"Fierce is passion, a driving force that can topple mountains and bring understanding. But be weary for how passion twists the form, for unchecked it runs rampant and destroys the body."
The lamb walked the stone paths keeping his head low to the ground, tense and burdened by his past experiences. Above him the gloom lit skies darkened even further as rolling clouds covered the skies rumbling with echoing thunder. "Need to find a place to rest tonight" the lamb mused as he looked around for a temporary sanctuary against the fore coming storm. He spied a great tree that was leaning backwards, the bark covered with deep scars, splintered wood, and gnarled grain. Half of its roots were ripped from the earth, and the land itself seemed trampled into a fine powdery mass.
"What kind of creature did this?" He asked mostly to himself as he cautiously approached the site. He reared up and set his forelimbs onto the trunk to examine it. "This was not done by the bear. But who did this is one I do not have the desire to meet. Though it would serve well as a storm shelter." The lamb mused before going under the tree to rest as the foretold storm began.
As the rain poured down the lamb drifted into uneasy sleep. In his dreams he remembered his youth, a youngling roaming the pastures with his father, looking over the other animals. "My son you have a great duty to uphold in time. You must watch over all of them and ensure tranquility is set."
"But father I don't want to. It's not for me to be, I couldn't do it to anyone's expectations." The lamb protested when the ram looked down with cold flames blazing in his indignant eyes. "You shall take this mantle one day and you will carry it. That is the purpose of your being, there can be no denial!"
The lamb woke up in cold sweat, feeling himself stuck. He looked down and saw his limbs cased in mud nearly anchoring him to the ground. With a grunt he broke free from the muddy tomb and looked up, freezing in place. A shadowy badger loomed looking down onto the lamb.
"What have we here? Juicy morsel trapped" it intoned as it started to climb into the pit. The lamb let out a bleating cry before it jumped up, landing onto the beast using him as a springboard to leap onto the ground and took to his hooves running away. The badger gave chase to the lamb running behind snapping its jaws.
As they ran through the bleak trees a sound rumbled through, and the land started to tremble causing both of the animals to lose their footing. A thunderous sound of hooves pounding on the dirt , almost a legion's march that shook the ground when a loud squealing bellow broke through, accompanied by the crack of bark and a pained yip. The lamb turned around to catch a bloody sight. The badger hung limply on a curved obsidian bloodied tusk. The owner of the tusk was a boulder muscled boar with a scarred granite hide. The boar turned peering into the lamb's fearful eyes with its own clouded eyes. The boar took a deep snort grunting before shaking its massive head tossing the badger’s corpse away before walking closer.
The lamb took a step back only to find himself being driven into a tree, compelled to move as the boar’s gaze focused on him. The lamb turned to make his parasite bulb stand out more hoping its bitter stench would drive the boar away. Instead the boar just loomed closer taking in a deep grunting breath before blowing out hot air. “Who are you?” the boar asked in a stone heavy voice, “You… smell like a plant. But also smell like an animal. You appear hazily small… vulnerable. Who are you?” the boar asked again.
The lamb let out a small shaky breath. “J-just a lamb… a-and what are you going to do to me?” he asked as he was cornered. The boar snorted kicking up a small cloud of dust. “Nothing. You are spineless. No passion. Nothing worth the battle, not even enough to lose myself over. Not worth any effort.” He said before going backwards and turning to walk away. The lamb sighed with relief when he realized what the boar had said and became indignant. “Hey what do you mean spineless? I’ve been surviving here in these woods I’m far from that!” he bleated out irate.
The boar ignored him and walked on lumbering towards the west. The lamb, irritated at being ignored, followed him. “Wait up, what did you mean by what you said?” the lamb called out as he bounded behind him. The boar grunted and sniffed the ground before marching on. “You lack passion. Spineless. Nothing about you is worth the time, because you don’t put time into worth.” The boar mused as he led the lamb to a clearing deep in the woods.
The lamb took a glance around and took note that the clearing was ringed by the same kind of tree he took shelter in against the rain, trees ripped out from the ground, some of them splintered and crushed, others scarred by deep markings, and some trampled under hoof. The ground was covered in dust, gravel, and shards of stones as if pounded into fine powder or grinded down. Only a single large boulder remained unscathed in the far side. “Shattered… This place is shattered.” the lamb gasp.
