Brian put his eye to the sight, locking onto the target. A bead of sweat traveled down his forehead and dripped off of his nose. He slowed his breathing, though he swore the beast could smell him. It was facing him, not moving, but goodness knows alligators move fast once they start.
Brian stood at the edge of a large clearing with his semi-automatic Shadow rifle aimed carefully, his skinny frame not posing much of a threat to the predator in front of him. It had taken forever to assemble his rifle while trying not to made any sudden moves, but he somehow didn’t feel much safer even now that he was properly armed. His sandy brown hair glinted almost gold under the bright light of the sun. He wanted to close his eyes and take a deep breath, but he knew that that would be just plain stupid. Willing his body to move, Brian took the shot. The instant the sound of the gun rang out the animal moved, bolting forward on all fours. The bullet ricocheted off of the beast’s not very alligator-ish horn, not bothering it in the slightest. The stupid thing had a horn? What was wrong with this creature?
Brian had gotten his egg a little more than a year ago. He had initially been assigned easy creatures, Medusa Electrica, Dionaea Vividus (a kind of giant venus flytrap that could move around, albeit slowly), Sirens (well, maybe those weren’t easy, but once you’ve figured out the first, you’ve figured out all of them) and suchlike. This creature was beyond his level. Heck, the rims of his normally green glasses hadn’t even turned blue, like they usually did when he got an assignment. He always kept his shadow gear with him out of paranoia, but Brian hadn’t expected that straying a little from the trail in this small reservoir would find him a shadow creature like this.
He dropped his gun as the not-alligator charged and bolted up the nearest tree. He went up as fast as possible, thanking his years of childhood experience racing up trees against his friends. The alligator reached the base of the tree and snarled, snapping its jaw and giving Brian the time to make it up another foot. It poked at the gun with its snout, clearly not liking the thing. Two more feet. It returned its attention to its prey, the moving object that was exuding fear, regarding Brian for a moment, deciding whether or not to attack. Thank goodness this pine tree was tall and sturdy. The alligator was now several feet below him, and Brian stopped a moment to rest. Then, the creature reared up. Brian gasped. This thing had to be at least 8 feet tall, not counting the tail. He was, still, however, out of reach, or so he thought. Until, of course, the alligator opened its mouth and blew a column of fire at him. He screamed, although the fire had only managed to reach a few branches below him. Brian scrambled up the tree several more feet, but the smoke was getting to him. He closed his eyes tightly, unable to think of a way out of the situation.
A snarl that Brian somehow didn’t think came from the alligator rippled through the forest. He looked down, but the smoke obscured his vision. Someone’s voice spoke right next to his ear, “Are you stupid?”
Brian yelped and probably would have fallen out of the tree if a slender boy hadn’t clamped a firm arm around his waist. The boy was wearing a grey beret and ratty clothing. He wasn’t wearing any shoes. Making an apparently annoyed tutting sound, the boy wrapped both of his arms tightly around Brian’s waist and jumped out of the tree.
For the second time in so many minutes, Brian screamed. But to his complete astonishment, when they stopped it wasn’t as a smush on the ground. They had wumped onto the miraculously not burning, and rather large branch of the neighboring tree. The boy let go of Brian to grab onto the branch and Brian did the same.
“You can climb right? This tree hasn’t caught fire yet, so climb down.”
Brian blinked. There was something he was forgetting wasn’t there? He shook his head and thought until his fingers began burning with the strain of holding him up. The pain of a sharp twig cutting his palm open tore through the fog in Brian’s brain. The boy was looking at him as if in curiosity. “What about the alligator thing?”
The boy laughed, “the ‘alligator thing,’ as you so incorrectly call it, is probably dead now. I gotta go clean up the carcass and get Snowy before she gets much dirtier. Now come on, climb.”
When the two of them reached the bottom, Brian nearly had a heart attack. A giant Siberian tiger was chewing on the tail of the 14 foot, newly deceased, armored, fire-breathing alligator. Brian could see where the belly of the alligator had been ripped open by the tiger’s claws. He almost threw up.
Unfazed, the boy went up to the tiger and smacked it lightly across the back of its head. “Spit that out, you’ll get indigestion.” The tiger made a whining noise, but dutifully dropped the alligator’s tail. Coolly rummaging through his pockets, the boy produced a small knife with a strangely clear blade. It appeared to be filled with a brackish-green liquid. The boy stabbed the alligator and it disintegrated, leaving behind so much dirt and ash. The knife disappeared into the boy’s pocket again.
Completely ignoring Brian’s look of abject astonishment, the boy said to his tiger, “Sorry Snowy, playtime’s over.” The tiger whimpered and began to shrink until it was just a misshapen stuffed animal. The boy bent down, picked up “Snowy” and Brian’s gun and turned to him. “Hi, my name’s Stevens. I believe this is your gun. I’ve been a shadow for three years now. What’s your name?”
“Brian.”
“Well then, Brian, nice to meet you. I suppose I’ll see you around sometime.” And Stevens left, leaving Brian staring after him, slack-jawed.
Five minutes later, Diana Stevens walked out of the little reservoir bordering her home with her stuffed tiger in hand. Her mother frowned as Diana walked into the kitchen. “Where’ve you been? And with that tiger again.”
“What!? Snowy likes our walks.”
Diana’s mother sighed as she faced her incorrigible daughter, “Alright, alright. But you can’t go carrying that tiger around forever. And stop running off into the forest. What if you get hurt, or come across someone or something dangerous?”
