Ch 3: First Impressions (2)
I still remember the first time I went to a theme park.
I was very young at the time, and although my parents were poor, they still spent money on frivolities like this so that I could have a more “normal” childhood.
And I loved every moment of it.
The delicious food, the abundant carnival games, and most importantly, the rides. The exhilarating feeling of moving through the wind at high speed on a roller coaster. The weightlessness you experience at the top of a loop de loop. Even the inertia you feel after getting off. My first coaster ride is a beautiful memory from my childhood, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.
But the joy from that memory doesn’t even compare to the mania I’m feeling right now.
“Why are you running scaredy cat!? I promise not to bully you too badly!”
The king of the forest that was once so confident in its power over me that it even attacked despite knowing I had noticed them, is now running for its life from the stronger force.
I am the stronger force.
“I am Invincible™!!!”
Although I’ve been chasing and trash talking this lion for a while I’m mostly doing it for the thrill as it appears to be a wonderful stress reliever. One I especially need right now since there’s no telling when I’ll be able to meet and properly “Thank” that talking rat that sent me here again.
There’s also the question of where this lion is leading me. Since the moment the chase began it has only been running in one direction, even when it had the opportunity to try and lose me by traveling through the underbrush that I would have a hard time seeing through. It might just be desperately fleeing without thinking while in a crazed panic, but I’m curious about what a creature from another world might show me. And curiosity only kills cats anyway, so I don’t have any reason to worry!
The lion darts ahead making sure to move around trees, rocks, and plants in an attempt to slow me down, but I’m unimpeded as I continue to give chase with a mix of maneuvering around and charging straight through these obstacles. And as we continue to run the greenery surrounding us slowly becomes more separated, signifying that we may be approaching a larger clearing than I had previously retreated to, or maybe even the outskirts of the forest.
Either way I can’t think of a reason this thing would draw me out so far unless…
“So, you had friends.”
A pack of familiar lions can be seen gathered around something ahead, and by the looks of things getting help from them to take me on was the plan the lion decided on after realizing he couldn't beat me.
That's ok though. No matter how many more enemies come,
“I'll take you all on!”
They'll be no match for the fury of a ticked off modern man!
-However, unbeknownst to Franklin at the time, the true depths hidden in the psyche of the monster he was pursuing were far more cruel and sinister than he ever could have hoped to imagine. A kind of malevolence possessed only by the depraved creatures cunning enough to make use of this fiendish gift to its fullest extent.
“Graaah!”
Lion Translation: Brothers, I’ve found us a fresh meal!
“Gruh.”
“Grrr.”
“Gah!?”
Other Lions: I was wondering where you were runt.
Ya, you almost missed out on the one we found.
But wait, what happened to your teeth!?
“Guh!”
L: Don’t worry about it, I got into a fight with a few from our rival prides and this puny thing though it could beat me after I was exhausted from the fight. Naturally I thought it best to bring it back to you all alive since a fresh kill is the tastiest!
“Garu.”
OL: Excellent. Rest for now runt, when we return back to our camp, we’ll be sure to celebrate this hunt in your honor.
“Gya…”
L: Yes… When we get back…
While the members of his pack moved past him ready to get a taste of the fresh meat procured by their cute youngest, they failed to notice the dark emptiness behind their now sunken eyes.
Taking this brief moment, fought for through a terrifyingly long chase where slowing down for even a second could mean death, the lion didn’t hesitate. They began to run again at the speed they could only reach when their life was on the line, but this time their footsteps felt much heavier. For they carried the wait of the brothers and sisters that had just been sacrificed to the monstrous being they had been trying to flee from this whole time.
The runt of the pride had no idea why such a vile and evil being was disguising its form as one of the many Ratfolk populating this land.
They also couldn’t understand how they could have so quickly sell out the ones who had protected them in the past.
But there was one thing the lion knew.
The lion wanted to live.
And to do that, someone else had to die.
Even if all of his family came together to stop that thing, the lion knew that they would lose in a fight with it. No, it was likely that the carnage that would ensue wouldn’t even resemble a fight. They would be slaughtered.
With no way to kill the enemy and no time to convince the others that the seemingly weak Ratfolk was hiding a deep abyss within its shape, the only thing the lion could do was run.
The lion was cunning because it had to grow up quickly to survive in the wild. The lion was cruel because the life it has lived in has always been even crueler. And the lion was sinister because even while knowing the evil it had committed towards its kin for its own survival, they still shed tears as they ran while mourning the ones they had left behind.
That day, the lion did not stop running.
And they didn’t look back.
***
“Aaah~ I feel relaxed!”
After beating up those lions I finally feel human again! I guess walking aimlessly through this forest for so long was starting to get to me. That’s without even mentioning all the horrors I’ve been put through just to get here.
Although… isn’t there something missing?
During the fight I only punched down six lions, but I could have sworn I counted seven in the group including the one I was chasing.
“Eh, I guess it doesn’t matter.”
Anyways there's more pressing matters to deal with, such as the dead body those animals were huddled around.
Lying flat on the grassy floor rests an unknown figure. Given the shape of its body and the hair growing all around it, I can confidently say that it’s a rat from this world, but there’s a slight difference to what I’ve seen so far.
While I didn’t get to see the wizard that sent me here I had just assumed it looked like a regular wild rat since that’s what he said he was, and although my clothes disappeared when I turned into a rat I didn’t feel naked or even bat an eye since I had fur covering me.
But the rat I’m seeing slumped down on the ground right now is fully clothed.
Not exactly modern fashion but it's at least the kind of clothes you could expect someone to wear when hiking or going outdoors a lot. Long brown pants, a green coat, and even a beanie.
Of course, the clothes do look quite ripped up, probably resulting from the encounter with those lions.
Thinking about it now, maybe I should have killed them? I know I’m quite adverse to the idea of talking rats but they’re still living and intelligent beings, right? I’ve never killed before so after beating them up I let the lions run away, but if I ever see anything like them again, I should make sure to deal with them properly.
Too bad for whoever this person was though, maybe if I had gotten here a little sooner…
rustle
“Huh?”
After looking behind me to see what made that noise, I find myself staring face to face at what I thought to be a corpse now sitting up while looking directly at me.
“Right, I guess I should have checked your pulse or something before writing you off as dead. My bad. Anyway, don’t worry I already took care of those–”
“N-n-n-n…”
“Huh? What are you saying?”
“NUDIST!!!”
Oh yeah. I’m completely naked aren’t I.
“STAY AWAY FROM ME!”
“No, that’s not…”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
I’m glad they’re so energetic after their near-death experience, but this is too much right? After all, how would I even get clothes when I don’t even know where I am let alone where I could get clothes in this world.
Wait….
That was a person that just ran away.
A person who had clothes.
A person who probably knows where they are as well as where to get clothes in this world.
A person who knows where civilization is.
A person who is currently running away from me at high speed, maybe even faster than that lion from before.
“HEY! GET BACK HERE!”
You should at least give me directions before leaving!
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”
