The pain running through his veins is so excruciating that even though he opens his mouth with the intention to scream, no sound manages to leave his chest.
The feeling of having your soul burnt is ineffable. This man crawling on the grown and ripping his clothes off has experienced many pains and struggles in his 35 years of career as a killer. Drowning, torture, suffocating, getting a layer of skin peeled off alive, going hungry for days, drinking the blood of his relatives, walking through fire, jumping off bridges with a vehicle, getting shot, getting stabbed, getting beat up until even your last breath doesn't remain, etc, etc...
What has he not experienced?
But the pain he currently feels is like no other. He has never felt such pain in his meager life. It feels like going to hell. The despair of not knowing when it will end added to the pain of being burnt alive. If he survives this, he will probably end up with a phobia of fruits and glowy trees.
^_^
The sun is up in the skies once more. The writhing man on the soil didn't have the energy to count the days that passed. The burning sensation in his body reaches a breaking point and a loud scream tears the skies and scares the birds away again. It lasts only a minute and slowly the man calms down and lays still for a while.
The pain gradually subsides and the young boy's lifeless body stays sprawled on the ground for a good half hour before attempting to support himself into a sitting position.
His muscles are tense and filled with electric current whilst his throat subconsciously opens to let out a scream, but he keeps it in and bears with it.
After taking a few breaths of air, the man leans his body against the same hateful tree that tried to kill him while glaring hatefully at it.
He tries to prop himself up, but miserably and pathetically fails. So he just lays there, motionless.
Having nothing better to do, he begins to listen to the small sound of the forest and breathes in the wisps of wind going past from time to time.
The moment he nears the arms of morphe, he gets suddenly startled awake by a soft touch on his forehead. Looking up, he realizes that nighttime has come. Simultaneously, the tree behind him lights up like a shining star and a warm light slowly makes his way into his body through the root end on his forehead.
At first, he tries to swap the root away vengefully and resentfully but is quickly stopped by the pain shooting through his arm and shoulder. Therefore, he has no choice but to lay there vulnerable and exposed as the hateful tree does whatever it wants to him.
His wounds and the lingering pain crippling his members and organs start to disappear slowly as the warm light continues to flow through his bloodstream.
He can't be bothered to keep track of time as the fire in his body dies down and the moon reaches high up into the sky.
He slowly stands up as the night world wakes up in the jungle and eerie sounds start to be heard.
The young lass finally manages to stand on his two feet and leaves as soon as he can without even looking back to the now shining tree.
^_^
Walking through the forest, he spots a blue giant cheetah-looking animal. Should he pounce or flee?
After deliberating for a couple of seconds, he takes out his dagger and runs towards it with the goal of snatching its fur in mind. If he can take its fur, he will be able to sneak into the next herd traveling to the black lake. There he can fill his flask and quench his thirst. However, if he stays as he is, smelling like a human, even just approaching the lake during day-time will be impossible.
The blue predator quickly puts its guards up and adopts an offensive stance with its canines protruding from its mouth.
Dagger still in hand, he stays still and unblinking while making sure not to show his back; which leads to both of them moving in circles without attacking.
After a tense 2 minutes or so, the sound of a twig breaking cuts through like a knife and the giant Cheetah pounces first with its jaw wide open heading for the neck.
Now alert, he dodges by crouching and rolling under the animal before quickly facing the now running cheetah. He waits for it to jump towards him again and crouches again this time aiming for the jaw.
He performs an uppercut and doesn't wait for the blue creature to get back its senses to lodge the dagger deep between its ribs.
The Giant creature is dizzy and trips for less than a second. Then, it quite suddenly and rashly tries to bite into the daring human's leg standing a few from him.
Not expecting it, the young man first jumps back but quickly lifts his right foot high up into the air and brings it down to the Cheetah still in its momentum. Its head gets hit but it's still going for the left leg.
Still using his right leg, the man catches the animal's neck between his two feet and performs a weird twist, consequently snapping the Blue Cheetah's neck and killing it.
When the matter is done, he wipes his dagger with a dirty, bloody cloth and places his new gain atop his shoulder.
He marches for a long time until he finds a suitable place to skin his win and roast himself a good BBC.
He sets up a fire and begins the arduous work of skinning his prey.
When the coat is removed, he takes out the ligaments and tendons to sew the pelt and wears it as a sort of cloak with the jaw sitting on top of his head.
He eats the food and sets towards the black lake.