Year 3002
Midohira, Daikidageda
Mujika felt Jill jump towards her voraciously. Taken aback by the situation of sudden panic, Mujika stooped low, outstretching a thick cluster of quills around her. Jill leaped past Mujika and jumped on the cobra, going for its neck. The slender man who had transformed into a cobra, faked a dunk and retracted quickly, causing Jill to lose her balance as she fell down on the ground. The cobra buried its fangs deep into Jill’s legs, as she let out a loud agonized scream.
“Haizaki wants you all dead. His avidity has put him on a path that oozes lust for power.” Jill stuttered, in pain. “However, this is not the end of humanity. I need to speak with Rakuten, there is a way.”
“JILL, WATCH OU-” yelled Sayla, and she got back in her human form, scrambling to protect her. She stopped monetarily as Jill crashed on the ground. The cobra hissed and started dunking at Mujika who seemed aghast. Jinx prepared himself to take a dash towards the cobra. Mujika struggled her way back on her feet as long sharp quills erected on her arm. Backing herself at every dunk, she continued shooting a few quills viciously towards it.
Suddenly, the cobra stopped in its path and glared fiercely towards an angry Mujika. In a swift motion, the cobra whipped its tail sideways to land a lash on Mujika’s hip. She whimpered in pain, taking a few steps backwards. Sayla extended two of her tentacles, trying to disrupt the cobra’s rhythm. Seizing this opportunity, Mujika ran to the other side and shot a thicker quill in the cobra’s head, as it squealed in pain.
The ground started thudding in a rhythmic pattern while Mujika and Sayla took a step back, to pave a path for their spiker Jinx who was charging towards the cobra. The screams of the cobra were diminished to be overpowered by the stomping of the rhinoceros's blitz. Jinx landed his heavy foot on the cobra, crushing every bone in its head.
Sayla, Mujika, Jinx and Jill took a few moments to compose themselves.
“You must go, check on Prassaca.” Sayla spoke softly, looking towards Jinx.
Jinx nodded and started walking towards Prassaca, hoping that she would have Aisa under control.
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A bewildered Haizaki barely found sufficient time to balance himself mid-air, as he saw Rakuten fly next to him, landing one shoulder push after another, trying to push him over the side. Rakuten directed her sharp claw towards Haizaki, piercing his sides. He started bleeding profusely. Change of pace being his primary strength, Haizaki switched the direction he was flying in, angling towards the denser region of the woods. He swiveled through the taller trees, causing Rakuten to lose some of the momentum she had gained on him.
“That is how I use my experience in flying. You are new to this world. Catch me if you can, Rakuten!” he screeched, trying to entice Rakuten in following him.
Rakuten was not experienced enough to fly through the dense forest, however, the mountains and cliffs of Midohira were etched in her memory. Rakuten soared high up in the sky and started flying over the woods, hoping to intercept Haizaki head on in the opposite direction.
She zoomed past the woods and glided over the opposite end, waiting impatiently for Haizaki to appear, so that she could take him down. She heard the rustling of leaves as he approached closer to the end of the denser region of the forest. A sense of astonishment began appearing on his face, as he saw Rakuten waiting to pounce on him.
Rakuten directed her claws towards Haizaki. He tried dodging her attack by moving around, only to realize that it was a fake intimidation from Rakuten. She flew closer to him and pierced his right wing with her claws rendering them useless. She pecked his shoulder with her hard beak, further hurting him physically. Unable to fly anymore, he crashed into the ground, rolling a few times over. Haizaki let out a wild agonized scream.
“Take a look to the sky, just before you die.” Rakuten screeched, anger and disgust strewn within, as she started assailing towards him.
Rakuten felt her surroundings turn hazy. The singular voice that she had found in her head started getting distorted.
“Why are you doing this?” Rakuten heard a paradigm of voices.
She closed her eyes and whispered, “He is about to get killed. We canno-”
“He is Haizaki. Why do you feel this unwarranted sympathy towards him?” the eagle inside her snapped.
