Side Story: Origin of SwordInsect

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In a huge forest, a Praying mantis is waving its foreleg slicing the branch of a tree. 'I will not become an underling of Royals' it thought and slashed at the branch leaving cut marks.

'Especially getting close to humans' I shuddered at the thought of it.

My Grandfather was an adviser to the Royals who communicate with the Humans and acted as a translator between them. The Directional bird is the mediator between us and will act as the head of the Insect Kingdom. They will eat any insects that are against them and all the insects follow it without any choice, the whole kingdom is formed because of them.

The Insect Kingdom has decided not to take part in the war between humans a long time ago. Because according to grandpa, the humans-in-white tried to persuade us to help them to fight against half-naked humans.

But no Insect accepted that proposal; according to our ancestors, those half-naked humans are the ones, who were sent to the sky along with us, approximately 400 years ago.

The war between these humans started at that time and has been going on till now. I grew up on this Island during this war; I have also watched many fights between humans which is very scary.

I nearly died many times getting caught between their fight, I also saw many insects die in their fight with my own eyes.

If that giant snake is the first thing I'm afraid then humans are next on the list followed by those birds. That's why I don't want to become a translator of the Royals and get near humans. So I ran away from home and roamed in this forest for the past few days.

I have not left my house due to how precious a translator-in-trainee is, and each time I sneak out, I will always encounter humans and nearly get killed.

Since I'm cooped in the house as others provide food to me so I don't know how to hunt and started to get hungry as time passed. I have not used my forelegs to slice anything for a long while; I only used them to learn sign language from my grandpa.

I did not know the usage of sign language until I overheard my grandpa. That's when I figured out, It is used to communicate with humans, and I will also be sent to work for the Royals as their translator.

I got the fright of my life, 'Getting close to humans like hell I will' I decided against it and ran away because it is useless to fight against my grandpa.

'Humans are terrible' I concluded after seeing their destruction frequently, So I have been training my forelegs to cut so I won't die miserable and at least can defend myself.

'I can at least use it to hunt' I finally decided because I will run after spotting a human.

Strangely the Island is silent today without the sound of humans fighting, so I searched around boldly finding some leftover food from other insects filling my stomach.

In the middle of the night as I was sleeping there was uproar from the snake, 'Who disturbed that snake' I anxiously went to hide properly.

All the insects and animals woke up shouting and screeching running away from Nola creating a stampede. I quickly climbed high into the trees to avoid it.

I watched them running towards the edge of the island where a half-broken building is present. 'Whoever is in that direction is dead' I thought cowering fearfully looking at the angry/panicked animals and insects.

The whole night was sleepless; I even saw glimpses of that snake searching something above the forest from my hiding place. I froze in fear when its gaze swept over my hidden place.

The mayhem took place till the morning; I only laid to rest after that with a tired and hungry body.

I rolled, changed position, changed tree to get sleep properly. I finally found a dark area where I slowly got sleepy, but I can feel that the insects are gathering again but I ignored it to rest properly.

I even heard the Directional Bird rallying with its unique cry, But it is not going to happen without any intruder's step on this Island. So I dismissed it as a hallucination due to hunger.

Rallying was one of the clauses the insect kingdom agreed with the humans, - If an outsider step on the Island when God's army is absent then the insects should stop the intruder.

There was, not a day when both groups of humans are absent from the Island and intruders arrive at the same time. So this clause is not used for a long time.

After some time I felt the ground vibrate and heard many sounds like buzzing, skittering, flapping, rolling, etc. in my half-sleep. 'Won't they allow an insect to sleep in peace' I grumbled rolling over covering my ears.

Then there was rare silence which I appreciate very much, I felt the moths gathering nearby; I ignored them since they are not dangerous and kinda dumb.

'It is so nice to lay in silence', I thought in a half-sleep state. My goal is to eat and sleep daily like this without any work. Since I can't eat I will fulfill my half goal, there is no Grandpa here to hinder my goal.

I slowly started to enter a sleep-state in this silence before it was destroyed by the "Uaah!" shout. I looked annoyed by this sound which destroyed my peaceful sleep.

I was sure that no one can find me in my hiding place as I blended among the background. It is a way of survival thought by my grandpa for non-combatants- Hiding, Camouflage.

