Animal Kingdom- Riot

by Aaron Oster

  The door opened and half-closed before he heard Talia’s voice once more.

  “You’ve got some real guts for such a little guy…” She paused for a moment, as though she wanted to say something else. However, it seemed she thought better of it, as she just closed the door behind her, leaving him alone in the dark.

  He didn’t understand what Talia was talking about. Sure, he was small, only four feet tall, but she wasn’t exactly a giant herself. She was only a foot taller than him. But he was too tired to care all that much. His entire body was throbbing, and even though he’d apparently slept for nearly twenty-four hours straight, he was more than ready to pass out once again.

  Despite his exhaustion, he’d gained a lot through tonight’s training. His skills, abilities, and attributes had all gotten a nice boost. Unfortunately, Chuck had told him his attributes would no longer grow in their upcoming sessions. However, his skills and abilities still would.

  Arthur could feel his mind drifting off to sleep, and the knowledge that he’d be up in less than four hours to do this all over again convinced him not to fight it. Within moments, he was sound asleep.

  ***

  “Rise and shine, mate! Dad said you have five minutes to be by the training ground!”

  Arthur groaned as the extremely loud and cheerful mass of Hopps burst through his door and began talking at the top of his lungs.

  Why the hell is he always so loud? Arthur thought, grumpy at having been woken up like this.

  “Yeah, frog boy, rise and shine!” Talia said, marching in right after him and looking just as chipper.

  “You two are way too happy for this time of morning,” he grumbled, attempting to pull the pillow over his head and go back to sleep.

  “Come on, none of that.”

  Arthur felt the pillow being torn from his grip by Talia, and though he tried valiantly to hold on, he was no match for her monster Strength.

  “Come on, mate. Don’t be like this,” Hopps said as Arthur tried pulling the blanket over his head. “Dad told me to give you two minutes, then use my Water Bomb on you. Don’t make me do it.”

  “You wouldn’t do that to your buddy, would you, Hopps?” Arthur asked, giving him his best guilt trip look.

  “Sorry, Arthur. Dad’s way scary. You don’t wanna mess with him.”

  “Fine,” Arthur sighed, forcing himself to get out of bed. “Do we at least get to eat something before?”

  “Nope!” Arthur heard Hopps say cheerily, as he forced his still aching body out of bed. “You’ll throw it all up if you eat before training.”

  “Right,” he grumbled, wincing as he stretched out his sore muscles. “Let’s go and see what fresh hell he’s cooked up, then. Wouldn’t wanna keep him waiting.”

  “That’s the spirit!”

  ***

  Just five minutes later, the three of them found themselves standing in the center of the training ground. Chuck was already there, along with a very strange-looking ani-human. It appeared to be some sort of bird, although he had no idea what type. And, when he tried examining him, he got no information back. At all!

  “Good, you’re all here,” Chuck said, turning to face them. “This is Sqwak, one of the best Rogues in the village, and he will oversee today’s training. Do what he says. Otherwise, who knows what might happen?”

  Arthur nodded seriously, though the other two just rolled their eyes. Chuck grumbled something about no one having a sense of humor before turning to leave the grounds.

  “Oh, and Jeremy, your mother says to be careful and watch out for…”

  “Dad! Stop embarrassing me!” Hopps yelled, eliciting laughter from both his friends.

  “Fine. Fine. I’ll leave you alone. But I can’t make any promises for your mother!”

  Chuck then gathered himself up and with an explosion of wind, launched himself into the air. Arthur gaped, as the frog moved so fast, he wasn’t even able to keep up with his movements. He heard the loud thump as the frog landed, and his eyes widened even further as he spotted him near the center of the village.

  The huge frog had covered over a hundred yards in a single jump.

  “Caw!”

  Arthur jumped, whirling around to face his instructor for the day, who was grinning widely. It was quite disconcerting for Arthur to see this expression on a face covered in feathers and a beak. The bird’s beak was straight, which told him he wasn’t a bird of prey, and colored an almost purple-black color.

