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Chapter 9– Treacherous Trail.

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The massive gorilla roars while hefting the giant boulder above his head, and I am still pasted against the ground, completely paralysed. I have no time to react at all. But then, the gorilla moves its arms forward, thrusting the rock forward, and as I see its arms move forward to crush the boulder on top of my fragile little body and bury me under it, my life flashes before my eyes.

I see it all rush through my mind: my life at the orphanage, all the stupid little fights I had, the tiny little village that I had spent all my life in, and all I can think is how dull it all seems, a waste of a life. Nothing of consequence happened in my life. If I were to disappear, no one would really care or even feel anything.

Even Mommy Mee and Daddy Dee would not fret for long. they have dozens of children to look after, and they can't waste their time on me and the marines and Garp. I am just a little pet project to them, something for Garp to procrastinate on instead of doing his job.

I want to be more than that, and I want to be someone of consequence, someone that makes a difference. And when I die, I want the whole world to shake with shock, for everyone everywhere to tremble in awe. I want to live to the max and make the most of it. I DON'T WANT TO DIE JUST YET, AND I STILL HAVE THINGS I NEED TO DO!

I quickly roll to my left, still holding onto my bag of fruits, hoping to all that is holy that I haven't left it too late. So I keep moving to my left, hoping that I will evade the oncoming boulder coming down or, at the very least most of it. Even if I lose an arm, I will be happy as long as I survive.

*Smash*

I hear the crash, and seeing that my body is unchanged, I have obviously survived the dangerous event. Stopping my roll, I looked to my right to see what I had evaded. There is nothing there, the gorilla is still standing there, and the boulder is nowhere in si- oh wait, there it is, embedded in the tree in the distance.

The gorilla didn't even see me. It just picked up the boulder in the midst of its rampage and threw it without any clue of me being behind it. I was panicking for nothing. I was in no danger whatsoever.

"GRRAAAAAH!" Scratch that. I was in no danger. Now I am in danger. My rolling seems to have attracted the attention of the gorilla, who was previously unaware of my position, and its eyes have now locked onto my fragile form once more.

Reaffirming my grip on my bag, I quickly shoot to my feet and bolt off in the opposite direction of the gorilla, hoping to evade the gorilla once again. I sprint as fast as I can with all of my heart, and I can hear the gorilla lumbering on after me. Even as I skim and twist around various trees and branches, it continues its pursuit knocking down all the obstacles in its way and kicking up dirt as it pounces after me.

I can feel the wind whipping around behind me, it is right on my tail, and I can practically feel its horrible breath on my neck. Its giant hands make one or two grasps for me, which I narrowly manage to avoid, and I find my chance in a tiny gap between two colossal thick trees, and I leap through it.

Slipping through the gap head first, as if being born again, it should have been a simple fall onto my arms and knees, but for some reason, I tumble across the ground and scrape my shins quite hard before landing on my back, thunking the back of my head on the floor. Then, holding the back of my head, I look back towards the gap in the trees, and I see the large white eye of the gorilla peaking through the hole, looking down at me calmly, no rage to be seen on its face whatsoever, which scares me even more.

Its eyes search down my form, and again, I am too stunned to move, though this time, I would like to think it is more because of my little head injury than any fear. Its eyes, for some reason, leave my form, no longer paying any attention to me. Instead, it searches around my body, looking for something before its eyes finally drift down toward the tree it is peeking through, and its eyes alight on my bag of fruit.

My bag of fruit is what had ruined my little stunt, being too big and full of fruits. While I managed to slip through the gap with extreme ease, the baggage I had with me was caught behind me and ruined my jump, making me tumble across the dirt floor. And I am thankful that it happened because I didn't seem to ever be the target of the gorilla. Just what I had on my person was of interest to the beast.

The gorilla completely ignores me now and reaches its giant thumb and forefinger to grasp my makeshift bag of fruits, which was so big when it was on my person but seemed so tiny, trapped between its pinch. Then, with its objective in hand, it retreats from the gap, leaving me sitting there on the floor like an idiot, working my way to my feet, ignoring the big bump on the back of my head as I approach the gap in the trees.