I lazily opened my one eye to the sound source to find a weird creature standing on a weird thing emitting colorful clouds. The creature has huge black bird-like wings and a black tail; it is about 2 ft in height.

I relaxed after seeing it is not a human, I saw it speaking to the dumb moths, 'Either I'm hallucinating or that creature is stupid enough to speak with Moths' I closed my eyes ignoring it.

'Sure enough, the hunger has started to create more hallucinations' I got comfortable to sleep again ignoring the hallucination, "CHOH~ CHOH~" I heard the cry of directional birds again.

I heard some yelling and felt the area suddenly brighten before hearing the Moths flying. I suddenly felt uncomfortable so opened my eyes to see something flying towards me fast, I dodged it subconsciously.

I looked at that thing to find an arrow spewing white clouds stuck to the tree. My sleepiness went away soon after I nearly died 'Shit! This is not a hallucination' I muttered looking towards the place where I saw the weird creature.

That place is surrounded by smoke and many clouds similar to this arrow emerge from it. I watched as the insects surrounding it are hesitating to enter it.

'What is happening here?' I looked around confusedly then understood; that creature is an intruder and the insects are following the bird's order to attack it. I watched interestingly how the fight will take place from now on.

I suddenly saw a slug flying out of the smoke before the cockroaches started to enter the smoke fearlessly. The fight started accompanied with an "Argh!" enraged roar of that creature.

The fight went on, the bodies of cockroaches flew out of the sleigh, falling all the way down to the ground below. Suddenly I saw the cockroaches and other small insects scattered away from the smoke.

I looked confused before an irritating smell appeared in the air, It is tolerable for me but hell for small insects. I watched as the bees slowly started to enter the smoke 'Now the main fight starts' I thought looking forward to it.

Suddenly I heard a *twang* as an arrow flew just a few inches away from my face scratching it and lodged into the tree behind me.

I turned to look at it 'Aahh! I nearly died again' I panicked looking at the scratch on the left side of my face just below my eye; I quickly flew towards another tree, I just landed before another arrow arrived which I dodged quickly.

'Why the hell the arrows arrive wherever I go?' I complained jumping towards another tree as an arrow arrived which I quickly dodged. Even though I know that the arrows arrive after piercing through the bees, I still got angry at that creature.

I dodged the arrows from then on in panic, the arrows stopped after a minute 'It is finally over,' I sighed in relief and stopped to take a breath when I saw a flash inside the smoke along with a loud sound.

I suddenly felt pain on the right side of my face as another scratch is formed symmetrically to the left one. I dreadfully turned to see a hole in the tree 'You gotta be kidding me,' I jumped to another tree just as another bullet hit a few inches away.

I started to run around in panic 'Grandpa save me' yelled in fright. Just when I landed on a tree, I heard the gunshot and something pricking me 'Oh! I'm dead' I thought losing consciousness.

I woke up after a while confused 'Where Am I?' I dazedly stood up to find many insects' dead bodies, then I remembered everything and checked my body for any bullet holes, only to find that I was only scratched by bee stingers.

I sighed in relief after finding that I am alive and only fainted in fright, my attention was brought back by "Huh! Does this mean that my first enemy is him, not a slug or cockroach?" spouted by that creature who was sitting on that weird thing.

Then I thought about how many times I nearly died from its hands and became angry. 'I'm already hungry, but this creature made me run all around for my life wasting my energy' I thought as my anger turned murderous as I glared at it.

I watched as the creature stood up vigilantly before spotting me then looked dumbfounded. I glared straight back, at its big round eyes (goggles) in anger.

"O! You are the one staring at me for a long time," It asked to which my anger raised 'You are the one who woke me from the sleep' I flexed my forelegs.

"If you have ambushed me while I was fighting, I would have been in pieces by now? Why didn't you do it? " It asked further as my legs twitched for its blood. 'Attack you? You are the one who shot me non-stop' I waved my forelegs experimenting to attack it.

"So you're swordsman?" It questioned me, I thought for a while 'Yeah, I'm going to slice you, that means I'm a swordsman for you' I nodded to it.

"Psh! You are an insect, you will be killed easily if you dual a human" It mocked me 'Why will I be anywhere near human? I will run away as soon they near me' I seriously looked at it 'It really is stupid' I concluded.

