Sufian paused, narrowing his eyes.

  (What the... something is moving in the grass!)

  A rustle. A low growl.

  "Holy—! It’s that lizard monster that attacked us before?!" he gasped.

  He took a step back, glancing around, panic rising.

  (Not now, not when I’m alone... I can’t believe one was here! Damn, I can’t get away—it’s too close!)

  The creature stalked forward, lantern in one hand, a dull blade in the other.

  "That thing isn’t taking its eyes off me for a second... I can’t run like this... still, it doesn’t look all that fast. Okay... if I can just bolt—"

  The monster lunged.

  "ARGH! It jumped at me again!" Sufian yelped.

  A bright flash from the creature’s lantern blinded him. The moment he flinched, it charged again—blade raised.

  Sufian ducked the knife but took the full force of a headbutt straight to the gut.

  "YYOWCH! What the heck, man?!" he wheezed, stumbling back.

  The creature hissed, brandishing its knife again, waving it erratically like it was trying to clean it of something.

  "Sonnnuv— It's gonna charge again!" he said, bracing himself.

  Just then—

  "RUUUUN-RUUUUN!!" came a familiar, shrill voice.

  Sufian blinked. "Is that... Loudboots?!"

  Snagglix tumbled into view from behind the lilies.

  "Chop-chop meanie wants slicey-vengeance, yes-yes! No slow-slow! Go-go or get splat-splat!!"

  Sufian gritted his teeth. "Aw jeez... my legs are—"

  "Me holdy-hold the doom-thing! You leggo fast-fast—no looky back! Bobbie got this... maybe... sorta!! HERE BOBBIE GO-GOES!"

  Snagglix charged the creature, only to be batted away by its powerful tail—smacking straight into Sufian. Both collapsed.

  "Boy, you’re... weak. Like, super weak. You’re the one that should be running!" Sufian groaned.

  Snagglix coughed.

  "But... but Bobbie must do the shieldy-shield, Sufian-friend... Can’t let squishy-you get smashy-smashed... no-no..."

  "Aaaugh!" he yelled, narrowly ducking another wild swing.

  "Uuunngghhh… all hopey-hope gone-gone…" Snagglix muttered, stumbling back.

  Sufian winced.

  (Oh man, this is bad! Loudboots will be in trouble if this keeps up... I can’t believe this tiny little thing’s risking its life to protect me...)

  He glanced around desperately.

  (I know—I can’t just run off and let it fight to the death! But what—)

  His eyes locked on a long branch near his feet.

  Without thinking, he snatched it up.

  "I won’t let you!" Sufian shouted, planting his feet between the monster and Snagglix.

  Snagglix blinked.

  "Sufian doin’ the think-think, but that idea’s got more holes than Bobbie’s sock-socks! Might wanna re-tinker, yes-yes!"

  "Go, Loudboots. At least one of us should escape!"

  Snagglix puffed out his cheeks.

  "Can’t leave squishy Sufian behind-back!"

  "Well I guess that makes two dead bodies then."

  Snagglix suddenly brightened.

  "Oooh! Now-now that you say-say the word-word… Bobbie brain do a wiggle-twist! Hmmm...!"

  "Ha ha ha... in a bit of a pinch, but you know what? I can't afford to laugh..."

  Sufian raised a brow as Snagglix frantically rummaged through his bulging satchel.

  (What is he doing right now...?)

  "FOUNDY-FOUND IT!!" Snagglix yelled triumphantly, pulling out two metal spheres.

  "Huh? What’re you—" Sufian’s eyes widened. "...Bombs?"

  Snagglix grinned wildly.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Jaw drop—Bobbie ’boutta show the SHOW!!"

  With a flourish, he hurled both bombs directly at the creature.

  "YOU GILL-BOBLIN GUT-SNAKE!! Time to go chomp-chomp to the after-boom—BOBBIE!!"

  A deafening explosion rocked the air.

  Sufian’s mouth hung open.

  (Incredible... it really was a bomb!)

  Smoke cleared slowly. The monster was gone—nowhere in sight.

  Snagglix dusted himself off and struck a dramatic pose.

  "WHEEEWIE-WHEW! Bobbie still breathin'!"

  Sufian laughed breathlessly.

  "You were the bomb out there, Loudboots! I thought you were crazy to fight that thing, but you freaking took it out..."

  "No-no, silly-sprocket! Hee-hee~!" Snagglix giggled, spinning in place proudly.

  Sufian blinked.

  "...Okay. I really don’t get it. But anyway... you really saved my bacon back there. I owe you one."

  "Ehehehehe~! That go-goes DOUBLE-BOUBLE for Bobbie-heart, Sufian-friend!"

  Sufian chuckled softly.

  "...Seriously, what the heck’s going on here?"

  "No brain-juice!"

  "...Right, makes sense. I guess it’s my fault for asking you in the first place."

  He shook his head with a small smile.

  (Man, everyone’s gonna freak out when they see you...)

  Suddenly, his eyes widened.

  "Everyone... that’s right. I have to go look for them!"

  Snagglix tilted his head.

  "Waity-wait... ‘Everyone’? Bobbie ain’t met that one!"

  "Oh, I mean all my friends. A weird chain of events brought us to this shrine. We all ended up together at one point, but... a landslide separated us."

  Sufian’s voice dropped, the weight of it returning.

  Snagglix frowned.

