Chapter 30 - Receiving the Gift
"..." Triselle flinched from hearing the mutant reptile growl at her.
Its tone was very deep and rumbly compared to its higher pitched hiss sound. Trying to figure out a way to escape was limited. Unable to think clearly due to fear growing inside, she began to slowly back away. Hoping that the predator did not pursue her, its tongue came out and flicked the air. Hearing it give a short hiss, it began to slowly walk forward. Turning its head and seeing Malaria lying there, it stopped as if to pause and think.
'Maybe if I keep backing away...it will lose interest in me,' she thought.
Backing up and hitting something with her foot, the canine glanced down quickly. It was a large, jagged rock. Given its rough edges and being pointy at one end, it seemed like a good makeshift weapon. Looking back up and staring it down, she slowly began to kneel. Once she grabbed the sediment and got it into her hands, the primal looked back at her. Grunting at her again, it slowly moved in her direction to get closer.
Watching the big creature go passed her large personal bubble space for predators, she took a step back. In one motion, she raised her hands above her head to provoke a threat. Seeing the mutant did not like that gesture, it snapped at her then hissed. Seeing the beast tense up and ready itself, fear of being mauled went through her. Trying to summon the willpower to stand firm and be confident, her mind was slowly getting unhinged.
Reaching a peaking point, Triselle was unable to compose herself. Waiting for the reptilian monster to get in striking distance grew too much for her and she threw the rock at the small monster. Watching the creature evade the object from getting hit in the head, a part of its body on the right side got whacked by the rugged stone. With a heavy thud, it shouted in pain and anger. Looking at her with scorn, it roared and rushed her.
Feeling goosebumps litter her skin and fright fill her mind, she backed up with large strides. Hitting a wall behind her and placing her back against it, the primal did not stop. Panic gripped her as she repetitively told herself to move or dodge. Seeing it tense itself up as if ready to attack, she screamed at herself in her mind. Watching it lunge at her, she did a suicide dive to her left.
Escaping its snapping jaws and hitting the ground hard, her body ached all over. Frantically looking back, the beast sort of slammed into the sediment wall. Watching it shake its head and bend to the right, it gave a nasty bark at her. Feeling adrenaline still pumping through her, it gave her some amount of strength to move. Turning around while still on the ground, she began to crawl backwards while facing the predator.
Watching the mutant turn itself around to face her direction again, it moved quickly while agitatedly shouting at her. Bumping into another object behind the canine woman, she saw legs. Knowing that it was Malaria who was still unconscious, a short train of thought went through her. Not thinking about saving the bat woman, Triselle frantically tried to move away. Using her hands and arms to get more space between her and the four legged being, she didn't care about her hands getting dirty or her claws getting dirt in them.
"...!?" the canine woman reacted. Adding to her fear, the beast never stopped at the bat woman. Its sole focus was on her.
"NO! STAY AWAY!" she shouted at the massive lizard.
"Hssssss!" the creature responded angrily. Rushing the woman again, it went passed her personal bubble space.
'NO! NO! THIS IS...NO!' Triselle screamed in her mind.
Her arms and hands were aching. There was no more strength in them to crawl and pull herself away. Getting closer to her feet, it was within its leaping range. Instead of last time of lunging high at her, it did a low spring jump at her feet. Seeing its mouth wide open, it was going to chomp on her left foot. Staring with wide eyes and her voice lost in her throat, its mouth moved to close its jaws quickly.
"Gggggaaaahahhnnn!?" the mutated goanna spoke with an open mouth.
"...!?" the female reacted with shock.
Staring with fear still on her face, a crudely shaped wooden stake was in the reptile's mouth. Caught off guard, the beast began to groan in pain. From its hard chomp, a bit of the spike penetrated the roof and bottom of its mouth. Trying to remove it with its stubby limbs, it was unsuccessful. Thrashing its head a little to see if that would remove the stake, it only added more pain to the creature.
