“God it smells terrible, I'll never get this scent out of my clothes”, the man made a variety of complaints as he walked forwards, with Mia a few steps behind. “At first glance the man seemed to be put off by the destruction around him but as he continued through the feeling of calmness was shown, it seems as if he’s used to this”. Mia continued to think and assess whether the man was dangerous, so far she was undecided. She continued to walk- “Oof”, she ran into something. “What are you doing running into me like that? I said that some of them are still around”. “I’m sorry”, she murmured. 

Ten minutes later, they reached the end of the shopping district, and it's horrible visual. A part of Mia was relieved to be edging away from the horrors that she was a part of only a short while earlier, but another part felt regret. In her point of view it was her fault that Aira had died and that she should’ve been the one to be killed. 

The man spoke up; “alright kid I’ll tell you the deal”. Mia quietly continued walking, disinterested but still listening. “As of right now you’re gonna be in my custody, we’re gonna be heading towards the forest near here to escape all this shit”. He looked over his shoulder, a mute expression on his face. The air around them was tense. “Damn, what a downer”, he thought. 

Feet away was the stables, many of the horses were lying dead, either squished or torn apart. The stables were always near the edge of the village, for some it seemed odd. Why were they in an inconvenient place? It’s as if they were specifically built there to aid in an escape. Mia pondered on how they’d manage to leave without a horse or carriage. 

“Heh heh, I know what you’re thinking. How will we get out of here without a horse, oh boy am I gonna show you something mind blowing. The man pulled out a small red pouch from his coat and held it up to his lips, it fluttered in the sudden nighttime wind. Mia, silently watched, the same uninterested look on her face as before. He began to blow, was it a balloon? POP! The balloon-like object expanded greatly and its mass began shifting. Its once spherical form contorted and twisted, red hooves began protruding from the bottom, and a skeletal tail bursted out from the back. It only took a manner of seconds, but Mia couldn’t believe her eyes. What was once thought to be a balloon was now a red horse with six legs. “NEIGHHHH”, it shook its head and swung its tail around.

The man walked up to the horse and began petting its mane, “there’s a good boy”, he whispered. “Surprised huh? His name is Seshi”. The horse looked over at Mia and bowed, clopping its back hooves on the ground. “C’mon kid”, he gestured for her to climb on the horse so that they could depart. With a gulp she obliged and so the two left the village of Ako. 

As they began riding away Mia thought hard about the past twenty-four hours. She wished and prayed that it’d all go away, but deep down these horrible events would lead to her growth. With sacrifice comes rebirth, and closing one door opens another. Her thoughts drifted, and she began to ignore the negatives and focus on everything else. In Mia’s mind now that she lost Aira she lost everything, now that this man, Gurren, was going to take her away. She had barely any strength to protest, and didn’t care either way. Her happy-bubbly personality that she had for the past year was cast aside. Now, Mia would undergo a drastic change, her heart locked away, and her emotions forgotten. 

She drifted off to sleep.

Mia opens her eyes, no longer on the horse with Gurren. Where was she? Around her were sunny skies in all directions, clouds floated, and the air smelt pure. She looked up and around, confused. It was quiet, she took a step. Splash, Mia immediately looked down, water? An ocean? She blinked several times, trying to regain her senses. All around her as well as beneath her was a massive body of water. She took another step, Splish. It was solid, the ground was water but yet at the same time it wasn’t. “Where am I?” She thought, from being on a six legged horse with a man she just met to this, she was overflowing with confusion.

“Step step step”, the sounds of footsteps came from the distance but the origin was unknown. She turned around and frantically looked around, “hello? Is anyone there?” “Step step step”, the footsteps grew louder, and then stopped altogether. 

“Above you”. 

Mia looked up and her eyes met with someone, she felt as if they were familiar. They vanished instantly. Mia looked around frantically again. “Mia”, She turned around again, this time a pure white figure stood in front of her. Mia stood there in awe, a white figure with no features whatsoever, blank face, blank everything. Only one thing stood out, a voice. This figure's voice was as smooth as silk, as soft as a freshly washed blanket. It was a female voice, one that could’ve belonged to a goddess. 

In the distance a black being is sitting in the foetal position mumbling to itself.

“Don’t worry about him”. 

“Who are you?” Mia asked, her face now showing a strained look. “Where am I? Wha-what is happening?” The figure stood silent. “Why is this happening, why why why why why?” The figure continued her silence. 

