Ch.1: A Terror Awakes
Deep within the sprawling forest of Ozama, nature’s reach spread out far and wide, giving bloom to magnificent wonders, while also providing a bountiful habitat for many creatures; wonderful beings who were intelligent, agile, and had absolutely no fear in knowing how to survive.
While some of these creatures walked on four paws, others were more evolved and walked on two feet. Some flew while others swam, some burrowed or climbed. Whatever way they decided to travel, it was a task easily achieved.
Right now, swinging Tarzan-style, vine to vine, through the trees, one creature was smiling wide as he outdistanced the ground beneath his feet with blinding speed, relishing the feel of the wind as it blew violently past his fur.
“Yeehaw!” cried out Rem, the yellow-black Foxcat beaming as his red eyes sparkled brightly.
There was nothing more satisfying than an early morning adrenaline rush to get you juiced, excited for the day. Being one of the most athletic species in the Ozama forest, a Foxcat, Rem fully embraced his natural instincts, enjoying the heart-pumping thrill that filled the core of his very bones.
Slinging further a few more yards, joy suddenly took a pause on Rem’s expression when the young Foxcat noticed something suspicious deep down into the brush.
Directing his path downward, Rem plopped himself gently on the ground, his wild red eyes scanning for any hint of movement as he stalked silently through the grass, senses sharp, ears twitching, alert for any signs of prey.
A small, eerie wind pushed past the trees making the shadows shift around into a twirling dance.
Feeling threatened, Rem reached a hand down to the cloth belt tied around his waist and slowly pulled out the small blue tooth saber he carried there. It was a wicked weapon, gifted to Rem by his father, before he went on an archaeological expedition, then disappeared. Such were the risks when pursuing relics linked to the forest of Ozama’s ancient past.
Pausing the memory, Rem’s ears twitched again, as he turned and crouched down, peering slightly to the right. A ghostly white arm seemed to rise up from the shadows ahead, drifting spookily above the ground, curled, ready for attack. Acting on instinct, Rem steadied himself and then charged. Leaping straight in, the Foxcat swung out his sword, aimed true, then sliced.
The white arm fluttered silently to the ground, lifeless and unmoving, immune to pain, but a scream echoed out loudly from its untimely demise.
“Rem!” shouted out Rem’s mother from the front porch steps of her modest, little house. “Just what do you think you are doing destroying my nightgown when I finally finished hanging out the wash?”
Cringing at the sound of his mother’s tone, Rem shyly tucked his saber away in his belt before turning to face the angry Foxcat. The purple-black female and her yellow eyes were basically seething with rage.
“Uh, Hi Mom,” stuttered Rem, not trying to look directly in her eyes.
“Honestly Rem” said his mother, dropping her shoulders as she approached her reckless son “my laundry can’t take this much more target practice. I know how much you want to make your father proud, but this is going far enough,”
“Sorry Mom” said Rem, feeling guilty despite his pride. Maybe he had taken things a little to far this time. “I promise to never harm the laundry again okay,”
“Good” said Mom, picking up the remains of her tattered nightgown “Now you had better hurry off, you still have to pick up your sister from school,”
With a quick nod to his mother, Rem scaled up the nearest tree, grabbed on to a jungle vine, and swung off towards school.
With the laundry incident behind him, picking up his sister felt like a fair trade. She should be out of class any moment now. Rem wondered what she had learned and if any exciting had happened at school today.
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In all of Ozama, Jungle School was seen as a creature’s paradise; there was nothing that you couldn’t learn there nor do no wrong; From rafting down the vicious rapids of the jagged Natan River to hanging out on the Tree Swing, flipping between nets and vines, performing amazing aerials for all the creatures to see, or sliding down the Cave Slide, passing through long tunnels adorned with glowing, rainbow crystals, making it feel like you were swimming through the stars.
Truly Jungle School was a highlight to every creature, both young and old.
Rem’s younger sister, Era, especially loved riding down the Cave Slide. With all the twists and turns and sparkling crystals you passed, it had to be the best ride in the world in her young mind.
However, though thoroughly she felt enjoyment with every hour that passed, Era was concerned about one kid who didn’t seem so ecstatic as he stood out alone in the corner of the field. He was a Tigerwolf, by the name of Kidar.
A frown formed upon Era’s face. She already knew some of the reasons why Kidar was sad and distant from the other students, her brother had explained it to her many times.
Kidar should have graduated from Jungle School at the same time Rem had but was held back because of his grades. Although Kidar was a powerful and hard-working student, there was mental block he struggled to overcome, and now he had to endure another year of Jungle School with younger kids in his grade.
This condition made the Tigerwolf feel a bit bitter towards others, with only Era and her brother, Rem, willing to break down those personal walls. Behind all that bitterness, Kidar was a sweet person deep down inside. If you were brave enough to have the patience to find out.
Era was about to approach Kidar and attempt for an uplifting chat when something the Tigerwolf did stopped the red and white Foxcat in her tracks.
Kidar’s nose was pointed up now, wildly sniffing at the air, with a mixture of fear and confusion on his face as he looked around, scanning the area with yellow eyes. Immediately, Era began to worry and began looking around as well.
Tigerwolves had the best sense of smell out of anyone in the Ozama forest. If Kidar now sensed trouble, danger could very well be heading their way.
“But I don’t see anything on the ground,” thought Era, her superior eyesight checking through the surrounding brush until she heard a shout come from up above.
“Look up there!” a Blade cried out.
Following the bat-deer’s line of vision, Era looked up to see three shadowy forms hovering over the canopy overhead.
They looked like birds, but there was no way they could be. Not with those large, lightning-edge black feathers, hooded heads, and gleaming fangs. If they truly were an animal of the forest, they were a creature Era had never seen. However, it wasn’t long before one of her fellow student’s shouted out, giving them a name.
“Cobra Hawks!”
At that shout, everyone ran away and screamed.
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Rem was just a few yards away from the Jungle School when the sounds of the first screams reached his sensitive ears.
Sensing trouble, Rem dumped his vine route and quickened his pace jumping from tree to tree.
Something terrible was happening at the school, and they would need all the help they could get to fight it off.