"...w-what just-" Triselle muttered shaking a little. As if dropping out of thin air from above like a falling stone from a cliff, Speed slammed both feet on the top of the mutant lizard's muzzle.
"AAAAHHHH!?" she yelled in fright.
Brutishly, the wooden spike went through the top jaw of the goanna's mouth. Bellowing out in agony, it only sounded muted from having its mouth closed. Getting off the reptile and standing in front of the canine woman, it began backing away. Jerking its head side to side frantically, the bleeding wound flicked its blood far and wide. Trying to open its mouth was in vain. The action only caused it more suffering.
Bearly able to see the small yet towering figure near it, a part of it reached toward it. The silhouette grabbed the wooden object and yanked the stake out of the penetrated mouth harshly. As if removing a harness from its jaw, the mutant primal opened its jaw. Initially snarling and roaring, it choked into a cry of anguish. Not even the adrenaline to survive could numb out the body wound it received.
"..." Speed spoke watching the predator struggle.
Tossing the thick red coated stick aside, he stared the creature down. Seeing it try to run away, it kept falling down to the ground. Making its way passed Malaria, the beast started getting slower and slower. Only getting several feet away from her, it stopped and collapsed on the ground. Still breathing, it was still verbally cringing while weakly moving its arms and legs.
'...he...saved me...again...' Triselle said in her mind.
Feeling able to calm her breathing a little, movement was seen past him. Malaria's head seemed to move side to side a little. Able to see her eyes given the short distance between them, they were bloodshot red and murky. The dark crimson of her sclera contrasted with her glowing yellow irises. It was as if she entered a bloodlust state.
Seeing her stop and stare at something that was to her left, the dog breed woman slowly looked to the left area ahead of them. Seeing it was the struggling primal, it puzzled her why the bat woman woke up now. In an animalistic behavior, Malaria rushed to get on her hands and knees. As if her life depended on it, she quickly rushed over to the brutally wounded reptile.
"...!?" the canine reacted with shock. With no hesitation or remorse, Malaria opened her mouth to produce her long fangs. Chomping on the back of the lizard's neck, she began loudly sucking. The bat woman's face was that of a predator devouring its prey viciously.
'...she...she's drinking its blood...' she thought feeling her nerves tense up again.
Seeing the barbaric act gave her flashbacks from when she was a prisoner of the dungeon. Seeing movement in her right peripheral vision, she shifted her eyes without moving her head. Seeing the ragged ends of the cape, she flinched. The amputee's characteristic glowing cybernetic left eye was boring at her. Given her current state of almost being mauled by the mutant, his off-putting presence and stance made her afraid of him.
"...you...still alive...war fallen?" he asked in a stoic tone. There was no mockery in his voice nor an expression of relief or disappointment. However, he stared her down as if he were a predator.
"..." she responded with clenching her teeth together. The sounds of someone gulping loudly to her left while an intimidating person standing near her were not helping her. Repeating reassurance to herself mentally, it took time to unglue herself.
"...I...am...now..." she stated softly while mustering to not stutter. Feeling exhausted all over, she could only sit up and breathe.
"...I...don't have any strength to move...yet."
"..." Speed responded with just staring.
Blinking, he turned around. Watching Malaria greedily continue to drink the dying primal's blood, it seemed more out of an emotion than starvation. The cries of the creature got quieter and quieter till it stopped moving. Keeping an eye on the bat woman, he walked toward a small flat boulder. Going to the small mound he placed before attacking the mutant lizard, he stopped and reached for it.
Grabbing a handful and placing it in his mouth, he began to chew on it. Going down and grabbing a bigger handful, he carefully held it. Glancing back at Malaria, her body was still hovering over the dying body. Seeing the blood trickles from where she penetrated her fangs through its thick sink, he walked back to where Triselle was resting. Stopping in front of her, she turned her head to him. Her anxious eyes were staring at the barbaric scene then moved to look at him.
"...here..." the one arm hedgehog said with morsels still in his mouth.
