Suddenly Kestis heard leaves rustling followed by low rumbling growls that reverberated through the forest.
Kestis froze, his eyes darting around in search of the source. However, he only found silence.
He remained frozen, his heart dancing to an erratic rhythm of excitement, excitement for this Chaos Monster being his first real hunt.
'This should be entertaining.' He thought.
He remained motionless a while longer, clinging to every rustle and growl, desperate to decipher the source.
But silence answered.
His heart's dance slowed, shifting to the rhythm of rage.
'I will be having the time of my life, torturing you brainless heap of Nether.' He fantasized, gritting his teeth, his grip on the sword tightening.
Another set of growls and rustles passed.
Kestis gritted his teeth, the sound filling the silence left behind. 'Caution my foot.' He thought, preparing to lunge.
When suddenly he remembered his brother.
His unfortunate childhood was marked by his father's extreme punishments, which were either a result of his naive kindness or fights with his brother, who seemed to derive pleasure from pushing Kestis to his limit, which wasn't high to begin with.
The growls and the rustles were a painful reminder of his brother. "How dare you." Kestis growled, coming to the realization.
His heart danced louder to a more raging rhythm. However, Kestis was in control of the dance.
He took in a deep breath, calming his raging heart.
'It is taunting me, it must be intelligent then.' Kestis thought, closing his eyes to clear his mind.
He loosened his grip around his curling sword. 'It must either be a Tempest or an evolved Behemoth.' He concluded.
With his mind and heart calmer and clearer, Kestis smirked, plotting. 'I will punish you.' He thought.
Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath in preparation.
High in the trees behind Kestis, veiled in shadows, three menacing red eyes glowed with murderous glee.
Arranged in a triangle, the green pupils tracked each of Kestis's movements. Silent, patient, predatory.
The eyes watched in murderous glee as Kestis straightened his back, his posture more relaxed.
It growled in excitement.
As he heard the growl, Kestis smirked. 'Fool.' He thought, almost scoffing.
Slowly and meticulously, he began tightening his grip around his sword, ensuring minimum movement.
Taking a deep raspy breath, he whispered. "Action."
Taking a step, he clenched his fist, veins bulging, he roared. "Show yourself, coward."
He began turning around frantically, shouting, "My patience has been exhausted."
Kestis continued with his meltdown, hurling insults at the mysterious Chaos Monster. However, that was nothing more than an elaborate act.
Beneath his veil of fury, his pupils still darted around in a relentless search.
His grip on his sword was tight and ready for battle at a moment's notice. His mind was clear and sharp; at every twist and turn, it remained an inch away from the Zone.
The three red eyes tracked the breakdown eagerly. The glee radiated in celebration of a successful trap.
The owner of the three eyes moved, unveiling itself. It was a tall, six-foot chimpanzee, covered in purple fur. Its feet, hands, and face were blood red. Its tail was long and powerful, ending in a spike.
Stepping out of the tree's shadows, the Cheshire Chimp smirked, a smirk identical to Kestis's.
Its eyes latched onto Kestis, the smirk turning feral.
Down below, Kestis noticed the chimp as it stepped out from the shadows veiling it.
Purposely facing his back to it to create a false sense of victory, he smirked. 'You deserve a reward for the entertainment.' Kestis thought, a ghoulish smile appearing on his face.
His eyes gleamed with excitement.
'A lesson in setting up traps.' He thought, slithering into the Zone.
The whites of his eyes turned a sinister shade of black, his pupils and iris blended into an intense shade of blue.
Noticing its prey's guard down, the chimp's smirk turned ghoulish.
It cracked all twenty of its digits, lunging at Kestis. The branch it once clenched onto creaked.
Noticing an out-of-place shadow cast on the forest floor, Kestis's smirk turned predatory. His heart's rhythm returned to the fast and loud one of excitement.
He lunged forward.
Where he once stood, the Cheshire Chimp's massive body landed with a thundering thud, shaking the ground and causing dust to rise.
With tense shoulders, Kestis slowly rose to his feet.
"Was my theatre to your liking." He sneered, turning around.
As he saw the dust settle around the beast, he smirked, his heart dancing faster.
He crouched, each of his muscles tensed, preparing for battle.
The moment their eyes met, the chimp hurled a punch at him.
The intelligence that once beamed from its eyes evolved into primal rage.
With a smirk, Kestis stepped to the side.
'What lacking spee...' However, he was mistaken.
The punch was much faster than he had anticipated, as it left him with a bleeding cheek.
Gritting his teeth, he moved his hand, unhurling the sword.
Grounding his feet on the ground, Kestis whipped it at the monster's extended arm.
The sword wrapped around the arm, digging deep, past its fur into its flesh.
