I heard his roar of pain, while an immense feeling of shame washed over me, I had to follow my plan and ignore his wails to ensure that I didn't cause my only human contact such pain for no reason.
The bottle filled with the monster repellant was flung across the vegetable/fruit patch and into the thickets of the forest, wasting no time I threw myself forward, following the golden nozzle as it was flew across the sky.
Runing away from Raphael I could see his once giant body reduce itself to a much smaller shaking ball, I tried to ignore the guilt welling up in my stomach and focused on grabbing the spray bottle. I soon found it, its fall had been broken by one of the many bushes in the forest, looking at it now; the bottle was almost full.
'Ah yeah... this is perfect!'
Compared to the spray bottle I had tucked away in my home bush, this one was filled to the brim with sweet, sweet repellant! For me to execute my plan, this spray bottle is integral.
'I'll call you... Lenny!'
I splayed my wings out and hugged the spray bottle while it sat on the ground! I lacked strength but it was enough for me to show my affection at least!
'Heheheheehe... hehe.. heh...'
'Uh oh-'
AH! I'VE GONE MAD! A LACK OF HUMAN INTERACTION HAD MADE ME BEWITCHED BY A PLASTIC BOTTLE!!
I jumped back from the bottle as I thought this, my weeks in the wilderness had really changed me... I found myself having conversations in my head much more often than I would have previously and now I've even gone far enough to name a piece of plastic and call it my friend!
'If I don't catch my bad habits quickly... I'll suffer the same fate as T.Hanks!'
I cautioned myself and distanced from the spray bottle after pulling it back to my bush, both sprays were now hidden and covered by a mountain of leaves. I pat them down and compacted the treasure as much as I could, can't have any prying eyes or nosy beasts steal my stuff!
Meanwhile I could hear the soft whimpering of Raphael as he clutched his gonads and trembled, I'm so sorry friend! I'll make it up to you one day I promise! I didn't want to make any noise or movements until Raphael moved from the grass he had taken up, even in this state I'm sure that when filled with adrenalin he could probably finish me in one swipe of his knife.
Around 10 minutes later, I heard rustling of grass and heavy footsteps getting further and further away, after a creak of a door and a thump of it closing I emerged from the bushes, ready to execute step 2 of the plan.
During my explorations of the forest I had come across another river, similar to the one in the oasis-like farm next to my home, but it was visibly dirtier and had aquatic creatures living inside. I had once played with the idea of eating some fish, but catching those slippery bastards was extremely difficult, especially with no hands. Grabbing the spray bottle between my beak, I heaved it onto my back and used a vine I had scavenged to secure it loosely to my body, running a weak vein of Soul Power through me, I was able to make up for my physical weakness and carry the bottle without any issues.
I made my way to the river bank which was the home of many creatures, made sure no potential predators were nearby via the system and dredged the bottle from base to nozzle in mud and dirt, leaving only the tongue of the spray which would be pressed and the hole where the liquid would come out free of the grime.
This would serve as camouflage, I wasn't sure if lizards were able to recognise man made items as such and become wary of them and I wasn't going to risk them being able to. I laid the spray bottle in the sun until the mud dried a bit and then secured it to myself yet again, some dirt did get on my back but I would be sure to clean my brilliant yellow feathers later.
'Open the minimap, circle the area where the Lesser Green Lizards have made their home'
[ Map updated ]
The minimap which lay in the bottom left of my vision expanded to show a rectangular area, far from where I was shaded in. This was my destination.
Pumping an economic amount of soul power into my legs, I ran towards the rectangle of doom, ever since I had been chased by those lizards my dreams were never pleasant, they had instilled a great amount of fear in me when they ganged up on me.
Now it was time for me to pay them back.
I arrived at the perimeter of the shaded area and begun my plan.
*fwoosh fwoosh*
I walked along the sides of the rectangle, spraying the floor every 10 metres or so. It was troublesome to spray so often without limbs, but the memories of being chased spurred me on. I wasn't going to be that weak again.