I know I should probably leave well enough alone, but my curiosity is getting the best of me. So approaching the gap, I look through it to see the giant gorilla sitting on the ground, messing with my makeshift bag, trying to open it but finding its hands too big and cumbersome for the job.

Kind of reminiscent of a toddler trying to figure something out, it sits there and turns the bag every which way and tosses it about, trying to get at the fruit within. For some reason, despite being a giant gorilla, it looks kind of cute like this, it could easily just rip the thing apart, but it is trying to undo the knot I had on it.

It lifts the bag above its head and inspects it with a close eye trying to figure out how to get the treasures within, and evidently, its wish is granted because while my ropework was adequate, the materials of my makeshift bag were not, and it rips, and outfalls dozens of fruits which all smack the gorilla in the face, with one poking it in its eye. The gorilla drops the bag and starts rolling around on the floor while clutching its eyes and wailing like a baby. It does seem like a child.

It finally stops its tantrum and picks up one of the fruits off the ground and fiddles around with it for a moment before pealing it and enthusiastically chowing down on the food, which it does with a single chomp that swallows the small fruit.

The gorilla begins to quickly pick up, peel and then stuffs every fruit in its vicinity into its mouth, and its cheeks bulge to an insane degree as it squeezes them all in without swallowing and starts to chew on them. Then, finally, it swallows, and with a big gulp, the entire bulge of fruit moves down from its mouth, through its throat and into its stomach. It pats its belly in satisfaction and leans back with its arms out behind it, pressing against the ground, just lazing about after its meal.

Well, crap, the gorilla scared the crap out of me and stole my food, but I can't be angry at it. It is like a big child who doesn't know any better and is just hungry. But, of course, it was never trying to hurt me and just wanted the fruit. I think it might, in fact, be a child, what with how it threw a tantrum when I disappeared from its sight earlier and started throwing things around. But it doesn't matter. Let the gorilla have the fruit. I have gotten really good at climbing trees now just so I can keep heading in the right direction towards the beach. Then, I can easily just collect more.

"AWHOOOOOOO!" I heard a dozen howls break through the calm like the crashing of a thousand waves, insanely loud cries that felt like they were right next to my ear, and I was deafened by the piercing howls. Suddenly three wolves jump out of the surrounding forest and leap onto the gorilla. I watch as they begin to gnaw on its flesh, rending chunks of meat from the body and scratching at its fur. The wolves don't seem to do much harm by themselves, but they are seriously damaging the gorilla together.

It roars and jumps around frantically, trying to throw the wolves off of it, but they hold on tight with their jaws, their sharp teeth dug into the flesh of the gorilla. The situation worsens even further when more wolves jump out of the surroundings and rush the gorilla, jumping onto it and latching onto its skin as well. All I can do is watch, horrified, as the mighty child-like beast is slowly whittled down by the sly, conniving wolves that have grouped together to overthrow the mammoth.

The gorilla having enough sense to realise that it is losing decides to jump high into the air and then comes back down to land on its back, flattening one of the wolves entirely and smushing its body into paste while the others are thrown away from the resulting blast.

"Hah." I back away when one of the wolves is blown in my direction and crashes against the gap that I was spectating from, though thankfully, the wolf is too big to get through, though its body does get dangerously close to touching my face through the gap. Even a few steps away, I can still see through the hole. I watch as the wolf slides down against the tree and out of my sight, allowing me to see the battle still raging on, the gorilla holding its own now that it is not off guard and it is currently holding a wolf in its big hamfisted hand and smacking around the other wolves.

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A big yellow eye with red veins and slitted black pupils locks onto me, and I feel a shiver journey through my body as I feel the gaze of a predator lock onto me, something that sees me as food and nothing else. Compared to the gorilla chasing me earlier that was child's play, the wolf suddenly let's loose a loud piercing howl into the air, then waits, and a few more cries sound out in reply.

"ROOAAAGGHHH!"

"AHH!" I stumble back, falling onto my ass as the wolf lunges forward, managing to just fit its snout through the gap in the tree and start biting for my head. Luckily, I was about an inch too far away so that I could safely back away without having my nose bitten off. The wolf doesn't seem to be getting through any time soon, being stuck in the tree, which it can't fit through, and it looks pretty stable-

"ROAAAAGGHHH!"

