2 The Beast and the Hero

The people in my village always said that your life flashes before your eyes when you are standing before the maw of death. Old Jtok swear by it, and he was a ex-adventurer although nobody ever seem to ask what rank he was.It's only fair since Old Jtok spent his time teaching those of age basic fighting skills to prepare them for the outside world.

I think I'm getting off the point here.Anyway, what they say about your life flashes before your eye when you about to die is actually a bunch of bogus Nomuk's dung, you don't get to relive your life. Your body freeze up and your mind go almost completely blank due to the fear gripping at you. At least that's what it felt like to me as I was standing there hold a Paku fruit with a Giant Wumpas staring down at me like it's looking at a delicious morsel.

My body tensed up, my tail frozen, my fur feel like needles and all I could hear was the sound of my own heart beat. My clothes feel constricting like a Toktok was curling up and squeezing my life away.

It was so loud and soft and terribly suffocating.I can't even feel my ear, and my face feel like it could fall off any second like it wasn't my face that I was wearing. I felt small and tiny and like there were these massive giant walls closing in on me, ready to snuff me out of existence.

Looking at the beast, all I could utter was a tiny voice saying...

"uwaaa...."

My arms shake and shivered and as the beast growl ready to lunge at its meal, I instinctively cover my head with my left arm and cried.

"Hiiii...."

All the sudden, before my very eyes, something flew out from nowhere and hit the beast right on its nose and explode with a whitish powder. The beast immediately cowered and coughing and sneezing, with snot and tears flying everywhere.

Then a shadow rushed past and stood before me and the beast, the shadow wore a blue cloak and immediately drawn his sword.

It was an adventurer that I occasionally seen visiting my village from time to time. Facing the beast with a sword in hand, the human adventurer said;

"mixing onions and peppers and wheat flour together and using them as a tear gas bomb.....the result isn't that bad....but shame...there's goes my dinner."

The terrible Wumpas was crying and drowning in its own tears and snot.The adventurer then disappear and reappear behind the beast and struck his blade into the Wumpas back, piercing its heart.

For a long time, until now, long after I have come of age, this sight was something I will not likely to forget for a long time. In the light of my eyes, the sight of the adventurer taking down a beast of such size was like that of the story of the heroes my mother told me and my sibling as we went to sleep.

Pulling his sword off the Wumpas, the adventurer approached me and asked.

"Are you alright little one?"

"I'm....I'm ok, but..but who, who are you?"

"Me? I'm no one but a travelling adventurer." Said the man revealing his face beneath the blue hood.

He was....ordinary, like that of all human are, with two tiny eyes and two holes below the eyes but middle of the face and a slit of red at the chin.However he smelled different somehow, like that of a Paku potato milk, it was almost comforting if it wasn't for the Wumpas corpse nearby.

"Alright then, little one, I think it's time you get back to your sister and can you do me a favor, little one?" The man asked.

"Um...ok, I guess..." said I.

"Can you go to your village and tell Old Jtok about the Wumpas? He'll know what to do."

"You know Old Jtok?"

"Sure I do, he's once travelled along side with me and we.....never mind."

"Never mind what?"

"Never mind your business, that's what kid, now git!"