  "Is-that-righty-right?!"

  (If they aren’t around here, maybe they went back to the school already...)

  "Well, first thing—I have to make it back to the school building. But I have no idea where I am in these woods. The fog doesn’t help, that’s for sure."

  Sufian stepped toward the trees.

  "Sufian!! Fog-fog’s eaty-fog! You go poof in the puff! Stay-backy-back!" Snagglix warned, grabbing his arm.

  Sufian paused.

  (The fog? Huh, I didn’t really notice before, but I think it got thicker.)

  He turned, smiling slightly.

  "I’m not going because I want to. Even without it, I’d have trouble figuring out where I am. If we’re attacked by that weird thing again, it won’t end well for us..."

  His expression darkened.

  "I wonder how likely another attack would be..."

  He glanced at Snagglix.

  "Hey Loudboots. About that lizard monster thing... is that a friend of yours or what?"

  (First I’ve ever seen a thing like that.)

  Snagglix puffed out his cheeks, offended.

  "Know THAT?! Pffft—no-no, never-ever!! Bobbie don’t friend-friend with rushy-smashy backstabbers! Rude-boom types get NO hugs, yes-YES!!"

  "Oh, I didn’t mean like a FRIEND-friend, just—"

  "Bobbie no hity-hity humes for fun-fun! That’s they dirty-dish behavior! Bobbie fight fair-fair with spark!" he huffed.

  Sufian raised both hands.

  "All I’m asking is how you guys are connected, that’s all... Wait. ‘They’? Don’t tell me there are others out there besides that lizard thing?"

  Snagglix stood tall, raising his arms and lifting a foot like a giant.

  "OHHH YES-YES, LOADS-N-LOADS!! Big-big bruisers! Toughy-buffs! Zoomy-flyers with wingy-wings! Fast-fast dashers, fuzzy-wuzzy nibblers! We’s the Beast Tribes, roarin’ loud and proud—RAWR-RAWR!!"

  Then he stopped, worried.

  "O’coursey-course! Some beasties all nicey-shiny, bring ya snacks and singy-songs! Others? Big meanies with stomp-stomp moods! Good ones, bad ones—world’s a mixy-mess, yes-YES!"

  Sufian put a hand to his head.

  "Loads and loads, you say? I feel a headache coming on..."

  (There’s loads of things like that out there?! ...This is my first time hearing about this. And definitely my first time seeing it. And he says there’s a bunch of tribes, too? What’s going on?!)

  (Maybe something happened back at the shrine? Like we accidentally broke some sort of seal on the place... that could’ve released those bizarre creatures into the world, right? That reminds me... Amaya was talking about some 'retribution' thing back there, wasn’t she? NO WAY... I thought that kid just had a weird sense of humor!)

  (Still... it doesn’t feel weird being with this talking creature. It’s almost like... I’ve known this little guy for a long, long time...)

  Sufian rubbed his temple.

  "...Did the fall do something to my head?"

  Snagglix peered at him.

  "Hm-hmm? Sufian lookin’ all squish-sigh… Trouble in your tick-tock? Tell Bobbie, me listen good-good."

  Sufian gave a tired smile.

  "Well... I was wondering what to do," Sufian muttered, casting a glance around the eerie terrain.

  (This place shouldn’t be that far from the shrine...) he thought. (I doubt that lizard monster went and beat up everyone in our group back there. One of my friends might still be around here.)

  "Monster’? Pfft—no-no, wrongy-wrong!" Snagglix barked, shaking his head with a dramatic wobble. "That lizardy-dude? He’s no beastie-thing! He’s a Tonberry, y’see? One o’ them fishy-folk tribes! Got brains, got feels—just like you-you!"

  "Oh... so that tribe is a Tonberry? Got it." Sufian nodded slowly, processing the new information. "Now let's see... I think we should head back to the school for now. I want to look for my friends along the way. Would you mind helping me, Loudboots?"

  Snagglix struck a dramatic battle-ready pose, his little arms flaring out with gusto.

  "With ya like glue-glue on a gearshaft, Sufian-friend! You leady-lead, I follow-fly—LET’S DO!"

  "All right... let’s go—" Sufian said

  Before he could finish, a piercing scream echoed through the woods.

  "AUUUUUURGH!"

  "Was that a scream I just heard?!" Sufian’s head shot up, adrenaline spiking.

  "YEAH-YEAH!" Snagglix’s big ears twitched. "Sounded all hume-y-hume, for sure-sure! Bobbie ears heard it—came from that way! That-way-that-way!"

  He bounded ahead, flailing a finger in the direction of the sound. Sufian didn’t hesitate to follow.

  "That voice..." Sufian said "I swear it sounded like Ali. Over by the shrine! Okay, let’s go!"

  "YEAH-YEAH!!" Snagglix squealed in agreement, bouncing at his side.

  (I reflexively started running when I heard Ali cry out...) Sufian thought, heart pounding. (At that point, I hadn't given much thought to the situation I'd found myself in—about the mysterious creature Loudboots, or the place I'd wandered into. Who knew things would turn out like this... an adventure with our lives on the line. I couldn't have imagined it back then, even if I'd tried.)

  ?????

  ridiculously hard :<

  his speech is fun but ooof my brain gets all scrambly every time he talks...

  might tweak it a bit in the future if it keeps frying my brain-circuits ;;

  thanks for sticking with the chaos! :3