7 Shaken to the Core

The serrated mountains loomed in the distance. The heaven-touching apex of the mountains were drenched in brilliant light, with sly mist fumbled at the mountains' neck with its filmy tentacles. The sight was enchanting. Yet, none of the beauty could captivate the young man whose scientific mind has been smirched with sorrowfulness. The shock from his friend's demise and the unexplained events coupled with missing father, is still clutched to his soul.

Slowly, Robin climbed down from the cave's exit to the ground below. His muscles and limbs had to stretch and hold on tightly to the grooves on the cliff. His fingers were pressed deep into the sedimentary rocks as though they were claws. With much pain and bruises, he finally descended to the ground. The forest was dark and eerie, with an aura of silence. The mist was thick and was shuddering cold. Despite the shivers, Robin kept walking through the mist, venturing deeper into the forest. He does not know how far or near he is to their last known location, but he will not stop until he finds something concrete.

The mist dispersed as he ventured deeper, and the obscured forest became more visible. Robin realized where the shivering temperatures were coming from. He was surrounded by snow-festooned mountain peaks that were embalmed with tiaras of powdery snow. He nearly slipped and fell, and realized that he was walking on a frozen lake. He could see his own reflection, his guilt-driven look. In anger, he slapped his own reflection, leaving a spider-web like crack on the lake. He crossed the lake and walked into a thick white forest. There was a small object halfway buried in snow, with a broken handle. Robin picked it up. The glass surface of the object was cracked and broken. It was his father's compass.

'I found his compass.' Robin whispered into the Commune.

'Are you cold? Your voice is barely audible. Anyway, you sure that's his compass? But anyway, it doesn't matter. It must belong to one of them. So good job, keep going.'

In the midst of the thick snow, Robin noticed a movement. He walked closer, but it moved further away. Robin chased the white and furry thing. He thought it was a person, until it turned around. It was a Yeti, the legendary ape-like creature. Robin stood there, frozen. He doesn't know whether these Yetis are friendly, or otherwise. The Yeti stared at him back, no movement from either side. Robin slowly took two steps back. The Yeti took two steps forward. Robin raised his left hand, the Yeti raised its right hand. Robin slowly reached for his pocket. He feels guilty, yet he feels the need to shoot. He doesn't know whether the Yeti is playing with him, or planning to attack him.

He was prepared to shoot. Suddenly, he felt a vibration in the ground, and heard some bellowing. Both the Yeti and Robin looked to their right. There was a herd of majestic-looking woolly mammoths. Their tusks were long and curved sharply upwards. The Yeti quickly disappeared into the thick snow, and Robin slowly retreated back into the dark forest.

'Kid?'

'Wait a sec, general. There is a herd of mammoths in front of me. I do not wish to trigger them.'

Robin waited until the last of the mammoths was barely visible from his location before he made a move.

'Okay, I am safe. For now.' Robin assured.

'Right. Keep going kid.' Kael grunted. 'And don't hesitate to shoot anything that comes in your way. It's a dangerous world out there.'

'Yea, as dangerous as our world, if not less. It's only a dream to live in a safe world like the Martians.'

'Oh yea? So, it's heroic to run away from your problems like a coward and live somewhere else, huh?' Kael snapped.

'No, but it's heroic to be smart enough to move out from a place that is about to die soon. Or from people who are killing it.' Robin retorted.

'Oh, there was a person smart enough to move out, but he decided to stay and solve the issues as much as he could. But unfortunately, he is lost, and your job is to find him. Unless you don't care, but the last time I checked you both shared a blood bond.'

Robin indignantly stuffed the Commune into his pocket. He told himself to contact Kael only when it is absolutely necessary. While he was contemplating to himself, he witnessed two eyes staring at him between the bushes.

The mysterious creature began to growl. Robin was clear that this wasn't the same pair of eyes that has been haunting him from the cave. It began to growl louder, and slowly opened its mouth. Its long, sharp fangs were visible and terrifying. It was a saber-toothed tiger.

Robin slowly moved backward, while maintaining eye contact with the beast. Right at that moment, his Commune beeped, and Robin tripped on a tree root. The tiger appeared from the bushes, ready to pounce. Robin quickly grabbed a stone nearby and aimed at the beast, hitting its left eye, and ran for his life. The tiger merely wiped its eyes and engaged on a pursuit.

