The noises of society rung out on the constructed-over dirt. People were appearing and disappearing just as quickly as the former. The people appeared to be coming and going as their day continued; some often checking a watch or a phone to see if they were notified of something. This was how life usually was in the city of Lexington, Kentucky; the urban environment appeared to be surrounded by suburbs in the outskirts and even further surrounded by forestry. An advertisement of an upcoming horse race was posted on a barren utility pole that has already come and went - horse racing was a staple to the state of Kentucky, often being one of the few things that the state is even known for - as a stack of newspapers from the Lexington Herald-Leader rested on a rack right by a corner store; said corner stores were often pretty empty aside from the occasional customer coming and going, purchasing cigarettes or liquor to make the day go by quicker.
Within the slumbering newspaper resided a group of articles ranging from the status of certain stocks to the next best food item from a Rally's or Gold Star. However, right in the middle of all of this product-promoting was a little article talking about a recent sighting of a strange ‘cryptid’. The state of Kentucky had its fair share of supernatural creatures ranging from the infamous Mothman to The Pope Lick Monster; but this one was written to sound completely unique, with a news headline reading:
“SUPERNATURAL BEING PROCLAIMED TO BE SPOTTED IN NEARBY WOODS; LOCALS HAVE CALLED THIS ANOMALOUS BEING “Q” FOR SIMPLICITY.”
Of course, people just assumed it was a hoax of sorts that gained a small amount of popularity and would eventually be forgotten in due time. Alongside this, there were studies directed by botanists within the state that revealed quite an odd discovery: just a few meters within the thicket outside the main suburban area, there was an anomalous group of flowers that appeared in a small circular circumference of around 4 feet in diameter. These flowers, according to the researchers after they had taken samples of them, looked “otherworldly” in appearance, some not even looking like any plant one has ever seen; one flower had weird engravings into its petals, whilst another one had a strange purple mist emanating from it that provided a ‘calming’ feeling to those that inhaled it.
The odd part about these flowers was that they lacked any roots that attached to the soil to keep them steady; it was as if the plants had just grown from only the stem. The flowers themselves weren’t publicly announced due to the possibility of a slight panic - likely from how “alien-esque” these flowers were - but they were taken to a facility to further examine them up close; it was here that a surreal discovery was made. These flowers contained miniscule traces of rubber within their stems. But, that’s impossible; no flower, or any living organism for that matter, can house a non-organic substance like rubber within themselves, otherwise they wouldn’t function normally; it was a biological anomaly. It was because of this discovery that the scientists and botanists had concluded that the flowers weren’t grown naturally but, instead, created by some kind of outside force. The question that were on the researchers heads was a simple but confusing one:
WHO?
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First Appearance [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1165359837069180928/1267893401269964832/Book_Panel_1.png?ex=671fc6bf&is=671e753f&hm=1e29633afa9971c9c17a0210f418d4f12d1aec3fce1110884490619dbc96cf19&]
Within the outskirts of Kentucky, somewhere within a grassy forest, a boy wandered with a stomach suggesting something to eat. Last time the boy recalled, he hadn't eaten much of a big meal in quite a few days - 2 or 3 give or take. The boy then stood there for a few moments, pondering on what he should eat; an expression of pure thought rested on his relaxed face. It was then that the child had taken notice of a certain insect just right next to him, the insect in question resting atop the trunk of a tree, and it’s bulging eyes appearing to be staring straight at him; it made the boy a tad uneasy, with how the insects’ eyes follow him and such. It was a slightly misty night within the lone forest, with hints of fog flowing in and out of view. The boy squatted down and held out a finger to the insect which it slowly crawled upon after a few seconds of supposed ‘thought’. The boy then stood back up, inspecting the bug up close; it was an odd shade of green with bulging eyes and some odd pair of wings; it also appeared to have a few more legs than the child first initially thought. The boy in question slowly held his hand the insect was resting on outwards, allowing it to leave if it wished; the insect obliged, it’s back carapace lifting, thus revealing a set of wings, as it quickly lifted itself from the boys finger and took off into the nightly sky; the boy simply stood by and watched it fly away, a small grin emerging from his face. It’s the small things that make life more interesting; it’s how the boy found out about a new type of insect!
. . .
But he really should find something to eat; he’s fairly certain his stomach is eating his spine at this point.
