Light

Warning: contains some violence and frightening scenes.

I finally saw it, and with relief, began to approach.

However, I felt my friend's paw on my shoulder, and promptly directed my attention to her whispers. She was terrified, obviously having seen things in this land that I haven't, and her advice was literally worth my life.

"Temple, no..." she murmured. "Stay away from the light..."

I quickly began backing away around the trees, with Baroness following me. She was shaking now, and her ears were held very low. I began to wonder if she was so deathly frightened because she was a mere bunny, but then I remembered all the times before, when she had not even flinched in the face of a Phantom horde.

"What is wrong with the light? We have never seen it before." I said, while keeping low to the ground.

"It is their beacon... Beacon... They..."

Her voice cracked, and finally trailed off, before her sentence was left utterly incomplete.

I heard rustling and scratching behind us, and turned around almost instantly, with my claws unprotected. I had been through so much by now, that if anything besides Baroness showed itself before me, I'd puff out my mane and maul the horrible beast on the spot.

But nothing showed. Baroness just cowered at my feet, shaking with fear.

"How are we supposed to get out of here...?" I muttered.

Well, it turns out that I don't even know how we got here. I had been living in a lion village, attempting to keep Baroness secret from my tribe members. They had found her, and I risked my life getting her safe, and far away from those filthy traitors...

Back then, after the incident, we found ourselves alone in the forest, alone; the howls and screams of Phantoms and other animals were still persisting in the distance. This was the Great War, or so they call it... Countless lives had already been lost in my town, and I couldn't imagine the damage to weaker and smaller animals.

When I first met Baroness alone in the forest, sobbing, I knew what had happened... They had taken her parents. I couldn't leave her... Cause what do they think I am? Some kind of monster?

But she was no burden; she was quite, quite the opposite. I couldn't have survived without her. She channeled her grief into strength, and defeated many of the Phantoms, with nothing but spears and stone weapons... Many more were defeated than I would've ever thought possible by someone so young and small.

But the world began to look... Strange. Not like our home, but not like the Phantom's pollution either. It just... flipped. It was mirrored, if you could call it that. I've heard strange stories and legends about alternate worlds, worlds that Zios didn't create, and I believed those animals were absolutely out of their minds until I found this place.

Nothing works the same. Gravity fades out in some zones, sounds are distorted, light is distorted... Even your own thoughts will change. Sometimes you'll feel heavy, other times, thin, and stretched...

"Templeclaw?" whimpered Baroness.

"Yes?" I asked, as calmly as I could.

"Run."

There were no questions asked.

We ran.

I had seen glimpses of this thing before, enough to know it wasn't something nice. It talked us, loomed over us, ominously... And not until recently, it stayed that way. Now, it would torment us. Growl, mutter, even tap us on the neck. It wasn't much longer until it tried to kill us. And then I don't even want to know what it'd do after that...

In my mind, I imagined the creature attacking me. In every fantasy, I'd have powerful and quick reactions that led me to victory with Baroness still clinging on to life. But now, it was here, and it was real. I wasn't as brave as I ever thought; there wasn't even a drop of courage inside of me right now. Even though I ached, I ran.

And I realized it was just me.

Ignoring the presence of the monster, I yelled out...

"Baroness! Barone... Where are you? WHERE ARE YOU? BARONESS!"

There was no answer. There was no sound anywhere.

The creature was gone, and so was Baroness.

Brimming with fear and panic, I began to retrace my steps, looking at the fallen leaves to see if they had been moved by our, or my, footsteps... I eventually reached the clearing, where the "beacon" had been before.

I saw pieces. Just... pieces.

Clumps of white fur, and fresh strips of flesh.

Everywhere.

Strewn everywhere.

Nothing else was left, except a measly, yellow scarf. If you haven't guessed by now... it belonged to Baroness.

I said nothing.

I felt nothing...

And then I heard it behind me.

Should I run?

Let it take me?

Fight?

I readied myself to dash out of the clearing, but there were more.

Shadows, behind and around each tree. No eyes, barely a shape. Could barely even described as a figure.

But they had... mouths.

I turned away, and dashed into the shrubs... I heard them follow not long after.

More appeared in front of me, hissing and yowling, louder and even more earsplitting than before.

I took a strike at one, somwhow knocking it unconscious. But the rest... They attacked me.

Biting. Tearing.

Once again, I felt nothing.

I looked around... Just pieces. More pieces...

Pieces of myself...

I felt... empty. Hungry. Like the pieces belonged to me.

The others were taking over my previous body, ripping it apart, bit by bit, then absorbing its energy... I tried to ignore them, but I had strange thoughts. I began to tell myself things.

''You're not ready yet; you just wait. Soon enough you'll act like us, too.''

I did my best to ignore these thoughts, and I continued to watch.

I said nothing.

I did nothing.

I was nothing.