"Then I will challenge you to a one-on-one" It yelled towards me waving a sword-like burning thing in his hand. I looked behind that creature to see a centipede approaching.

'Who wants to fight one-on-one with you? Aren't you satisfied with nearly killing me so many times?' I glared angrily at it.

'I will just pincer you with that centipede bro over there' I decided as I waited for the centipede to arrive as I vigilantly looked at the creature for it to make any move.

Finally, the centipede arrived and I saw the creature got slightly distracted by it, so I quickly flew towards it to take its head. 'Die for disturbing my sleep yesterday and today' I screeched at him.

Before I could cut its head, I saw the thing it stood fall down dragging it along, so I flew a few inches above its patterned head (Bandana) and clashed with centipede bro's mandibles.

I flew above in disappointment at missing the opportunity to kill it. The centipede bro suddenly started attacking me; I dodged quickly 'Why are you attacking me?' I yelled at it in panic.

It ignored my question and continued to attack; I dodged it easily and slashed back at it leaving a white mark on its exoskeleton. 'My enemy is running away, move asshole' I yelled at it.

"Hey, Mantis! Since you didn't attack me in my back, I have decided to appoint you as my rival" that creature yelled from below. 'Rival? Ok, I'm going to kill you anyway' I dodged the centipede looking down to see the creature fighting some bees.

"Now Let's finish our duel" It yelled looking at me 'I wish that is easy when he is annoying me,' I glared at the centipede when I heard a loud blasting sound.

I saw the creature below is dragged away by that weird thing blasting towards the sky. 'What…! It escaped from here?' I looked angrily at the thing in the distance.

"NNnoooo! MY Duueell..." It cried in panic at his missed dual hanging from that thing. 'Argh! It escaped' I looked angrily at it, the centipede attacked me suddenly.

I dodged and glared at it 'It is all because of you' I angrily charged at it dodging its attack and slicing it. The attack successfully cut one of its antennas in half; it withered in pain glaring angrily at me.

'Uh-oh! Now I have done it' I gulped fearfully before hightailing out of there. The centipede started to chase me angrily as I flew away from it.

My tired body can't exert more energy to fly but my only advantage is flying if I lost it the centipede will arrive quickly with its numerous legs.

I lost the centipede after some effort and landed on a tree panting, 'Why did I stupidly attack him when I don't know how to fight properly?' I thought after thinking carefully.

'It is all because of that weird creature, I will find and kill it' I vowed then landed on the branch 'First I need to rest' I hid properly and slept peacefully.

-O-

I woke up early morning due to hunger, 'It is all because of that thing, I didn't eat yesterday' I grumbled and angrily started to look for it.

I found its trail after searching sometimes and that creature is fearlessly venturing into that snake's territory, 'It really is stupid' I confirmed it.

'Anyway, its death will be in my hand' I sped up to avenge my stomach and sleep. I easily spotted the colorful clouds 'Did it come to die here? It can be spotted from miles away,' I lamented at that creature's IQ.

I quickly flew to its front and stopped it from going further; I got shocked after looking at the creature 'What…?' I stared in horror.

It said something but I was entirely focused on its human face 'It is a Human?' I saw a human face entirely different from what I saw yesterday (Without masks, goggles, and bandana).

I started shivering in fright 'It's a human am going to die' I thought planning to run away, 'He will definitely kill me for what I did yesterday,' I gulped looking at the human.

"Who are you?" he asked, 'Huh…! Why is he asking about it?' I stared flabbergasted at him.

"Did we meet before?" he asked increasing my confusion, 'Is he testing me? Will he kill me if I lie?'I thought then nodded my head truthfully.

"Are you my friend?" he asked further 'Why would I be friends with a human' I vehemently denied it and used the sign language which I learned all my life to communicate with him.

'I'm your rival' I signed after deciding to use this title to escape from here, 'I hope he won't kill his rival' I thought signing it.

"Are you my pet?" he asked ignoring my sign, 'why are you not reading the signs?' I angrily denied it and signed vigorously as he notice it, his unique colored pupil widened in recognition.

"Then what are you to me?" he asked ignoring my signs, 'That's what I have been signing, Even if he is a human I forgot he is stupid' I grumbled stopped using the sign language.

'Let's speak in idiot's language' I decided the pointed at his sword 'You sword' then at my legs 'My sword' then crossed my forelegs 'Fight' so 'Rivals' I gestured.