Extending his left hand as if he was going to give her something, she nervously brought both hands together under his. Feeling him place his loose fist in her hands, he opened. Blinking from feeling multiple soft and hard objects fall into her cupped hands, he removed his. Looking at what he gave her, her eyes widen a little. Her mouth began to salivate at the sight of the multiple small objects. In the same greedy motion when Malaria sank her teeth into the reptile, the canine started chomping at what was in her hands.
"..." the male commented swallowing the last of the food he chewed.
Watching her eat like someone who hadn't had food for days, he turned around. Walking back to the small flat boulder, there was a little bit left of the small fruits, berries, and nuts pile. Feeling the hunger pain he had in his stomach go down a little, he decided to leave the rest for Triselle or Malaria. Glancing back at the vampire scene again, he blinked then turned his head. Walking forward, he began heading back to the trees down the path.
'Might as well start a campfire...for the more substantial food source.'
"...mmm..." Sonic mumbled turning in his sleep. Making a small grunt, he felt his eyes peer open. Seeing what was in his view, he closed his eyes. After a couple of seconds, they shot open. Sitting up quickly and feeling alert, he looked around himself.
'...this is...the orphanage?' he questioned in his mind.
Looking down at the bed he was sleeping in, it looked similar to the one he occupied in Oberi village. Removing the covers and slowly getting off the bed, he moved to the foot of the bed. Seeing the small trunk chest, he bent down to open it. Hearing it creak a little and seeing what was inside, the boy's eyes blinked several times. Checking the contents again, the items did not alter or disappear.
'This is my stuff from the village...but...it was destroyed by the metal heads,' the child wondered.
Scratching the back of his head, it was difficult to determine what was real or not. All the senses were picking stuff up and there was no aspect of bizarre features. If it was a dream, it was a lucid and vivid one that played on hyperrealism. Hearing voices from outside, Sonic only moved his ears to the direction of the front door. Unable to distinct who they were clearly, they were familiar at the same time. Getting the boots that were beside the chest and onto his feet, he tied them.
Walking to the front door and staring at it, the boy concentrated on it. Slowly reaching for the door handle, nothing odd was felt. Placing a hand on it, nothing of a concern generated inside him. Taking a big breath in then out, he turned the handle. Slowly pushing the door open while walking forward, he saw what outside looked like.
"...!?" Sonic reacted from seeing outside.
Seeing Oberi village back to its original stated before the machines attacked, it looked to be how a normal day would be. The sky seemed to indicate that it was the afternoon or earlier. Walking away from the orphanage, he began to explore. The exactness of how the establishment is portrayed mirrored how he remembered it. Seeing the children playing nearby, there was one that would talk to him. Greeting and engaging in small talk, the hedgehog asked the question about an attack from the mechanical beings.
"Attack from metal heads?" the younger boy repeated and looked confused. "I remember the adults telling us a story about one...but they said it happened before I could walk on my own."
'...what?' Sonic thought surprised. Blinking and staring, he noticed the child looking scared.
"Heh heh...yeah. That was the one I was talking about. I must have dreamed we got attacked," the blue boy responded with a nervous laugh.
"Eee. That's scary Sonic. Hey! Let's play!"
"Alright."
'This...doesn't seem right,' the orphan began. Being in tow by the toddler, feeling the smaller kid's hand felt real enough.
'Maybe if I ask around more, then I can see who knows.'
After playing for a bit and departing, he talked to all that he felt comfortable approaching. Surprisingly, all responded not knowing what he was talking about. That the terrorist attack from the S.W.A.T. forces never transpired. However, there were notable changes that made the fur on the back of his neck stand on end. Certain kids that did not speak fluently before, were doing so now. The difference was they were talking in a creepy adult manner.
Initially when walking around, everyone seemed normal. Upon doing a second walk around, some of the workers and patrollers were altered. They had a mixture of flesh and mechanical parts with varying portions. The ones that gave Sonic anxiety were the fully mechanized versions. Losing any sense of color to being just bare metal, their eye sockets were only red.