As he wonder if the boar done this he notice the boar was shuddering, snorting deeply. He was stomping on the ground his muscles tensing up with some building energy before he reared back, stomping hard onto the ground and letting out a loud squeal before charging into boulder head on. A loud crack was heard as a visible dent was made on the boulder, the boar backing up before charging again ramming himself into the boulder. Again and again the boar repeated this strange practice till with the sixth charge the boulder buckled under the assault cracking in half. The boar stood tall, proud of this accomplishment as he walked to another side and lay down.
“Nothing is worth doing unless you throw yourself wholly into it.” He explained as he saw the lamb’s confused gaze. “Why bother doing a single thing if you cannot be passionate about it?” The lamb shook his head standing a distance. “But why do you do this? What point is it breaking a boulder with your head?” the lamb asked confused on the boar’s strange behavior.
“Cause it’s who I am. That simple. There is no greater meaning to it; I just enjoy the feeling of splintering trees and crushing the earth. I enjoy the feeling of goring predators and fighting the most dangerous denizens of this cursed place, because that is me. I kill and break, therefore I am.” The boar retorted as the lamb tilted his head. “But why… that’s insane.” He replied to which the boar nodded. “Yes it is. I never said I was sane though. No… these long years have given me many things and they have also took from me in equal amounts.”
“I wandered into these woods one day as a piglet, separated from my sounder. I roamed lost trying to find my way back when I was caught by a great beast, and it chased me. I had never felt more spineless, more weak, in my life till that day. Cornered I did the only thing that came to my mind. I charged.” The boar stood up starting to sound more deeper, more growling. “I gored, I fought, and I battered till I won. Ever since… I found my calling. Ever since that day I been charging, fighting, and crushing anyone who stood against me. I fell in love with the battle, and the years harden my body. Strong to shatter rock, to uproot trees, to pierce bones, I found myself in battle! And with that I became what I am!”
The boar grunted stomping on the ground, his body tensing up as he continued. “My body a testament to my powers, my hide scarred and ragged, each of them a badge of honor to myself! Every rock shattered beneath my hooves, the pounding spirit of my heart! Every tree splintered by my skull and might, statues of glory of my power! Every cry of death brought by my tusks, a victory fanfare! But… have I lost myself? Yes. I have endured wounds upon wounds, broken bones and pierced hide. My endless fighting has costed me my eyes to where everything is just a blur. My sanity… too long have I revealed in my own power and destruction that my sanity long abandoned me, and I abandoned it! I do not need soundness of mind to know who I am, I shatter the world, therefore I am, I break the bones of my enemies, therefore I exist!”
The boar let out a loud roaring squeal rearing up before slamming himself onto the ground kicking up debris and dust around him, and he turned his pallid eyes onto the lamb once more. “And what of you, little one? Where is your spirit? Where is your passion? What drives you?” He asked as he lumbered forward snorting angrily. The lamb started to back up. “N-nothing, I have no aims of grandeur or anything of that sort. I just want to live day to day.” The lamb explained as he sensed something terrible was to happen.
“EXCATLY MY POINT!” The boar bellowed. “You are nothing! You care for nothing, and squander your own energies into doing nothing. Just skulking about passing to the next day. That is not passion, that is not living, that is merely existing. You put no effort into anything; you care for nothing and have no drive! You are wasteful, you are deplorable. I am of no sound mind, yet my heart burns with passion for what I love, to fight, to survive, to shatter!” He clawed at the ground with one of his hooves lowering his head, his pale eyes locking onto the lamb who quickly shouted “I do have a passion, passion for living!”
“Then prove it, lamb. Prove that you have the passion to outlast, prove that you have the energy, cause if you don’t your cry will be my next victory toll.” The boar let out a terrible squeal of anger and rage as it lowered its head before charging headlong towards the lamb. The lamb let out a bleat of terror as he turn and leapt out of the way, barely dodging the boar who stampeded into a tree. The boar’s tusks sank deep into the wood, though with a loud grunt the boar pried his tusk off and uprooted the tree a bit before turning back to the lamb.
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