Crap, crap, crap. Another bloody snout just poked through above the other one and is also ferociously trying to get through the gap to me as well. I rapidly begin to scooch backwards, gaining some distance from the tree until I feel safe. Even with another wolf trying to break through, there isn't any leeway and-

"ROAAGGGHHH!"

Crap, another one just appeared above the others, and the tree has also started to groan. These wolves are constantly bashing against the wood, trying to get through to me, they have probably given up on the gorilla as it proved to be too strong for them, and it had already killed one of their pack by flattening the wolf instead they are now going for me, the weaker prey that shouldn't put up much of a fight, and-

The wood splinters, and some bark breaks off as the tree suddenly shakes and moves position, allowing the wolves to fit even more of their faces through the gap. I don't waste any more time. I clamber back up and start to run away in the opposite direction of the tree. I don't know what happened with that gorilla, but it is just a matter of time before those wolves break through and start to hunt me down, and I need to get a healthy distance between us before the bark breaks.

I run with all my might once again, yet this time I am more desperate than ever. Somehow, I am going faster than I was when the gorilla was chasing me. If I don't escape, then I am going to be ripped to shreds and feasted on by numerous wolves. Nevertheless, I still have things I need to do, and I am not going to let these pathetic cunning, bottom eaters be the ones to bring me down. I just decided I wanted a brilliant life, didn't I?

I feel the blood pumping through my legs, my tendons aching, and my Achilles feel like they are going to fall out at any moment, but I don't care. All I need to do is keep running, keep running up this hill, just keep running till I don't have to run anymore. So I don't think anymore. I just do. I don't take the time to analyse my surroundings. I don't think about direction or obstacles. I just do.

So I leap and jump, making split-second calls based on nothing else but my instinct and gut and luck, which seems to be working out for me as I have kept running for who knows how long, and yet the wolves are still behind me, right on my tail but just out of reach.

I feel my mouth turn upwards, and a grin breaks out stupidly all over my face. I am going to best these wolves, I am going to outrun them and escape from their wily pursuit, and there is nothing they can do to stop me. I am home free-

"Ahh." Something bonks me on the head out of nowhere and upsets my course. I trip and stumble but try to remain upright. I see the cause of my troubles as I fumble. It is a fruit that had randomly dropped from a tree. I really question if I am lucky sometimes. I manage to catch myself on my left foot, but I do so at an awkward angle, making my knee buckle, and I feel a sharp pain in it, but it doesn't matter, I may have injured my left knee, but it still kept me upright, it has kept me ali-

"UGH!" My foot slips underneath a vine, which trips me over, sending me sprawling to the ground. My face impacts the dirt and scrapes against it as my momentum carries me forward, my cheek splits up, and I feel a harsh sting as mud enters the wound, and- That is a lake.

My head lols over the edge of a cliff, the rest of my body resting on the cliff's edge, just a slight movement away from tipping myself entirely over the edge. Below me is a giant lake, with a few waterfalls falling down into it on my far left. I look around from the high ground, and then, then, I spot it. Beyond the lake, beyond the forest that surrounds the lake, there is the beach, my goal, directly in front of me.

I bring my hands up and use them to scooch myself up and away from the treacherous cliff and get up to my feet, backing up a bit further. My goal is right there. I just need to find a way to get down the cliff safely, and then I am home free, to Garp, to safety and training and some rest.

I am closer than ever, and I-

"GRRR." A growl sounds out from the trees behind me, and I quickly spin around, reminded of the deadly situation I am in and the looming threat hiding in the woods. A wolf pops out, and I move back, frightened, but my foot touches the edge, and I am reminded that my situation has worsened. Still, instead of going right for me, it stops, regarding me with a predatorial eye before moving to the right. It is clear why when another wolf pops out of the forest behind it and then another, one stays there looking at me while the other moves around to the left, surrounding me.

The wolves are cornering me, the intelligent animals that they are. They have figured out that there is nowhere for me to go and that I can't run anymore. And so they are blocking my escape roots and forcing me to stay here, where they will slowly whittle me down with guerilla tactics like they were doing to the gorilla, except I will not be able to last as long as that beast under the assault.

