Chapter 9: An Interesting Encounter…

The giant blue lion growled once again as he leered at the two headed wolf. His blue markings beginning to glow and pulsate as his paws tightly gripped the ground from underneath him. 

“Will you focus on the opponent who’s in front of you…?”

Manically, the two headed wolf began to laugh at the lion’s response, his laughter causing gusts of air to fill the entire cave. Then with a huge puff they said.

“I knew it, you are defending the pea-brained mammal!”

The gigantic double-headed wolf declared as they had an insane fit of laughter. The wolf began show it’s teeth in aggression, as their eyes locked on Teus running away. The other head started with a dark chuckle.

“Soft as ever I see.”

Whilst Teus was running in the cave looking for an exit, his jaw dropped when he heard the voices of the other monsters.

“These ones can talk too? Just where the hell am I!?”

Though he had no time to entertain his thoughts, because with a thunderous roar, the lion prepared to engage in battle. His muscles rippling as it started its attack.

“I won’t waste my vitality on words…”

The glowing markings on the lion began to shine in a brighter hue of blue.

“You will come to see exactly how soft I am!”

Without room for delay, the two colossal gargantuan clashed, the sound of their impact reverberating through the crumbling cave. Massive amounts of energy slammed into each other as well as; teeth, paws and ferocious snarls while they battled it out for dominance.

Teus was well aware of the fact that he had to move faster, this battle was far beyond him. Whilst running, he saw a shining light, something from outside the cave. 

“Finally, a way out of this place!”

He thought to himself as In his usual fashion, Teus blitzed his way to the location. He dodged the falling rocks and debris as the cave was collapsing around him. His heart was intensely beating in his chest, his adrenaline filled to the limit, and fueling his every step.

He reached the light he was running towards and realized that this was the end of the cave. He looked down to see a massive waterfall, hurling tons of force into the lake far, far beneath. The water flowed fiercely below.

It was ridiculously dangerous, but it was the only way out.

He could still hear the cave groveling under pressure, rocks tumbling wildly close behind him.

“Damn it all!”

Without thinking twice, Teus quickly threw himself off the ledge, plunging headfirst into the cascading waters below him.

The rush of water completely engulfed him, the sound of roaring splashes drowning out the chaos from above as he fell into the unknown depths underneath. As he plunged through the violent waterfall, the cold waves pounded against his body, sending him deeper and deeper.

His eyes gazed at what was above him, as he witnessed the unfolding chaos from a new angle. The massive battle between the giant lion and the two-headed wolf sent ripples and shockwaves of power through the air.

The waves, like thunderclaps, radiated outward with every single blow, causing the very sky to tremble. 

Teus watched in absolute awe, he saw the cave trembling at the sheer force of power these monsters had, unlike anything he had ever seen before. As well as the lightshow of energy and blasts that was flittering in the air, so deadly but so oddly he found it mesmerizing.

As he watched the duel, one of blasts from the clash soon caused a shockwave so powerful that the entire sky turned white for a moment in a blinding flash, much like a strike from lightning. 

It was as if the gates to the sky themselves were bursting open from the crossfire of these titanic forces. 

Teus tried to shield his eyes with his forearm, though the brightness was still too much, causing him to seal his eyes shut momentarily. 

Though when the coast was clear and the light faded, the clouds that had once filled the sky were entirely gone—disintegrated, leaving nothing but a empty, void expanse of above.

The raw, unfiltered sunlight now poured down on Teus. Its beams were harsh and unforgiving. As Teus continued to fall, the battle became almost deafening to him.

In his mind was filled with an eerie silence that was left behind after the vanished clouds, this whole scenario completely unsettled him. Feeling like an outsider more than ever now, he asked himself.

“Just…Where the hell am I?!”

Teus soon splashed into the lake and he fought against the current to swim towards the shore. He dragged himself out of the water, gasping for air, as he climbed onto the ledge. His body painfully ached, he was laid out flat on the ground, but he couldn’t help but notice something.