A cascade of blood splurged out, painting the ground red; sprinkles landed on Kestis.
Kestis burst out into maniacal laughter, his face a mess of bloodlust and glee.
The Cheshire Chimp shrieked in pain, unable to move its arm.
Raising the other arm, it attempted to free itself.
Noticing the attempt, Kestis's laughter came to an abrupt stop.
His grip around the sword tightening, knuckles turning white, teeth grinding. "Exercise patience." He roared, pulling the sword out of the Chimp's arm.
As the sword slowly left the Cheshire Chimp's arm, it dug out chunks of meat along for the journey back.
It cried in agony, its eyes growing cloudy with rage.
Its blood danced in the air, landing on Kestis in small droplets.
Kestis continued pulling his sword, slowly.
Driven by pain and rage, the chimp lunged its other arm at the sword.
It clung onto the sword, blood spilling out of its palm. The Cheshire's breath was heavy, its body still tingling in pain.
Its eyes locked on Kestis, grinning.
It yanked the sword, lifting Kestis off his feet and into the air.
Watching as its prey flew toward it so defenselessly, the grin conquered more of its crimson visage.
The chimp clenched its raised fist, blood still dripping from it.
Noticing that, Kestis hurriedly relaxed his body, now flying through the air like a piece of rubber.
The Chimp's clenched fist made contact with Kestis's body; however, it wasn't full contact.
The moment Kestis saw and felt the monster's skin, he strained his body, moving it in a manner he loathed.
By stretching and compressing his body simultaneously, he was able to avoid the full force of the punch and decided where to land.
The Cheshire Chimp's arm.
The moment he landed on the monster's arm,he fell to his knees.
His breathing was heavy from the weight of pain, his vision blurred, his mouth metallic from the taste of flowing blood.
Clenching his fist to push the pain down, Kestis groaned to his feet. "I can weep at a later time." He mumbled.
He ran with everything he could muster, straight at the chimp's head.
While he was on his desperate sprint, the monster roared in frustration and pain.
It shook its arm; however, Kestis still persisted.
With no other option, the chimp wielded its tail at the annoying fly on its arm.
Kestis smirked as he saw the flying tail. 'How generous.' He thought.
Abusing his tattered body further, he jumped over the spiked tail. Darker crimson saliva flowed from his sealed lips.
But it was beyond worth it for him, as he was inches closer to the Cheshire Chimp's head.
Their eyes met. There was no more taunting, mocking, or intelligence, just rage and agony.
Seeing that, Kestis smirked. 'Perfect.' He thought, as he jumped from its arm heading for its head.
He looked back and there it was, the spiked tail still chasing after him.
With its arm now free,the Cheshire Chimp tried to slap Kestis, who it thought was flying at its head.
But that was where it was mistaken.
The jump Kestis made was not targeted at the monster's crimson head;rather, it was targeted above it.
While he flew over it, the spiked tail followed his misdirection, plunging deep into the Chimp's crown eye. Before it could even announce the pain, its hand followed, nailing the spike deeper.
Blood spilled out of its eye like a fountain, bathing the area around it.
Its hand fell lifeless to the ground, so did its body and Kestis.
Kestis landed squarely on his back, coughing up blood that landed right back on his face.
He remained down, the pain from his two broken ribs and dislocated shoulder settling in.
He took in slow, deep breaths, each one stabbing at his lungs.
"Now...my...grand...act...will...be...more... believable." He mumbled, in between breaths.
His voice raspy as he fell unconscious.
By his side, the beast body twitched a final time, as the life escaped from its body.
.....
Not far from the battleground was a stream of water; downstream the water was a little clearing.
In that clearing, Talen knelt before the stream of water, using his hands and the water to clean a slick, bloody jian.
The green blood that stained it slowly dissolved into the stream.
The light from the sun reflected off the sword and onto his emotionless face and empty eyes.
Once he was done cleaning his jian, Talen quietly placed it down beside him, then he unwrapped his mother's scarf and began washing it.
His hands gently went over the silky fabric of the scarf in the warm water.
He smiled, his empty smile, as he recollected.
Talen recollected fishing as a child, occasionally with his mother, but mostly with his friends.
It was one of the few things he excelled at as a child.
He paused his laundry, looking at the stream in search of fish; however, there weren't any, but there were signs of them: abandoned eggs and a few small corpses. 'Guess we're having fish for breakfast today.' Talen thought, standing up.
He hurriedly wrapped his mother's scarf around his hand, having to do it twice, after which he began strolling beside the stream.
However, before Talen could go far, he heard rustling behind him.
He stopped mid-step, sighing. 'Perfect timing as always, Henry.' He thought, wearing his mask.
His face was no longer emotionless, but his eyes remained empty.