Axel gasped as he fell on his knees.

Bang!!

The sound of wood shattering, creaking echoed through the forest, behind him, the ground trembling as the tree crashed in the distance.

"Close, too close," Axel muttered, rubbing the thread of continuity, the next second he was already sprinting, getting as far as possible from that location, that creature.

Axel continued running, as far as his legs could take him, sweat pouring out due to the heat and energy he was burning, and that meant he was losing water.

His throat made it painfully obvious, as it got drier with each passing second.

Axel slowed down, trying to catch his breath, fortunately the cave entrance was just a few meters away.

"Shelter," he rasped, a small grin tugging at his lip, but he stopped as he was about to head in.

A grim smile appeared on his face, "I can't just head in can I," he shook his head.

He rubbed the back of his neck, sighing. "Can't just walk into my own dinner bell, can I?"

The image of the bolf—boar, wolf, whatever hellspawn hybrid that thing was, sniffing him out like a bloodhound made his skin crawl. It had a nose too sharp to risk.

He turned away from the cave, every muscle protesting.

I really need water too, and I'm not settling for that glowing crap, not yet.

He swallowed saliva, trying to lubricate his throat, but somehow that made it feel worse, "of course it would," he muttered, walking away towards the east of the cave, "Perfect"

As he walked through the forest towards the east, he oddly discovered more signs of life, a huge disparity to the direction he went before. There were trees with fruits, some looking familiar, while others were, well, strange.

One tree bore what looked like oranges, except they kept changing color, pulsing like disco lights on caffeine. Another had fruits just bobbing around like a slime, shapeless, just there.

While the normal looking fruits were not exactly the normal color you'd expect.

"I'd be crazy to eat any of them", he mumbled, "but who knows I might be forced to soon." Seeing as there was no sign of him leaving here anytime soon.

Apart from that, there were also alot more animals, creepy worms, and abnormal looking birds, although they didn't seem dangerous or at least not yet, but still nothing that looked like it could kill him yet.

He stepped over a nest of what looked like worms but… stared back. Their bodies shimmered like oil, and one of them hissed.

"Friendly neighborhood nightmare zoo," he said under his breath, pretending he wasn't unnerved.

At least the forest here felt alive. Which meant, maybe…maybe…there was water close by, a small smile tugged on his lips.

That tiny thread of hope burned bright enough to keep him going. His throat ached, his muscles ached, but he pushed on.

An hour passed, or what felt like it. Time had turned into a bad joke anyway. He'd spent most of it sneaking past things that had too many teeth or eyes or both.

Still there was no sign of water.

He slumped against a tree, sliding down until his back hit the rough bark. His breathing came out harsh and ragged.

"No hope, huh?" he croaked. "Guess dehydration it is."

His gaze drifted to a nearby fruit, a purple-orange hybrid thing glaring at him like it knew he was desperate.

He sighed, "I might just have to eat one of this," he scrunched his face and shook his head.

He groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Still got a while, though. A day, maybe. If I break the egg."

His mind shifted to strategy. Now to lose the bolf.

"If I circle back around and approach the cliff over the cave," he whispered, tracing invisible lines in the air, "that should throw it off. Scent ends at a drop. Classic misdirection. Worked for every cartoon character ever."

Satisfied, he grinned weakly.

He was about to get up.

Then—crack!

Blue light zipped past his head, close enough that he felt the air burn.

The stench of charred wood, and singed hair, hit him instantly.

Axel froze, halfway between standing and bending. If he'd straightened even an inch faster, that bolt would've penetrated his skull, effortlessly.

Without hesitation, he rolled behind another tree, escaping from whatever was targeting him, heart slamming against his ribs. His ears rang. His fingers dug into the dirt.

"What the hell was that?" he whispered.

As if on cue, the forest answered, rustling, screeches, and a blinding flash. Blue light split the darkness, illuminating the forest, thunder cracking a beat later.

Axel peeked.

Two blurs darted across the forest floor, colliding, ricocheting off trees. Lightning crackled. Red light flaring in response. The air itself seemed to vibrate.

They clashed, and both flew back, skidding through the forest floor, both stopped, staring each other down like old enemies about to settle once and for all.

But that allowed Axel to see what they were.

One was a deer, or at least it looked like that, its antlers ridiculously long and curved, black with a metallic sheen like obsidian metal, the darkness seemed to swallow whatever light was around it.

Its red fur was a huge contrast, unlike the usual deer, its hoofs were also black, rather obsidian similar to the antlers.

Meanwhile opposite it was one of those horned rabbits he had been seeing around, except this one had two horns, and it was significantly bigger, than the others, at least two times bigger.

Blue lightning around it, crackling, its blue fur, raised like needles, it reminded him of Pikachu.

Axel gulped hard, it was obvious this was nothing like those other rabbits, if all of them were like this, he was sure he'd probably be long dead, after all his encounters with them.

He crouched lower, muttering, "Even the rabbits here are death incarnate. I miss regular animals. You know, ones that don't explode." He joked trying to hide the realization that hunger might not be what kills him sinking in.

The next second, the rabbit's spiky hair started crackling, electricity discharged around it, then it turned into a blur, no more like a lightning bolt, attacking the deer, but the deer wasn't to be outdone.

Its hoofs started glowing red, forming a sort of skateboard underneath it, its obsidian horns glowing, thrumming with power, as it turned into a red blur as well, retaliating.

From there all Axel saw were blue and red streaks, clashing, intertwining, too fast for him for him to follow, something straight out of a low budget anime.

"Insane," Axel breathed. "All of it's insane."

Shit, he cursed as the tree beside him burst into flames, the smell of resin and burnt bark mixing into something nauseating, the clash between the two taking a toll on the environment.

I have to get out of here, he thought, but as he was about to move away, he froze and leapt back behind the tree as lightning struck where he was about to move to, the delay had saved him.

He peeked once more, just in time to see the rabbit hurled straight toward him.

"Of course," he muttered. "Why wouldn't it be me?"

Thump!

The impact nearly snapped the tree in half. Bark rained down on his head as the tree slanted, barely holding on. The air filled with static as electricity crawled across the trunk, lightning discharged around the tree.

Axel grit his teeth as the tree leaned, groaning under the weight. The alternative was stepping into live lightning, no thanks, and so he stayed pinned, trembling.

Then the discharges stopped.

He barely had time to think finally before the tree snapped further back, pushed by something, then came the flash.

Shit, he cursed about to jump out, but it was too late.

He was stunned, lightning conducted into him, the rabbit charging up lightning beneath its feet, turning the tree into a lightning rod and a springing board, Axel caught in the fray.

Pain exploded through him.

Lightning tore down his spine and into the ground. His muscles convulsed. The smell of his own burnt flesh hit him before the scream did.

Every nerve lit up like a warning sign. His vision blurred into streaks of color. He couldn't even tell which direction was up.

The world went white, then black, then somewhere in between.

Then the tree shattered as the rabbit launched off.

The world tilted as Axel was thrown off like a ragdoll due to the impact, bouncing across dirt, till he slammed into a tree, but he didn't register the pain, nerves disoriented by the electricity.

He lay there twitching, smoke rising faintly from his clothes, tiny sparks danced between his fingers.

He wanted to curse, to laugh, to do anything—but his mouth wouldn't move.

His vision blurry, just colors streaking around in the distance, thunder rumbling in the distance.

Unbeknownst to him, the pendant on the thread of continuity glowed blue.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.