Chapter 2 - A Treading Lion-Fish

I awoke to the sound of flies buzzing aimlessly around me. Where the heck was I? I gave my surroundings a glance, and realized it was not a castle. Unless of course, the interior decorating commitee decided to go with the tropical rainforest theme. "Aughh!" I felt a sharp pain in my right shoulder. Everything was coming back. Drake shot me! Apparently my entire upper arm was penetrated. The strangest part about it was that the wound was treated. I was shirtless with some type of cloth wrapped around my chest and arm. I tried to move my arm, but I could feel pain shoot through me with just a mere twitch. I decided against using my arm for now. I lifted myself off the lush, green shrubbery that was covering everything within my vision. What now? I was in the middle of nowhere with no food, and no shelter. I walked along a small river that I just barely spotted. At least if things went to malignantly, I'd have water. I noticed some very strange creatures living in the stream. One particularly akward looking aquarian resembled a lion, except for the fact that its color was a dark blue. I couldn't truly be sure, but I believed the creature's tail and appendages to have fins. A magnificent being such as this lion-fish should not be treading in a small river.

I continued walking, following what seemed to be an endless line of blue. I thought to myself how wasted everything was. I wanted to live a life, rule my own kingdom, even possibly fight in battle. But I suppose it's over now. I was going to die right here. In some unknown rainforest only to be feasted on by some unknown scavenger. My thoughts were interrupted when I caught sight of a titanic green moss rock. Everything would be fine if the rock weren't careening towards me. Where the hell did it come from? Correction. I was gonna die in an unknown forest as an unknown flavor of pancake. I started to run perpendicularly to the path of the rock, hoping I might miraculously defy its diameter. Then, I decided to stop. I just stopped running. Perhaps if I died, all the misery would end, and I could finally be happy. I smiled as I faced the growing shadow of the titan. This was it. Suddenly, the boulder, perhaps less than a few yards away, exploded. I was cought in part of the explosion, and became airborne as the fire ate away at my skin. I remanied conscious even as I hit the ground, feeling pain beyond anything I could have ever described with adjectives. My body shook and reacted as it had never before. All the while, my scream permeated the ash and dust filled air. After what seemed like an eternity of pain, I looked up to see a man standing above my body, arms folded with a grin of dissatisfaction. "What do you want!" I managed to cough out through the very depths of my voice. "Rest boy. If you speak again, you'll probably die" That was all I could perceive before I blacked out again.

I awoke to the sound of the man clanging some pots and pans. Pans!? Was he cooking?! I got up with a jolt, forgetting all about my near fatal arm wound and multiple burns. I felt an enormous pain through my entire body, as if I was completely scorched. I would have screamed, but I had no voice. The man became aware of my awakening and greeted me. "Ah, there you are." "..." I tried to speak, but as I expected, nothing came out. "It's fine m'boy, I know of the condition you're in. Here, eat this." He extended his arms to me, revealing some sort of cooked meat on a stick. The mere sight of it filled my body with life; I was incredibly hungry. How long had it been since I last ate? Days? Weeks? I couldn't say. I appreciatively took the food and devoured it within seconds. I watched the man as he continued his cooking. He was fairly large, a muscular man. His hair was dark, and rather short. He carried at his side a strange sort of weapon. It resembled a boomerang in a way, but with a sharp, bloody edge at each end. This was appartenly used for hunting. "..." I tried again to speak, but still could not, so I just grabbed another meat-stick and ingested. After I finished my share of food, I tapped the man on the shoulder. i was hoping he would realize my speaking dilemma. He slowly turned towards me, and spoke. "I suppose now is as good a time as any. perhaps I can explain things to you. Have a seat." Yeah. He was talking about the rock. I lowered myself onto the abstract boulder with a sigh. "Alright." He began. "Your arm, did you notice it was tended to?" I looked at my arm, and then back at the guy. Of course I noticed! I wasn't stupid! I simply nodded. "I cared for your arm, because I found you lying unconscious. It's not often that people enter this jungle, especially in your condition. After all... I'm only here because... well, nevermind." I gave him a look of curiosity and interest. I wanted to know what he was doing here. "Well, you see, I was banished from hy own home. I had nowhere to go but here. I can't even remember how long ago that was... Oh! I forgot to mention my name. It's Lemur. Nice to meet you." I thought the name sounded a little odd, but just smiled back. "Moving on, after I removed the bullet and bandaged you up, I left to go hunt for our meal. Luckily, I found you and the rock." I motioned for him to give me something to write with. I had so many more questions I needed answered. He walked away for a moment, and approached a small tree just a few feet from our pile of rocks. He pulled out his trusty boomerang and hacked off some leafy material. After returning to me, he gave me the leaves and a small blade. I carved into one leaf "Where am I?" "Oh," he said. "This is the Upheaval. You probably know why this particular forest recieved the name." No kidding. Exploding rocks. Very original. I carved my next question; "Do you know of a place called 'Adrielle'?" His disposition changed when he saw what I had written. "Adrielle. My friend, Adrielle is now infested with Inverts. It has become known as the very first kingdom to...die."

This site is © Copyright Zone 2004-2005, All Rights Reserved
Questions/Comments? E-mail me at [email protected]
Steve's free web templates