'I know' he shouted, 'Phew! Finally, he got it' I sighed in relief 'Now it's time for me to run' I decided then looked at the human.

"My training partner" He declared 'This idiot!' I face-faulted, 'Now I'm sure he is not testing me, but his small brain can't remember me' I became confident in escaping from him.

'How difficult it is going to be to escape from an idiot' I decided, before I could proceed, a cry of an animal in fright sounded from the direction behind me.

I suddenly froze in fear 'My number one phobia is just behind' I shivered as the human talked something but my head shook in fear.

By the time I recovered, I was sitting behind the human on the back of the weird thing 'Who Am I? Where Am I?' I thought 'Oh no, this human is kidnapping me' I began to panic.

'What to do? How can I escape from him?' I frantically thought for a solution ignoring the human rambling about something. 'Ok, calm down and look for a chance' I calmed down to hear the human saying about giving a name to me.

'Why is he giving a name to me? Did he want to remember the names of the person he kills?' I started to panic again.

I regained my sense after hearing the name "Scyther" and my eyes widened, 'This name… is made for me' I liked it very much.

Suddenly we heard "CHOH~ CHOH~" that bird's shout, 'what day is today? I encountered the top 3 of my phobias' I fearfully looked around 'Only Royals are remaining, surely they won't appear right?' I dreaded the thought.

Then some grasshoppers arrived to attack to which the human sent me to fight, yelling "Scyther, I choose you", that sentence somehow match with the scenario but I felt like his pet.

I went and fought with the grasshoppers to get good points from the human so he won't kill me. As I was beating the grasshoppers I think I heard him call me.

I was also tired after not eating for long while, so I quickly flew back landing behind him, as soon as I landed I crossed my forelegs to defend against an attack that I felt arriving.

I felt something clash with my foreleg, 'What happened?' I confusedly looked to see a mantis is standing in front of me.

I quickly recognized her, she is a Royal princess I have seen her in the capital when I visited it with my grandpa.

I soon realized my situation 'Ahhh! I just stood against a Royal and even stopped the princess' I panicked fearfully.

'It seems fate doesn't want me to live' I lamented then started to think of a solution, but to my horror, the human behind me shot the princess, who dodged it to my relief.

The princess flew back towards her bodyguard and looked at me curiously 'I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm so dead,' I thought frantically 'she will identify me from now on,'

I jittered in fright 'Maybe, I will explain to her, so she can forgive me' I decided then looked at them with my red sleepless eyes.

"Hey! Scyther, who is the villain-looking mantis?" the human behind me asked ruining the possibility of it happening.

My body further started to shake in fear 'Now he has done it' I looked uneasily at the princess, whose face is turning ferocious.

"Now I think about it, why are you alone?" he questioned "Where are your mooks?" he continued to ask me.

I looked dumbfounded at his question 'Is it time to ask this stupid question' I thought looking towards the villain *ptooey* princess.

Before I could react "Oh! I know you don't need to tell" he assuredly then pointed at the princess. 'What do you understand?' I started sweating

"Does this villain scheme and take your position as a leader?" he questioned 'He? Who? She…?' I looked speechless at him then at the princess.

"Did he slaughter your family? Did he steal your girlfriend? Did he exile you?" he shot a flurry of questions as everyone stood in silence.

The princess's face can't be looked at now, I started sweating at the tragic stories he made for me. 'I can't take this anymore, I don't care if you are a human, I'm going to kill you right now,' I decided then glared at the human.

"Don't worry, we will train properly and defeat him to get revenge" I promised not seeing the state I was in. 'I will take revenge right now' I raised my leg to slash but I fell off-balance at a sudden increase in speed.

"Hey you bloody villain, just you wait, we will come back and get his revenge," He declared angrily at the princess. Now I started to panic 'What did I try to do? Attack a human I must be insane' I fearfully looked at him.

'Did he notice me? Just now?' I don't know what to do and I began to panic.

"I will show you the power of fire" he yelled taking some odd-looking thing which started to spew fire, 'He definitely noticed me, he is going to burn me' I stood frozen in fear, 'Grandpa help me, I will listen to you from now on,' I pleaded, closing my eyes.

