folach = hideous in Irish
Cannibalism, gore, and blood are mentioned. Beware
Recommend reading this chapter with Until Dawn theme song :))
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It was born from the dark.
It was yet to know its name nor its purpose. So, it kept wandering in the woods aimlessly.
Its hideous and slender form scared any individual who dared to cross paths with it. Those poor souls would end up being nothing more than an appetite for the creature.
It was curious about everything and learned the information by devouring those solid vessels. Slowly, rumors were spread among humans about the creature that aggressively attacked any living things in sight, ripped them apart, and gorged every piece of their flesh and bone, leaving only a pile of blood that was once a living being. The humans couldn't help themselves but seek it, blaming their nature of curiosity despite how terrified they were of it. Some humans were trying to prove whether the creature was real or not, some others were so arrogant and tried hunting it. Whichever the reason, none of them were ever seen once again.
The creature wandered further and further, spreading its tales like a plague unintentionally. The residents were frightened but no one dared to stand up and fight it. They once asked for assistance from the Navy but the only response they received was a no and claimed it was just a rumor. No one had actually seen the creature and came back alive to prove its existence was not an illusion. The navy assumed the disappearance of people was an act of gangs and pirates, and refused to elaborate any further. That said, the residents were left living in fear and hiding for their lives, not knowing when the creature would come for them.
They were vulnerable and desperate with an unknown terror.
...
It was trapped, accidentally, by a large bear trap.
No humans had ever succeeded in bringing it down, let alone setting traps for it. The creature never knew such things as traps before, moreover, it never knew traps were meant to be hidden. The consequence was having its limb trapped between the sharp jaw as it howled in pain at the sudden impact and tried to destroy the trap which led to its limb suffering with broken bones, and scattered flesh. Still, the trap remained unflinching.
Although the creature was losing blood, it slowly paid not much attention to the bear trap anymore. It kept wandering, dragging the trap with it, and got used to the pain of its horrible wounds, stained the earth with its blood. Such a terrific scene to see a dreadful creature. Nevertheless, the creature was incredibly strong enough to be defeated by any man who wanted to take advantage of the situation.
—---
Days passed and turned to months, then months became years, the creature continued its path in the dark without a proper goal, and a broken limb was yet healed completely. The trap on its limb started to loose and weakened by the oxidation of meta, perhaps it would fall when the creature walked through tangled vines and peeled the trap off, or so it believed.
Soon the creature started to be impatient and more aggressive to its prey after a timeless wandering without knowing anything about itself. The information had yet satisfied it, likewise, it knew it could not continue this way since it had devoured too many humans and the navy couldn't ignore it anymore.
They started hunting it by the government's order, putting its legend down once and for all. Humans were always insecure about things that they did not understand or control, thus they decided to destroy them and their worries would be no longer. Said things were always easier than done, if the creature could be put down without a hitch, it would not become such terror back then. Additionally, as years passed, the creature was not the same as its old self. It had grown stronger and more fearsome than before, not to mention its aggression at the moment, the navy was no match for it. Undoubtedly, all the troops that were sent to neutralize the creature, were wiped out entirely. That's the price they had to pay for ignoring it so long ago.
Not until then, the creature officially was announced as a living threat to humanity by the government, along with residents and pirates confirming that no one had ever seen it directly and made it out alive. Then out of the blue, a picture of the creature was publicized in the newspaper and went viral.
The legendary man-eating creature was caught on camera without a proper quality and yet, people were able to get a glimpse of how it looked. It was tall, slender, covered by layers of pagan fabric, magnificent antlers like horns with feathers as decorations dangling from it, long and tangled hair was tied into different strands by pieces of metal, and a piece of cloth hid its upper face where the eyes lay. It looked like a shaman who was possessed by a hideous Nordic mythical creature that feasted on human flesh. The white fabric and its body were stained by the blood of its prey and dust showing how long it had been rampaging.