The sense of time was also modified. By the second round of going through the village, dusk was approaching. Oddly, the illumination did not dim. Getting a sense of something else lighting the sky, the small hedgehog looked up. Spotting what it was, he put a cupped hand over his eyes and squinted. Glowing like a very bright moon, it was a metallic ball of similar size.
'Why is there a face on it?' he wondered. Underneath the nose seemed to be an elongated mustache that seemed too long for any animal breed to have. Bringing his head down to see forward, he blinked and felt trepidation.
"...s...h...u...t..." Chiara muttered and cringed. Moving slightly and clenching her hands into fists, she shook.
"...u...p..." she spoke louder and turned. Hitting her head on something caused her eyes to peer open a little.
"I SAID-!?" the female stout raised her voice even more than stopped. Blinking a couple of times and not moving, she scanned her surroundings.
'What the...this is the...upstairs main staff room in the apartment complex,' she thought in surprise. Rubbing her left eye and looking around again, she was still in the same room. Examining where she was, it appeared she was sitting and sleeping with her head down on a desk.
'...how...the hell...did I get here?' the female wondered. Raising her head up from the desk, her eye patch fell from her right eye. Feeling her fur stand on end, the gray liquid vision in the dream filled that eye's vision. Frantic, she jumped out of her chair and backed up into the wall. Closing her eye out of reflex, she felt odd liquid tearing out and dropping onto the floor.
'Shit! Shit! Shit! I'm probably still drugged up from that freakin' hellhole place,' Chiara panicked in her mind.
At the same time, she paused. Analyzing something, she didn't feel any pain in her right eye when she opened it. Feeling unsure and still tense, she held her right hand over her right eye. Looking around, she spotted the sink in the staff room. Moving and standing in front of it, she turned the water on. Waiting till it was lukewarm, she let go of holding her eye closed.
Splashing her face a couple of times, she cupped her hands together. Getting enough water and preparing herself, she placed the opening of her hands to surround her right eye. Feeling the water hit her eye, she opened it and blinked several times. Letting the water escape into the sink, she saw faint traces of silver and crimson fluid go down the drain. Paranoid from the sight, she repeated the flushing till only water flowed.
Feeling at ease a little seeing no more discolored fluid, she grabbed a towel. Drying her face, the lack of agony or the feeling of a cut on her right eye felt baffling. Deciding to brave herself to look, she removed the cloth and looked at herself in the mirror. Blinking in surprise, two eyes were staring back at her. There was no blurred vision or a psychedelic one in her injured eye.
"..." Chiara reacted with staring in silence.
Shaking her head, she leaned forward to examine her spectacle organs. Recognizing the color in her left eye, the iris in her right was different. It had the same color however it was a shade or two lighter. Oddly, there was no laceration wound on the eyeball. Moving her right hand to her face, she felt around the eye socket region. Feeling the scar mark from when she received the knife attack, her right eye's damage was gone.
"...my eye...is repaired? How?" she wondered out loud. Perplexed and mildly ecstatic, the aspect of seeing with two eyes again brought her out of being handicapped.
"Ha haaah! I haven't felt this good in a long time," the stout mentioned with a relieved smile. "Let's see if this popper is fully back in business."
Thinking about how to test her eye, she remembered the method used at the doctor's office. Not thinking hard about how or when it repaired itself, her main focus was using her right eye. Closing her left eye, she began looking around with her right. Grinning from feeling happy, she saw everything looked as what she saw in her left field of vision. The feeling of no suffering or pain when moving the eyeball elated her even more.
"No more pain...god...it's like a freakin' miracle," she exclaimed in a joyful mood.
Turning around to view the entire staff room, everything looked the same. Upon looking at the window and seeing it was daylight outside, she decided to go look at the view. Taking a couple of steps, she slowed down from seeing something slightly odd. Stopping and concentrating on the corner of the room near the glass, she saw mild movement. A transparent shadow figure was hovering in place there with beady white eye sockets.
