Chapter 4 - The Menos Forest

[WarJack]

Darkness. All Jack could see was darkness. He instinctively knew that the black gaping maw of a portal that ripped through the fabric of reality had come from him. Jack recognised the blue-white aura that surrounded the outer edges of the gateway.

Knowing that - somehow - he’d created this portal in his desperation, he leaped through the portal without a second thought, which began to shrink behind him.

He had done it.

He had escaped the Shinigami.

Relief flooded through his entire being. That had been close, far too close for his liking. He’d been moments away from… Well, whatever happened to creatures like him when they were slain by the sword of a Shinigami.

A… Hollow? A Cero? So many names... The Shinigami had been well-informed about who or what he was.

Is that was he was, a Hollow? Jack had heard the Shinigami call him a Hollow. But he’d seen creatures like him before. He’d fed on them. He’d devoured them and their essence. So he couldn’t be unique.

Were there more creatures like him? Is that were this portal led? Some kind of Hollow realm?

More assured and determined now, Jack pressed onwards. Completely ignoring the fact that he should be falling into the void and the only reason that he wasn’t was because he’d been subconsciously forming a pathway into the darkness, similar to the way he walked on air.

-

An indeterminable amount of time later, Jack saw a weak spec of light in the distance. Bounding forwards, Jack’s quickened his pace as his excitement grew.

Finally, he’d be out of the darkness and in find the new place he’d been travelling towards and hopefully something to feed on. His hunger was back and Jack felt more ravenous than ever before.

The platforms underneath him began to form faster and faster, as his speed increased, before stopping completely as he leapt through the void, unfurling his wings in the process, gliding through the portal and out the other side of the gateway.

The portal opened up about 5 feet above ground, so after a quick glide, Jack landed and was immediately on high-alert.

He was assaulted by a massive variety of noises coming from this new place. He sensed several presences around him, all of differing power levels. Some below his, while a few far exceeded his own power.

He’d stepped into a literal beehive, buzzing with activity and curious about his arrival. Jack could see several sets of eyes turned towards him, as they glowed in the darkness.

Ignoring the beings - other Hollows, he assumed – around him for a moment, Jack began to assess the environment he’d found himself in.

The forest – or what he assumed was a forest - was large, stretching as far as he could see in the thick darkness, in each direction. The large trees were made of a silvery quartz substance.

Pale white light seeped through the leaves of the forest’s upper canopy, at random intervals. Occasionally, loud thumping could be heard, as gigantic, monstrous-sized Hollows would thunder through the forest – surprisingly fast, from how quickly Jack could hear the footfalls.

His assessment over for now, Jack focused on the main task - Survival.

This area seemed harsh and unforgiving. It seemed every few seconds, Jack would hear a cry/scream of pain, follows by grunts and the sounds of battle.

Suddenly, a creature jumped out of the foliage to his left, tackling him before attempting to punch a hole through his skull.

Jack rolled with the tackle, landed on his back he used the creature’s momentum against him, grabbing its chest, before kicking it over his head and smashing his tail into its back for extra velocity as the creature – which he now recognised to be a Hollow – catapulted into a tree, which collapsed under the force of the impact.

Curiously enough, small amounts of sand appeared to fall through the gap created by the tree. Even more curious, the trees themselves seemed to sense a gap, as the surrounding trees thickened, growing larger. Large enough to fill the gap in the canopy above, stopping anymore sand from slipping through the cracks.

Jack didn’t have time to consider the possibility of being under a beach however, as he rapidly jumped up and twisted, before landing on all fours and charging forwards, speeding towards the downed Hollow.

Performing a feat of incredible mid-air acrobatics, Jack jumped, before smashing his thick tail through the head (and mask) of the dazed Hollow.

Jack barely had time to absorb his fair share of the blue essence before two more Hollows appeared in tandem beside him.

And just like that, Jack’s struggle for survival increased tenfold, when compared to the World of the Living he’d just departed from.

-

It seemed to have only been a few hours, yet Jack had felt more tired than he’d ever felt before. Nothing in his past life had come close to this, nor had any of his fights with Shinigami reached the levels of exhaustion he felt now.

His previous assessment of this world had been correct. It might have seem dark and dreary. But it was a bustling hive of activity.

Hollows seemed to be fighting at every given opportunity, which sounded like every few seconds. Pained screams, angry roars and victorious cries seemed to fill in as the ambient background noise in the forest. No longer could Jack hear the voices in his head, as they were not loud enough to be heard over the forest’s inhabitants.

Jack couldn’t count the number of fights he’d been in. And not all of them were victorious either. Fortunately, Hollows were so numerous in this place that if he’d felt like the tides of battle were not in his favour, he’d merely retreat to a different part of the forest and his attacker would be engaged in battle by another Hollow.

-

The majority of Hollows he'd seen in the Human World he'd left behind were far weaker than the Hollows he'd encountered in this forest. There had also been far less… Variety.

That's not to say that the Hollows Jack had fought here were powerhouses. They weren't on the level of the Shinigami that he'd fought.

The variety of Hollows was something that he'd not expected. It had been naive and downright foolish to expect him to be special and unique. Yet, that's what he'd thought.

Back in the Human realm, the Hollows he'd encountered were all very animalistic looking creatures, almost like a large bears. Simple. Unintelligent. Boring.

Jack had been different. He was intelligent, strong and had a variety of interesting and powerful techniques available to use.

He also had wings and a tail. His human side thought that was seriously cool.

But some of the Hollows in this dimension defied all logic. Hollows with 2 heads. Hollows with 4 arms. Some Hollows that resembled animals, like birds, while others seemed to be mismatched and boasted an interesting combination of appendages.

And while Jack hadn't yet seen a Hollow with 2 arms, 2 legs, a tail and a pair of wings, he knew it was only a matter of time before he came across one.

-

Jack had spent several hours in the forest so far, and during a brief moment of respite from the constant battle, he turned his thoughts inward. He was beginning to grow concerned over his mindset.

One the one hand, Jack was ecstatic with his new state of affairs. He had all the food he could ever eat available to him, in abundance, right on his doorstep.

On the other, it felt like he was losing his memories. Not the recent ones, he could clearly remember how he died, but the older ones - of his Human life.

Details were growing vague. Old friends forgotten, he could barely remember the names of his parents and siblings.
Where did he grow up again? What was the first school he attended?

Why does any of this matter? His mind screamed back at him. This situation was perilous, at any moment he could be caught unawares.

He should be always moving.

Always cautious.

Always ready.

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