Such a monstrous being and sent chills down one's spine just by looking at it. The creature was known not to stay in one place, it's always lurking in the dark, unexpectedly. However, many years later no one knew since when the creature started disappearing, as suddenly as it came. So when the Seven Warlords of the Sea system was established, the tale of the man-eating creature was nothing more than a horror story of the past, additionally, an urban legend.
—-----
It was another feast.
A group of people who were known as slave traders were unfortunately to cross paths with the creature. It was too much for mere humans to handle the fear that crawled up their spine, their limbs started giving out and all they could do was stare frightfully as the creature snapped its jaw at their head, tearing them apart. The only secure people at this moment were the slaves who were locked inside iron cages and watched in horror as the hideous creature slaughtered the slave traders mercilessly but who knew when the creature would turn on them as its next meal. Let's hope the iron cages were durable enough to keep it away.
The slaves were mostly children and women, they lacked the strength to put up a fight, let alone against a creature that even the navy was helpless. Just by looking at the bloody scene with human guts everywhere, the gorging sound and the foul smell of blood were enough causing them to vomit. The creature sure knew how to leave such a loathsome mess in its path. Then suddenly, the creature's attention was on the cages, it slowly approached where the slaves were held much to their fright, and sniffed them.
They scrambled as far as they could from it, their heart was beating like they wanted to burst out of their chest with the fear that the creature was about to break the cage. Long inhuman fingers with claws reached out from under the sleeve wrapped around the iron bars in a hold and simply snatched them from the cage at the same time with the slave's frightful scream.
So much to their hope of survival from the creature, it broke the cage like a piece of cake. The shadow of death loomed above them causing them to shiver at the last moment of their miserable life. Oh death itself is not fearful, but the feeling of death slowly approaching you is the worst. However, it looked like fortune was on their side today as the creature backed away, looking uninterested to the slaves, and went back to the bloody feast of those slave traders.
It took moments to proceed before the slaves burst into tears. They wasted no time to get out of the cages and ran for their life before the creature changed its mind. All of them left except one little black raven-haired boy.
The boy possessed pairs of sharp golden eyes like a bird of prey eyes, he should have run like everybody since no one wanted to stay in this living hell of a stage with a man-eating beast right in the middle, enjoying its vicious feast. That said, the boy couldn't help but notice one big rusty bear trap clamped on the creature's ankle, where its flesh was scattered like a blooming fleshy flower.
The boy couldn't explain his action either but he felt like he had to take the trap off the creature's leg, perhaps because of pity. That sounded pretty insane in normal circumstances, who would pity a hideous monster just because it had a bear trap clamped on its leg?
It was foolish, yes, but the boy decided to do it away and maybe he would learn such foolish acts would lead him straight to his death. Despite being monstrously strong, the creature never lost awareness of its surroundings, it quickly noticed one little vermin trying to sneak up on its back. When the boy placed his hand on the rusty trap, he was greeted with a long bony jaw full of sharp fangs roaring right in his face. The roar was inhumanly sounded, more like the shriek of a siren and oh its breath. It reeked of rotten flesh and blood enough to knock the boy out of consciousness, however the boy remained his hand on the trap and forcefully tugged it.
He fell on his back, not expecting the trap would fall off so easily. Well, he knew it was rusty and shit but he didn't think it was this vulnerable, and yet, the creature still let it linger on its leg?
Perhaps the boy's strange behavior interested the creature, it stopped its intent to snap the boy's head off and saw how this was going. The boy showed it a new reaction it had never encountered with humans before, assistance, without reasons or ill intents.
The boy could not see the response from the creature since its feature was hidden under the cloth but he doubted it was able to express any feelings at all. Even so, he was glad that his action proved the creature was not just a mindless beast since it did not attack him. Anyway, he thought this was enough, he should get going, and in a way, the creature did free him from the slave traders despite the progress being quite messy.
It watched in silence as the boy slowly backed away from the scene, once he was at a safe distance, he turned his back and ran, disappearing into the woods. This was a new experience for the creature and it felt something tugging inside its mind as it opened a hidden memory, along with a turning point of transformation.
