Drawing Near

His eyes lock onto the moving bush as it shakes ever so gently. Rattle… Rattle… The bush shook as if something were about to jump out at any moment,

"Please don't be a nightmare. Please don't be a nightmare…"

He squeezed his eyes shut. Then a small mouse popped out of the bush, it squeaked, smelled around for food, and quickly scurried away.

"Argh, this sucks…" He breathed a sigh of relief; his once tense muscles relaxed, and he was able to think again.

He once again attempted to focus on moving, trying to deal with the fog in his mind. The cold wind brushed up against him; he can still feel but cannot move. The smell of nature filling his nose, he lay motionless. The sight of the dead min made him feel a little happy, but at what cost? He may die at any moment if he cannot move, so his victory would be for nothing. So he cleared his mind and solely focused on his hand; feeling the movement, he attempted to replicate it on his other hand. Minutes flew by, and he was able to move his left hand again. Soon, he was able to lift his whole arm up, but he couldn't move yet. This wasn't enough; if he wanted to keep up with his father's expectations, then he would need to do more than just his arm, so he pushed himself more.

A bead of sweat began dripping down the side of his face; it was cold, being as it was the only other thing he could feel; it distracted him for just a moment, but he refocused and dialed in. Gaining movement in his arm, he used it to flip himself over, as he was face down this entire time. He finally took a deep breath of fresh air; the stench of the dirt no longer bothered him, though he was still dirty; it didn't bother him nearly as much as him not moving.

"I took the freedom of movement granted for so long…" He sniffled,

As he continued to gain movement through his entire body he began to doubt whether he wanted to continue this journey or not.. The excruciating, numbing feeling shooting through his body every time he activated a muscle was pain like no other. His heart was focused on making his dad proud, but his mind was conflicted. He didn't know anything about the outside world other than what his dad taught him, and if the world was filled with pain like this, he didn't want to go. Yet, he pushed himself through it all, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Eventually he was able to move his entire body again, and he sat up. He almost leaned back again, The tiredness he felt reminded him of how tired he felt when hunting the horned rabbits, His father would always be right behind him to catch him whenever he fell. But he had evolved far beyond a horned rabbit. He defeated an N1; that was an achievement he never would have dreamed of when he was younger. Taking a breath, he anchored his hand and struggled to his feet. Hunching over, he attempted to elude the pain to some extent, and it worked, but he couldn't fully make it go away. He reached over and pressed his hand against the wound. He recoiled and clenched his fist. It hurt to touch; looking at his hand, it wasn't fully covered in blood, but there wasn't an absence of it either.

"I need to get this patched up before it gets infected."

Glancing over at the min, his stomach rumbled; he was very impatient and couldn't wait to eat; however, he had a wound to tend to. In the end he chose his stomach and immediately went to grab his bag. cutting away at the thick fur of the min, grabbing only what was edible and setting them to the side. He washed his hands with the leftover water he had left over, and made his fire out of pieces of dry wood he found in the surrounding area. At the same time, he sealed his wound and cleaned it so that he wouldn't get an infection. He tore a piece of his clothing and drenched it in his drinking water, the cleanest water he had, and then he wiped around the wound, moving closer and closer to the actual wound; the pain grew more and more.

"Luckily it didn't go all the way through me…"

Once he was finished cleaning it, he ripped another piece of his clothing off. But he accidentally ripped too much off, and his shirt was rendered useless, so he took it off and stuffed it in his bag, keeping his locket on. He used the large piece of cloth as a makeshift tourniquet to seal off any more blood from leaking. Tightening the knot, he squeezed his eyes shut before opening them the moment it was tight enough. The stuff taught by his dad he once thought was useless helps him even when he thinks it wouldn't.

"Even from the grave you're still teaching me how to survive on my own." He said to himself. He spoke as if his father were right next to him.

He gazed into the fire once more; it crackled and popped, cooking the meat to his perfection. The wind blew, threatening to blow out the fire, yet it still danced and gave off subtle warmth. The thick, rich aroma of meat filled the air, like pan-seared chicken; it teased Elias, tightening his stomach more. He watched as it cooked, making sure it was perfect. His mouth agape and his eyes illuminated by the fire, he was so focused on the chicken that he didn't even notice he was drooling at the thought of eating it. He grabbed the long strip of meat out of the fire and blew on it to cool it down, he had waited so long to eat he couldn't bear it anymore.. quickly biting into it, he was instantly satisfied, the warm tender meat practically melted in his mouth, although it wasn't seasoned it had a hint of salt and was kind of sweet. He basked in its flavors, savoring every last piece.