Diana laughed, “I’ll be just fine, mommy. I like the forest, I always find something interesting there.” And as her mother turned away, rolling her eyes, Diana grinned in a way that, if Brian had seen it, would have scared him.
Brian stood at the edge of a large clearing with his semi-automatic Shadow rifle aimed carefully, his skinny frame not posing much of a threat to the predator in front of him. It had taken forever to assemble his rifle while trying not to made any sudden moves, but he somehow didn’t feel much safer even now that he was properly armed. His sandy brown hair glinted almost gold under the bright light of the sun. He wanted to close his eyes and take a deep breath, but he knew that that would be just plain stupid. Willing his body to move, Brian took the shot. The instant the sound of the gun rang out the animal moved, bolting forward on all fours. The bullet ricocheted off of the beast’s not very alligator-ish horn, not bothering it in the slightest. The stupid thing had a horn? What was wrong with this creature?
Brian had gotten his egg a little more than a year ago. He had initially been assigned easy creatures, Medusa Electrica, Dionaea Vividus (a kind of giant venus flytrap that could move around, albeit slowly), Sirens (well, maybe those weren’t easy, but once you’ve figured out the first, you’ve figured out all of them) and suchlike. This creature was beyond his level. Heck, the rims of his normally green glasses hadn’t even turned blue, like they usually did when he got an assignment. He always kept his shadow gear with him out of paranoia, but Brian hadn’t expected that straying a little from the trail in this small reservoir would find him a shadow creature like this.
He dropped his gun as the not-alligator charged and bolted up the nearest tree. He went up as fast as possible, thanking his years of childhood experience racing up trees against his friends. The alligator reached the base of the tree and snarled, snapping its jaw and giving Brian the time to make it up another foot. It poked at the gun with its snout, clearly not liking the thing. Two more feet. It returned its attention to its prey, the moving object that was exuding fear, regarding Brian for a moment, deciding whether or not to attack. Thank goodness this pine tree was tall and sturdy. The alligator was now several feet below him, and Brian stopped a moment to rest. Then, the creature reared up. Brian gasped. This thing had to be at least 8 feet tall, not counting the tail. He was, still, however, out of reach, or so he thought. Until, of course, the alligator opened its mouth and blew a column of fire at him. He screamed, although the fire had only managed to reach a few branches below him. Brian scrambled up the tree several more feet, but the smoke was getting to him. He closed his eyes tightly, unable to think of a way out of the situation.
A snarl that Brian somehow didn’t think came from the alligator rippled through the forest. He looked down, but the smoke obscured his vision. Someone’s voice spoke right next to his ear, “Are you stupid?”
Brian yelped and probably would have fallen out of the tree if a slender boy hadn’t clamped a firm arm around his waist. The boy was wearing a grey beret and ratty clothing. He wasn’t wearing any shoes. Making an apparently annoyed tutting sound, the boy wrapped both of his arms tightly around Brian’s waist and jumped out of the tree.
For the second time in so many minutes, Brian screamed. But to his complete astonishment, when they stopped it wasn’t as a smush on the ground. They had wumped onto the miraculously not burning, and rather large branch of the neighboring tree. The boy let go of Brian to grab onto the branch and Brian did the same.
“You can climb right? This tree hasn’t caught fire yet, so climb down.”
Brian blinked. There was something he was forgetting wasn’t there? He shook his head and thought until his fingers began burning with the strain of holding him up. The pain of a sharp twig cutting his palm open tore through the fog in Brian’s brain. The boy was looking at him as if in curiosity. “What about the alligator thing?”
The boy laughed, “the ‘alligator thing,’ as you so incorrectly call it, is probably dead now. I gotta go clean up the carcass and get Snowy before she gets much dirtier. Now come on, climb.”
When the two of them reached the bottom, Brian nearly had a heart attack. A giant Siberian tiger was chewing on the tail of the 14 foot, newly deceased, armored, fire-breathing alligator. Brian could see where the belly of the alligator had been ripped open by the tiger’s claws. He almost threw up.
Unfazed, the boy went up to the tiger and smacked it lightly across the back of its head. “Spit that out, you’ll get indigestion.” The tiger made a whining noise, but dutifully dropped the alligator’s tail. Coolly rummaging through his pockets, the boy produced a small knife with a strangely clear blade. It appeared to be filled with a brackish-green liquid. The boy stabbed the alligator and it disintegrated, leaving behind so much dirt and ash. The knife disappeared into the boy’s pocket again.
Completely ignoring Brian’s look of abject astonishment, the boy said to his tiger, “Sorry Snowy, playtime’s over.” The tiger whimpered and began to shrink until it was just a misshapen stuffed animal. The boy bent down, picked up “Snowy” and Brian’s gun and turned to him. “Hi, my name’s Stevens. I believe this is your gun. I’ve been a shadow for three years now. What’s your name?”
“Brian.”
“Well then, Brian, nice to meet you. I suppose I’ll see you around sometime.” And Stevens left, leaving Brian staring after him, slack-jawed.
Five minutes later, Diana Stevens walked out of the little reservoir bordering her home with her stuffed tiger in hand. Her mother frowned as Diana walked into the kitchen. “Where’ve you been? And with that tiger again.”
“What!? Snowy likes our walks.”
Diana’s mother sighed as she faced her incorrigible daughter, “Alright, alright. But you can’t go carrying that tiger around forever. And stop running off into the forest. What if you get hurt, or come across someone or something dangerous?”
Diana laughed, “I’ll be just fine, mommy. I like the forest, I always find something interesting there.” And as her mother turned away, rolling her eyes, Diana grinned in a way that, if Brian had seen it, would have scared him.