Going off of that thought, the boy turned heel and strolled deeper into the dark forest, seeming to be unfazed by the hard-to-see environment as he waltzed over thick tree roots and leaped over small creeks, his hands in the pockets of his pants that appeared to nearly be black but with a few hints of purple here and there. It was as if the whole forest was like a home for the child with how ‘used to it’ he appeared to be, his feet seeming to be unharmed despite stepping on a whole multitude of things within the thicket - twigs, leaves, and sometimes the occasional small rock - as he appeared to be searching for something. Rubbing his stomach with one hand, the boy thought about possibly having fish from a nearby river, his eyes that had dimly glowed before lighting up a tad at the thought of meat. The boy suddenly stopped in front of a sizable tree, likely an American Basswood that was quite common in Kentucky, and peered up at the possible treetop; inadvertently gazing at the stars that had just begun to form in the sky like soap-suds appearing in a bath. The boy then removed his hands from his pockets and rubbed them together in preparation; then, much like a panther of sorts, the boy hopped onto the tree, his fingers and toes gripping the bark as he began to (quite speedily) scale the large tree that shot into the sky much like its neighbors around it. During his climb, the boy leaped from the bark to a branch that was connected to the upper body of the tree, using his momentum to swing in a circle on the branch before sending himself upwards by a few meters, latching onto the tree once more; it appeared that this child had some capability as an athlete despite being so young. The child in question had eventually reached the top of the tree that ended in a bunch of thick branches splitting off, the boy perching himself in the center of the group to get a better view of the world around him; it was a world he’s so used to but isn’t at the same time. It confused the boy immensely as he pondered what else could be out there - who else could be out there.
Well . . . at least the view was nice.
Gazing [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1165359837069180928/1267893401827803166/Book_Panel_2.png?ex=671fc6bf&is=671e753f&hm=52b46a8d071f316fe4e5bdb01bbdacfa551e55d3090b536345a8e00b6138f0b4&]
The boy continued looking at the nightly sky that was partnered by the full moon for a few more moments before his stomach reminded him about a certain need that he needs to quench. It was here that the boy leaned his torso forward a tad in order to scan the environment around him, looking for some sort of body of water like a small lake or maybe even a river if he was lucky. Placing a hand to his forehead as if to scan the area further, the boy’s ears perked a tad at the ever-so-small sound of rushing water; like something akin to the sound of wind but more . . . liquidy. The child turned his head to where the noise was originating from, paying attention specifically to the noises around him and even going so far as to close his eyes to heighten the focus of his hearing..
Swoosh . . . Swoosh . . . Swoosh . . .
The noises became much more clear to the child the more he listened in; it was oddly calming to the kid for some reason. He had then slowly opened his eyes that returned to a dim glow in the dark as he turned to the direction of the sound, which was about North-East from where he was currently positioned and somewhere around 40-45 meters away that seemed to lead ever deeper into the thicket; not too far for the boy, so that’s good that he wouldn’t have to run there for too long on an empty stomach. And just like that, the boy had slowly gone to the edge of the center of the branches, lifting one foot over the edge before suddenly hopping off and plummeting towards the earthy ground; the boy lifted a leg far upwards during his fast descent. Just as he was about to hit the dirt, the child had suddenly swung his leg downwards to deliver an ax-kick of sorts, causing some dust to kick up, but also causing the boy to charge into the deep thicket at a quick speed; the child had seemed to use the momentum of the kick to allow for more speed with little stamina loss - quite an effective way of travel for somebody so young.
The boy, now in the deeper parts of the Kentuckian forests, began leaping and hopping from tree to tree, branch to branch, and sometimes rock to slightly-larger-rock; it was astonishing with how the boy was even managing to keep up without at least crashing or tripping on something, like the whole area was familiar to him. During his leaps and dashes, the boy had noticed a sort of glimmer slowly closing in, standing out in the shadow-filled thicket that hardly any moonlight reached - it looked sort of like the kind of shine you’d see on a blade if you angled it enough; the boys eyes glowed a tad more intense as he couldn’t help but give off a grin. The child had suddenly halted his advancements on a stray branch, swinging a bit before stilling, a few feet away from the source of where he’ll find his next meal. The water glistened a bit in the little light that penetrated the trees above, giving it a very ‘celestial’ feel if that makes sense. The child swung backwards a bit before swinging forward, letting go of the branch and landing in a squat just 2-3 feet from the river as he simply just stared at the flowing water; a light breeze going by and lifting his hair a bit to the side before said hair flopped back down. The boy then stood up as he kept staring at the river below, noticing a few small silhouettes woosh by to and fro; this was a bit of a shock to the boy, as not even he knew that fish moved at night time and just assumed they’d be asleep. It was then that the boy slowly waltzed into the river, pants and all, and stood there in the rushing water - waiting. After a few minutes of standing there idly, the boy’s eye twitched and he suddenly lunged down to grasp at the water - the boys hands lifted back up from the water with a bass in their grasp; the boy grinned wildly at the new catch, his rather-long canines showing themselves for a brief second or two. The fish flopped wildly in the boy's hands before slowly stopping, and the boy slowly opened his mouth further and further; the child's mouth even opened up far more than what’s normally possible for a human. Just like that, the kid had chomped down on the fish’s side, yanking his head to the side and ending up with a mouthful of fish guts and bones. As the boy chewed along, often taking more bites every now and then, there was a . . . newcomer slowly approaching. Said newcomer appeared to have noticed the boys being here and decided to make itself known in the dark.
