The shifting of the covers was slow and it swayed left and right, as if a snake-like creature was slowly slithering it's way up Rans body.
Still, he slept like a baby on his comfortable pillow.
Soon, the shifting reached the edge of the cover; the sheet was lifted slightly like something had gotten out of it. Then, as if being touched, parts of his face deformed lightly.
The feeling was smooth, but also a little bumpy, like it had indentations of some kind.
Well, that's what it was supposed to feel like if Ran wasn't f**king sleeping!
Wake up, dummy! Don't you see death staring at you in the eyes!?
And, as if on cue, Rans eyelids twitched and his eyebrows furrowed.
The f**k was that!? His eyes shattered open like a glass pane coming into contact with a wrecking ball.
He jumped his *ss off the bed and looked around carefully as his eyes were still trying to fully wake up.
Drip. A drip sound was picked up by his ears as he looked down. There, was a drop of what appeared to be some type of thin mucus as it stuck to Rans fingers and stretched when pulled apart. He looked up, but didn't find the source. Yet, why was his face kind of itchy?
He touched his face and found his cheek full of the stuff! Nani!? And why was the scent oddly familiar!?
However, it didn't end there. While he was in shock of whatever was going on, Fluffy was still within his eyesight. And that's when he saw it.
It was… nothing! In other words, it was invisible!
And as it slithered across Fluffys fur, it clearly left a trail of the same thin mucus-like substance; it presumably disappeared afterwards as the substance stopped appearing near Fluffys backside.
Her eyes shattered open as well as she just felt the strangest thing. She looked around and chanced upon her body. The hell!? She furiously looked at Ran, assuming him as the culprit, before beginning to obsessively lick the mucus off her fur. At least it didn't taste bad, she thought.
In the end, Ran searched the entire room only to find nothing. The only thing he could think of was that it left through the open window…
But who really knows, right?
Thus, he quickly forgot about it as he rested his head upon that sweet sweet pillow.
In the morning:
After Ran routinely brushed his hair and groomed Fluffys fur, he woke Ann up and prepared himself.
After bathing himself, he put on a white shirt with his favorite longline sweater, but he left it unbuttoned. It was truly too big for him, however, as the white sleeves completely covered his hands and part of the cuff was left dangling - the ribbed hem reaching all the way to his knees. The hood, in proportion to the sweater, was also too big as most of it rested on his shoulders. It was convenient, however, to use that space to hold some of his hair so that it wasn't uncomfortable.
His white trousers were fairly plain except for a pair of white belts that wrapped around the top of his knees. He wore a pair of white thigh-high boots, with heels, of course. He particularly liked wearing them because he could use the white crisscrossing cord they have to tighten the boots; it felt like his legs were being hugged.
After tightening the other boot, he looked up at the mirror in front of him, studying himself closely.
This… was him.
At least he thought so.
His red, wavy, hair spilled over the hood and was basically the only contrast to his completely white attire. That and the darkness the hood provided, the space where his head was mostly dark… in shade.
But without the darkness spell, there was an extra.
His eyes. They perfectly stood out in the darkness, swimming amongst the raging tidal waves - drowning only occasionally.
In light, there is darkness. But the opposite is also true; in darkness, there is light.
However, he only glanced at them before looking away.
And as he walked away from his own reflection, the reflection seemed to watch him walk away, his hand up against the mirror.
After making sure they had everything, Ann, Ran, and Fluffy were ready to depart.
But Ann suddenly stopped Ran from exiting.
"Wait. Here, I forgot to give you this the other day." Ann took out a pouch from her pendant and handed it to him.
"This is?" He was confused. Why was he suddenly receiving so many things these past few days? But he felt grateful regardless.
The pouch was royal blue in color and it had a logo. It was a golden mustache. A curly mustache! It was the king's mustache. And coincidently, the badge the king had given them yesterday also had this logo.
Inside the pouch was pretty much just one item. Inside the pouch was just a golden ticket. And the golden ticket was branded by a cross.
Well, it wasn't really a cross as it looked more like a shining star that had four lines crossing through it. Yet, this star was immediately recognizable. It didn't have any particular significance (to Ran anyway), but it shined the brightest at night, and was therefore easily known by everyone.
But taking a closer look shocked Ran. Inside the star were two letters that grew within. M… and S.
The design itself could be said to be plain and without too much creativity. One could even say it was unoriginal, or downright s**try, but this was single-handedly the most recognizable symbol within the human race!
"Is this… a VIP ticket for the Mystery Shack?" Ran was stumped for words. He had heard of it from the King way back when he had first met him, but he didn't think he would actually get one.
Ann, seeing his reaction, was smiling.
"Mhm, the King had sent a servant the day after the horde to give this to you. The servant said that you had apparently ranked first within your rank, and the one above it at the time, with over a hundred kills."
"The Mystery Shack had given the King five tickets for those who performed outstandingly at the horde - you are one of them. With it, one can finally access a Shack!"