Its long and hideous body shrank smaller, and the sounds of twisted bones could be heard in the transmutation. Its horns started perishing. Its tattered fabric was withering as well and was replaced with more elegant black wear, bonus, jewelry. The tangled hair was becoming smooth as silk and cleaner. Once the transmutation was finished, standing in between the pile of bodies was no longer the man-eating creature but a pale and beautiful woman who looked like a witch from children's fairy tales.
The creature–no, the woman was panting hard, breathing in the rotten air without a scowl, her eyes were now revealed. They were red like blood and shone like rubies with one stripe-like serpent pupil. Those eyes were no longer clouded with confusion and loss, they were completely conscious of knowing who she was.
Her name was Yidhra, and she now had a purpose.
.........
"Mentor? Are you feeling unwell?"
A familiar voice brought Yidhra back to her senses. Her eyes blinked in confusion at the scene before her, the world's strongest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk, also her pupil, was kneeling by her legs while she was sitting on the armchair, looking at her with worried golden eyes.
"What happened?"
"You suddenly fell into unconsciousness. I thought you needed a rest so I left you be but you had been in coma for nearly 3 hours." Mihawk explained, placing his hand on hers "And you're looking paler than usual."
The witch chuckled at that "Am I ever not pale, dear dalta? And no, I am perfectly healthy."
So she was recalling her memories just then, huh? What a nostalgia. She had been living as a witch quite a long time and she nearly forgot what her origin was. Her red eyes fell on Mihawk once again, wondering what his reactions would be if he knew about her true identity. However, Yidhra found it unnecessary to tell him and that form of her was no longer required at the moment. Unless, well, the witch's feral instinct started kicking in again.
"Dalta, did thou still keep any newspapers about the urban legend of a man-eating creature?" The witch could see Mihawk's expression stir up a bit at the mention of the creature. Ah, he still remembered his foolish encounter with her then.
"Perhaps but I'm afraid they were no longer in my possession at the moment." The swordsman asked her with concern "Why would you want to know about the creature? It was long ago."
"I am curious, simple. Was it real or just an urban legend like everybody said?" Yidhra stared into her pupil's golden eyes, oh how she missed they used to be more innocent and inexperienced back then.
Mihawk couldn't avoid his mentor's eyes, he knew she was pretty persistent when something kicked in her curiosity. This time was no exception. He'll be honest, she asked just right in his most unforgettable memory.
"The creature is real, mentor. I have seen it with my own eyes."
"How did thou survive?" The witch asked with amusement despite knowing every detail. She wanted to see if her pupil hid anything from her.
"I didn't know either." Mihawk chuckled wryly "It just out of the blue spared me after I peeled off a rusty bear trap stuck on its leg while it was feasting."
"Strange huh? Fortune must have been on thy side that day." She nodded "Then what happened? Why did the creature disappear?"
"It remains a mystery, mentor. No one had ever succeeded in tracking it nor knowing the reason behind its disappearance."
"Then, would thou take a chance to see the creature one more time?"
Mihawk was caught in surprise by that question as he stared into his mentor's eyes, still, he answered without hesitation.
"I would rather not, mentor. Not because I'm afraid of the creature but because I might be put in a situation where I have to fight it."
"Thou wish not to fight it?" Yidhra sounded bewildered.
Mihawk slightly shook his head "I'm in its debt, I'll be honest. The creature might not be aware of it but if it wasn't thanks to it, I wouldn't be here today."
"I see." Yidhra nodded, and not until later did she find out about the slave trader's things, she was aware that her pupil was close to becoming a slave. If Mihawk wished not to share it, she wouldn't make him.
Everybody has secrets, don't they? Although it's not fair on his part that she had already known.
"That aside, mentor, did you have an answer for my invitation?" Mihawk took her hands in his, a slight smirk on his lips.
The witch raised her eyebrow questioning "Pardon, dalta? I must have missed that part. Would thou be so kind as to repeat it for me?"
"En serio mentora. Eres poco confiable a veces." The swordsman chuckled at her attitude "I asked you out on a date, back at my castle on Kuraigana island."
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En serio mentora. Eres poco confiable a veces = Seriously, mentor. You are unreliable sometimes