"Hahaha Burn baby burn hahaha" he laughed maniacally but I didn't feel the expected pain on me but felt the air turning hot.

"Don't worry, we will get revenge" he assured me stopping somewhere; I opened my eyes to see there is no fire around 'I'm alive' I sighed in relief.

'He is warning me' I deduced 'He will burn me next time I rebel' I concluded then decided not to go against this human.

"We will rest for a few minutes here," he stated giving me something which I ate subconsciously 'Food?, food' I dumbly looked at the food 'I finally can fill my stomach' I threw away unnecessary thoughts and started to fill my stomach.

I woke up from my feeding frenzy by the human touching me, I looked at him then decided 'I will help you this one time, for giving me food' then I started to slowly explain to him about the inner working of this Island using my sign language.

I was oddly satisfied by the dumb look on his face after finding the Insect kingdom before my happiness evaporated when he asked about the princess.

I started to panic thinking about offending the Royals 'I will definitely be punished if they caught me,' I thought dreadful.

The human started to ask many questions I answered what I know, he also asked about my sign language which I explained truthfully, I thought about the grasshoppers we met earlier having hand-like legs, so they may also know it.

He suggested I apologize to them 'I would have done it earlier if you had kept your mouth shut' I huffed in annoyance.

He went on about some friend's list or something; he flashed something at me and fiddled with the weird thing on his wrist.

"Don't worry, I will add you to the friend's list so I will remember you quickly," he explained, I stared with my eyes bulging out in shock.

'Don't add it, I want to get away from you first' I protested 'I have met all the things I'm afraid of in half a day' I thought anxiously 'It all happened after I joined you' I dreaded to be with him anymore. 'And, what friend? It is Rival' I protested waving my legs.

He ignored it as usual and started fiddling with the thing on his wrist, suddenly a «BEEP» sound was heard, I was startled and looked around vigilantly.

"Where Am I?" the human yelled looking around before spotting me "Gaah! An alien" he shouted pointing at me.

'What happened now?' I look dumbfound then remembered the things he explained while resting, 'Memory loss?' I confirmed.

'I should remind him to see that weird thing on his hands as he instructed me' I thought slowly raising my legs to remind him of the watch.

"Hey! Don't move, you will die a terrible death if you do" he yelled in panic watching it raise its foreleg.

'Humans are scary' I sweated at this lame threat 'even if it is lame' and slowly pointed at his wrist.

He started fiddling with it before looking at me from time to time with respect, pity, etc. before deciding to leave.

I followed him thinking, 'They will probably forgive us if we apologize, right?' unconfidently.

"We should start training and overthrow the Royal family, there should not be a royal with an evil face" he declared as I face-faulted hard on the ground.

I scrambled up and signed, 'What about the apologizing you proposed earlier?' vigorously at him 'And why is looking like a villain your main reason?' I signed angrily.

"Why should we apologize to those assholes?" he retorted "They are the ones who attacked me first so I...*ahem*... We need to get revenge on them" he declared righteously.

'What have I gotten into?' I thought looking shocked, then we climbed on that weird thing and went away as he questioned about the Centipede.

I replied to him as he started cursing at the centipede when a real one burst out from the nearby root and attacked us.

'Shit! It's the same one whose antenna I cut earlier' I cursed trying to escape from here.

"Go and kill it," the human asked me taking the Light gun. 'He is threatening with the gun to kill it' I sweated eyeing the centipede and the human.

"Why does this 'Stupede' glaring at us?" he muttered looking at the Centipede 'I wish I also have memory loss' I sighed sadly

"Who cares! I will cover you" he assured me 'As I will believe it, you will shoot me if I don't fight it' I went to fight the centipede.

'I will kill you and get out of here alive' I flew towards it and started fighting the centipede.

Whenever I was about to be attacked the human will shoot the centipede to warn me of my negligence. 'My first and second fight in my life is the same centipede' I muttered dodging its tail before slashing it.

As I was getting used to the rhythm I heard a «BEEP» sound we stopped fighting then looked at the human.

He froze looking at us and "You guys continue to fight, I will be on my way" I waved then drove away quickly leaving me behind.

'What? He left me?' I looked surprised 'It is very simple to escape from him' I discovered then became happy 'I'm free' I thought.

Then turned to see a similarly happy centipede screeching 'I'm so dead,' I thought ready to defend myself.