Nighttime had come within some seconds. The environment outside of the village was vastly different. As if a dense fog rolled in, it obscured anything beyond the establishment. Slowly looking around, there was no one in the village. Realizing he woke up from a dream inside another dream, Sonic felt scared and paranoid. About to call out, he stopped and froze from seeing something.
In the gray mist, a long black silhouette appeared. Having a glowing outline from unknown light shining behind it, it felt different from everything else. Approaching it slowly, the boy felt it being familiar for some strange reason. Getting a few feet away and stopping, the figure did not change or become more detailed. Without warning, it faded away and a passageway revealed itself behind it.
'The fog...cleared a path?' he wondered blinking in surprise. It was a long and narrow strip, wide enough for him to run through.
[...a...d...r...e...a...m...c...h...i...l...d...] a voice spoke. It came from everywhere making Sonic flinch and scan around himself. No one was there.
[...a...p...u...r...e...s...t...o...f...d...r...e...a...m...s...]
'...who...is saying that?' the blue boy wondered. The narrator was neither scary nor friendly; however, the presence it projected was vast. He felt like the ground moved a little from it talking. Looking down at the ground, it was just dirt and grass.
[...r...u...n...c...h...i...l...d...] it spoke again. [...r...u...n...t...o...w...a...r...d...s...t...h...a...t...d...r...e...a...m...]
"..." Sonic commented with just blinking.
Looking back at the exposed pathway, his insides were telling him to go that way. Doing another looking around and looking at the sky, nothing altered. Nodding slowly to no one, he ran and entered the passageway. Since he felt a little creeped out, he went at his normal top speed. Inside the pathway, the air felt heavy for some reason.
[...f...o...c...u...s...c...h...i...l...d...] the voice came again. It sounded like it was in the mist and on either side of him.
[...f...o...c...u...s...o...n...t...h...e...g...i...f...t...]
'...the...gift?...what does it mean by that?'
"...?" he reacted. About to ask out loud what that was while running, the boy felt something. Not stopping or slowing down, he tried to analyze the sensation. Feeling like a small static shock flow through him, it faded away when he blinked.
[...f...o...c...u...s...c...h...i...l...d...] it stated again.
"..." Sonic responded with staring forward.
Not feeling tired and somewhat intrigued, he attuned his senses on just running forward. From doing so, the odd electrical feeling came back. Slowly getting a handle on how to feel it and when it seemed to occur, he lost track of how much ground he covered. Not knowing where he was going and how he didn't hit anything in the forest, he cleared his thoughts of those questions.
Going back to focusing again, he tried to get a stronger current flow to go through him. It would come and go inconsistently. At the same time, his speed began to fluctuate. The stronger the sensation in his body, he was able to go faster. Running for what felt like minutes passing by, he was in an euphoric state. Breathing harder and getting physically tired, his top normal running speed doubled.
It wasn't like the other dreams where he obtained super speed with no control or a sense of how to use it. This subconscious trip seemed to show him the first step in how to become what he wanted to achieve. Smiling and blinking, the pathway up ahead showed a tall open doorway. It looked to be the multi-gray liquid he saw in the other dream. Without stopping or slowing down, adrenaline pushed him onward. He went through the water-like gateway like a speeding car causing the gateway to ripple.
"...!?" Chiara reacted with a frightened start.
'WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?' she yelled in her mind. Freezing in place and breathing harder, she tried to not blink. A couple of minutes went by when all the figure did was stare at nothing. It hovered up and down a little, but never moved anywhere else. Curling her lips in a little and trying not to make subtle movements, she tried to think.
'...okay...okay-okay-okay...maybe my recovered eye is still...calibrating,' she pondered with anxiety. 'Yeah...that is all it is.'
'Maybe if I test my left eye first...it will show me what is really in this room...which is just that. The room, the walls, the furniture, the windows, paperwork.'
Committing to the plan she just made, she slowly closed her right eye. When the eyelid closed off her right side view, the ghost silhouette faded away. Breathing out a sigh of relief, she could still feel the goosebumps on her skin. About to open her right eye again, she quickly put her right palm over it. Clicking her tongue, she tried to suppress the shutter that went down her spine.
