Chapter 3
Hunter Becomes The Hunted
I remained in the dream world for the rest of the day as all the villagers worried about me. Akane and the other three explained to Aaron and Adina what had happened in the cave this caused much interest and worry from the both of them. Adina didn't know what to think about it seeing as this was the first time she's ever heard of something like this happening, the same went with Aaron too. The day turned into night as I finally woke up around 11 at night. I slowly opened my eyes and stretching in the process. I glanced around the room then slowly sat up realizing that I wasn't in a cave anymore but back in a hut. I then realized I was back in Akane's hut. I noticed she was fast asleep in the weirdest contorted sleeping position with this goofy grin on her face that I almost started laughing loudly but controlled myself from doing so. I slowly stood up then quietly walked outside. I noticed this night was quite warm so I decided to take a dip in the lake. I quietly walked out of the village towards the lake. When I reached the lake I noticed the moon was illuminating it quite nicely and the water looked clear as crystal. I stripped myself down to my bare skin leaving the cloths near the edge of the water as I slowly waded into the water. The water was a cooler then the air but it wasn't an uncomfortable temperature. It felt like the water was about eighty degrees which was plenty warm for me. It reminded me of the waters over in Hawaii during the summer temperatures. I began swimming further out into the lake then taking a deep breath I dunked my head underneath the water then began swimming downwards for about ten feet then floated there looking in around me. The water was so clear that if I didn't see the moons rays above I wouldn't know what was up or down. I floated there till I noticed I needed to swim back to the surface. I surfaced then took another deep breath then descended again but now I noticed something was coming up from the bottom of the lake and at a fast speed which freaked me out as I quickly surfaced then swam a little ways from that spot as a good sized fish of some sort shot up into the air then landed back into the water as I dunked my head into the water to watch it. It noticed me then elegantly swam towards me then around me, it seemed to be curious about me with each circle it made around me it got closer till I could reach out and touch it. Seeing as I couldn't control my curiousness to touch the fish I extended my hand out and the fish surprising enough didn't swim away but on its pass it allowed me to run my fingers alongside its scales as I sunk a bit into the water. When I did I could hear it making some sort of sound with its mouth. It sounded like a melody of some sort as I closed my eyes and listened to it the world around me seemed to fade until I noticed I needed air as I surfaced again then looked under the water again and noticed the fish was gone making it seem like it was a summer dream. I brought my head back above water then swam to the shore with this confused look on my face trying to figure out what exactly transpired. When the shore came upon my feet I noticed two figures sitting next to my cloths. It was Aimi and Akane sitting there as they were watching the moon up in the sky then brought their gaze down to me.
"I'm glad to see your doing okay." Aimi said
"Want us to join you?" Akane asked with this half grin on her face.
"Think you can handle seeing a naked man." I said winking causing Aimi to blush but Akane wasn't affected at all.
"We swim with our brothers naked all the time." Akane said in a matter of fact tone as she stripped herself down to her bare skin then ran into the water reaching me rather quickly with this smug look on her face as I was stunned to see she actually had the guts to do that.
"I'm fine right here." Aimi said sounding rather embarrassed of Akane's action
"Come on Aimi! Live for once in your life. Just strip down to your under clothing and come into the water." Akane said rather loudly as Aimi thought for a moment then shrugged her shoulders and stripped down to her under clothes then also ran into the water reaching us in a matter of seconds. Now I was even more stunned.
"Wow, you both have some major guts." I said laughing as they both splashed me as a ton of water enter my mouth causing me to cough what went down my throat.
"Very funny!" I said as I dunked Akane
"Ah, what now!" I said as Aimi got a bit gutsy and jumped onto my back then dragged me backwards as I fell into the water as she released me and swam over to her sister, even though they weren't really sisters but they treated each other as such.
"This is fun!" Aimi said happily with a big smile on her angelic looking face.
As I resurfaced pushing my hair back so water wouldn't run down my face I opened my eyes.
"Glad you're both having fun." I said shaking my head with a big smile on my face.
"So Shawn what were confused about when you were swimming into shore?" Aimi asked curiously
"Ah, I was playing with this really big fish that came up from the bottom of the lake, out of nowhere, than just as quickly as it came, it vanished as well." I said using my arms to show how big the fish was.
