Antheroses (Pt. I)
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|| CHAPTER 40 | Antheroses (Pt. I) ||
"Being of another place–– ones that live, hiding behind written legends and untold stories from afar.
"To only breathe beneath the canopies of their home, to only be able to run and rely on their elders, a being of a mystical life that could only be met with the purest of souls.
"Little one, what do you think they are?
"For our little adventurers to encounter one or two of them, tame them and befriend them. Don't you think that fate is being generous this time? To meet a creature of a once-in-a-lifetime–– it is indeed beautiful to the eyes of witnesses.
"Now, why don't we continue where we last left off~?"
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There was nothing going out of the ordinary for them until suddenly, the ground shook and the area surrounding them swirled and turned. The word 'nauseous' was not enough to describe the churning in their stomachs.
"Whoa!! What is happening?!"
The Antheros that Shizuka rode panicked and hopped around wildly, causing the girl to almost lose grip on it. Isseiris helped the poor creature to calm down while the girl jumped down from it, her whole world was spinning–– literally.
The area around the children twisted and turned into forests, unknown ones. Hues of blue reflected the pine-green trees circling them, sensing the ominously illusionary aura surrounding the greeneries. Even the white cosmoses nearby didn't have the same shine that Shizuka used to be fond of.
'Something's off about this place...' she concluded with tight lips, opting not to say more.
In mere seconds they took to comprehend their situation, the sky above their crowns turned glum–– full of greying clouds and thunderous growls behind them.
"Eh? EH?!" Vinnetra panicked as he looked around, eyes as wide as Orion's. "Where in Gaia's name are we?! What happened to the houses?!?!"
"The hell is this place?!" Orion also exclaimed in frustration, ignoring how the remaining two looked around the area. Vinnetra snuck behind the ash-blonde, claiming the latter to be his 'meat shield' whilst following behind Shizuka and Isseiris.
"This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder..." Shizuka mumbled quietly, trying to balance herself up with the help of the hands–– helpful Isseiris.
"Is our bag still here?" Orion asked the light blue-haired male blandly, only to earn a small nod from the taller student. Isseiris showed the bag he was holding onto the whole time to the querying Orion.
Vinnetra hunched his shoulders forward, leaning towards a tree in defeat. He then spoke, "Should we look around? Maybe we can find a cave."
They couldn't really miss the exhausted tone he was using, taking note that the Haile was nowhere near as energetic he was in the beginning.
"Yeah, we probably should. It's night already, don't wanna risk any wild animals or hunters find us in this weird-ass Magic Space." Orion scoffed.
"Let's go, let's go...!! I do hope that we'll get out of this situation soon," hyped Vinnetra lazily.
Shizuka could only slip out a small smile at both the boys' restlessness.
Her eyes narrowed in slight tiredness as well, letting her hand unconsciously go up to stroke the silent creature beside her. Contact upon fur was the least she had expected when she mindlessly rose her hand.
Letting out a small yelp, the girl was met with the Antheros' kind mewl. Its voice was quiet, yet warm.
She laughed in a hushed voice, allowing none of the boys to hear or notice their interaction.
The human brought her pointer finger up to her lips and smiled, shushing the deer-like being from slipping another cry out its mouth.
"Say..." she whispered, "... are you going to venture with us?"
The question was out of her own whim.
She had little expectation to hear a reply from the creature. However, the way her body jolted ever-so-slightly had confirmed how small her guess was when the Antheros boldly snuggled up to enjoy the warmth of her neck.
It closed the gap between them and let out another small cry–– one that positively answered Shizuka's question.
Another chuckle was heard and her hand found itself to pat the creature's snout once more.
It reminded her of the past–– her past self where she would play around with animals in her backyard and consider them her own.
However, ever since that day, three years ago...
"... I never spoke to another animal ever again..." Shizuka muttered sadly, stroking the Antheros one last time before parting her hand away from it.
As if sensing the sadness inside of the young human, the Antheros let out a big exhale and stomped one of its hooves several times, digging a hole into the ground.
Incredulous looks were centred towards the steaming Antheros.
"Whoa, whoa. What's the big dude doing?" Orion pointed out, getting ready in case of its rampage.
Vinnetra let out a shaky breath and pulled Shizuka behind him. "I don't know what in the world is happening right now, but I don't wanna die!!"
"We ain't dying, ya' blood-sucker!!"
"'Blood-sucker'?! What do you mean, 'blood-sucker'?!?!" screeched the young Haile indignantly. "I'll have you know–– my tribe may or may not be descendants of vampires, but we do NOT–– GAH!!"
The Antheros scooped them all with the strength of its leaved antlers, ignoring how the branches poke into their skins and left scratches all over their uniforms. With one strong force, it threw the children perfectly on its back, rowed neatly with Vinnetra barely hanging on to dear life at the back.
"The hell is happening right now..." Orion sweat-dropped, paying no mind to Vinnetra's cries as he slipped from the Antheros' rear.
"We better hold on tight," Isseiris warned them from the front, holding onto the Antheros' mane with clenched fists.
