.
In that moment, the wind came back. It was a loud and continuous howl that came closer and closer. The grass on the hill was flung this way and that, most of it being uprooted by the strength of that wind.
"Quick, run!" Rie and Rai only just noticed the terrifying force behind them when Niu shouted at them.
They both darted off, getting closer and closer to the top.
Niu heard the buzzing growing louder and louder-- so loud that I drowned out the sound of the wind. As they finally stepped onto the hilltop, Niu's eyes widened.
"No, stop!"
He was too late. Rie and Rai ran onto the hilltop, not even realizing that they had stepped through an inconspicuous veil.
It was like an invisible curtain. Niu didn't see it until they were much too close.
The buzzing was actually coming from this veil.
Realization dawning on him, Niu looked back.
Behind them, standing just a bit off from the hilltop, was a large mass of wind. It was like a formless tornado, with blades of wind constantly swirling around it.
Within that formless tornado they saw four eyes staring at them, bright red and menacing.
The creature didn't move though, it just stood there.
For some reason, they could see it now that they had stepped through the veil.
Niu was still staring at the wind monster when his ears twitched.
He quickly turned to see what lay beyond, but felt a sense of unease within him.
In that moment, his fear grew.
At the other side of the hill, beneath grey clouds, was a barren land. Dead trees littered the land, tiny pockets of bright green liquid seeped into the earth.
However, what horrified him was that from each of those pockets he could see various creatures climbing out.
They were huge, much larger than the wind monster behind them.
Anyone of them was much bigger than any hut they ever saw. Some had four legs, other stood on two. Some slithered across the ground while others slithered through the air.
There was a loud sound of flapping wings as well, causing the brothers to look further into the sky.
They saw a man, his skin pale, with great black wings. Horns, stained purple, grew from his head and there was a long black tail dangling from his lower back.
Rie quickly pulled Niu behind him as Rai produced two handfuls of mini explosives.
The brothers looked on as more and more monsters arose from the bright green pockets, all gathering near the foot of the hill.
The man in the sky flapped his huge wings, slowly getting closer to them. Niu noticed that he had strange markings all over his body, and as he got closer Niu could see exactly what they were.
They were various differing symbols, all of which were painted on in bright green. There was a dim haze that they emitted, almost seeming to resonate with the bright green pockets.
Niu watched as the man smiled, revealing multiple rows of hideous fangs.
"You should clean your mouth some time." Niu muttered.
"Greetings." The winged man waved his hand. When he did, monsters stopped coming out of the bright green liquid. By now, they had amassed into an army.
Rai was already prepared to throw out his bombs.
Rie carefully observed the situation.
"Hello there. We're trying to get to the capital." Rie returned a warm smile.
"Oh, I see. Well pay attention now." Like that, the man landed on the ground next to them, his wings folding.
With confounded expressions, they watched as the man carefully explained how to get to the capital.
Niu could not believe his eyes, Rai was beginning to think he should put his bombs away and Rie was sighing in relief.
"Thank you so much." Rie gave the man a small bow which he made his brothers reciprocate, then they walked on down the hill.
The man warmly smiled-- without teeth this time-- then watched them leave.
The brothers were still a bit tense upon nearing the army of monsters, but the man spoke a command in a strange language and they opened a path for the brothers.
Just like that, they left.
They didn't look back until quite some time later, seeing that the monsters and that man had all vanished.
"He said there's another curtain that will take us back to the real world somewhere around here." Rie kept his eyes and ears peeled as he looked around.
Niu listened carefully until he finally heard a similar buzzing sound.
He was still a bit on guard against it, but eventually they stepped through another veil and made it back to familiar scenery. A healthy looking world, fresh air and no monsters.
Rie and Rai both huddled together, speaking about worries and about how some of their hairs turned grey under the stress.
"But all of your hairs are grey." Rai had an offended look on his face as he turned to face Niu.
"You wouldn't understand the struggles of us elderly folk. Stay behind there and shush." Rai folded his arms and increased his speed.
Rie laughed and said nothing. He kept his eyes on the road ahead.
As for Niu, he kept looking back. In that place, wherever it was, he felt as if something was truly wrong. It was like the world was screaming out in agony.
It seemed as though the real world was safe, but what they had seen couldn't have just been another world entirely, right?
Perhaps they were connected, and perhaps that strange man and his army were about to do something horrible.
Niu couldn't shake the feeling that they had just witnessed something they shouldn't have. Something much larger than them.
He wasn't sure, but he felt as though that winged man had hidden intentions.
He could only hope that he was wrong.
Being someone with incredibly advanced senses, Niu could have picked up on so much more. However, he was far too inexperienced.
He didn't notice the small details.
He pushed everything to the back of his mind and stopped looking back. He also increased his speed so that he could catch up to his brothers.
They continued along the dirt road until they came to a wooden sign that pointed in two directions. They couldn't read it, but Rie knew that they were supposed to go right.
The man had explained all of this to him in detail, so he couldn't forget.
They continued along in that direction, wishing not to run into any more strange things.
Meanwhile, back at the rocky mountain, the sky was torn once more.
Out of the tear, bright blue lightning rained down in torrents.
Then, a shrill cry resounded. A bird finally descended, cyan and gold, with a raging silver flame atop its head.
It stared off into the distance, it's eyes narrowing.
However, what you probably weren't expecting happened.
The bird opened its beak and words came out.
"You can try, but you cannot escape my wrath. Curse you Iste Brothers!" The bird gave a powerful flap, shattering the apparently fragile sound barrier.
It soon vanished.