"That big guy lives here in the lake. He normally doesn't come up to anybody except us and my brothers." Aimi explained as this would make sense since they're Coralians including myself.
"And you now, of course." Akane added
"I see. He's an interesting looking fish, scared me a bit when he just appeared out of nowhere but now I wish I had more time to check him out." I said sounding a tad disappointed.
"He normally comes out when the moon is showing, especially during a full moon." Akane said
"I'll keep that in mind." I said
'I'm surprised it's behaving in front of these two beauties.' I thought as I quickly changed my train of thought to prevent from anything else popping in my head.
"So, I'm surprised you all haven't asked me what happened in the cave." I said sounding a tad bit surprised.
"We figured you would tell us eventually or else we'd ask." Akane replied earning a chuckle from me.
"What?" Akane asked curiously
"It's nothing. Anyways when I touched that exoskeleton it brought me into this alternate reality to where time seemed to freeze. It turns out what I touched was a materialized form of the Scub Coral or probably it's conscious was in that exoskeleton. It informed me that I have coralian blood running through my veins which surprising enough I believed though I'd like ask you girls something." I said
"Sure." Aimi and Akane replied
"Do I have any scars on my back?" I asked
"Yes you do." Akane answered
"I see. So it was telling the truth. It stated I had scars on my back. It also informed me I was brought back to life a second time and that my coralian features are sealed right now. Then it told me I needed to travel to a place Called Tresor then head to the base that is near there to recover my memories though it didn't sound too sure. It then asked me to find a woman that was also brought into this world from where I came from and to stop her by either killing her or having her stop her current course of action." I stated as Akane and Aimi gave me this really surprised look.
"I know it's a lot to take in, even now I find it hard to believe but I felt that this Scub Coral was an ally and wouldn't lie to me." I stated
"I see. Well there is a place called Tresor about one hundred miles from the village. It's about a two day walk from here." Aimi said
"Oh, well that isn't bad. So whenever the four of you are ready we can leave for Tresor." I stated as I started to shiver a bit as I started swimming slowly to the shore.
"We can get ready in the morning. It'll take us a few hours." Akane said excitedly.
"Very well. I'm getting a bit cold so I'm going to climb out." I said as I reached the shore stepping out of the water as Aimi and now Akane turned their heads. I noticed they brought something to dry myself off with. I picked up the towel, drying myself then got dressed. I turned my back to the water allowing the girls to get out to dry off and get dressed. After they were finished we all headed quietly back into the village. Unbeknownst to us, two people were watching us walk back to our huts. After wishing Aimi a good night I walked into Akane's hut. I climbed into bed getting comfortable in the bed of hay.
"Night Akane." I said
"Good night Shawn." Akane said falling asleep with a small smile on her heavenly face and a feeling slowly growing in her heart that would surprise her when it blossomed within her. The night passed with everyone having pleasant dreams of the days to come. When the sun peak up over the horizon I noticed Akane was already awake getting ready. I slowly sat up stretching my arms in the process.
"Morning." I said through a big yawn.
"Morning!" Akane said sounding all chipper.
"What time is it?" I asked
"Hm, about six thirty in the morning. I wanted to get an early start on packing so we can get going sooner." Akane stated
"K, I'll get up." I said as I climbed out of bed and noticed a fresh change of clothes sitting on the table for me. I changed out of my old cloths and put on the new ones not really caring that there was a girl in the room.
"It doesn't bug you that I'm here does it." Akane said sounding a bit different when she spoke as I turned around I noticed for the first time Akane showing this very cute embarrassed expression.
"Nah, not really. I figured I could change quickly before you turning around." I said shrugging as Akane just shook her head as she finished packing.
"I'm ready to go. Let's go get Aimi and the others." Akane said excitedly
"Alright!" I said excitedly as well.
We reached Aimi hut and noticed she was already packed as the two other guys were walking out of their huts as well fully packed. It was about seven in the morning now. Aaron and Adina were already awake and outside walking towards us.
"We saw you three coming back from the lake. I see you made the decision to begin your journey now instead of later." Aaron stated giving us his usual calm, gentle look.
"We did father. I hope you don't mind." Aimi said bowing her head to show respect.
"It is okay, child. It's your journey not ours so whenever you feel ready is fine with us." Aaron said as he turned to me.
