As Alice sat down on the rock, sudden movement surged from underneath her as the rock cracked, revealing hard, stony protrusions that resembled legs. Alice screamed, jumping off her stony stool, just in time actually as the living boulder revealed its full size.
Alice grabbed Shane by the arm and tugged. "Shane! Run!" But oddly, Shane seemed rather calm and in awe of the moving monolith. 'This lunatic!'.
"Relax, Cragglings are pacifists' ' Shane calmed Alice down. "These things get their sustenance from eating rocks' '.
Shane watched as the Craggling rose from the ground, reaching a height of three meters. Two eyestalks unfurled from a crack in the rocky carapace of the creature as two large pincers emerged from the dirt. Six legs too broke out from under the earth as its full body was now revealed. It cooed deeply, the bass from it shook Shane and Alice internally.
"Hey there, big guy" Shane caressed the stony exterior of the Craggling. "Aren't you magnificent?"
Alice stared in disbelief, she could not believe that she was partnered with such a psycho! "What are you doing! We have to get moving, remember, we are on a timer!" she pointed up at the sky to accentuate her point.
"Relax, it's still just the morning. '' Shane blew her off, focusing on inspecting the Craggling. "So fascinating…"
Alice grumbled angrily to herself. "Fine, stay with this ugly, overgrown pebble, I'll find the Instructor on my own" she turned to the jungle, but upon hearing the cries and wails of unknown terrors, she decided not to, reluctantly of course.
The Craggling settled back down on the ground and started burrowing. "Aww '' Shane pouted as his time with the creature was up.
"Are you finished?" Alice looked unamused. "We've wasted enough time, let's move!"
And so they did. The next couple of kilometers was uneventful; Shane and Alice came across more creatures: a herd of Arbbits and some Jerros. Eventually, they finally came across a large tree that had fallen over the river, creating a bridge to the other side. Carefully, the two made their way across.
It was noon now, meaning they had plenty of time left, but time was slowly running out and the two knew that. Shane and Alice trekked through the dense foliage, maneuvering around threats too dangerous to handle and laying low. With Shane often being entranced by something and losing focus, it was on Alice to anchor him down and keep things moving.
'So annoying!' she grit her teeth as she pulled Shane back, halting him from walking towards a pretty looking flower. "Stay focused, you fool!".
"But, but! It's a rare Jaxlynn flower" Shane pleaded. "These things bloom only on one day once a year!".
"I don't care, we have an objective!" She pulled harder. "Weren't you the one who told me that we're soldiers, not children?"
Shane looked down awkwardly. "Yeah…"
"Then act like one!"
After a little while, Alice let out a frustrated groan.
"What's wrong?" Shane asked as he saw Alice tap aggressively on the wayfinder.
"The stupid thing broke again!"
Shane sighed. "Let's take a break for now and fix it then, we've been walking for a while"
Finding a clear, empty patch of grass, the two sat down and tinkered away. After a minute or two, a low growl rumbled from Alice.
"...Did you pack lunch?" She stared at him.
Shane shook his head. "If you're hungry, I can try and go find something".
Liking the sound of that, Alice nodded. A little while later, Alice managed to fix the wayfinder and Shane returned with what looked to be a large rabbit with dirt brown fur and horrifyingly large teeth
"Managed to catch one of the arbbits!" Shane raised his catch of the day, smiling.
Setting up a small fire, Shane and Alice roasted the delicious meat of the large mammal. Although skinning the creature and finding the edible parts was a bit of a chore, with the help of the army's trusty survival knife –Invictus edition– anything was possible. Proud of his handiwork, Shane gave Alice a hefty arbbit leg while he ate on the other.
"So, who do you think our Instructor is?" Shane tried to make small talk.
Shrugging, Alice bit into her food and swallowed. "Not sure, I don't really care either, I just want to be able to invent and follow the path of science".
"An inventor and a scientist? If you want to follow the path of science, then why are you in the army?" Shane chewed.
"It wasn't a choice. It still isn't a choice, you know that right?" Alice raised a sarcastic eyebrow. "Mandatory conscription and whatnot…"
That was a thing in Invictus, and in many other human settlements. With Invictus being a warrior settlement, and a highly dangerous one at that, they didn't really have a choice but to be this extreme. That is not to say that Invictus was behind technologically, no, they still had their own team of scientists, the requirements to be in there was to just graduate from military school.
"I can't wait for next year," Alice moaned. "These damned training programs are going to kill me!"
Shane chuckled a bit. "Yeah, me too. When I get out, I'm going to finish what my Dad started, and then maybe everybody will stop making fun of me".
"Oh?" Alice seemed intrigued. "And what is this thing you so desperately need to finish?".
Shane looked a little embarrassed. "Before I say it, first of all, I'm not crazy, second of all, don't laugh".
"Yeah yeah, sure"
"Alrighty then" Shane sucked in a deep breath. "I wanna find the Elysian Grove".
A moment of silence passed, Alice staring impartially at Shane the entire time. Then she cracked up laughing.
"That children's story? The one that is simultaneously under a mountain, in an ocean and in the sky?" She giggled hard, wheezing. "Shane, I knew you were a looney, but I didn't know you were batshit insane".
"Language…" Shane's ears were red, he covered his face with his hands. "I told you not to laugh!"
Alice laughed even harder, accidentally throwing her arbbit leg into the trees. Angrily, Shane waited until her laughter eventually died down, and when it did, silence.
"Ahh~ sorry Shane, it's just-" Alice suddenly felt bad, Shane was looking at her so seriously. "A childhood story? I mean…"
"Shut up, Alice" Shane shushed her.
Awestruck, Alice stood up. "Hey, look, I said I was sorr-" Shane put his hand to her mouth.
"SSHHHH!"
The jungle was silent…too silent.
"Uh oh" Shane reached for the dagger, eyes darting all around and his breathing slow.
Alice seemed to get the hint as she too readied her knife.
A high pitched whistling pierced through the silence as Shane's eyes widened, sweat immediately trickling down his face. "GET DOWN!" he jumped on to Alice, just in time as a blur jetted past them, nicking Shane on the arm and drawing blood.
A sharp thud sounded as the blur crashed into a tree.
Looking back up, Shane's worst fears came alive. In front of him was a large feline creature, elegant, sleek and agile. At the top of its head was a slender, devastating horn.
"An Innalim!"