'Hey bro stop attacking' I yelled dodging its attack, 'why are we fighting? You insect me insect' I reasoned with the centipede as it slowed down its attack.

'I'm so sorry, I cut you accidentally earlier' I apologized to the centipede 'I just tried to kill that human' I dodged its attack pointing in the direction the human went.

The centipede stopped its attack and looked at me 'Yeah, it is real, I tried to attack him but got caught by him' I revealed a half-truth,

'Didn't you see him forcing me to fight you pointing that gun?' I desperately pleaded as the centipede looked thoughtful.

'How about we kill him together?' I suggested after a while, 'I will be free after that human died' I thought happily thinking of this awesome idea.

I raised my foreleg 'What do you think? Let's join hands' I offered it, who thought for a while then stretched his intact antenna to start an alliance.

'I will eat and sleep after this' I thought happily before the centipede yelled in pain, I instinctively slashed and cut his remaining antenna, as it writhed in pain.

I got hit by it and fell down before falling safely on the thing rode by the human. "Let's get out of here" he yelled turning away.

I looked at the centipede who looked betrayed at me before his expression changed to vengeance and started chasing us.

"Hey! Can you block its attack for some seconds," the human asked I huffed angrily 'Who asked you to come' I stood at the back eyeing the angry centipede.

'Bro, it is not my fault,' I yelled at him " ̷҉́͠D̢̕IE D̢̕IE ̛̛́͝DIE!̴̛͘͟," is the word he spoke, I looked at the approaching centipede anxiously, 'I'm sorry it is an accident..' I started " ̷҉́͠D̢̕IE D̢̕IE ̛̛́͝DIE!̴̛͘͟," before being cut off by it.

'He has gone insane' I looked at him in horror; he is nearing us running on the milky dial, just when we reached the river.

"Hold on" the human warned me as I supported myself properly before a sky lamprey jumped out from the river towards us with its countless teeth.

The human suddenly turned left and pulled a rope which fired the Burn bazooka boosting us away from two giant organisms. The centipede got caught by sky lamprey but it quickly reacted and started fighting back turning it into a brawl.

"That was pretty close" the human sighed wiping the sweat watching the distance fight 'Teeth vs. Legs'.

'Yeah, I was pretty close to escape' I started sulking standing in the back, "Hey! Come on, you already know I will forget randomly" he apologized to me.

'You should also forget me' I thought angrily "Anyway, the master returned to save you right? so you should stop sulking now my student," he said.

'What Master? What student?'I look flabbergasted at this news. "Don't worry this master will train you so you can get revenge" he proclaimed confidently then gave me snacks.

I looked at him and the weird-looking snacks for a while thinking 'First a Rival then Training Partner, a Friend, and now an apprentice' I thought blankly.

'I should clear his misunderstanding' he decided then took the snacks subconsciously and ate them, then quickly conquered by their taste.

'It's so good, what was I thinking just now? It seems to be important' Scyther tried to remember. 'Maybe this human is different' I thought hopefully to not get killed.

I sat on that flying thing silently as the human drove away towards the Giant plant in the distance. After some hour we reached near it and entered one ruined building.

The human became excited then started cutting the cloud on the ground, 'Is he creating a grave for me?' I shivered in fright but followed his order unwillingly.

After some hour the human rushed out then dragged the weird flying thing and me into the hole, 'NO! I don't want to enter it' I thought before seeing the weapons in the bag, following him.

We entered the hole and fell through it, before the flying thing stabilized us, I looked around to find a huge city below shining brightly.

I looked dumbfounded at the city which was surprisingly below the surface "Hahahaha I'm first to find the golden city" the human yelled happily.

I also got happy looking at the surroundings 'Yeah, I'm the first insect…- How the hell does those fireflies come here' I glared angrily at them. We landed on the ground then started exploring the city.

I looked around the city mesmerized and excited to explore this place 'Maybe I can live here lazily' I thought but the human destroyed my hope as usual.

"Scyther this place is the start of your revenge story," he said making me remember all the things that happened today. 'Whatever want to happen has happened' I thought 'Let's focus on what to do from now on,' I decided.

'This human is not scary as the humans I say as a kid' I concluded seeing him clean a building. I then started roaming the city not understanding the nightmare waiting for me.