"Oh, how I've waited for you my whole life." He had only waited 30 minutes.

He grabbed another stick and cooked more meat, every bite more tender than the last. He ate until he was full and still had more left over to get rid of his problem with food. Once finished, he lay in the thick grass of the clearing; he used his backpack as a pillow and gawked at the stars above. The brilliance of the night sky comforted him and gave him something to look forward to every night. The stars created mesmerizing patterns and made all sorts of shimmering shapes; they were plentiful and grouped closely together. The twisting and turning colors of the sky made him even more entranced at its magic. Accompanied by a large, crescent moon, it completed the night sky, but it didn't give off as much light as a full moon would.

He turned his head expecting someone to be there lying with him, only to be met with the forest glaring back at him. He sighed; he isn't used to being alone, but it was bound to happen one day. Staying on that thought, he drifted off to sleep; the fire he lit began to die out as well. While his consciousness drifted away, he thought about his first ever victory against the strongest opponent he had ever fought.

The next day Elias continued his journey as quickly as he could. His body hadn't fully recovered, so he moved slower than his previous pace, but he was healed enough to walk at a decent pace. Looking at his map, he realized he was closer to the city than he had originally thought; all of his hard work, the pain, and the doubt all led up to his inevitable arrival at the city of Golden Wings.

His father told him about the city once while he was younger. In fact, it was actually where he grew up. He told him of all the wonderful things the city had, its bustling streets, filled with merchant stands, Black Smiths, clothing stores and all that he could have ever imagined. The whimsical laughter of children filled the air in the day, and the sounds of music during the night. The city was always active, which made it what he called, "A No Sleep Zone." The great contrast between the two made the city all the more lively. Elias was excited; more than that, he was elated to finally get the opportunity to meet people other than his father.

"I wonder what they'll be like. I hope they aren't mean… Maybe they'll be tall… or short… or maybe they'll be a dragon, Dad told me something about that…" His thought was once again interrupted; he heard footsteps. This scene had played out before. So he was hoping, praying, it wouldn't be like it did last time.

"Please don't be a Min, please don't be a Min."

He prayed, peeking through the bush with his eyes closed tightly. Opening them slightly, he was met with…

"Is that...?" He squinted his eyes a little to get a better sight of the figures.

"HUMANS?!" He shouted in his mind, almost screaming out loud. He shifted his stance to be more hidden and gather his thoughts and watched them attentively. He wanted to jump up into the air and click his heels, but the sudden movement would startle them. All he could do was watch from a distance.

"What do I do? What would I say? How would I approach them?"

His thoughts raced a million miles per hour, as he thought of every scenario that could happen, there were 4 of them, 2 girls and 2 boys. His palms began to sweat and his breath began to accelerate, but he kept calm just enough to not be spotted. He wanted to go out and talk to them, but what if they see him as a threat and kill him on sight? In the end he chose to just watch and see where they go. He tuned into their conversation to see how they speak.

"Did you see that new guy who recently entered the city?"

"Runard? The pretty guy?" He rolled his eyes.

"Omg He's so hot!" She blushed, placing her hands on her cheeks and closing her eyes, imagining them together.

"Oh please, I'm even more attractive than that guy." He stood on a rock, planting his right foot forward, proudly pointing to himself.

The others frowned because this delusion has happened several times before.

"Yeah, sure... Keep dreaming, bud." She said while facepalming.

His proud facade dropped. "What? No way… I'm ten times more handsome than him!" He leaped off the rock and jogged to catch up to the group.

Elias watched as they began talking, each step taken more carefully than the other. He watched and learned the way they talked to each other, their mannerisms, even down to the way they walked. He wanted to fit in and be accepted. Suddenly the group stopped talking.

"What happened?" Elias thought, wondering why the group had come to a sudden stop; he didn't hear any monsters nearby, and there isn't any cave for a few miles, so why would they stop?

"Could it be…?"

He took a step back, then another; he thought they had found out he was watching them, so he covered his mouth and slowed his breathing. Then, SNAP!