----
The sun settled on the land, as an orange hue settled on the treetops and basked the ripe fruits they were laden with, a chick which had been walking around in an odd pattern came to rest. It dug a makeshift hole and tucked the object strapped to it's back into the small opening it had constructed. Waving it's tiny arms, leaves were piled on to hide it from those who might recognise it's power, monopolising it for their own gain.
Waddling under the canopy of trees, the chick stood still for a moment before squawking out it's lungs, the screech was sure to attract many beasts, what was this tiny being thinking?
The waddle soon turned into a run, which quickly formed into a sprint! The screeching continued, the chick was moving in patterns, up, down, left, right, up, down, it's movements were jarring and unpredictable, however if one saw the previous actions done by the chick and what it was doing now, they'd be amazed.
Emerging from the shadows of treetops and crevices in tiny caves, many beings covered head to toe in green scales emerged, tongue flicking out while their eyes shone in a deep hunger for food and violence. The lizards had heard the call and they were more than willing to entertain their new guest.
Slowly but surely, the yellow chick was now being chased by various green bodies, they tumbled over each other as they fought for the opportunity to catch the prey in their maws. A wave of green was approaching the chick as it ran towards its goal, while the eyes and mannerisms of the lizards reflected that of hungry beasts, the chick's stride was purposeful and planned, it's eyes searching for the optimal path.
-----
'ooOOOAAHHHHHH!!!!'
The fear I felt was palpable, my heart which was the size of my thumb in my previous life was now pumping with ferocity powerful enough to power a plane, using my almost 360 degree vision I was able to see the cascade of lizards, slowly gaining on me.
I ran for what seemed like hours, although the sun's stationary position during this situation betrayed my train of thought. Ensuring myself that this was all the lizards in the area, I began to make my way towards two trees which were growing right by each other, a small gap able to fit 3 or 4 lizards was between the trees; more than enough for me.
I had sprayed in a V shape around this tree, the point of the V being the duo of trees themselves, this made sure that all lizards were heralded between the two trunks. I jumped through the gap and continued running, behind me lizards were crawling and jumping over each other to get to me. Beyond this point, I had sprayed in a long circular/oval shape, continuing my marathon
I pumped more SP (Soul Power) into my legs, I was almost there!
Most, if not all of the lizards had made it through the gap of trees and had once again begun chasing me, the oval's curve was the hardest part for me to manoeuvre, if I felt it was too dangerous, I could always jump over the line and save myself; but that would be running away, and I wasn't ready to throw in the towel yet.
I carefully made my way around the oval, ducking and weaving over plants, stones and bushes as I did so, my small size was finally being useful as opposed to the hinderance it normally is. After some more chasing I was once again facing the two trees I had turned and ran away from. Using the oval I had turned 180 degrees and now faced the pincer point which would make or break my plan.
'Alright, use as much SP as I can handle! Go system go!'
My legs felt like they were on fire, using pain and fear as motivation I ran faster than I ever have away from the lizards, as I neared the pincer point I stuck my head into the ground, pulling out the spray which was so cleverly concealed under leaves. Jumping the gap between the trees I turned and channeling my inner Raphael and sprayed my heart out!
*fwoosh* *fwoosh* *fwoosh* *fwoosh* *fwoosh* *fwoosh* *fwoosh* *fwoosh* *fwoosh* *fwoosh* !
As the lizards neared the spray, their run which wasn't impeded by anything started to break, the hunger in their eyes was replaced by confusion. The ones near the front of the chase started to slow down and change their run to a jog, flicking their tongues out to see what their prey had done. The first lizard in the pack which tasted the repellant jumped back! It's body arching as it soared through the air, only to land on it's brethren and receive a tail slap. The lizards were trapped.
I looked at them, bumbling over each other, unable to catch me even when I was only a few metres away... my heart was still pounding... but now with excitement!
"YEEAAACCCHIIIIII!!!"