Flailing in the air, I crash into the trees. Bark snaps and splinters until one holds strong. I hit the ground and roll onto my back. A bug charges me, its claws wide open. It reaches for me!
Panic flashes through me, and I cover myself. It pelts me with dull thuds and I glimpse at its erratic movements. Whimpers escape me as my mind struggles to comprehend the circumstances. The bug roars against my face and I flinch.
A hand goes through the ground.
"Huh!?" I let out, falling into the trench dug by a single motion. The bug's next blow goes overhead, denting the tree. It grabs my ankles and roars again. I freeze up as it exerts itself to pull me out of the hole. Sliding along the ground and smacking all with solid form, I pick up air.
The monster releases me, and I go flying towards a tree. Smashing through yet another, I roll through the smattering of splinters. I smack a hand down and manage to stop myself. My eyes flinch at the mess still raining down on me.
Hearing the groaning oak, I watch the tree fall and scramble up. I land upright on a cracking trunk and the leaves break apart as the bug charges through. My body locks up. I need to move.
"N-N-No!" I stutter as the bug closes the gap. It rolls its shoulders and drives its initial blow to my chin. My back scrapes along the tree and I go up into the air. Its claws yank me back down and then latch onto my neck.
The monster roars and throws me back into the open. I roll along the ground and it leaps after me. It grabs me again and smashes me on another tree, claws back on my neck. Thumb digits pressing down as I gulp.
Though I feel nothing physically, I react as if I do. My hands scramble about, looking for anything that I can use as a weapon. How am I supposed to overpower a monster with arms this thick!? I spot the woman!
But... She's just standing there. The seed's on the floor, but she's just standing there!
What is she doing!? She's standing there! Why? Why is she just standing there and doing nothing-
A boom in the air.
I spot a cloudy trail coming down from the sky, towards her... My eyes stay on the object the whole way until it reaches her hands and- I thump to the ground, a pair of lopped-off arms on me. Powerful winds wash me down leftward, right to the ground.
Following the motion, I find the rest of the bug far away in two pieces. Two separate bleeding pieces. The woman is over there as well... A sword in her hands.
"W-What the..." I quiver, staring intently at the blade and the ominous glow it has. That is the item she was standing around for...? Whatever the reason, I scramble backwards. I lose control of my body. Flying right into the mountain.
My eyes shake and I make the long stare towards the bloodied blade.
She turns around with a heavy pant, some kind of trance ending. Shards of stone dribble down around me, my head aching with bone-splitting pain. I stagger out of the wall. My steps powerful and heavy in a way they should not be. Despite my struggle to breathe, I look around.
There's the trench I made at the start. The trees I've been smashed right through and against. Another stone goes past my eye and I pat my shoulder, gently. Rocks crunch and crack, and I bring the dusty palm back into view. Little bits falling out of my handprint.
I turn around to the wall crater I made and blink as another shard falls, rocks were showering me...
Breathing heavily, I look at the woman as she plants her sword. She bends over, clutching her front. Turning towards the seed, I make the first few shuffles- A twig snaps. I twist around towards the attention catcher.
Something small moves in the shadows, what sounds like a work harness jostling. It steps out into the evening light. Out comes that furry creature. The one from... Anvil-Peak!
"YOU!" I roar as all my suffering suddenly makes sense. It's all this creature's fault! This damn, height-lacking dwarf covered in mangy fur! It's their- her fault!
My mad rush begins, and I charge.
She shifts abruptly, a stick rising. A bang of flash and smoke. I come to a stop as a sudden feeling stings my head. That's it... It's just a little sting.
Confused, I rub the spot where *I was shot,* and frown. Bits of something come right off of me. Catching some, I bring it into view. Her gun doesn't use bullets. This is not a bullet that has broken up on my forehead. It is something else, something *larger.* It is even covered in glowing spots, like the woman's sword.
Whatever this once was, my head should be agape. Something once that big should've punctured my skull. My brain should be shredded and it should've exploded right out the back. My hand pats the back of my head, where I find no gaping hole...
I snicker.
Quivering, I get louder and louder until I am laughing hysterically. The pile of bullet-thing shards fall from my palm. I rub the spot on my head again, going quiet. I think about it. I think about...
I was shot in the head. I am alive. I was shot in the head. I... I...
I didn't die!
"HOW AM I ALIVE!?" I roar as I fall to my knees. Growling and glaring, I bring a fist back and punch the earth. The ground explodes in my face and I feel and see every speck of it. I want to laugh again. But, I don't.
I punch the ground again. And again. Again. Again. Again and again to the rising heat in my body.
The woman's hand slips in and catches my fist. My eyes shift and I meet hers, she's stopped me without the slightest hint of strain. Her head nudges up and I get to my feet at her behest. I stare at her as she shakes her head. Tugging my still-caught hand out of her grip, I try to calm down.
She lets go and I look at the hand, pondering far more than it with each tensing of the fist...
"What's happened to me?" I beg her to somehow answer as everything rushes to the front of my mind. I can now leap metres into the air when I am trying to walk. Trees and rocks make way for me, I do not break on them... A bullet was shattered to pieces on my forehead!?
It is exhausting, all of it is.
My knees lose their strength again and I fall onto them. A sniffle blocks out all other noises in my ears. The stress gets to me. I cover my face with a hand as my mind lectures me like it's a different person.
I feel like I should be able to handle this. It's only being made worse by the face I should be... I should be able to handle this. It!
Bad things have happened to me throughout my life. I am, was, a grounder. As rough as it got in Tobaballe. It's a cutthroat, unstable place that speaks so proudly of merit and how it leads to your ascension in life. I made my way from nothing like everyone else in that city, in my home...
Why...?
Why am I not able to keep calm here, though? I should at least be able to keep this to myself, no? No... I am whimpering like a baby instead...
The woman puts her hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently.