CHAPTER FOUR- ONE POOR RABBIT

After wondering deep in the woods, the bear subsided and Monster regained control. He stood up and started looking around. Monster walked over to a nearby tree, and he touched it, and his hand retreated. Up until now, his hands had only met the rough wet bricks of his prison. But this tree bark was something else entirely. Experimentally, he pressed his the palm of his hand against the tree. H curled his fingers and broke off a piece, Monster slumped down at sat on the ground. He played with the piece of bark, breaking it up in his hands, he listened to the bark. He listened closely to the crunch it made as he snapped it in two and then two again. The sound made him smile. Then he spotted something on the ground. A pretty little thing on the ground. He plucked it from the ground, and coursed the soft petals ever so lightly.

Around that point, Monster regarded the surrounding area. That’s when he heard something, the noise prompted Monster up. What approached him, was a rabbit, a tiny fluffy thing with light brown fur, two beady black eyes and the tiniest button nose. The bunny rose its head up to greet him.

Monster kneeled down, and reached out to touch it, it looked so soft. For a moment it sniffed at the large approaching hands but in the end, it ran away before he could touch it. The little rabbit ran straight into the bushes and Monster ran after it.

The rabbit led Monster through patches of odd looking mushrooms, Monster patted the flaring tops of the mushrooms causing it to collapse under the weight of his hand. The mushroom had reached as high as Monsters forearm and he frowned at its untimely fall. That’s when he remembered the rabbit, and started running off again. At this point Monster had lost sight of it entirely, but persisted in running after the little creature.

That’s when Monster walked into a clearing in the forest, draped in rays of sunlight, a little shack stood over the low cut grass.

Monster looked around, and approached the shack. “Wait,” he heard, but failed to understand. He stepped over a row of stones. Stones that he noticed ran a circle around the house. Still. He moved on. Stepping on the first of a tiled path leading to the front door. Before he could take another step. He felt a sharp pain. He looked down. Dumbfounded, he found a hilt of a knife or dagger, sticking out of his chest.

Red ran down his leg. For a moment he watched his blood escape him. Then he looked up, up at the source of his pain. Standing on the roof of the shack, was a person dressed in dark garbs.

The person didn’t say a word, merely stretching out her arm. Another dagger slide out of her sleeve, she plucked it out of the air and throw it. The knife span in the air slicing through it like a gleaming metal disk. This time, something clicked. “I told you to wait,” a crisp aged voice rung in Monsters ear. The dagger had slowed to a halt in mid-air and just like that, another person appeared.

The old man stood, facing Monster, only a few steps away from him. The old mans eyes shone like stars in the night sky. Together, they made for a beautiful painting, yet the canvass, his face, was covered in wrinkles and imperfections. His long face flowed into a pale white beard, and his white beard flowed into a long dull robe that covered the vast majority of his figure.

Monster raised his hand, and swatted the old man out of the way. At least, he tried. Monsters hand moved through the old man as if he wasn’t there to begin with. “My name is Cosmo, in a weird way, I am you, just like the bear,” Cosmo looked at Monster, “Right, you can’t understand me.” The old man took Monsters head in his hands, and Monster, unable to move, felt the old wrinkled hands on his cheeks, then bumped his head (the old mans head) against Monsters. With a odd pain, Monster retroactively began to piece together what the old man had said to him.

“I-I, cAn undersTANd yoU?” Monster said.

Cosmo nodded, “With that out of the way. Lets deal with this.” The old man pointed to the dagger logged inside of Monster.

“Wh-Why Are yoU hELping mE?” asked Monster.

“Because,” Cosmo said as he moved so that he was beside Monster, “I am you. Now do as I do.”

With that the halted time waned and everything sped back into gear. The Knife whirling through the air, continued in its path, and Monster stood at the end of it. Monster watched Cosmo, and Cosmo guided him. “Together now.” Cosmo and Monster said in unison, their legs apart and hands placed in front of their respective abdomens, this was the stance Cosmo put Monster in.

With a word, from Cosmo, a word Monster imitated. With that word, Monster felt something cover his hand, and then Cosmo moved his left hand reaching up so that his open hand was level with his face. Monster copied, not just the movement, but the blinding speed in which it was executed, and with the tip of his fingers, struck the metal blade in mid-air. It veered out of its deathly path and fell harmlessly onto the ground.

At the same time, with Monsters right hand was pulling out the dagger already buried inside his gut. However, there was a magic applied to the act, the dagger was pulled out yet no blood followed it, the wound sealed as the tip of the blade passed through.

Cosmo stretched his right arm out as he said yet another word. And once again, Monster copied. With that the shroud that covered Monsters hand left him, and was fired forward at the dark dressed person. However she had already begun to move, flinging herself from the roof of the shack to the ground and then up into the trees overheard. As if riding on the winds itself, Monsters attacker moved him blinding speed, running circles around him.

Monster returned his hand to its initial position as, under Cosmo’s instruction, he began to focus.

What Monster couldn’t possibly have seen was the fine string she was putting in place. The attack had fastened sturdy string around the trunks of two trees and the proceeded to run up of the trees. The string held fast and strut as she climbed higher and higher until finally it wouldn’t go any higher. She held herself in place, letting the pressure build, and readied yet another dagger, placing it in her last free hand. With that she let herself go the entire process took up less then three seconds. The string and trees acted like a sling and she was the shot. She rocketed down towards the ground, aimed expertly at Monster.

He didn’t even move, there was no way he could react to something so fast. And sure enough. He didn’t. He didn’t have to. In the instants in which her blade inched towards the side of his neck she was stopped, held in the air.

“SORry, BUt, CosMO iS just toO gOoD at thIS.” Monster said. And with a snap of his fingers, the spell was broken.

The assailants eyes widened as she came to her senses. With that, the doors to the shack opened wide and a crusty old woman stood in the doorway. “How WOuld yoU liKe to lEAve?” Monster asked his assailant, at the same time he stared at the witch.

“Sure,” she said, mystified at the troll in front of her as he lowered her down. The two of them backed away from the witch, the old hag watched them retreat into the forest.

After they were out of the witches sight, Monster finally calmed down, and started to feel hollow. He collapsed to the ground.

“Hey, what are you- are you okay?” his companion exclaimed as she tried and failed to prop him up.

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Robert walked southwards, his goal, the edge of the map and he snacked on berries as day slowly shifted into night. He noted how, like the town before it, his new habitat worked on a very simple system. The food web spanned hundreds of animals, many of which he would never know, but nevertheless it was all just one huge game of cat and mouse, a game he loved to watch.

For instance, now, Robert noticed a small rabbit get cornered by a fox-like abomination. Robert was inclined to call it an abomination because of its glowing red eyes, the mark of beast touched by magic. In any case, the rabbit found itself cornered and with no other means of escape it actually turned and faced the beast.

The game of cat and mouse became a desperate grasp at life and the rabbit charged at the fox as it tried for life. Naturally this didn’t play out well for the rabbit, with the fox beast plucking it from the ground by its throat, with its huge jagged fangs. From there it pressed its leg onto the rabbits back and started to pull with its jaw. The rabbits head began to tire free until only the smallest strands of skin kept it linked to the body.

Oh what fun.