  “Not cool, mate! Not. Cool,” Hopps said, glaring at the man.

  Talia hadn’t reacted at all, simply staring down at her nails and affecting a bored look.

  “Hey, I had to get your attention somehow. Anyway, it looks like you’re all with me today. Lucky for all of you, I’ve got an amazing exercise planned in the forest. It’s bright and sunny, a rarity for this gloomy part of the woods, so we’re going to make the most of it.”

  “I actually prefer the rain,” Hopps said. “Makes my skin feel all nice and smooth.”

  Even though Arthur was part human, he found that now that he was out in the sunlight, he preferred the rain as well. The sun felt unpleasant on his skin, and he felt the desire to go jump in the shimmering pond on the far side of the village.

  “None of that,” Sqwak said. “We’ve got a mission. One that will require teamwork!”

  “Why?” Talia asked in a bored tone, finally looking up from her nails. “Neither of them can keep up with me yet, so it’s kinda pointless.”

  As much as her words may have stung, they were true. Talia was a full three levels higher than the two of them and could probably take them both without even trying too hard.

  “Be that as it may, none of you will be able to complete the assignment alone. Now, here’s your mission: I’ve hidden food somewhere in the forest. Find it, and you get to eat. Don’t find it, and you go hungry.”

  Quest Available: Hunting for Flies

  Sqwak has hidden your breakfast in the forest. Will you take that lying down?

  Objective: Find your food

  Failure: Fail to find your food

  Difficulty: C

  Rewards: 2,500 XP, Food

  Will you accept?

  Yes/No

  “Seriously? You’re going to hold our breakfast hostage? Not cool, bird. Not. Cool,” Arthur said, mimicking Hopps’ earlier sentiment.

  “Yup! And best of all, I’ve placed a few…shall we say, surprises along the way. Good luck!”

  And with that, Sqwak spread his arms to the sides, which Arthur only now noticed had feathered wings attached – how had he missed that? – and took off into the sky, cackling with laughter.

  Arthur jumped as something heavy slammed into the ground beside him, and both he and Hopps both whirled to see Talia glaring after the swiftly retreating form of the bird man.

  “Oh, now it’s on! No one messes with my breakfast and gets away with it! Come on. Let’s go kill that feathery bastard!”

  20

  It didn’t take them long to enter the confines of the forest, and soon the heavy foliage from overhead was blocking the piercing rays of the sun, making both Arthur and Hopps feel a whole lot better.

  “Any clue where he might have hidden our food?” Arthur asked, weaving through the underbrush and keeping his Perception skill going.

  He was very close to getting it to level up again.

  “No clue,” Hopps responded, bounding along happily beside him.

  He seemed to be very happy to be out of the village and away from his parents. In his defense, though, they were a bit…overbearing. Arthur would have been mortified if his parents had acted like that in front of his friends. But, then again, he probably would have traded all the parent embarrassment just for a chance to be able to see them again.

  “He’s a bird, so it’s probably up in a tree somewhere,” Talia said.

  She’d started lagging behind the two of them as they went on, and it became abundantly obvious that her Agility and Endurance weren
’t nearly as high as either of theirs. It was the price she paid for her massive Strength attribute.

  “Great. Can any of you…”

  Something flashed in the corner of his vision, and Arthur dove forward. A second later, something sliver blurred over his head, thudding into a nearby trunk.

  Perception +1

  Congratulations, your Perception skill has reached level 11. The skill has been improved.

  Perception range: +30%

  “What the hell was that?” Talia asked, having missed the attack.

  Arthur turned his head and saw a bright blue spot shining in the center of one of the trees.

  “Check there,” he said, pointing out the spot as he got to his feet.

  He’d muddied up the front of his shirt. It may have been sunny out, but it had been raining the day before, and everything was still quite damp and, as a result, muddy.

  “Looks like a poisoned needle,” Talia said, ripping the small projectile from the trunk and examining it.