In other words, you had to be a VIP from the very beginning to get a way into the Mystery Shack!
Ran listened to what she had to say before sighing; he had received another present. He would have to remember this!
But then he paused. "Did you get one?" From his experience, Ann was a person with great potential, so he wondered if he got one.
At this, her smile paused as she looked at him.
"Tch, that bald ba***red is such a cheapskate! He really just said that you can just take me with you as a plus one, as if I'm a burden! Why I outta…." She released steam from her nostrils before snorting and leaving through the front door.
"Hey! Wait for me."
When they exited their apartment, much to their surprise, Bob was already waiting for them. He waited next to their door and laid his back on the stone wall.
"Since when have you been here… waiting?" Ran looked at him curiously. It appeared that Bob had been here for a while already.
"Since first light. I must say, stone is not very good to sleep on, I still very much prefer wood."
"First light? Sleeping on stone? What the hell are you talking about!?" Rans mind was muddled by Bob's "uniqueness".
"Ah yes, I suppose you guys use the so-called bed to sleep right? That's so inefficient; what if an enemy attacks you while you sleep? How would you be prepared? I very much prefer just leaning on some wood." Bob spoke casually, as if this was a normal conversation to have.
After a while and Ran processed what Bob spoke about, he said, "so you sleep standing up?"
"Yep," Bob replied.
"And without a pillow?"
"What's a pillow?" Bob rubbed his nose from under his dark robe.
"Oh dear god, what is happening to the world!?" Ran then looked at Fluffy with strange eyes.
Bob was his friend, so if he could help, he would. While he would need her permission, he was considering lending his "pillow" to Bob so that he could finally learn about what he's been missing out on.
Plus, sleeping like that must be a b**ch to his back; he had to fix that. He won't stay idly by, twiddling his thumbs, while his friend is suffering!
"Fool! Stop daydreaming, let's go already."
Before leaving, they went to a school adviser to hand in their tokens. Since they were leaving, they no longer needed their apartments, so they gave it back.
After about fifteen minutes of walking, they reached the northern gate where four soldiers were waiting. Upon seeing the four of them, they immediately saluted.
While they needed to show the badge the King had given them, they had recognized Ann so it was unnecessary. And naturally, they normally wouldn't respect those of a lower rank considering they were all rank-5, but Ann was an exception.
After Ran showed the badge, they introduced themselves first.
"I'm Ran, that's Ann, this is Bob, and that is Fluffy." Ran pointed and introduced them one by one.
Once he was done, a soldier stepped forward and introduced himself and his team.
"My name is Jack." The man was middle-aged with a scruffy beard and short black hair.
"This is Bill." He pointed at another middle-aged man who was clean-shaven and had short brown hair.
Both men appeared to be around their forties, but the next one wasn't the same.
"This is Carter." This man was noticeably younger than the other two, appearing around his early thirties instead. He had longer black hair and it was tied in a ponytail.
"And this is Mable." This time was a woman who was around the same age as Carter. She had long blond hair with bangs.
All four of them wore leather armor with metal plates strewn about their most important parts. And on the armor was also a golden mustache, the symbol of this city's ruler.
Once all of them got familiar with each other, the soldiers, or I should say bodyguards, led the group out of the city.
Just a little ways further laid was what appeared to be a carriage. It was easily big enough to fit all nine of them inside.
But the most eye-catching part about it is that it is all red.
And at the front portion, where horses were usually strapped in to carry the carriage, were two giant fluff balls! Worse yet, they were all red as well!
"Rabbits!?" Ran was pleasantly surprised at this discovery and immediately went up to hug one. It was startled by Rans sudden action, and almost s**t itself, but it quickly calmed down like it was used to this.
And Ran was right, it was a rabbit. A Red rabbit to be exact. Its species usually live deep within the thousand mountain range with three other, rivaling, rabbit species; of which is the White rabbit, Brown rabbit, and the Black rabbit. But because the rabbit species was so "abundant", the four rabbit species rely on warring against each other to procure enough resources for everyone. On the other hand, some choose to leave and pursue their own path instead of going against fellow rabbits.
That, with the consideration of rabbits being really mild and approachable, allowed them to enter most places with little to no restriction; they were free to do what they wanted to.
However, the four rabbit species don't have any affinities, much like humans. This puts them a bit lower on the spectrum of this world most powerful. They do, however, like wolves, have an attribute. While wolves were leaning more towards strength and more importantly endurance, rabbits were almost full on speed!
In other words, they were fast! They were master hoppers! This does lead to somewhat frequent breaks because their stamina couldn't keep up with their speed.
After petting the rabbit for a bit, he realized that everyone was talking to someone within the carriage through the opening above the door. While the soldiers acted just like bodyguards with serious expressions, both Bob and Ann were stunned as their jaws were shot open. This intrigued Ran a great deal; he just had to check what they were gawking at!