"Shouldn't you help me fir–– SLOW DOWN, SLOW DOWN!! I'M GONNA DIE!!"
They rose up to the sky, leaving behind trails of the creature's hooves on thin air, outlined by sparks of water around it.
Their shadows mended into one above the ground, letting their only source of light above thicken their wandering beings.
"... Well?! Aren't you going to help me?!"
"Whoops, forgot you're even there, blood-sucker."
"I told you–– GAIA, HELP ME, I'M FALLING!!"
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The day had long come to an end when the sun was replaced by the moon. Its silver rays shone upon them with such brightness that they surprisingly lit their way through the forests and between the dense trees.
Much to their dismay though, it was quiet.
Eerily quiet.
Long after they had wandered from one field to another, within what they speculated to be a Magic Space, they finally encountered a resting spot.
It was somewhat a medium-sized cave, with no tunnel that led to an underground shaft or even one that hid secrets. Nothing but a normal naturally-shaped dent beneath some flowery cliffs above.
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However, a 'small' problem... occurred.
"How are we going to fit this thing in THERE???" Vinnetra looked back and forth from the entrance of the cave to the tall Antheros.
"... Umm, can you maybe shrink yourself...?" Shizuka hesitantly asked the tall Antheros, observing how it bent into her height with twitching ears and restless cries.
A few seconds passed after those words were spoken. The Antheros' body shrank down into the size of her palm–– surprisingly.
It wasn't written in any books or scrolls that they had read. A mythical creature that they happened to encounter–– an Antheros–– was able to shrink and enlarge its size at will. They were amazed, to say the least.
Shizuka was awed at the ability it had shown.
Such a simple thing could entertain the young human, the shrunken Antheros was pleased to find how its action received many smiles and wide eyes from the children.
She soon carried it on her palm as she showed the others, "Look, look! It shrank down!"
"How in the world–– why is it so small?!"
"What are you? An animal whisperer?"
Both Orion and Vinnetra stared at the female with incredulous looks, not believing what their eyes had witnessed.
Shizuka only giggled as a response. They were left with no answers, leaving them hanging whilst they walked into the oddly-carved cave. There weren't any tunnels leading anywhere, but there sure was a large space afterwards.
Both entranced and wowed by the hanging draperies and sharp stalactites above them, Shizuka was quite certain she heard Vinnetra mumbling something along the line of how the cave would fall into crumbles if one of the columns would break into two.
However, what they did not expect was a herd of small Antheroses sleeping deep inside the cave.
Their colourfully-furred bodies were hidden behind the thick bronze flowstones and from the reflections of light in the Twilight Zone of the cave.
Seeing how little light came through the more they got deeper, it didn't help how the moon was their only source of natural light.
"Anthe––?!" Isseiris clasped Orion's mouth as he shushed the male with his index finger on his lips.
"Don't yell. They're sleeping," Shizuka whispered to the silenced boy, earning Isseiris and the girl nods from the boy.
The shrunken Antheros on Shizuka's hand jumped down and nudged one of its kind by its rear. It took a while until it finally woke up. When it woke up, it eyed the four children and woke the others as well with unexpected trumpet-like noise.
It was confirmed by the one and only Orion that it was not a pleasant experience for their ears.
"Kkrrkh––!!!"
"Gracious Gaia, they're loud!!"
The adolescents covered their ears and eyes from the obnoxiously loud noise that the mini Antheros let out. Followed by the others' loud noise as well, all of the mini little Antheroses were finally up and awake.
They all looked at the four children with their big, doe blue eyes.
The children opened their eyes and uncovered their ears as they stared back at the mini Antheroses.
To say that it was creepy having little deer-like creatures, all looking at them with big round eyes in a place where almost no light was seen–– it was indeed an understatement.
Both Shizuka and Vinnetra awed at their little cute form and their adorable faces (ignoring how creepy their stares were that a side of them felt) while Orion face-palmed at them in the background quietly.
"Are the Antheroses here all along?" Isseiris questioned, squatting down to pat one of them.
"Looks like it. Do they have a leader or somethin'?" Orion asked as he walked through the sea of little Antheroses, trying to look for one who was different from most of them.
"If I remember correctly, the leader of them should be white in colour instead of brown like them," Shizuka informed.
She was happily basking in the cuteness of the mini Antheroses as some of them snuggled into her long hair. They tangled and ran around between her platinum-blond locks. Some played with them whilst others drowned in the warmth of her hands.
It took them no longer than a minute to realize another presence amongst the smaller ones.
Its aura was a lot different from the Antheroses they had met.
It was one that held power, strength, and charisma–– and they were sure that it wasn't someone they could mess with even if they wanted to.
'It seems you know a lot about us, child,' a calm and gentle voice rang throughout the cave.
The sheer volume of that very presence shook the place. As the stalactites above rained upon them like hail and crushing every gravel and stone beneath, it was enough to warn them to run.
"Whoa!!!"
"Dammit, I don't have any more magic...!! Everybody, run!!!"
The children ran outside the cave with all their might.
