A Haunting Butterfly

Elliot reached the babbling brook of the stream that he witnessed in his nightmare. He threaded slowly along the river bank, trying not to make a sound that could alert any potential predators. He glanced to his right to see a small blue butterfly hovering beside him for a few seconds before fluttering ahead of him. Mesmerized by the butterfly, Elliot began to follow it.

After following it for a few minutes, the butterfly flew ahead of Elliot. His eyes went past the fluttering insect to a figure standing in the water. He threaded lightly as he tried not to alert the figure. Elliot hid behind a large bamboo tree as he peeked at the figure in the water. The figure had started swaying with the rhythm of the water. He squinted and leaned forward to get a good look at the figure.

The figure appeared to be a woman, dancing with the streaming river. It wasn't just any woman; it was the dancer. Elliot recognised her outfit; the skirt she wore imitated the blue butterfly wings that he followed a while ago. The skirt spread out into a beautiful bloom when the dancer did a quick twirl with her hands above her head. Elliot gawked at her elegant dance as the moonlight cast her shadow against the water. He wanted to go to her and stare at her mesmerising and elegant movements. His eyes locked onto her the moment she began swaying her hips gently, following the rhythm of the stream.

Then suddenly, Elliot felt something cover his mouth and eyes and roughly drag him backwards. His heartbeat began thumping fast against his rib cage in fright and shock. Before the thing could drag him back any further, he broke free from its hold and immediately took out his wand and pointed at the dancer.

'What? I saw her dancing just now!,' Elliot thought in a panic.

The dancer that stood in front of him had her pointer finger to her lips, indicating for him to stay silent. Elliot still had his wand pointed at her with a stoic expression adorning his face. But while he had that stoic mask on, he was actually confused on the inside. Elliot noticed that this dancer was wielding a sharp, curved dagger-like weapon in each hand. She altered her stance from her straight posture to one that's ready for a fight. She parted her legs and bent her knees to keep her balance stable.

In a whisper, only one sentence came out of her mouth, which sent a cold shiver down Elliot's back.

"That is not me.".

Then memories of his dream began flooding back into his mind like a wave of nightmares, swallowing him whole. Memories of his brother, memories of them getting lost in the forest. Memories of a humongous beast swallowing his brother's corpse whole. While Elliot began to space out, the dancer in front of him lowered her guard with a feeling of concern. She waved her hand near Elliot's face to get him to snap out of his trance.

"Ugh!" the dancer grunted impatiently.

She placed down her weapons, carefully took the still-in-shock Elliot, and gently sat him down against a bamboo tree's trunk that he had his back to. After making sure that he's comfortable. The dancer picked up her weapons and went to confront her doppelganger. But she hesitated when she saw Elliot still unable to return to reality. Should she fight the mysterious being who is imitating her or stay and take care of her guide? An arduous question indeed.

The dancer let out a sharp sigh and knelt down in front of Elliot. She held her hand up and gave him a tight slap. Unknowingly, she alerted a foe, who soon halted their dancing and glanced behind its back. Fortunately, Elliot regained his mind and scooted back with a fright.

With wide, open eyes, he yelled. "What is going on?".

"You should know better; you're the guide," the dancer said, rolling her eyes.

"No, no, stay back! Don't come near me," Elliot cried as he scrambled to get up.

The dancer furrowed her eyebrows at him and sighed in disappointment. She shook her head. Then, her ears picked up the sound of dry leaves gently being stepped on as they inched closer and closer towards the two's location.

"That thing is after us. Defend yourself; I'll try to hold it off until you've found a way to kill it," the dancer said, gripping onto her chakras as she stepped out from behind the tree and raced towards the being.

"Hey, wait!" Elliot started, but the dancer had already left.

He placed his hands on his head as he tried to think of a way to save her.

'Observe it first; find it's weakness. Check Hefaru's journal', Everett's voice reminded Elliot through his mind.

"Okay, okay. I need to calm down," Elliot coaxed himself as he peeked from behind the bamboo tree.

He saw the dancer fighting another dancer; both of them wielded the same weapon. The sound of metal clanging against each other intensified as the dancer and the drummer tried to outmanoeuvre each other. He tried to find any difference between the two of them, but he couldn't even tell them apart. Both of them wore identical clothing, wielded identical weapons, and had identical facial features.

He then took out Hefaru's journal from inside the pocket of his long coat. He flipped the pages as quickly as possible while occasionally glancing at the fight in front of him.

'Come on, come on, there has to be something!', Elliot said in his mind.

Elliot began pulling out the map, checking for any clues about the being. For as long as he knew Hefaru, he was very meticulous about jotting down everything he saw in the forest so that he could warn his people about the dangers lurking in this very forest.