Robin kept running in between the trees, while the tiger relentlessly chased him. Robin took out the gun from his pocket. He waited for the perfect time. He turned around and voluntarily fell on his back, waiting for the predator to pounce. The tiger quickly leaped onto its prey. Robin aimed and shot the beast on the head.

'Kid? HELLO?!' Kael yelled through the Commune.

'Nearly got killed by a saber-toothed tiger.' Robin answered blandly.

'Wait, what? What happen?'

'It was spying on me through the bushes. I fell after hearing your sudden call and the tiger chased me. Managed to shoot it down while almost risking my life.'

'Owh, well, good job kid. You are a brave one. So, this must be the thing that has been targeting you since you were in the cave, huh? Mystery solved.'

'I doubt that, general.' Robin retorted, although he tried to sound nice since Kael praised him after a long time. 'Why would the tiger be spying on me for so long? It had so many opportunities to attack me. The pair of eyes I came across earlier was different than this.'

'Hmm, well. Whatever it could be, perhaps it ran away too after seeing the tiger. Just be safe, kid. Gonna continue your journey?'

'Yea, after a break. Too fatigued after running from the tiger like a maniac, it's gonna be night soon, too. Will talk to you soon, general.'

'Right. Take care, kid.'

Robin used the shield dome and secured himself while he laid down in the middle of the cold forest. He managed to pick up some dry twigs and lit up a fire. He stared at the sky, myriads of beautiful stars, unlike those from his world, artificial stars consisting of man-made satellites. The sky was so beautiful and soothing, yet again Robin felt emotionless. He kept thinking on how his father is currently surviving. He thought of his past, how his father brought him up as a scientist after his mother's demise, despite Robin's hatred for science experiments initially as he believed his mother's death was caused by an accidental experiment. Ironically, he himself spent most of his time in the lab, meeting more robots than humans. Quickly, he felt into a REM sleep, and began to dream of a utopian planet, like Mars.

Suddenly, he felt something was trying to penetrate his protective shield. Robin was awakened from the noise. It was a gigantic bird. Robin tried to shoo it, but it refused to fly away. He felt something was amiss with the bird. He quickly reached for his Commune.

'Err, general? You there?'

No reply.

Robin tried again. No answer. The bird refused to go away, but it couldn't penetrate the shield dome. Robin was annoyed. Suddenly, his Commune beeped.

'Hello, kid?'

'General,' Robin tried not to sound annoyed. 'There is this weird bird trying to penetrate the shield dome. It refused to fly away. There's something seriously wrong with this ugly thing.'

'What's the wrong part?' Kael was curious.

'This creature has a lizard-like head and a hawk-like body, and the body is quite small for the head too. This era is way past the dinosaur age, so I don't know what the hell is this thing. Oh finally! It flew away.'

'Perhaps, it just another prehistoric animal that we weren't aware of. Just ignore it. Whatever weird stuffs you come across but has no power against you, you have nothing to fear, kid.'

'Okay.' Robin went back to sleep.

The next day, he woke early in the morning, right before dawn. He helped himself to a Genogrape and embarked on his journey. The snows were less and more greeneries were seen as he travelled further. The birds were chirping away happily. Everything seemed usual in the forest.

Once again, Robin felt something was stalking him. He looked around. No one was there. This time, he decided to ignore him, remembering Kael's advice. If the stalker wanted something from me, it would have attacked by now. As he was pondering, the ground began to vibrate furiously.

'General! I think there is an earthquake!' Robin shouted.

'Stay low, kid. Stay low!'

Robin waited for signs of trees falling or the ground cracking, but only the vibration was felt. It made him nauseous. Suddenly, there was a loud buzzing noise assaulting his ears. Robin cupped his ears and curled himself, bringing his knees close to his chest. The sound and vibration were unbearable. Then, it abruptly stopped.

'Kid? What was that?'

'I don't know. It felt as though something big was landing.'

'Huh, something big was what?'

'Never mind. It stopped now.'

Robin was confused. What could it be? Such a noise in the middle of an ancient forest? But all was quiet and normal again. He continued walking, and saw some smoke. He went near and saw a human settlement.