Chapter IV: Amidst the Woods
Braska rode across the dark forest while mounted on his Chocobo. His supplies and rations were loaded behind him and his Vitalixir was kept safely in his pocket. Finally he was on his way to Bevelle to trade it for a decent amount of gil. Then he could begin putting up a settlement for himself and Yuna once he does.
He has been traveling all throughout the day now and still he was venturing into the deeper and darker vicinity of the forest lying in this unknown terrain. He should've landed on the brighter side where the sun is. Strangely it felt as though he was lost in a maze of trees.
Braska never expected these woods to be this vast and misty. There was fog hanging low that he could hardly make out what was in front of him. The road was narrow and bulky. Braska had to keep watch of what was in front of him. He came across occasional rocks and deep muddy puddles, making it hard for him to navigate through. Yet he was willing to sacrifice all this for his daughter's future.
"I wonder how Yuna is doing?" Braska thought to himself, narrowly tripping by a stray wolf crossing the path. "I pray Seymour isn't trying to flirt with her again. That man is too arrogant and cocky to my daughter."
Braska traveled a little farther north, slowly making his way deeper into the forest. He was sure he was already miles away from the village, but he could never daresay that he was halfway past his journey to Bevelle.
His journey continued and yet, every turn would always seem to lead to another path very similar to the previous ones he had taken.
The sky was slowly getting darker and darker with every slow passing hour. Although the time was only late at dawn, his surroundings looked and felt as though night has already blanketed. The sun couldn't shine through the thick canopy of trees. The only things left visible were the outlines of the shadowed trees. It was a frightening sight.
Braska feared for the worst. He was confused and misplaced within this endless darkness. He could only think of the worst fate that could happen to a traveler.
He was lost.
Braska's thoughts stopped, and so did his Chocobo. Night has fallen so quickly and unknowingly. He felt as though he was thrown into black. The trees were barely visible through the shadows and the continuous rustling of leaves could be heard everywhere.
Even within the deepest darkness...
"Holy!"
Braska could still spark great sources of light. He was such a highly-skilled and excellent White Mage that casting a very powerful spell such as Holywas possible.
The Holy spell brightened his surroundings as if the place was the only one where the moon shone through the canopy of trees. Braska now continued his journey through his self-lighted pathways.
The more he journeyed, the thicker, denser and darker the woods became. Strangely, it was quiet, too quiet...
Except for the sound of snapping twigs and the echoes of biting jaws behind him. Someone, or something was following him.
Fear was slowly but enormously spreading through his insides. He was sure that there were no fiends with killer claws lurking and following him from behind.
And then he saw it. The bright light cast by his Holy spell illuminated shadows. Not just shadows but shadows in the form of what looked like wolves.
Another shadow swiftly passed the trees. The light illuminated another shadow which to Braska's disbelieving fear, shaped into a wolf's head baring its jagged fangs.
Within seconds there were more shadows running everywhere among the trees.
Braska, who was now half-frozen with fear, forced his Chocobo to move forward. He powerfully kicked Choco behind his wings as to push him to proceed further.
Choco, his brain as empty as a bird's, stared blankly at the lightless path in front of him. It was completely dark. Choco let out a loud screech and began flapping his wings wildly and uncontrollably.
"KWEH! KWEH!"
"Choco! It's okay! Calm down!"
Braska tried to tame Choco but with much effort, Choco still screeched loudly and caused tantrums, making Braska sway and almost fall off his back. He had to hold on tightly onto Choco's ropes around his neck to prevent himself from falling.
"KWEH! KWEH!"
"Choco! Get a hold of yourself!"
It darkens.
The blazing light suddenly faded into nothingness, once more throwing Braska into sightless darkness. Choco suddenly stopped screeching and stood frozen still as his talons dug deeper into the ground. Braska's Holy spell has died.
And at the exactly the same time, a pair of yellow eyes flashed grimly into the darkness ahead.
Braska acted as if his body was completely paralyzed. More than a dozen more pairs of the same evil yellow eyes appeared throughout the darkness surrounding them.
And then it came. Slowly emerging from the shadows was a thin, furry front leg as that of a wolf's. It gave off a slow vibrating roar as its body slowly revealed itself.
Now standing before them was the wolf Braska ran into earlier. Not just an ordinary wolf but a Dingo, a kind of fiend with the body of a wolf but with the burning lust to wound, and to kill... It was glaring at him with its fierce yellow eyes, its sharp fangs exposed. Animal spit was dripping from it.
All the glowing pairs of eyes soon vanished with an unhurried blink and more Dingos replacing those eyes appeared from out of the shadows.
The whole pack of them, eyes still glowing violently turned their heads towards Braska and his Chocobo, who immediately took a few steps backwards. Choco looked fearfully at the Dingos' jaws. They looked as though it can rip human flesh easily as if it were made of paper.
The Dingo that first showed its face was standing firmly at the front, leading his pack. Its eyes flashed and completely bared its ferocious fangs.
"KWEEEEEEHH!!!"
Choco immediately went berserk as he flapped his wings violently, each flap hitting Braska on his face. The Chocobo was now out of control. No matter what Braska did, Choco would just let out loud, high-pitched screeches and just run around as if it recently came from the wild.