“It seems you can’t see me yet, soon though, soon everything will gradually get better” The figure then vanished into thin air. 

“Hey kid, hey kid, god damn it, HEY KID” Mia shot up, “what? What?” She awoke back on the horse with Gurren. Looking around, they were now surrounded by trees and brush, riding at a significantly faster speed. “What’s happening?” she asked, startled. Gurren looked over his shoulder, slightly annoyed. 

“First of all, you should never fall asleep on a horse, don’t you know how dangerous that is?” He paused and looked forward again. “We got company, four of them”. “REEEEEE! AKAKAKAKAK! SHIIIIIIIIII! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Four distinct howls came from behind them slowly getting louder. 

“Shit, I don’t think we’ll be able to escape them this easily, they seem to be accustomed to this type of environment”. “Tssk”, Gurren clicked his tongue. “What are they? Why are they coming after us?” Mia looked back, a worried look on her face as she tried to see the four creatures catching up to them.

Seconds passed, the howls grew louder. Mia and Gurren rode faster, manoeuvring through the dense brush. “Womp, womp, womp, womp”. Mia squinted, hoping to pinpoint the attackers locations. For a moment everything was quiet… But suddenly, “REEEEEE!” A short creature shot forwards nearly grabbing Mia, it had a humanoid face with a long nose and body half the size of its head covered in hair. It wrapped its tail around branches and used its sharp finger and toenails to latch onto trees and thrust forward. Its blonde hair atop its head blew with every movement. The creature gnashed its pointy teeth as his serpentine eyes stayed focused on Mia. 

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!” She screamed, its sudden appearance gave her a horrid feeling. “What do you mean? It's the same thing that you saw in the village… It’s a beast”. “Mia sat there, head turned, with the look of horror on her face. “REEEEEE!” It jumped forwards once again and began picking up the pace. “Shit, seems like the other two are trying to pincer us”. 

WOOSHCHHH! Out of the trees shot another beast. This one, maybe slightly smaller than the first, was covered head to toe in hair except its face. Its wide smile grew as it continued swinging forwards. To the left of them another came, Also covered in long hair it used its hands and feet to speedily run across the branches. 

“Damn it, where's the fourth? Can’t deal with ‘em if I don't know where they’re all at”. Gurren thought to himself; “I can’t sense it in the trees…. Could it be flying? This’d be a lot easier without the kid, but I can’t exactly leave her to die… Shit”. He widened his eyes, “heh, of course, how could I be so stupid”. VOOOOSH! A quadrupedal dog-like beast with a humanoid skeletal face lunged towards Gurren. Its mouth opened wide showing small sharp teeth. 

Mia looks over, eyes wide with worry. This man who she met not too long ago saved her and now he’s going to die? The moment arrives, Mia quickly shuts her eyes… SHIOOOOSH! Her eyes open, and she’s in complete shock.

Gurren jumps up and whips out his sword and slices the beast in half, blood spurts rapidly and covers both of them. “Don’t worry kid, beasts like these don’t stand a chance against me”. He smirked and looked towards the other beasts, his blade glistening crimson in the moonlight. The other three beasts continued their pursuit, this time at a faster pace, they looked even more ravenous than before. Gurren took an offensive position, one hand holding his sword, the other open in the air. ZEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeoooo, He shot forwards, VOOMP, VOOMP, VOOMP, Bouncing off trees he quickly reached his target. SHIOOOOSH! With another slash the hair long nosed beast fell to the ground and rolled away.

Mia, who was still riding on the back of Seshi, was in complete surprise at what she was seeing. Gurren was hopping between each tree cutting down anything in his way. She watched as he bifurcated the hairy beast. With each slash a wave of blood splattered the trees and ground below. “Whoa…”.

“One more to go…” Gurren thought. 

The final beast was scampering across branches alongside Seshi, keeping its eye on both Mia and Gurren. The beast's gaze remained still, and didn’t cause it to make any mistakes as it continued. 

SHIOOOOSH! SHIOOOOSH! SHIOOOOSH! With three slashes Gurren severed the beast's legs, decapitated its head, and gutted its stomach. The now basically clumps of flesh that remained fell to the grown, destined to become a meal for carrion. Gurren grabbed onto another tree and lunged forward, “huwa!” He landed on Seshia and sat back down, lifting his reins. “How did you- wha- -?” Confusion was too simple of a term to describe Mia’s thoughts, for now, she’d just sit back and wait for their destination to arrive.