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A deep growling noise was heard, causing the boy to perk his head and mouth still full of fish, scan the area around him, swiveling his head from side-to-side and even glancing upwards to see where the noise must’ve come from only to find nothing. Another growling sound was audible throughout the thicket, and the boy swallowed the fish guts and bones he had in his mouth before lifting what was left of the fish into his mouth, chewing and munching on the bones and flesh of it whilst looking around more intently; it was safe for the boy to say that there was something here with him and, while not uncommon, was still a hassle to deal with even at this time of night. However, the boy had picked up on something odd about the growl: it sounded like two growls mixed into one- wait, no, not even two growls, but a growl mixed with some kind of grunt or huff. This - this was no animal that the boy’s ever heard of before, one that was able to produce two kinds of noises at the same time. It was here that the odd growling-grunt noise was . . . awfully closer than before, causing the boy to turn his head to where it could’ve come from.
An approach [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1165359837069180928/1267893402511478865/Book_Panel_3.png?ex=671fc6bf&is=671e753f&hm=f854051a7c7eadc21fb56a0c5e77aa55c2b8c4862a52ffb724321286cac8f885&]
This . . . thing was most definitely the cause of the strange combined noise the boy had heard. It was some kind of beast that had the appearance of two animals of some kind; some sort of gorilla that was combined with a bear or something akin to that; it was an abomination in every stretch of the word - just what was this thing? The boy didn’t exactly have time to think about that as the strange creature made eye-contact with the child, causing its crimson pupils to shrink a bit - a sign of savagery, perhaps - before it slowly began advancing towards the boy.
Author’s note: Don’t EVER stare a Gorilla or a Bear in the eyes, as it’ll just provoke the animal into attacking you. Again, DO. NOT. LOOK. THEM. in the EYES.
The boy suddenly felt tense at this motion; he’s often dealt with larger animals in the past for consumption purposes, but he’s never even seen something like this. The child’s body then reflexively stepped back and clenched its fists, like it was acting on instinct and self-preservation. The beast, however, took this step-back as a sign of fear and retreat, causing its predatory instincts to jolt it into suddenly charge at the boy, letting out a vicious roar as it lunged at the kid with one clawed hand behind it as if preparing a swiping motion. In response to this, the child quickly ducked the swing, a sweat droplet forming on his temple as he then lunged into the beasts chin, delivering a nasty headbutt and causing the Bearilla-thing to reel back for a brief moment in pain; that was odd, how did this boy have such strength to send a creature like this reeling back? Upon landing, the boy immediately took his chance and dashed at the beast, cocking an arm back whilst holding a fist in his hand and delivering a nasty elbow to the center of its face; however, the beast had managed to tank the blow despite the blood emerging from its nose as it suddenly delivered a devastating left swing to the boys body, a loud “T H O O M” being audible from the impact. The boy had suddenly went flying to the side from the strike, making him feel dizzy; the boy had noticed mid-flight that he was nearing a tree that was in his way, causing him to turn vertically and land sideways onto the tree, said tree de-rooting a little from the sudden impact of a person pushing into it at a high velocity. The child exhaled deeply as he planted his feet back on the earthy-soil, the beast staring at him in abject fury as it suddenly knelt down, much like a feline that was ready to pounce. The boy immediately took this as a warning and raised his fists in a fighting stance of sorts; the kid wasn’t exactly a martial artist, so to speak, as he sort of just knew punches, kicks, headbutts, grapples, and everything in-between. The beast had charged again, managing to somehow run bipedally with both arms reaching out to the boy; this thing really was an abomination, huh? The kid had came up with a plan of sorts to counteract this second charge; he cocked his arms behind him, and when the beast attempted a double-strike with it’s hand-paw-things, the boy dashed forward and hurled both arms forward, using his hands to essentially parry the creature’s attack. With the beast's face wide open, the boy cocked an arm back and