The sound of little stomping hooves of the mini Antheroses following them followed behind, crying into the dead of night with their alarmed mewls. The last one had barely been left unscathed when the entrance to the cave finally collapsed.
Trying to steady their heartbeats and catch some breaths, they turned around and was able to see the Antheros exactly how Shizuka described the leader to be.
"Is that...?" Isseiris seemed to lose his words as he stared at it.
"... It's the leader..." Shizuka awed at the giant majestic creature, that anyone could probably see even from afar.
It was so quiet.
With the air resounding with the nightly sound of the winds, accompanied by the small cries of the Antheroses, the humans could only remain silent at the existence of another being they hadn't expected to be real.
While the Antheroses were already a part of legends.
But with their leader standing tall and mighty before them was a whole other thing completely.
'I believe that you saved my little one over there...'
The white Antheros directed its snout to a certain Antheros in the warmth of Shizuka's hands. It jumped in confirmation and ecstasy in seeing its leader, hopping in its place.
"'Saved it'...?" Vinnetra asked in confusion as the four students looked back at the giant white figure.
'You led it away from the hunters, did you not?' it questioned the group of four, earning slow nods while anticipating what's to come next.
'Then you have my gratitude, children of humans. It seems that I have grown old, forgetting that I have not introduced myself yet.'
Its form rose higher when it somewhat raised its head before bending down to greet the children with closed eyes.
'I go by the name 'Winspher,' for it is the identity that has been passed down to me to lead my kind.'
As it fluttered its eyes open, revealing clear orbs that were met with starry-eyed ones.
It formed what seemed to be a small curl upon the ends of its mouth, smiling kindly upon the warm looks the humans had given it, mirroring theirs.
"Why, hello there, Winspher, my name is Vinnetra Haile," started Vinnetra first boldly.
He took a small step forward and placed a hand above his chest, bowing slightly to show his respect towards the elder. However, all of his elegant action went away the moment he exhaled and pointed at a certain ash-blonde with a crooked smile.
"And the cranky dude over here is Orion. Do note to not take his grumpy nature to heart."
"HUH??!! What do you mean by that?!"
"See? Grumpy."
Shizuka stifled a laugh as Isseiris cleared his throat, not knowing how to respond.
Ignoring all other chaos Vinnetra and Orion were brewing at the back, the Caraell stepped forward to introduce himself before Shizuka's turn came along.
"And my name is Ichijou Shizuka. Nice to meet you~!"
'Ah, 'Ichijou,' you say? Are you perhaps a Spirit Wielder, my child?' the leader asked the smaller girl, lowering itself to meet the said female in the eyes.
Shizuka nodded cheerfully at the leader, as well as being drowned once again in the sea of mini Antheroses. It didn't seem to mind how its little ones were fawning over a human, not to mention a Spirit Wielder.
'I see. It is a pleasure to meet one of your kind in person, dear child.'
"Wait, wait, wait." Orion halted the conversation before Shizuka had the time to reply back.
He shook his head, replaying the words Winspher had uttered before regarding the hunters. It didn't occur to him before how the Antheroses could know about those infamous men within the Magic Space when all they'd seen were the lost Antheroses
"You had already known about those hunters?" Orion asked Winspher. It nodded.
'Yes, I had, my child. However, I cannot do anything about them as I am trapped in this Magic Space, along with my little ones.'
"I knew this is a Magic Space! We guessed right then!"
''Guess,' my child? Did you stumble into this Space on accident, perhaps?'
"Yes, we did, unfortunately," Isseiris answered truthfully, followed by the nods of others as Shizuka continued his words.
"Our class were about to go on a... 'run' when we got lost and ended up here," she emphasized the word 'run' in great despise as Isseiris held back a laugh and Vinnetra just cackled openly.
'Your class, you say? I only see four of your kind around here. May I ask where the others are?'
Everybody stopped what they were doing when they recalled that the others were not with them. Silence loomed over them and thousands and thousands of thoughts ran in their little minds. How could they not remember?
'I see...'
Winspher nodded.
'Very well then, I shall help you, children of humans, in order to find your friends. Do take it as my gratitude in rescuing my little one--'
The Antheroses got alerted at the loud booming coming from the other side of the forest. By instinct, they all returned to their normal sizes as the children stumbled. They were each picked up by one of the Antheroses, resulting in them riding one each.
Winspher ordered them all to prepare for battle as the loud sound kept getting closer and closer.
The children informed the leader that their magic had been depleted, but they will try their best to help.
Of course, Winspher forbade them from doing so and just leave the battling to the Antheroses.
'I can't risk you young children of humans getting hurt or injured. I had promised myself so. Allow us to protect you from the attacks as repayment for being kind to us.'
And with that they leapt into the air, avoiding all the attacks coming at them.
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Wait...
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"Attacks?!"
"C-230 here. We have found the Antheroses. I repeat, we have found the Antheroses."
"F-002 here. Children are riding them. I repeat... Children are––"
|| CHAPTER 40 | Antheroses (Pt. I) - To be continued… ||
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