In the fastest moment yet, the pack of Dingos all roared simultaneously and rushed forward to attack both Braska and Choco.
There was too many of them. Braska missed his chance to cast another Holy spell and even before he raised his hand to generate a ball of light, one of the Dingos suddenly pounced on him and knocked him off his Chocobo.
Choco screeched more loudly than ever and after storming around the vicinity of the trees, he dashed and escaped to the opposite direction leaving Braska lying on the ground with his hands covering his head.
Now that his only living companion was gone, Braska was now alone. He was completely surrounded by wild and carnivorous Dingos, all of which are born with sharp fangs that can easily rip one's flesh. He had to run away because of he didn't, he would be no more.
It was a very perilous situation. Braska didn't have enough magic left to cast another Holy spell. Even worse, he knew no other offensive White Magic. He knew no spells in Black Magic.
The whole pack of flesh-eating Dingos all advanced closer towards a helpless Braska. Their evil yellow eyes were glowing with malice as they let out low vibrating roars.
Until a moment quicker than a second, the Dingo leading the pack growled and pounced forward towards Braska. The rest of the pack then followed and attacked the defenseless man.
Braska received painful injuries during the attack. His right arm was bitten and it left a long bleeding gash. Another Dingo rushed forward and bit his leg. Braska struggled just to escape. His blue tunic was being colored in blood and bits of it were torn. He managed to drive away a few of them by blinding them with quick Esuna spells. The Dingos were disoriented and were stunned for a few seconds.
Braska ran as fast as his bleeding leg could support him through the thick trees. He didn't care how fast he was running or where he was going just to flee from death, and death was just a running distance behind him. Any moment now, death could just pounce forward and rid of him from this world.
The clearing was miraculously getting wider and the canopy of trees above became less thick, allowing the bright moon to shine through. Barking and running footsteps were chasing him closely from behind but he never stopped escaping.
He continued running through the dark forest until he noticed a colossal outline of what seemed like a bastion at the misty darkness ahead. The closer he went, the clearer and more vivid that bastion became.
The mist cleared away, slowly creating a much lucid view of what was in front of him. He was standing in front of tall steel gates built right before the colossal bastion.
The shadowy bastion looked as though it was as high as the sky yet Braska had no time to admire its superiority.
The barking noises came nearer and nearer until Braska just realized that he forgot he was being attacked by Dingos. Braska fearfully pounded on the gates. He didn't have much time left. The whole pack of Dingos once again surrounded him. He continued knocking violently on the gates hoping that someone would come out and open the door for him.
There was no response...
Dingos stood everywhere, yellow eyes burning malevolently and sharp fangs bared. Braska simply stood there now without hope. He wouldn't be able to go to Bevelle. After all he already made a grave mistake just be setting foot in this unknown forest. His dreams of beginning a new life for Yuna were all shattered. He closed his eyes and merely waited for death to come and get him.
"Yuna... Please forgive me..."
In one swift moment, the pack all simultaneously leapt and assaulted Braska. This is it.
He was going to die...
"Thundaga!" came a voice from behind.
A bolt of lightning suddenly and swiftly struck the ground. All the Dingos were thrown backwards from the impact. A second bolt came storming downwards from the sky and blasted a few Dingos out of the way.
From within the darkness emerged a woman with long black braided hair. She had a pair of red eyes and her hand was sparkling with electricity. She once again raised her sparkling hand.
"Out of the way!"
A blonde teenage girl came running forward holding something in her hand. She gave it a quick shake then tossed it among the Dingos. It exploded the moment it hit the ground causing more Dingos flying in all directions.
"Rikku! Don't waste your grenades!" The black-haired woman called to her blonde companion.
"Don't worry about it!" she replied. "You should save your magic! There's still more of them here----Lulu! Behind you!"
A Dingo ambushed the black-haired woman without warning until a ball with blades attached all around it went flying out of nowhere and knocked off the Dingo right before it pounced on her.
"Are you alright, Lu?" a man with orange standing hair walked out of the darkness. He was tall and he spoke in a hard outmoded accent. "That Dingo nearly got you, ya?"
"I could've handled it myself, Wakka." Lulu sternly answered back. Her hand was no longer emitting yellow sparks.
These three guardians displayed powerful and imposing skills but still, they were surrounded by quite a number of Dingos. Lulu, Rikku and Wakka all shifted to their fighting stances and covered Braska.
"There's too many of them!" Wakka shouted as he stood in front of Lulu, trying to shield her.
Another man came out of the darkness. He had one eye scarred and he was holding a long oriental blade which he rested on his shoulder. He gazed at the Dingos steadfastly then tightened his hold on his sword.
"You three! Get out of here! I'll take care of this!" He told them as he finally clasped his sword with both hands. His Masamune then released a compact red glow. Afterwards he leapt into the air and thrust his sword into the ground causing powerful explosions erupting from the ground. Within seconds, not a single Dingo was left standing on the ground aliveā¦
Braska blankly and disbelievingly stared. Death vanished just as suddenly it appeared.