"Shawn please take care of our children on their journey." Aaron
"Yes, Sir!" I said in a military fashion surprising Aaron a tad bit but he figured I probably had been military due to my scars and my personality I showed at times.
"Oh yes, Shawn here's a change of clothes I'm sure you'll need later down the road." Adina said as she gave me what looked to be a militaries uniform. I looked at Adina confused.
"I think you were once military Shawn due to how you act, your posture and scars. I used to be military in my younger years when I took my journey." Aaron stated surprising all of us except Adina
"Well we'll be taking our leave now. Thank you for taking care of me it was a pleasure." I said bowing to him as he bowed as well.
"If you ever want to visit you're welcome to come back. You'll always have a spot in our village and our hearts." Adina said giving me a warm smile as I hugged her.
"I'll keep that in mind. Take care you two." I said as I started walking past them while the other four did their farewells and after a few minutes they caught to where I was waiting.
"Ready to go everyone?" I asked
"YEAH!" They all yelled earning a slight chuckle from me.
We started heading Northwest along a dirt road towards the Tresor village. The road had been made a few years back but anyone rarely comes out this way anymore.
"Shawn what's the first thing you plan to do when you reach Tresor?" Akane asked
"Hm, well it would be a waste to head straight to the base so I think I'll go window shopping and get some food!" I said spacing out thinking about what kinds of food they may have there or trinkets I can look at while Akane chuckled a bit by my reaction. Quickly snapping back to reality a few minutes after Akane chuckled.
"What?" I said sticking out my tongue as I earned a playful smack on my arm.
"Stop flirting you two." Aimi said winking at me earning quite the embarrassed look from me while I shook my head.
"I'm not flirting!" Akane huffed while the other two coralians just laughed at our reactions.
"So Shawn, Akane said you remembered some more things about your home world. Wanna tell us about them?" Ayumu asked
"Sure. What's even better I'll even include pictures too." I said as I moved between the four of them clicking on the pictures icon on the ipod. I began going through the pictures explaining to them who everyone was. All my family members, friends and my dive buddies. Then I went into explaining what a dive buddy and what scuba diving was as I showed them pictures of me underwater in my diving gear which fascinated them greatly. They kept on asking questions upon questions of what was what and why I had to wear certain things then I went onto naming the marine life that were in the pictures. The day quickly passed by as dusk approached us so we decided on settling down in a patch of trees. The guys and I decided on hunting while the girls setup camp and got a fire started. Ayumu and Akio went as a team in one direction while I went in another direction. Ayumu ended up giving me a dagger to help catch some dinner. A good five minutes had passed and I found my first prey. It looked similar to some type of lizard. The size of it was about 3 feet long 1 feet in diameter. I slowly snuck up on the prey when I got close enough I bolted from the spot. The lizard noticed me as it started running, rather quickly, away from me. Then all of a sudden I felt a surge of energy through my body as I sped up, jumping into the air and pouncing onto it as I stabbed it with my dagger at the back of its neck. It let out loud shriek then slowly collapsed onto the ground as the life in its eyes faded. I removed the dagger wiping it off on the grass the best I could. I tried dragging the lizard but has some trouble until Ayumu and Akio walked into view.
"Need some help Shawn?" Ayumu asked
"If you could." I said chuckling a bit
"Akio grab that side and Shawn grab the tail." Ayumu instructed. We managed to bring the lizard back the campground before we reached the campsite I whispered for the guys to stop and lower it to the ground and make it look like it's walking on the ground they were confused at first but did what I asked. When the head of the lizard came into the campsite that's when the fun began.
"I've come to eat you my pretties." I said in a very menacing voice as Aimi and Akane both freaked out screaming as I placed the tail down then poked my head into the campsite.
"Hey girls." I said grinning as both of them glared at me then started running at me. I managed to dodge Akane then jumping up to a low tree branch I quickly climbed onto it then the next one and the next one. Till I was about five branches up from them then leaning against the tree itself feeling quite satisfied at my accomplishment.
"Shawn get down here!" Akane said quite furious that I had heard such a girly scream come from her. Aimi was scolding the other guys which I did feel bad about that but I just shrugged.
"Nope I don't think so." I replied as I closed my eyes and waited for to give up. Then I felt something shake the tree.