'One of the workers here said I had some phobia of the supernatural,' the female stout spoke in her head. Shaking her head, she began to circle in place to survey the staff space one more time.
'Ain't afraid of no demons or monsters. Just when Speed goes full on creepier...' she began then trailed off.
"...hey..." she spoke out loud. Blinking with her left eye, something occurred to her. Anger and immense frustration boiled inside her.
"That...bastard..." Chiara stated with spite.
Curling her hands into fists, she brought her right hand down to her side. With heavy stomps, she marched to the window. Opening it up and looking outside, she was about to verbal shout curses at him. Stopping, she noticed that time had passed a lot. Remembering that when they weren't to the dungeon, it was morning. From when she passed out, several hours had transpired.
'...afternoon?...' the female thought.
Surprised and opening her right eye, she froze in place. Outside of the main trading strip, it was the pub that she had went with Speed and Sonic. It was gone. Seeing the barely standing structure and framework, only scorched blackness and ash remained. Taking a slow inhale, the smell of smoke, burnt hair and flesh attacked her nostrils.
"Ah shit! That reeks!" Chiara balked. Exhaling hard through her nose to blow out the scent, she turned back inside. Closing the window and locking, she breathed several times to get the scent filtered out.
'What the hell happened there?' she wondered. Recovering, she stared at the floor trying to figure out what happened.
'Speed would be the only one capable of doing that...to what I can think of...unless the prisoners there escaped and set the whole hellhole ablaze.'
'Did he bring me back here after I passed out?...Gaahhh,' the female stoat exclaimed. Ruffling her head in frustration, she heard a slowly released sigh.
"...wwwwhhhheeeennn...tttthhhhheeeee...sssaaaannnncccctttttuuuuaaaarrrryyyyy...bbbbbbuuuuurrrrnnnnsssss..." a wispy voice spoke with much airiness and pain.
"...!?" Chiara tensed up like a rock. Darting her eyes to the right, only her right eye could see. The ghostly figure was not transparent anymore. It looked like a cloaked figure with glowing white beady eyes. Though it never moved from its spot, its materialization spooked her out more.
"...IIIIIIII...aaaaaammmmmmm...ffffiiiinnnnnaaaallllyyyyy...eeexxxxccccoooommmmmuuuuunnnnneeeddddd..."
"..." she responded with silence.
With her fur standing on end and her claws coming out, her tail was pointed down to the ground. As if something was approaching from within the unknown silhouette, it sounded like a wind-up of air from everywhere. Without warning, the ghost was set on fire. Jumping over a desk and landing on the ground, she kept low and looked over the table. The burning being moved its hands outward and formed a cross.
"...ttttthhhhheeee...wwwwwaaaarrrrr...nnnnnneeeeevvvveeeerrrrr...llllleeeeeefffffttttt...uuuuussssssss..."
"...wwwweeee...aaaaarrrreeeeee...jjjjjuuuuussssttttt...hhhhuuuummmmaaannnn...ssssppppaaaawwwwnnnnnssss..."
"...wwweeee...aaaaarrreeee...nnnnnooootttt...cccchhhhiillllddddrrreeennnn...ooooofffff...gggggooooodddddd..."
"WHOA!?" was Chiara's shocked reaction from the ghost imploding. Like a pipe bomb going off, it flashed then entire room with bright light that seemed to pass through all objects. Closing her eyes and shielding her face, the brightness began to die down.
"Hey Chiara?" someone called and knocked on the door.
"...?" the female reacted from peering her eyes open. Seeing that the staff room was fine, a fox breed woman was coming towards her from the open door. Seeing her look fine, her peer looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.
"You finally up I see. Decided to snooze in the office instead of going home?" she asked. Turning around, she walked to her desk and sat down. Seeing the stoat stand up, she looked perplexed and alarmed.
'...what...the...hell...just...happened...' Chiara wondered in fear and confusion.