He impatiently shoved Ann out of the way and stuck his head through the space above the door. When he did so and looked at the person sitting in the corner, he was surprised yet again. He had been surprised too many times already, can't I come up with a different word?
He was… flabbergasted? Vexed?
"Ran? What are you doing here?" A soft, but cold, voice rang in his ears.
"Queenie!?" He looked at her in shock as he said, "you're the princess I'm supposed to look after?"
"Look after? Are you saying that you're my bodyguard?" She blinked her eyes innocently for a bit before she blushed slightly. What the hell was this man doing here!? She still remembered looking at him face to face and it never went away. While he had the spell on, so none could see his face, she had seen it and thus would see it every time she looked at him.
She didn't know what she liked better; the red, wavy, hair that could put most women to shame, those immaculate eyes that would make her shudder just from thinking about them looking at her, or even the button-like nose that she just wanted to boop all day long. Well all three and more was what she thought about at the moment, appearing dazed to Ran and the others.
"Hey, are you okay?" He then directly opened the door and sat next to her. Just like that, everyone entered the carriage. Fluffy couldn't sit down like a hooman, so she just laid in between the seats, appearing content either way.
Then, the carriage started moving. However, Queenie was still in a daze! She appeared to be daydreaming, so much so in fact, she didn't realize what was happening at the moment!
And at the moment, the carriage had been moving for about ten minutes, and the city was already far into the distance, but something was… wrong.
As they sat in the carriage, occasionally, they would hear a rumble followed by the carriage shaking slightly.
"What do you think that is?" He looked towards Ann, who only shrugged without an answer.
The rumbling continued for another two minutes before Rans nose finally twitched.
"Stop the carriage!" He shouted, causing even the air to stop in its tracks. Queenie finally arose from her fantasy and almost yelped finding Ran next to her, but she sensed the strange atmosphere so she kept her emotions to herself.
He signalled everyone to be silent as he exited the carriage. Outside, he sniffed the humid air a bit, to everyone's bemusement, before looking behind him.
Next to him and the carriage was the river to the right while the forest lay to the left. And what he smelled came from part of the forest behind him. Worse yet, he found this scent… familiar.
He signalled everyone to follow him. They looked at each other before eventually leaving to follow him; they weren't going to leave him by himself, especially the soldiers.
With Ran at the front, they walked for about five minutes, at which point they were going to complain, only to stop in their tracks. They just noticed, the rumble under their feet was getting stronger and stronger. They saw normal animals run away from the area; the birds cawed and chirped as they flew away in big groups.
After another minute of walking, the rumble was at its strongest point and what they saw in front of them made everyone sweat to the point of dehydration.
There, in front of them, was a moving dust cloud. But the cloud was only merely the side effect from thousands upon thousands of soldiers marching!
Stranger yet, every single soldier was a Dire wolf!
They all gulped as they stared in front of them in silence; they didn't know what the wolves were doing in this side of the forest but they didn't like it. They were still far from the army and most likely wouldn't be spotted. But Ran had the worst reaction. And it was because at the front of the army, he saw the ba***rd that almost tried to kill him!
But the situation only got weirder from there. After they walked a certain distance, the whole army stopped as the ice cold expressions turned into one of pure fear and trepidation.
And not just them, but our group as well as they looked up.
In the sky, the clouds started congregating above them, completely blotting out the sky for tens of miles. It was like a dragon was swimming within the clouds as they seemed to have heard a roar beyond their very imagination.
But it didn't end there either. The trees began swaying heavily as the ground shook and shook, as if an earthquake was happening.
At this point, it was like the whole world had come alive around them as the army was in the epicenter; the army now was retreating hastily, but they wouldn't get away.
And only after seeing all of this with the combination of the army side they come to a conclusion.
They broke the rules.
This was clearly a planned sneak attack; they did not have the permission of the other side to engage in warfare and aimed to take advantage of their unreadiness.
They broke special rule number one.
And as if on cue, the ground began splitting open like a gaping maw; splitting the forest in two!. As it opened up, it released a terrifying sound, worse than nails on a chalkboard; it was like a terrifying monster had awoken from its deep slumber.
From the maw, heat was released endlessly. And if one looked down the crooked mouth, darkness was all that there was to see until you reached the bottom, where an orange-yellow glow released the boundless heat. Lava!
The entire army screamed in terror as they tried to use their soul power to retreat, however, the ground broke again before anyone could do anything and every single soul fell in. Then, the ground closed back up; the trees and plants stopped waving and the sky turned normal; everything seemed to have turned back to normal. But silence still pervaded within the forest.
Ran and the others: "..."
They silently got up from their crouching positions and shuffled their way back to the carriage. They didn't speak during this time and they probably wouldn't speak at least until tomorrow.
They just saw an entire army get swallowed by the ground, they found that hard to accept.
Not only them, the last of the Dire wolf race would find that hard to accept when they find out their army vanished into the ground forever.