Chapter 5: The Earth

A Giant green humanoid lion along with a well figured green tiger girl was standing in front of Safo's seat. Both were staring at him with their dark green eyes, black pupils enlarged as if they were looking at potential prey.

Restricted by straps all over, so that he could move only eyes which were wide open now. Just until that moment two of his torturers used growling and roaring in order to communicate. But suddenly the green lion said actual understandable words looking directly at him.

"Do...you...understand...me?"

Safo Nur couldn't believe what he was hearing. His senses were contradicting each other, with eyes he saw that lion opened his jaw and growled at Safo Nur, but at the same time, he heard words that he could understand.

With a face full of shock Safo Nur forgot to breathe and blink.

"It is working." Said tiger girl next to him.

Same as before in his mind Safo Nur knew that they are still roaring and growling like real tigers and lions naturally should do, but at the same time the same mind was able to recognize what they were telling.

"Am I seeing hallucinations? Is it because of pain that my mind went crazy or they did something to me?" Safo Nur was unable to wrap his mind around it.

"Do not panic, do not be afraid. We are not your enemies. We will not harm you." Continued lion slowly.

"He is speaking a little wrong, but for a lion, he speaks well in human language. What the hell I'm even thinking?! How is this possible for him to speak our language?" Safo Nur was slowly gaining his consciousness and ability to think straight and analyze.

With the speed of light thoughts and questions were changing each other without any rational answer. An option that everything was some sick prank was no longer active, the situation went too far for a mere prank. It was all real with real pain. The tiger girl installed something in his brain and spine. Guess that Safo Nur currently was in some sort of a lab or a place where scientists made gene experiments was nearer and nearer to be true.

At this point, the lion and tiger were certain that Safo Nur could now understand them.

"He definitely can understand you, continue." The green furry girl was encouraging a lion.

The fact that Safo Nur moved his attention from one to another when they spoke proved her statement.

"Listen, I know it is hard to accept, and we are sorry about the cage and inconvenience. I'm very sorry for scaring you. I didn't mean to. I'm, really, sorry." The green lion spoke with an apologetic voice.

"We came from another galaxy looking for you. But we didn't know how you look so we had to kidnap people with similar energy signatures. We desperately need you and your mother. Please forgive our ways." The giant lion's voice became a little sad. He was looking at the floor more than anything.

"What the fu*k he just said? Another Galaxy? What the hell is going on here?" Safo Nur was completely lost but didn't believe a word that the green lion said.

"My name is Kutch Woods, this is my sister O'rmon Woods. What is your name? As I said, we came here to find you. New Tenga needs you two. You and your mother can return home now." Kutch Woods said with a more confident voice now.

Then he stood up and took off the strap that held Safo Nur's head.

In fear and cautious Safo Nur sat still.

"I will free you now. Again we meant no harm to you. Please nod if you understand me" Kutch waited for a response.

"What do I do? I have no freaking idea what he is talking about. I don't think I have a choice." Safo Nur made a barely noticeable nod which was enough for Kutch Woods to start to loosen the straps and handcuffs.

Safo Nur didn't move though. He didn't even rub his wrists after being released, he sat motionlessly.

The green lion Kutch asked him questions and invited him to stand up but couldn't get any response from Safo Nur.

Looking disappointed O'rmon stood and said. "I don't have time for this. I have to return the others. Try to find out the location of the princess so we can talk with her. She will understand us." Then she went towards the exit.

"Now!" As soon doors opened for the green tiger girl Safo Nur jumped from the chair and ran. He was hesitating before because he wasn't sure how doors worked. If they were not automatically and opened only by command for certain people, his escape run would be futile. But now with open doors, Safo Nur finally had at least a chance to leave the room.

Even though he had no plan he preferred to run than stay and get involved with ugly monsters.

And so he ran. At the door, he pushed O'rmon with all his might that he could gather after strength-draining torture. To that push, Safo Nur also attached every bit of his anger and grudge against the girl who hurt him so much.

O'rmon didn't expect a sudden burst of aggression from Safo Nur. She went a couple of steps back before regaining her posture.

Corridor was bright and long, with numerous doors by both sides. Safo Nur turned to the left, not to the right where the cage room. He already passed about 8 to 10 doors but all of them were closed. No place to hide or escape yet appeared in the vicinity. A couple of times he checked his back to see if the cat family was chasing after him.

Creepy sight scared him up to the feeling like his very guts were twisting and he would vomit right there and then. The three-meter lion and a regular human size tiger were just slowly walking towards him. They didn't bother to run, they looked as if they were confident in a favorable hunt.

Four predator eyes focused on prey that had zero chance to run away.

Somehow this only gave Safo Nur more strength and will to run. "Faster! I have to run faster." Safo Nur kept running even if his legs gave away a bit because of the dread.

After a hundred meters, in that corridor, Safo Nur came closer to a turn. With no time to spend on which side to choose he went to the right. But as soon as he neared to turn a shadow appeared.

Someone cloaked under a black thick mantle, it was definitely, not an ordinary cloth. It gave an image of thick and heavy metal cloth.

Enveloped by that mantle, the mysterious figure moved its head up but still was unrecognizable in the shadow of the hood.

Safo Nur using his momentum threw a kick to jump from that person and run forward. In his head, he could at least make a surprise attack like before and escape while his foe will remain in shock.

Unfortunately for him, that didn't happen as smoothly as he thought. Safo Nur at full speed jumped with one leg stretched and met the stomach area of the hooded figure. But immediately Safo Nur himself flew away and hit the wall at the opposite side. His leg was numb and hurt, it was like kicking a building in an attempt to move it.

Hastily Safo Nur stood up and started running, for his surprise Safo Nur found out that a person under the hood didn't try to follow him.

Safo Nur ran not for long though soon after his collision with the hooded figure he entered a huge room with a large number of electronic devices that he couldn't recognize. All was shining, blinking, and showed symbols that he never saw in his life. But the most shocking was the massive viewing point, and the image on it was … a blue marble - the planet Earth.

Planet Earth with a Moon by its side was perfectly pictured on a massive windshield-shaped glass. It took Safo Nur quite some time to come back from his thoughts.

"Is this a joke? It cannot be a real Earth?! If it is, that will only mean that I'm in some kind of space station. But that can't be true." Safo Nur was deep in thoughts, he remembered checking his phone after he found himself in a cage. It didn't last too long after he was shot by a tranquilizer. It was impossible to send a hundred people into space in that period.

The most confusing and main fact against the theory that he was currently in space was the fact that he was perfectly standing on his legs. Which was possible only with gravity.

"You can't leave this place that easy. And yes you're in space in a spaceship." Just as if she can read minds O'rmon's voice came returning Safo Nur to reality.

All three of them now stood blocking the way back to the corridor. It was the only way to exit that room.

"Listen, we are trying to hurt you if you give us a chance we will answer all of your questions. You are the future king of the New Tenga system and Psiora race." Kutch Woods said.