"Hurry it up!" screamed Aro, turning around to make sure everyone was following, "We need to get out of here BEFORE the Behemoth comes!" Her constant yelling caused a small stir in an already frantic mass of people scurrying towards the exit. It seemed that everyone was in a rush to go somewhere, anywhere, else. Everyone, that is, save one.
King twitched his tail in annoyance. He didn't believe the fairy tales about the "Legendary Behemoth," even if Aro did. Besides, he always thought Aro had about the same mental capacity of a pile of rocks. King and Aro were the best of friends, but constantly teased one another.
"There's no way some overgrown lizard can both outrun and consume every single Elite here." The Elite, as they called themselves, were a race of humans that had grown spotted fur and tails similar to those of a cheetah or leopard. It wasn't clear as to why these traits developed. It was a general consensus, however, that they were just radiation effects left over from the nuclear war responsible for ravaging the Earth. The half-destroyed planet had quickly lost reverted back into a veritable dark age. Eventually the survivors patched together and replanted many of the forests that now covered the planet.
King crouched further behind the bush as more of his kin passed. The village was being evacuated because three of the six scouting posts had been destroyed. It was no small feat to destroy a single one of the heavily guarded outposts, yet something had destroyed three before the alert had been sounded. A single Elite had endured the fall of the towers only to die before the night passed. During his feverish mumblings he was heard to describe the offending reptile that everyone was now fleeing.
King scanned the crowd in attempts to recognize any passersby. He could make out the faces of many friends that he had trained with. It was King's dream to earn his place among the members of the militia. Also among the throng was his mom, screaming his name frantically. She briefly paused in front of his bush as if somehow sensing his presence.
No, I'm staying here, thought King, I'm an Elite warrior like my dad was, and I'm staying here to defend my home. Almost as if responding, she cast a long sad look at her feet and slowly continued walking, passing him up.
King waited until everyone was gone. He stood up and scanned the now deserted village tentatively. Once he was sure that he was alone, he ran east to a small hole under one of the numerous trees in the forest. The hole was covered by a fairly large piece of driftwood that both conformed to the surrounding area and yet retained a peculiar distinctiveness—as if something about the wood didn't seem quite right. As kids, King and Aro had stayed up every night for a many a week digging up this hide-away and stocking it with supplies. Due to their young age, the 'supplies' were mostly sweets like pies and cakes. Less than a day after the foods had been accumulated, however, both King and Aro were forced to return home complaining of severe bellyaches. When the got a little older the two friends had restocked their hideaway with a more sensible store. They never got the chance to try it before their chores and responsibilities consumed their time.
The insides of the small dwelling were sparse, if anything, but included a few chairs and a small table. The red clay walls did a lot to keep everything nice and cool. They never had time to install indoor plumbing or the other million ideas dreamed up by kids their age. A small cupboard housed the meager provisions that remained edible after so many years of neglect. A small homemade deck of cards had been left on the table for entertainment.
King, having nothing better to do, settled down in his reclaimed sanctuary. He poured himself a drink, and started playing various card games against himself in attempts to pass the time. It wasn't long before he got bored of such repetition, so he decided instead to take a stroll. There was a location where a whole bunch of boar-like creatures called Khlad gathered this time of year. After little searching, King finally found one of the aforementioned beasts, and proceeded to climb on the creature's back.
During King's childhood, Khlad were gentle and kind, having no natural predators. Then it all changed. Animals who were dangling at the bottom of the food chain realized that the khlad were an easy target. So, needless to say, the khlad population diminished rapidly. Since they were becoming endangered, they developed survival techniques to throw riders, attack and turn the tables on predators, and to help other members of the pack if individual efforts weren't enough. Upon King's intrusive mounting, the khlad's new instincts came into effect.
The swine started by running slow at first, then at a medium trot, then a full bristling gallop. It was going so fast than when it dodged a tree the sheer force was almost enough to rip King right from his seat. King gripped tighter, until it seemed his hands were glued to the khlad's short fur. After a lot of such running, the khlad stopped to catch its breath, as did its rider. To King, this was a mere game, used for enjoyment until the game lost it's interest. This game, however, would turn out more dangerous than King had thought. Evolution was a tricky master.
The khlad resumed running, but this time in circles. King started feeling nauseous and dizzy almost to the point of falling off. This realization caused him to grab a branch overhead, of which there was plenty. The beast didn't notice its rider's absence, so it kept on running until it lost its balance and crashed into a tree trunk nearby. Then King, never wanting to back down from a fun game, got back on to see what the creature was going to do next. This offensive gesture just made the khlad even more determined to throw this rider off, one way or another.
The boar swerved around, as if looking for something. A few seconds later, it found what it was looking for. This new trick started with the rotund beast walking right up to a large tree and turning around. It followed up the action by launching itself against the tree. King had seen this dangerous, yet potentially humorous, maneuver before. It was meant to squish the rider into submission. Instead, King sidestepped and the not-too-smart khlad smashed into the tree alone. King then remounted and waited until the dazed creature had time to regain its senses.
When the khlad realized that the rider was still aboard, it started running back to the clearing where King got on. About halfway there it emitted a honk so loud that King's ears started hurting. When the clearing came into view, about 20 or so khlad were gathered in two lines facing inwards. The one King was riding charged between the ranks. The lines converged, as if to gore him. "It's a trap!" King's exclamation was followed soon after by a resounding smack. King had seen through the Khlads' plan to stab him repeatedly only seconds before the bands finished their attack. His sudden insight allowed him a split second decision in which his reflexes saved him. King had jumped of the back of the porker only to grab on to another branch, which were turning out to be quite helpful today. The lines carried through with the attack, but since King wasn't there, they ended up ramming each other instead. All but the one he was riding was out cold.
"Whew, this is getting cool! Does it have any other tricks?" King was having a nice little chat with himself as he jumped back on. Surely, this next attempt was to be the last performance of the day. It was also about to start.
First, the guileful critter bent both of its back legs, and then it pushed off with its front two legs, going into a squatting position. Then it launched off with the powerful hind feet, performing a complete back flip! The unexpected nature of this acrobatic feat sent King flying into the nearest tree with extreme force.
When King stopped seeing stars, he looked up straight into the eyes of a very, very angry khlad. He could smell the horrible breath, see the long sharp horns, the dark green fur, the three-split tail, and the hopelessly dark brown eyes. He could even feel the rage of the beast as it charged right at him!
King dodged to the side at the last minute and the unwary beast dug it's razor-sharp horns into the trunk of a large Dogwood. Try as it might, the Khlad couldn't seem to retract its horns from the trunk. After his tiring ordeal, King decided to go back to his hideaway, stopping only occasionally to gather some herbs by the side of the path. Upon returning to his temporary abode, he paused outside the door. Something peculiar caught his eye. That is, something more peculiar than the abnormal location of driftwood miles away from any body of water. He noticed that the door to his impromptu home was open. He made sure to always close a door that he had used, so this wasn't his doing. Some one else was in his house, and they were not welcome.