When he looked around he saw that all around the forest were the same types of statues, with the same type of blue engravings that existed around the cave.

Each waterfall cascading from the cliffs above seemed to shimmer in the faint light, giving the area an otherworldly feel, almost like an aura.

With scrambled thoughts, he tried to make sense of everything that had just happened to him.

“...How did I even end up here?” 

He muttered to himself under his breath. Then he stood up slowly and felt his stomach twist out of hunger. The deep and violent rumble from within him reminded Teus that he had no clue how long he had been out for.

He stumbled into a cluster of bushes, trying to get familiar with his surroundings.

“...And where in the hell is my sword?”

Words of the giant lion began to flood into his mind. They felt so cryptic and foreboding.

“What did he mean by all that? ‘Losing everything important’...and that thing about the war too. Just what the hell is going on here?”

He suddenly slumped down, completely exhausted. His mind still spinning with all of these unanswered questions.

He then decided to shake them off.

“I don’t think I have time for any of that now.”

He said as he grit his teeth.

“Without my blade by me, I’m practically asking to be dead meat. Whatever's going on here, I can’t be defenseless in the midst of it. Otherwise it won't be long before I end up like before… Step 1 of survival is I need to find my damn sword.”

As Teus walked through the forest he began fighting the pain from his belly. He dropped to one knee on the ground, panting and grunting through the aches.

“I know getting shot wasn’t fun, but it almost feels worse being hungry… the pain lasts longer.”

His stomach gurgled as he huffed. Then he saw a little white rabbit peacefully sitting on top of one of the many stone statues: innocent, tender and placid. 

The rabbit twitched its ears as it heard the sound of the waterfall’s waves lapping onto each other. in a tranquil fashion, the rabbit gazed around the scenery.

With eyes wide open Teus looked at the animal and thought to himself.

“...I’m fast enough to catch a rabbit, right?”

Teus’ glares at the rabbit that was softly perched on the statue, his stomach growling in desperation.

“Alright”

He began to mutter,

“I’ll catch this rabbit and have something to eat, then I’ll find my sword.”

His suit began to hum with a soft crackle of blue plasma as he prepared to lunge. Suddenly with a burst of speed, he blitzed his way towards the innocent rabbit—though just as he was about to grab it, his foot caught onto a rock.

He swung forward, causing him to crashland, sprawling himself awkwardly onto the ground.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…”

Teus then realizes in that moment, that he was much more exhausted than what he otherwise felt. The rabbit then took the opportunity to scamper away, so with a determined grunt, Teus got up and continued to give chase.

“Whatever, I’ll be damned if I let a rabbit out do me!”

The rabbit hopped across a narrow stone bridge that resided over a small stream. Teus choose to follow, he took of like a lightning bolt, but the slick stone surface caused him to slip and slide, nearly toppling into the water he, in a cumbersome fashion, flailed his arms for balance before eventually conceding to the floor’s demands as he fell and was laid out on his back.

“...This is nothing but a fluke, it says nothing about my character.”

He told himself. When he looked up, the rabbit was waiting at the end of the bridge, twitching its nose and making noises that Teus could only assume were mocking chuckles, before it bounded away.

“Great, now the food is taunting me.”

He plucked the twigs from out of his hair and got back on his feet. Swaying a little from the exhaustion, but the chase was not over, not yet.

Teus groaned again before charging up his battle armor and taking off in his spirited pursuit.

Finally, the rabbit darts down a steep hill. Teus charges after it, though halfway down he loses his footing and tumbles head over his heels.

He ends up in a crumpled heap at the bottom, still blinking from the confusion. He grumbled before springing himself back onto his feet, albeit, this time slower than before.

Completely out of breath and frustrated, Teus huffed.

“I must be in worse shape than I thought.”

He collapsed to both knees on the land, still panting utterly defeated.

“I just got outwitted by a rabbit. This… this is not my day, now is it?”