delivered a strong left-hook to the beast's cheek, two to three teeth flying out from its maw from the blow. However, the beast had somehow managed to gain a ‘second-wind’ of sorts as it suddenly chomped down on the boy’s arm as his fist passed its cheek, causing the boy to yelp in pain as the monster’s teeth sank deep into his flesh, attempting to tear it away. However, due to instinctual quick-thinking from the boy, he’d quickly grab the back of the beasts’ head and slam it into the ground, a “C R A C K” sounding out from something breaking; the beast still didn’t let go, as if it was hell-bent on tearing this child apart. Said child gritted his teeth in anger and pain at the stupid persistence of this thing, lifting his non-bitten hand up and suddenly plunged his thumb into the beast's eye, it roaring in agony and unintentionally letting the boy's arm go. The child in question used this opportunity to suddenly begin whaling on the beast’s face, each strike being more devastating than the last one; the boy was slowly building anger as he kept punching into the creature’s skull, blood coming and going from nearly every orifice on the beast’s head, his fists slowly beginning to become redder and redder by the second as they began looking nothing more than tan-colored blurs going back and forth at superhuman speeds and making it look as if he had grown multiple arms..
An elastic rush [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1165359837069180928/1267893402947817563/Book_Panel_4.png?ex=671fc6bf&is=671e753f&hm=25ec9e4718b05e531c90499fe2f7b5c9e97b397bf4099c6ade6cfda493d79bb3&]
With one final punch, the beast's skull was completely crushed, its brain spilling out in a small burst through the cracks in said skull. The boy, afterwards, slowly rose to his feet in a panting fit as his eyes, which were glowing very intensely during his assault, slowly began to dim now that he was done; truthfully, the boy wasn’t even expecting to be that violent, nor did he want to become that violent - did the combat get into his head that much? The boy looked down at [what was left of] the beast, his expression of abject agitation slowly transforming into one of pity; despite what he did, the child didn’t really want to kill this thing, but he knew better than to try and be peaceful with it, as he knew all too well that this thing - no matter what combination it may be - is still an animal. It would’ve just kept coming at him until he was killed or ran away, and the boy does not make a habit of quitting. Said child then lifted his hands as he looked at them; they were caked in multiple shades of red, some weird pink thing was sticking to his knuckle, and the red was slowly dripping down his hands and onto his arms. The boy looked at this in sullenness; despite how he fights, this kid doesn’t seem to take pride in combat despite his unrelenting nature to never give up - does he simply fight because he’d be killed otherwise? The boy himself has trouble answering this question - it hurts his mentality to think about it. The child then looked at [what was left of] the beast, closing his eyes and exhaling deeply as he made a mental apology for doing this to the creature; it was him or the beast, and he chose him. Slowly stepping over the beasts head, the boy glanced at his hands once more before looking to the river that was now a bit further than before since they started their fight, then slowly waltzed over to the river as he knelt down and began washing his hands in the river-water, the red slowly coming off of his hands and flowing along the river in a crimson mist of some kind as the boy watched. His hands now clean (enough), the boy took a final glance back at the creature in confused wonder; just what was this thing? He’s never heard of an animal hybrid before. Are there more like this thing out there? The thought made the boy shiver a tad, or that likely could’ve been the cold. The child then turned and stepped out of the red-tinged river, walking through the bushes that were on the sidelines of the river, and walked back into the deep forest; the sound of crunching leaves slowly became quieter and quieter as the boy faded into the night.
KRNCH
KRNCH
KRNCH
KRNCH
KRNCH
. . .
Info [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1165359837069180928/1267893408945541180/Mid-Chapter_Info.png?ex=671fc6c1&is=671e7541&hm=a2c1100892ce60b03807d6184e53d0fe569e93484c35d287509cff5526a6a982&]
Bearilla [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1165359837069180928/1267893408492552344/Bearilla.png?ex=671fc6c0&is=671e7540&hm=41c923efd39f8a8935ae47b4afcc41c9a6d21b01af69d668e5234fccbaef570b&]