Elliot was busy looking for an answer. The dancer fought with determination to defend her guide from harm. If her guide dies, then this journey is good as over until she finds another one. She'll be wasting her time finding someone as good as Elliot. On instinct, the dancer managed to block a strong attack unleashed upon her, making her doppelganger stagger before her. Both of them took a short rest, huffing and puffing.

The dancer leaned against her bent knees, tired from the being's fast movements. But her doppelganger had no intentions of taking a long break; it began waltzing slowly towards her with a sinister smile on its face. With a short yell, it held its weapon up high and struck it down upon the dancer. To its dismay, the dancer held her stance and blocked the attack. But, seeing the dancer's fatigued form, it smiled once again before pushing down on her block.

The dancer struggled to push back the immense force that was pushing down on her. She gritted her teeth as she tried to hold her stance and push the being backwards. The dancer scrapped her chakras against her doppelganger's and slid underneath to safety. She regained her balance before a loud, deep voice called out.

"Duck!" the voice yelled.

The dancer dove before a loud, piercing arrow came from behind and wedged itself into her doppelganger's forehead, staggering the being. The dancer looked in the direction where the arrow came from and saw a man on a fiery skeleton. Literally, the stallion was on fire. She recognised the man, for upon his head he wore a straw hat. It was the Samurai.

The samurai must've been passing by when he heard the commotion coming from the stream. He dismounted his steed and unsheathed his sharp katana, holding it firmly in his right hand. He then charged forward towards the sinister being with quick footsteps.

'Eureka!', Elliot cheered as he found the location they were at on the map.

Hefaru had meticulously listed the name of the beast. Elliot quickly flipped through the pages of Hefaru's journal and spotted the name that was written on the map.

'SIMA'

a shapeshifter found in the middle of the bamboo forest. Her territory is her playground. Never step into it unless you're desperate for a quick death with a plate of confusion.

Elliot's eyes went wide; he underestimated the bamboo forest's dangers. Hefaru had always warned the people of Bulohwi every day not to underestimate the forest. Now that he's dead, the new governor has applied these rules as well. He traced his finger against the body of the creature. He soon found its weakness.

Meanwhile, the samurai and the dancer now battled with Sima. Sima was indeed a strong opponent, using quick slashes with chakras identical to the dancer's. The dancer was mostly defending herself from Sima's aggressive slashing, blocking its attack by crossing her chakras together to create a shield. The samurai, on the other hand, gripped his katana tightly with both hands, waiting for an opening to strike.

"Hurry up, you fussbudget. I'm trying not to die here!" The dancer shouted at Elliot.

Elliot quickly scanned through the page and found a weakness. He pointed at it and read,

'I've found a weakness nonetheless after countless days of observing'

'Pour water in its eyes, for it couldn't imitate them if it had shapeshifted,' Hefaru had written.

Elliot took notice of the samurai's presence and decided to put his plan into action. He tucked the journal into his coat pocket as he tried to differentiate the real dancer from her doppelganger. The samurai furrowed his eyebrows in frustration at the confused Elliot.

"Her eyes look like butterflies!" the samurai shouted, giving Elliot a hint.

Elliot nodded and sprinted towards the creature, grabbing it by the shoulders.

Samurai guy, chop its arms!" Elliot ordered, struggling to keep his hold on the being.

Taken aback by this man's strange and reckless attempt, the samurai ran towards Elliot and the creature with his katana in hand. The dancer backed away from the creature just in time before the samurai disembodied the creature's hands from its arms. The creature wailed in pain as it struggled against Elliot's strong hold on it. Elliot struggled to keep his arms locked in place around the creature as it tried to wiggle out of his hold. The samurai sheathed his katana and grabbed onto the moving creature as well.

"Butterfly, pour water into her eyes," Elliot told the dancer.

"Who?" the dancer inquired.

"Who else?" Elliot remarked back with a smirk.

The Dancer nodded, bent down and cupped some water from the stream that they were standing in. When the creature saw the dancer with water cupped in her hands, it closed its eyes tightly and panned its head down, trying to avoid its only weakness. Sima started wailing and struggling against the two men's tight hold.

Sima decided to return to its original form, a deer with shining orange eyes and long eyelashes. The eyelashes were long enough to keep out the water from its eyes. Sima stood up right with its hind legs, towering before the three humans menacingly. Its front legs were human hands, with five fingers on each with the same black colour as its fur. It wiggled its fingers in anticipation of its next meal. Its face looked freaky, for it did not display any emotion; it was like a real deer. Only with a poker face.