  “Let me see,” Arthur said, holding out his hand.

  Shrugging, Talia handed it over and Arthur examined the small metal needle. It did indeed look like it had some viscous green liquid smeared along one side. He brought it up to his nose and sniffed it.

  Odorless.

  He tried to examine the dart, but nothing showed up.

  He tossed the dart to the side with a sound of disgust. If this was what the bird had planned to be their training, then he had a seriously messed up definition of the word.

  “Looks like we’re at least on the right track,” Arthur said, using his Perception as they continued and immediately noticing the difference.

  A 30% increase wasn’t much, but with his previous range being about five yards, the increase was very nice. It was precisely because of this increase that he was able to spot something suspicious standing six yards off the path – just a single yard outside his previous range.

  Arthur was growing nervous now. How much did Sqwak know about them and their statuses? He doubted that Chuck would have told him, even if he was training them. Had the bird-man overheard their conversation the previous night?

  He held up a hand and pointed to the spot off the path. Both Talia and Hopps nodded, preparing for a fight. Arthur drew his Dagger and slunk off the path, motioning the two of them to take the front. With his Frog-Sassinate ability, a sneak attack would do massive damage to any enemy.

  There was an explosion of sound and a cry of pain as Hopps’ Water Bomb went off, followed a moment later by the sound of Talia’s massive hammer slamming into a tree. Arthur winced at the noise but used it to his advantage, moving a bit faster and closing with the threat. The thick leaves parted, and Arthur stopped short as he watched Talia and Hopps battling with a chipmunk.

  Name: Forest Chipmunk

  Level: 14

  HP: 108/210

  Yes. It seemed that they were indeed fighting a four-foot-tall chipmunk. It also seemed that Talia and Hopps had already shaved off an impressive amount of the animal’s HP. It had its back to him, so Arthur rushed forward, a small red spot lighting up right behind one of the massive beast’s forepaws.

  Taking a deep breath, he launched himself forward using Spring and sank his dagger right into the glowing spot.

  -92 Damage, Frog-Sassinate (Critical)

  The Chipmunk screamed in rage as its HP plummeted, but it was silenced a moment later by Talia’s hammer, which came down on its head, splattering its contents all over the both of them. Hopps, it seemed, had had the foresight to back off and therefore managed to remain clean.

  Forest Chipmunk dies! +470 XP

  “Well, that was surprisingly easy,” Talia said, pulling the bloodied hammer from the Chipmunk’s corpse.

  “Don’t say that!” both Arthur and Hopps called out in unison.

  “Why not?” Talia asked, dragging the head along the ground to get rid of some of the gore.

  “Because,” Arthur said, wiping the blood off his face. “Something bad always happens when you say it’s too easy!”

  “Yeah, right. I don’t know what you’re…” Talia trailed off as four more Chipmunks came out of hiding, their eyes gleaming and buck teeth bared. “Well, shit.”

  Arthur sighed, brandishing his dagger and resigning himself to a very difficult fight. The first Chipmunk launched itself out of one of the trees, on a collision course with him. His Sixth Sense activated then, and he swayed slightly to one side, allowing the massive furry beast to slam into the ground.

  “Focus on one at a time!” Arthur yelled, leaping forward and slashing at the rodent, activating Frog Slicer to increase his damage and landing a double kick as he sprang back.

  Talia followed a moment later, slamming her hammer into the furry beast and launching it into the air. Then, she was tackled from the side by one of the furry bastards. It immediately tried latching its teeth into her, but Hopps’s Water Bomb knocked it off her, allowing her to regain her footing.

  “A little help here!” Hopps called out a moment later as two of the Chipmunks focused their ire on him and moved to attack.

  “Talia!”

  “On it!” the ant girl called, letting out a war cry and charging at the two rodents, her hammer glowing red.

  Arthur turned his attention back to the Chipmunk, which was slowly regaining its footing after the concussive blast it had taken from Talia. Its side was caved in and was bleeding heavily, and Arthur saw his opportunity.