'No Way.' I thought as I looked down and noticed Akane was climbing the tree. 'Crap!' I thought
"Alright fine! I'll come down just stop climbing." I said as she did in fact stop and waited for me to move. I climbed around the tree then started climbing down until I reached the last branch jumping from it as I hit the ground I rolled to relieve some stress from the fall then sat up.
"In my defense you were quite cute!" I said holding my hands up as Akane was now blushing.
"Fine. You get to clean up after we're done eating as your punishment." Akane stated
"Hai, hai." I said sounding cheery that I wasn't going to get smacked again. I helped Ayumu and Akio skin the lizard and cooked the meat over the fire. About thirty minutes later dinner was ready. We all ate and talked about my world yet again which fascinated the four of them and it made me happy that they liked what I was talking about. Another hour passed and everyone eventually fell asleep except I had climbed into the tree again up to the third branch this time, leaning against the trunk I slowly fell asleep. A few hours later when the fire had gotten smaller I was awoken by something in the dark. I remained still listening closely to what it was. There was one, two, wait no three things and it sounded like it was slithering across the ground while walking too. It hit me that lizard had called for help and my comrades were still asleep below. The lizards had just entered the camp and were bigger than the other one, 6 feet long and 2 feet in diameter. They spotted my comrades as Akane opened her eyes to come face to face with one of those lizards as Akane let out a scream. This indeed woke up everyone else as the lizard closest to me and Akane got ready to attack her. I quickly jumped from the tree landing on the lizard with my dagger in my hand stabbing into its back as it thrashed about throwing me off of it. The force threw me hard into the tree next to me causing my vision to become a bit blurry. The lizard I just stabbed looked back at Akane as the guys brought their weapons and started fighting the lizards. Aimi managed to get between the two boys while Akane was stuck where she was. The lizard went to bite Akane as she dodged quickly then tried running tripping into the process, this time the lizard went to strike and right as it was about to bite her.
"SHAWN SAVE ME!" Akane screamed as an orb hit the lizard hard enveloping the lizard into it. What Akane saw next scared her even more. My shirt was shredded and behind me was three pairs of green wings with rainbow colored veins then they turned to red. This also surprised the other three greatly as they stood frozen in fear and not knowing what to think or do. They watched me disappear then reappear in seconds next to the lizard that was going for Aimi. I punched the lizard hard in the side sending it rolling and smacking hard into the tree next to it as they heard a loud crack. The third lizard's instincts told it to run and that's what it did not getting to far though as I raised my hand up aiming it at the lizard but a sharp pain shot through my entire body as I dropped to one knee coughing up a pool of blood. The wings then went from red veins back to the rainbow colored veins and the empty look in my eyes changed back to showing life as I was hit with another flood of memories as I let out blood curling scream then collapsed into the small pool of blood as tears streamed down my eyes. A few minutes later passed as Akane finally managed to move again she approached me. She touched my wings then retracted her arm, noticing nothing happened she rolled me over on my back slowly making sure my wings didn't get bunched up. Akane noticed my breath had slowed down and it seemed like I was sleeping. Aimi, Akio and Ayumu then regained control over their bodies and approached Akane looking down at me.
"What just happened?" Aimi asked sounding quite scared
"I don't know. Let's ask Shawn when he wakes up." Akane said
"I don't want to be meet with that thing when he wakes up." Ayumu said sounding rather scared pulling out his dagger. Akio knew what Ayumu was thinking and he wasn't going to allow me to be murdered out of his brothers fear.
"Ayumu drop it now." Akio ordered
"You don't….." Ayumu began saying as Akio had quickly whipped out his bow, notched an arrow and fired it whizzing inches past Ayumu's head. Ayumu then dropped his dagger inching slowly back from where I laid heading to where he was sleeping. He brought the fire back to life and remained there for the rest of the time while Akane cleaned the blood off of me and placed her blanket over me and with the help of Akio moved me closer to the fire. Aimi, Akio went back to their sleeping places while Akane stayed next to me while I slept.
My dreams were hazy but I could make out that I was being shown of places I've been when I first came to this world. I was being shown as I was dropped out of the sky the first time and showing a girl with cyan color hair and wings like mine. Next I was shown a house and a kind looking guy standing next to the cyan colored hair girl after that I was shown their machines that I recall as LFO's. After that everything faded.
"Seems you still need me, Shawn." An unknown voice said