Dried decaying matter softly crunched under the steps of the two boys as the drone lightly buzzed behind them. Duncan swatted away cobwebs and flies, his expression that of disgust.

They crossed the short distance through the forest of mountainous trees and emerged to the blindingly bright strip of bare ground. A couple of meters away, two meter tall bright green grass calmly waved, nearly welcoming the two survivors. Tall trees poked their crowns out amidst the grasslands every now and then. A sweet smell of flowers flowed in from the vegetation.

'... This place is begging for an encounter.' Duncan thought, his brunet hair dishevelled from all the scratching he gave it. 'Well I don't think the drone will be of much use here, might as well put it away.' he stored the drone in his backpack.

Over to the far distant right, a small blob of cyan grew, fitted between the plains and unreasonably dense jungle of dark greens. The light around the cyan ground bent and deformed as if it had wide glass spikes shooting up.

The sky above was packed with varied animals flying and singing all over. Some were thin and elongated, others stubby with thick sickles growing from their talons. Sporadic flight and smooth gliding differentiated them further. Most were shades of blue, some brown and very few bright vibrant colors.

"Ummm..." Angelo looked around warily. "I didn't mention it but... There's a lot of things that want to eat you here..."

"..." Duncan had a blank expression. 'But will they eat us?!' he hid his thoughts.

"Don't worry though! I'll keep you safe! Let's hide before the birds see us." he charged for the tall grass and was enveloped upon entering it.

'I hate my life...' Duncan reluctantly followed.

The stiff blades of grass made movement difficult. Each swath of dirt was packed with plants that resisted being stepped on.

'I. Hate. This. So. Much.' as the survivor took a hunched step behind the winged boy, countless weeds brushed and slapped against him. He grabbed and failed to rip off a bundle of plants that had hit him square in the nose.

Many diverse plants grew in the plains, thorny brown shrubs, small weeds and flowers, shorter grass and leafy outshoots. Many had colorful buds sprinkled across and fewer held fruits.

'There's so much different stuff here...' despite the discomfort, the boy was filled with curiosity and carefully observed the natural formations.

"Over here." Angelo half whispered, stopping by one of the thorny shrubs sprouting tiny fiery red orbs.

"Let's grab these. Watch out though, they're sharp."

'I'm so gonna get pricked by these...' the survivor crouched down.

The two carefully squeezed their hands through the tightly woven prickly branches. Small openings allowed them to reach and grab the bright red berries.

'Come on...' Duncan held a branch with one hand, pulling it slightly out of the way while with the other he grabbed a fruit.

The angelic boy also gathered. He used his stick to push and whack the thorns out of the way.

'Are these the bonbon like things we ate? They're still surprisingly hard.' he picked a few more that were adjacent and pulled out his palm, lightly scraping it on a thorn. 'Ahh! Dang it.' he inspected his injury.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

'Just a scratch. Good thing it isn't bleeding.' he backed off, unequipped his backpack and stored the berries in, leaving the sack on the ground.

The winged boy also put in a handful of berries in the backpack. The two continued to collect red berries until only those that were too hard to reach remained.

'Man, that dumb robot would've been useful here. He's actually good at this sort of stuff, and he wouldn't have to worry about getting scratched.' he equipped the backpack and stood up.

"Um, now what?" Duncan asked.

"Let's get more stuff. There's also the stuff from the trees."

A tussling in the grass that wasn't their own took the attention of the boys. A small, about the size of a foot, green ball of fluff hopped admits the thick flora.

"Uh, what's that?" the boy asked, pointing at the creature.

"I dunno. They're like bunnies I think. They don't want to eat you so don't worry about it. This way."

As Duncan followed the winged boy, he warily looked behind at the ball of fluff similarly suspiciously eyeing him back.

As the pair made their way in the plains, they noticed a herd of animals in the distance. The herd consisted of numerous tall striped bovines. They had four lean long legs that held their bulky bodies above the sea of grass. They were dark in color, with stripes of different colors that made them look hypnotic. On each two sides of their long face they had an eye and a curved matte black horn growing outward from their forehead.

The herd lazily grazed on the grass as they slowly stomped their way around the terrain, oblivious to their surroundings.

"They don't want to eat you, but they can be dangerous." Angelo quietly said. "Let's go around."

***

Another bush of red berries met the survivors, and like before they began to pick it clean.

'What is that...?' As Duncan put together fruits in his hand, he noticed a small brown rat like creature huddled in the corner.

The angel sighted the boy staring and took action. Using his gray staff he slammed down at the rocky dirt. "Shoo!" he shouted.

The furry animal was startled. It rose and screeched with its sagittal teeth as it rapidly fled backwards. From within the thick wall of plants, a snake leapt with a blur, chomped down the rat and returned back into the tangle of plant fibers in the span of seconds.

"A-" Duncan gaped in surprise.

"Yea... that happens a lot..."

After having gathered all they could, and snacking a little, the boys rose. They once again spotted the herd in the distance, only this time one of its members was under attack. A flurry of small and sharp birds dove into the flesh of the bovine like harpoons from the sky. Crimson blood splattered from the creature as it struggled to shake off the gnawing raptors from digging into its back. Other members of the herd whipped at the feathered creatures with their long flexible tails and managed to knock some off. Ultimately it was in vain as the bovine collapsed down into the sea of vegetation, prompting the rest of the herd to flee.

'Didn't one of those attack us before...?' chills ran down the boy's spine.

"Let's pick some stuff from that tree over there and then go back." Angelo pointed to a nearby trunk.

"A-alright."

On their path there, the boys heard wary shuffling of grass amidst the bird songs. A long thin snake carefully circled around them, contemplating an attack.

"Quick! Throw rocks at it!" Angelo leaned down and began to barrage the animal with stones. Duncan followed suit with terror on his face.

The fauna hissed and fled, not wanting to take a risk.

'This place is seriously scary. I hate it. Please no more.' they continued.

***

The shade of the tall tree covered the boys, having arrived at its location. It had a rich brown bark with a single long trunk splitting into many symmetric and organized branches at the top. The grass around it was far shorter, about knee height.

"There should be a bunch of nuts on the ground." the winged boy pulled one up and showed it. "Like this!" he stored it in another compartment in the backpack that Duncan had set down, separate from the fiery red berries.

As they collected the hard pods the backpack became more and more plum. Leaning down, Duncan observed a peculiar plant.

'Huh, this one looks a lot like one of those water bugs, except it's the size of a finger nail. Are they the same thing?' he poked at the greenery. 'Feels about the same...'

Violent tussling came from behind the survivor. He immediately turned and saw a large feline spring out of the grassland. As the sharp claws of the animal swiped, his life flashed before his eyes.

*KABOOM*

The feline was hit by an explosion on its side that sent it flying in the distance.

"RUN!" Angelo yelled.

Duncan snapped out of his daze and fled towards the angelic boy.

The yellow quadruped recovered with a black scorch on its side. It faced the boys with a growl.