Animalistic Activities

"Snake!! Snake!!!!" Vito yelled from the top of his lungs as he ran through the forest. He had run for what felt like a mile over eight minutes. He had come across a black mamba and he didn't notice its presence until he was already too close to avoid it. He could only run now and hope he would not get caught.

'Just where the hell is this tiger?' he thought while running.

Vito was unaware that there were no tigers that lived in Africa. He was truly ignorant of this fact. Cyrus had known this but figured that maybe they brought one in for this activity and he was correct.

The group had split up into five directions. They were in a ring with six locations. This ring was specially formed and modeled by the protectors of Gaia or the servants under Alex as most would say. It was made so that the team would not be separated too far apart from one another but would still have to complete the tasks by themselves.

The locations in this ring were drastically different from each other in order to properly suit the habitat of each animal brought in.

One location was full of lots of green pasture to allow for the zebras to feed on them. Another is filled with lots of tall trees with ripe fruits hanging from them to attract the Giraffes.

One swampy location with a lake has a hippopotamus sleeping in it. A green heavy forest covered with lots of large strong trees that house a tiger placed in there for this occasion. And a dry grassy field, its tall yellow stands out as the perfect cover for one of nature's most refined hunters and then proclaimed king of the jungle. It houses a Lion's den.

All these different locations were built around a smaller center ring which served as the 6 locations to be placed inside. This location was made as a safe zone. A human-only zone as it was the place through which they would teleport in and out.

As Vito ran for his life, whether by sheer force of will or perhaps because the snake was not trying to kill him, he actually outran it and was catching his breath deeper into the forest than he was hoping to wander into. He was still appalled at the thought that a snake was in the forest. He hated snakes.

****

Meanwhile, Dawn had reached his site.

He was standing near the lake that was housing his Hippo.

He did not approach it any more than he needed to. He just stood there in a daze watching over the water. His mind was at a loss for many things.

He didn't want to be here nor was it his intention to join this stupid little regime. After he had been caught by John the night he had tried to kill Terra, things just fell out of place.

After not being chosen he had planned to kill Terra. Alex knew of this plan and tasked John to capture and restrain him, and because John was in business with Ariel at the time for whatever reason she had tagged along and the two of them had kidnapped him, pinned him down, and threatened to kill him. Well, one of them did the threatening while the other was waiting for Alex's say on the matter.

Alex, Minty, Sasha, John, and Ariel had talked it through and no way could believe that Alex said he wanted to ""Reform"" him. Even Dawn was in shock from such a decision. He was not allowed to go back to the hotel in fear of him trying to kill someone which was true because he had planned to kill every other representative until he was the only one left. This was in case killing Terra would not be enough.

Dawn has no family. He is a NEET. His family left him a long time ago or he killed them, he does not remember. But after being captured by Alex, he had nowhere else to go and nothing else to do. He had thought about suicide a couple of times before but he wasn't brave enough to end it. In reality, he didn't know what he wanted or who he was. He just existed and watched life go on.

He never once asked himself why he was chosen to defend the Earth but just thought it was good fortune raining down on him. It was the first time in a long time that the boy had ever gotten excited. And now he was a fool for believing in such a dream. Such a damn fool.

He was simply tired.

"A shitty world creates a shitty person" he mumbled as he was still lost in thought.

As he was in this moment filling himself with pain and regret, he had somehow caught the attention of the hippo who was sleeping. It had sensed him. He was quite the distance away and yet it felt drawn to him, as if it needed to get near him.

It hopped out of the water and started jogging toward the direction of Dawn.

As it was finally right in front of Dawn, it let out what seemed like a smile. Its breath was heavy and caused Dawn to look down and notice it.

"Did it come here, for me?" he asked out loud.

He then felt a slight vibration upon his shoulder, it was glowing again, just like it did when he was chosen. Was it trying to tell him something? he wondered.

As he reached his arm out to pet the hippo, it turned its mouth sideways and scooped up Dawn off the ground.

It was now running away with him, gently but tightly tucked in between its teeth. It was running to the lake. To the water. Dawn doesn't do lakes.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Let me go!!" Dawn screamed, terrified of what was about to happen. He didn't feel his life was in danger because if they wanted to kill him and Ariel did, then they would have already. 'Unless they are into weird torture!' he thought.

He was screaming even louder now, "Let go of me, I don't want to swim. I-I never learned how!" The Hippo continued charging toward the lake. Running at a speed of 10km/h, it wasn't going to stop.