“We ar-we are about to ki-” Rakuten said in a trembling voice. “We are abou-” she gulped her anxiety. “Stop-we need to sto-STOP!” she screamed as she angled herself wider. With a sudden jerk, she started losing altitude. She could feel her wings starting to shed some feathers. Her wings loosened as she slammed on a nearby tree, toppling all the way down. Instantly, she sat on her knees looking towards the sky, inhaling huge breaths of air. The mildly chaotic voices in her head plummeted in a wide spectrum of unharmonious symphonies.
“Too weak, eh!” she heard Haizaki cutting through the chaos in her mind. She watched him get up on his feet slowly, extending his entire wingspan.
“Why!” hissed the voice inside her.
“Physically, you are quite strong, Raki.” Haizaki whispered, with a devilish smile on his face. “But in here,” he paused to point at his heart, “Weak!”
Irritated, Rakuten began, “Only my friends cal-”
“SILENCE!” he commanded. “You will die tonight, that annoying Rintaro will die tonight, Jill will die tonight, and all of her squad members, well,” he paused, “I cannot wait to torture them.” Haizaki said with a psychopathic smile on his face. Unfamiliar with the fact that most of his comrades were killed in the battle of Midohira, he started walking towards his spacecraft, confidently.
He took a glance towards Rakuten and whispered, “Idiosyncrasy will not work for you, Raki!”
Rakuten continued kneeling and gasping for breaths.
“What was that sudden spurt of energy that I felt?” she wondered. “Rintaro would hav-” she stopped with a sense of terror on her face. “Rin!” she screamed as her hazy eyesight changed into pristine clarity. She stood up quickly and started running back through the woods to the place she had last spotted Rintaro. Stumbling through the woods, she traced her way back. As she approached the clearing at the other end of the woods, she saw a large brown shell lying on the ground. The shell appeared to be as large as a tent from one of her camping trips. It showed some signs of being worn out at the sides and it gave out a nasty saline odor. Rakuten walked closer to the shell and touched it cautiously with her hand.
“Rin?” she said softly as she walked around the chief’s outgrown shell which was protecting Rintaro and his friends within.
“RAKI? That is Rakuten, let me ou-” Rintaro started kicking the opening on the inside of the shell as Kaaron and Fusan rushed ahead to pull him back. Not spotting Haizaki around, the chief gradually opened his shell, to let him out. An impatient Rintaro stepped out of the shell and dashed in the direction of Rakuten’s voice. As his gaze fell upon Rakuten, he halted in his path.
“Rak-Raki?” he mumbled, staring at Rakuten’s transmuted body which had partially come back to the human form. He moved his eyes from her stooped wings, clinging to her sides to the curved beak protruding out of her mouth.
Rakuten stared back at him, equally delusional about the transcribed series of events.
“We need to check on my squad members immediately! You need to kill their captivators like you killed Haizaki.” the chief announced authoritatively pointing towards Rakuten.
“I did no-I-” Rakuten stuttered, “I could not kill Haizaki.”
“YOU WHAT!” the chief scowled.
Rintaro glared at the chief, not letting him breathe for a moment.
“He protected us, Rintaro, when we needed him. It is our turn now.” Kaaron said. The chief continued staring back at Rakuten, who was visibly exhausted, and a bewildered Rintaro, unable to identify her.
Unable to make sense out of the situation, Rintaro started following the chief on a rather thinner trail in the woods. Kaaron signaled Sketa, Kyoto and Momoku to follow him alongside the chief and Rintaro. Astounded, Fusan walked towards Rakuten and gently felt her wings.
“Can’t tell if this is true or dream.” she whispered. “Is it you in there, Raki?”
Rakuten nodded. She focused her energy on the muscles around her shoulder, to extend the majestic wings around her.
“Whoa!” exclaimed Fusan, cupping her face with her palms.
The chief gave them a stern look, almost commanding them to follow him to help save the squad members.
Rakuten pushed Fusan ahead, prompting her to walk upfront. Fusan continued feeling Rakuten’s wings and claws, unable to comprehend the reality before her eyes.
“I have an idea, Raki. I can get us all out of this.” Fusan whispered.
They continued whispering to one another, walking slowly and steadily with the rest of the group. After a short walk, they reached near the battle scene where Mujika, Jinx and Jill were supposedly captivated. The chief was relieved to see the situation somewhat in control.
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