Chapter Text
Deep within the forests of Robloxia, Telamon’s Peak stands tall amongst the pines below it. Somewhere halfway up the mountain, a large cave is carved into one of the many shoulders of the mountain. The ceiling of the cave is covered in stalactites.
Hanging silently from said stalactites are glow worms, which seem like stars against the darkness of the hollow space.
And right in the centre, curled beside the small crystalline pool in the middle of the cave, is a large creature. Its body is covered in smooth black fur, with its neck having quite a lot of fluff.
Its tail is thick at the base, slowly thinning as it gets to the tip. Along the end of the creature’s tail are sharp spikes of various lengths—going from short to long.
Its claws are big and sharp, capable of tearing right through the scales of any reptile. Its razor-like teeth are an odd colour of light teal, the same as its eyes.
Pursuer is this creature’s name. For now, it slumbers quietly, peacefully.
Pursuer doesn’t have a species, as there is only one of it. It spends most of its time slumbering, and only wakes to feed itself. It particularly enjoys large animals such as deer.
It often wanders the woods whenever it’s awake, but doesn’t dare go near the city. It knows that humans live there, and would much rather keep to itself.
And that’s how things should’ve stayed.
But no.
Somehow, the Government has managed to find out about Pursuer and his origins. They think that Pursuer is too dangerous to be left alive, so, they’ve sent a group of trained hunters to slay him in his sleep.
Unfortunately, Pursuer is quite easy to wake, and the moment that the humans step into his domain, he lashes out, killing all of them swiftly.
A rare emotion wraps around him. Fear.
What if more humans come? What if all the humans want to kill him? Why is this happening? What did he do to deserve this?
He’s not safe. Not while there’s still humans around. Killing them all is the only answer.
Rising to his full height of six feet and two inches tall, he pads out of his cave—his home—and begins his rampage, fuelled by fear.
He’s not scared of dying. He can’t die. He can get hurt to a severe extent, but he can’t die.
He’s scared of the humans and their weapons. They have guns, tanks, and artillery. They have tiny cages that they put bad humans in, and he’s sure he’s no different.
[…]
Days turn into weeks, and weeks into months. Pursuer is still hunting and killing.
He’s just killed a young hiker. Something on the hiker’s body glints in the sunlight. Curious, he picks up the small rectangular object—it has holes at the front.
Cluelessly, he blows over the holes, and the object makes a funny sound. He tilts his head and blows again—the same noise plays, but in a different tone. How peculiar.
Pursuer decides to keep this strange object that the hiker seemed to call a “harmonica”. He enjoys the silly sound it makes.
He perks up at the sound of footsteps behind him. Another human. He growls deeply and lets out this ungodly howling noise that sounds more like a screech than anything else.
The human squeaks in fear, frozen for a moment before she breaks into a sprint in the same direction she came from.
Pursuer drops to all fours and gives chase. This human may be fast and smart, but nothing and no one can outrun Pursuer.
He only takes a few bites of the human before deeming the meat “unfresh”, and burying it so it can decay. Then, he decides he wants to get a better view of his territory.
He scrambles up the nearest tree for a better view of his hunting grounds. The city looms beyond the trees, and for once…he isn’t scared of it.
When he was younger, he wanted to be peaceful like the deer and rabbits that roam the forest. But now, peace isn’t an option.
He must do what he has to.
The humans caused their own demise.
[✦✦✦]
Pursuer sits by the lake, watching as fish swim through the water. He really wants to catch one and eat it. But the only problem is that he doesn’t know how to swim.
Oh well, it’s not like water can kill him, right? Yeah! Water is just water.
He waddles into the water, shivering slightly at how cold it is. He’s tracking a fish as it darts through the water. He doesn’t realise that he can’t feel the sand under his paws until he misses his attempt to catch the fish.
Instinctively, he panics and starts flailing wildly, letting out tiny little screeches as he fails to swim back to shore.
Just as he thinks he’s about to drown, he feels himself get picked up by something much taller than he is, but doesn’t get to see the creature that rescued him.
The creature is already gone by the time he looks up.
How odd.
[✦✦✦]
Pursuer growls as it traverses the forest, always on the lookout for humans to kill and eat. Its sense of smell is impeccable and unmatched by any other creature. Its sight, too, is incredibly great—it can see in pitch black darkness.
Its paws make no sound despite its body weight. The only sound that comes from it is its soft growling and huffing.
It pauses suddenly, catching a whiff of human flesh nearby—to the east of its current position. It turns eastward, and races off in that direction, swift and silent.
Once it reaches its destination—which is the location where the scent is strongest—and there, sat by a fire, is a human, all alone.
Pursuer lets out that hellish howl again, and then he waits for a moment. The human obviously heard him—but likely brushed the sound off as a weird animal noise.
Then, he launches himself at the unsuspecting human, clamps his jaws around their neck and then shakes his head, like a dog would do with its favourite toy—tearing their head right off, the sickening sound of ripping flesh echoing quietly.
He then tears into the human’s abdomen, exposing their ribcage and organs to the frigid autumn air. Blood gushes from where their head used to be, forming a pool of blood.
Blood coats his claws and face. He has his face buried in the human’s abdomen, devouring a few organs and a good portion of blood. His tail whips back and forth behind him.
It doesn’t take long for him to deem the human as no longer fresh. Just like always, he buries the remains to decay in complete silence. No one will ever find the bodies of his victims.
Pursuer continues on, not minding that he’s covered in blood. By now, he’s used to it. He’s been doing this for months now.
But…he’s tired. All he wants to do is go back to his cave and sleep. Yet he knows that he can’t. The humans are still hunting him.
He doesn’t want to be trapped in a small cage forever. He’s too big for a cage.
He was made to be free and wild, like all the other animals that live outside of the city.
He has to keep going. He has to stay awake and alert. He’s not going to let anything or anyone catch him off guard.
Pursuer still remembers being small and weak. He hates the feeling of vulnerability with a burning passion. He hates feeling weak and small. He’s neither of those things!
He’s big and strong. He’s smart, capable, and a great fighter. So why does he feel so small and weak now?
Has fear really made him this vulnerable?
The moon shimmers in the night sky, the millions of stars twinkling gently. It’s quiet, serene, and almost peaceful.
Pursuer sits in a tree, watching the sky. He still doesn’t know what he did to deserve anything that’s happened to him.
He doesn’t understand any of it. He was just peacefully sleeping, only to wake up to humans trying to kill him. He didn’t even do anything wrong to them.
When humans do something bad, it’s not a big deal, but when a creature like him dares to exist too close to the city, it’s like it’s the end of the world.
Maybe-…Maybe he is the problem. Maybe the humans are right.
Maybe he is just the violent monster they say he is.
Pursuer holds his harmonica close as he curls up on the thick branch. His harmonica is his comfort item. It makes him feel just a little bit safer.
He doesn’t sleep.
He can’t.
Not now.
Not until he’s sure he can sleep safely.
Why does this have to be so difficult?
How can he convince them that he’s not what they think he is?
When will he feel safe again?
Where is safe?
Who is safe?
What does safety feel like?
He’s forgotten what safety feels like.