Normally this kind of thing would cause head trauma to people, but the hippo was extremely careful not to hurt him. It didn't even bite down on him tightly. It was similar to a mother crocodile using its sharp teeth to break her baby's eggshells but not hurt the baby.

"Please let go!!" Dawn yelled while smacking the upper mouth of the hippo with his hand. Only one hand was free as the other was stuck in its mouth. The free hand was the hand that tried to pet the hippo.

Dawn had yelled so loudly that even John could hear him.

"I guess he must have met the hippo," John said while reading a book with a pair of reading glasses.

As the hippo approached the water, it Jumped into the air and splashed down into the lake while letting go of Dawn.

Dawn had never cared for people but now he wished John was here to save him, he was going to die! He can't swim.

After dropping into the water, Dawn sank a few feet for a while with his eyes closed, but then he felt a tug on his body. He was being lifted by someone or something.

When he was brought back up, he expected to see John but instead found himself on top of the hippo that drugged him here. It had him on its back as it was swimming further and further away.

"AGH! AHHH!! AGHHHGA! Let me go! Help, I'm being kidnapped!!" he cried. He couldn't believe his situation. He was already kidnapped and now it was like he was being kidnapped again. Just what type of life had he been roped into? And unlike the other 4, he couldn't refuse.

****

Back in the 6th location or the inner ring, a person could be seen approaching John. 

John had noticed his presence but had kept reading his book, even when the person stood right in front of John, he didn't say anything.

"John," Cyrus spoke.

"Yes, Cyrus?" he replied putting the book down.

Cyrus looked John in the eye, looked around to see if they were alone, and then proceeded to ask, "I heard screaming. What was that?"

"What screaming? All I hear is the wind of the wildlife," he replied.

"You expect me to believe that there is a tiger in Africa?"

"Well, not usually, but for this special occasion, I happened to bring one in. I didn't want us to move too far away from one another. We can't have accidents happening here, now can we?"

Cyrus stood still, he didn't immediately give a reply. John knew Cyrus to be one who jokes with people he trusts or could easily understand, but to be quiet and perceptive of those he couldn't. So he felt like right now, Cyrus was trying to test him.

Cyrus fully trusted Alex. Alex had a way of charming people and bringing them in, closer together. But John worked with both Ariel and Alex from what Cyrus knew about him. So he couldn't tell if he worked more with one side or the other.

And from the information he had about Ariel, he knew that anyone who was too close to her would be trouble. Already he had considered her offer and detested himself for it. All he wanted was to know if he could trust John as much as he could Alex.

A part of him wanted to. A part of him did.

"It's nothing, I just came to get a carrot," Cyrus said as he looked towards a case that was on the truck.

"How did you know we had some?" John asked.

"I figured if you did come along to help us succeed then you would also carry some supplies that could help us attain our goals. Though I am surprised you never mentioned this to the others."

"Didn't I? I guess that was careless of me. I'll try to be a little more observant next time," John said with a smile.

'There's no way you would forget such a thing, John. I know you wouldn't," Cyrus thought.

'This kid really doesn't trust me. I guess he had a rough history of trust issues with adults," John thought.

"Be sure to pick the healthiest carrot from the case," John said.

Cyrus had picked a heap of carrots and was now turning back to go to the Zebra.

"You know, it helps to understand the kind of animal you are dealing with. Once you know it well enough, you can figure out the rest from there. It all starts from a feeling within," John said before Cyrus could continue walking away.

"I know the basics of a Zebra very well," Cyrus replied.

"I wasn't talking about the Zebra Cyrus," John said sternly.

Cyrus had stopped walking and turned around to look at John one last time before he set out again.

"Your glasses are fake," he said as he turned back to leave.

"Of course, you would know that well, wouldn't you Cyrus?" John replied as he ended their conversation.

****

Meanwhile, in a grassy field, someone's heartbeat was beating profusely, he had never done something like this before. He was now watching over the top of a small hill as he spotted a feline-like creature walk on over to a small cave-like structure out in the woods.

Now with the mission he was tasked with, this shouldn't have cost him more stress than the bottom line, but the only problem was no sooner after, another one had walked towards it.

And another, and another, and another. There were now 5 of them lying around together. He thought he would have to tame one, but instead, there were multiple grouped up together. Such a thing was too much for a person to handle alone. It didn't make sense why they did this to him.

But Terra had found the Lion's den.