  Dashing forward, he triggered his Drilling Blows ability. His fists took on a yellow glow as he lashed out in a series of attacks that moved too fast for his eyes to follow. He did his best to aim them and watched as the damage skyrocketed with each consecutive blow that landed in the same area.

  The first attack did -2 damage, the next doubled and kept going. On the sixth blow, he punched straight through the Chipmunk’s side, painting his face in blood. That was it for the poor forest rodent. It let out one last pained cry, then expired.

  Arthur whirled, seeing that both Hopps and Talia were tied up with a Chipmunk each, while a third moved to flank them.

  “Behind you!” Arthur yelled, using Spring to get him across the intervening distance faster and drawing his dagger in one smooth motion.

  Talia grimaced, then glowed for an instant. She then turned into a blur as she spun in place faster than should have been possible, launching the attacking Chipmunk into a nearby tree, its HP cut in half.

  She leaned over then, panting hard. It seemed the ability had cost a lot. Luckily for her, Arthur made it to her then and took her attacker’s attention off her. As Arthur hit it with his Poison Touch, the Chipmunk whirled around and tore into his chest with its sharpened claws.

  -39 Damage, slashing

  Arthur ignored the pain, slashing back with his dagger and shaving off a bit of the Chipmunk’s HP. He normally wouldn’t be this calm when fighting a creature 3 levels above his own, but he wasn’t here alone. He dodged to the side as the Chipmunk swiped at him again and used his Tae-Frog-Do to deliver another pair of kicks to the beast’s head.

  The mob screamed, only to have the tone change midway through, from one of rage to one of pain, as Talia’s hammer slammed down into its back, breaking its spine.

  “Thanks for that,” Talia said. “I needed a second after that attack.”

  Arthur knew she didn’t have any potions, as they hadn’t been allowed to bring any. Did that mean that her attack had a recovery time? He would need to ask her later.

  The Chipmunk with the broken spine was no threat, and neither was the one that Talia had launched through the air. The only remaining threat was the one attacking Hopps, so the two of them turned their ire on the critter and proceeded to reduce it to a bloody pulp.

  “Thanks,” Hopps panted.

  His face and sides were scratched up and he’d lost more than half his HP. He really wasn’t meant to be a melee fighter, and they would have to remember to protect him better in the future. They went over to the
crippled beasts next and finished them off.

  “What the hell was that?” Talia exclaimed, slumping against a tree and panting hard.

  Arthur had to agree with her sentiment. This went way beyond training. If he didn’t know better – and he did – he would have thought those mobs were trying to kill them.

  Maybe it was just a coincidence?

  Arthur almost immediately dismissed that. They’d been sent out here to “train” without being allowed any items aside for weapons. No armor, no Health or Stamina potions. He’d nearly been caught by an obviously poisoned needle, and the first Chipmunk had been placed outside his Perception range. This all reeked of foul play.

  “We’re heading back to the village,” Arthur announced.

  To his surprise, neither Talia nor Hopps argued with him, just nodding in agreement.

  But first…

  The three of them took all usable items they could scavenge from the dead Chipmunks. They had fought hard to kill them, after all, and it would be a shame to lose loot. They ended up with four Claws, two sets of Teeth, and a single Pelt, none of which were usable but could be used as crafting materials.

  With that taken care of, the three of them headed back to the village. They needed to have a serious talk with a certain bird-man.

  ***

  The scent of smoke reached their noses long before they exited the canopy of the rainforest. As soon as the scent drifted toward them, carried by the wind, they sped up their pace. More than once, Arthur had to stop his companions from tripping a wire or walking into an ambush.

  It was only thanks to his increased Perception that they made it out of the forest alive. Upon exiting, they were greeted by a sight like something out of a nightmare. The entire village was burning. Corpses lay scattered throughout the area, and both ani-humans and Intelligents ran madly through the village, trying to put out fires.