I quickly observed the formation the wolves had taken, looking for any gaps or weaknesses that I could take advantage of to make my escape. One wolf is directly in front of me, and the other two are to my left and right, respectively, with each of them an equal distance between the wolf in the middle and the edge of the cliff.

I have two options now, four really, and they are all equally dangerous. I could try and go for a gap between the wolves, either the left one or the right one, but that would be a high chance of death. I would have to slip between two wolves in either direction, and they are not stationary. They will move, and they will both go for me, so maybe I can get through if luck is on my side.

But which direction to go in is also another predicament. To my right is the waterfall meaning there is a river in that direction that I can cross somehow and lose my attackers, but the waterfall is quite far away, and I don't know if I can make it there, so do I take a chance and go left which is unknown to me.

And then there is option two, which I just as deadly as the last option depending on how you look at it and what kind of death you would prefer. Instead of trying to run through the gap between two wolves, I can try to run through the gap between a wolf and the cliff's edge, which is one less wolf but includes a dangerous drop. Again I have the same predicament of which direction to take, but either way, I will be risking a lot.

If I go with this option, there is less chance of me being taken down by a wolf since they will be cautious of jumping for me if they also risk going over the edge and falling to their deaths. I know they are clever enough to understand that from how they have been behaving.

Still, for that to work, I will have to run close enough to the edge of the cliff because the closer I am to it, the less likely the wolf is to attack. However, the ground itself is uneven, and there are a few things on the floor that may trip me up, and I don't have the luxury of taking my time and being careful, so there is the risk of me falling over as well, and if I fall over...

I take a second to lean back and look behind me, just for a second, but that is all I need to understand how well and truly screwed I am. The cliff's face is sheer until about halfway down, at which part it gets very rocky and starts to jut out all over the place, leaving out hard edges and rock crags.

If something were to fall down from here, they would be able to fall just long enough to build up some serious speed before smashing into the rocks about ten times before finally landing into the lake, significantly damaged. So what the hell do I do? Do I take my chances and run between the wolves, or do I-

"AWHOOOO!" A howl once more pierces through the air, coming from the deep forest, the cry being the product of a few wolves acting in sync. There are more on their way, and when they get here, things will just get worse for me, and I won't be able to do anything except die for them. I am running out of time. I have to act quickly and do something, anything. It doesn't matter what. There is no time to ponder. Just act like Garp would. Don't think. Just do.

Bursting into motion, I run straight at the centre wolf, which takes it by surprise. it wasn't expecting a frontal assault, so it is cautious and backs up a little. However, the other two wolfs quickly move closer to the centre wolf to try and keep me blocked in. I close in on the wolf at full speed, but before I reach it, I put my foot down, skidding against the ground and kicking up dirt into the face of the wolf as well as blinding the other two that had moved in close.

Turning on the heel of my foot, I face the cliff again and sprint t full speed once more, but this time I have no intention of stopping. I intend to go all the way, all in. Finally, my foot touches the edge, and I jump off over the lake, or at least I hope I am over the lake. I feel like I am floating on air, like I am light as a feather for a single moment before reality comes crashing back down along with me as my jump begins to arc, and I begin to fall, and down I go.

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Pulling myself out of the water, I drag my drenched form onto the sand that surrounds the lake that I had dropped into like a rock into the water. Thankfully it was deep enough that I didn't hit anything when I dived in, and I had jumped far enough to not clip myself on any of the rock faces that were jutting out, though my body was sore all over from a splash of that height. But I don't regret it. In fact, I have learned a valuable lesson.

There is a time to think and plan, and there is a time to stop thinking and just act, and thankfully I now know which is which. You can plan and think when you have the luxury to think and you have the time, but when you don't have the time, then you can't waste it thinking about possibilities, and you just have to go for it. So think and plan before you head off into action, but when you are in the thick of it, when you are in the heart of it, stay in the heat and don't let your head mess it up.

I have actually learnt something from this experience. Godamn you, Garp, I hate you.

With my goal in sight, I continue trudging on, the picture of the beach itself reinvigorating me and giving me a boost.

Not far now. I am nearly there.