Elliot and the Samurai released their hold and backed away. The crew of three craned their necks in awe of the majestic but menacing-looking creature. Elliot's eyes went wide because he recognised the same orange eyes from his dream. This was the same beast that had killed his brother, no doubt. His brother.....his body.....are not one in the same.

Everett had died, protecting his twin brother from harm. Elliot had always thought he lived behind his brother's shadow. This thought has been lingering in the back of his mind for ages. Besides, his heart couldn't help but adore Elliot for everything he did; he admired his brother's intelligence and talent for magic. He longed to be like him, but unfortunately, he didn't have the same intellect as his brother did. Elliot was bold, while Everett was cautious. He couldn't even admit that his brother was dead, so he took on a double persona to show everyone that Everett was still alive but trapped in the same vessel as him.

But it wasn't the time for sentimental tears; now they have the beast to deal with.

"Should we stick to the same weakness?" The samurai questioned Elliot with his velvet-sounding voice.

"That's the only weakness Sima has," Elliot confirmed after scanning through Sima's weaknesses.

" *sigh* Well, let's try this again." The dancer concluded, picking up her chakras and holding onto them tightly.

The two men gave her a firm nod as they turned back towards the beast lurking towards them as if it enjoyed watching people suffer in fear. The group stepped back a few paces into the river so that they could trap Sima in the water. Sima's bright orange eyes were only on them. It has cornered its prey, but it doesn't know that its prey has the will to fight back.

Elliot conjured up another bucket, filling it with water. He holds it out for the samurai to take. The samurai stared at him, then at the bucket, then back at him.

"Lend me your bow and arrows. You're the most agile out of the three of us; destroy that beast while she and I back you up," Elliot suggests.

The samurai was reluctant about this plan, but he decided it'd be worth a shot. He handed Elliot his well-crafted iron bow and removed his bag of pointed arrows from his back. He handed the bag of arrows over to Elliot and took the bucket out of Elliot's hand.

The samurai gave Elliot and the dancer a slight nod before proceeding towards the tall beast. His quick footsteps made him look just like a blurred shadow running towards the beast. The dancer sliced a wound with her chakra on one of Sima's hindlegs, which made it stagger to the ground. Sima shuts its eyes tightly because of its vulnerability to being attacked by water. Its assumptions were correct, for the samurai immediately tossed the water onto its face after it was staggered.

Plan A failed. Elliot huffed as he aligned an arrow on the bow before pulling back the bowstring, making his biceps visible. He aimed at Sima's right hand and let go of the string. The arrow flew past the samurai, and it pierced the beast's right hand. The arrow had also nailed Sima's hand to the river's ground. Sima opened its eyes to witness the horror that Elliot had done to its beautiful hands. The samurai immediately tossed the second batch of water he had fetched at its eyes.

The three stepped back when Sima began to wail and wail. Its ghostly scream was so loud and sharp that it caused the surrounding tree leaves to shake. The dancer covered her ears as she gritted her teeth at the powerful impact. She hurried away from the beast and hid behind a tall and thick bamboo tree, trying to avoid the sound.

Sima shrivelled up into the dry corpse of a deceased dear. The beast was dead, and victory was in the hands of the three. But they didn't feel any elation; they felt more remorseful. Is it because they killed a beast who was inside its territory, or was it pity they felt for a beast that was created out of vengeance upon Bulohwi? The dancer felt relieved after the annoying and painful wailing disappeared.

Elliot handed back the Samurai his weapon. The Samurai then promptly left the scene after mounting on his skeleton horse. Elliot furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Not even a hand shake?," Elliot pondered.

Then Elliot walked over the where the Dancer had come out from hiding. He lend her a hand for her to stand up properly.

"Are you alright, Dancer?" Elliot questioned, his voice displaying his worry.

"I'm fine," The dancer declined his help and got up herself; she then dusted off specks of grass and dirt off her butterfly dress.

"What a night, am I right?" Elliot starts.

"It's morning," the dancer pointed at the sun, rising from behind the river.

The sun's shining rays pierced through the small cracks of the canopy. The sun's rays revealed the unseen dust particles floating around. A bright sun ray fell on the corpse of Sima, and its corpse began to crack and break up into pieces. Finally, it turned into nothing but dust as it began to float along, joining the other dust particles in their pursuit of nihility (nothingness).

Sima's journey and purpose were over. The dancer and Elliot still had a long way ahead of them before finally finding the whereabouts of the golden stallion.

This time, their quest wasn't about the journey; it was more about the destination. But alas, every quest is as important as the journey. Meeting new companions, seeking new cultures, and learning new knowledge about the world. How to survive this vastly dangerous world must be known to some degree. And what better way to know the world than by having a very fun and reliable guide by your side?