Machine Story

Wild Battles

Just outside the colony were the great open fields filled with grass and small bodies of lakes. She continued through the area to her desired destination that was not too far away. After walking up a small hill she reached her destination where she found David exactly where she expected.

David was rummaging through some metal debris in the area. With his head buried in the pile of the metal scrap, he hadn't noticed that Siri was nearby. She took a few steps forward before making him aware of her arrival.

“David Machine!” As she called his full name, David got startled and hit his head against the metal. He held his head to dull the pain, while Siri stood laughing, partially thinking he deserved it for ditching class.

After the pain subsided, Siri got curious and asked what David was doing. He points to the deposit of metal, “I think I found some resources that can help the soldiers combat against the Metadross!” She got excited initially but then remembered why she came to see David.

She shook herself to focus, “David you weren’t in school again today.” There was no response as David kept focused on the cluster of metal. “David, this is serious. You haven’t been at school for over a week now!” Suddenly David interrupts, “Actually, it’s only been seven days so not more than a week.” Siri was baffled but then continued in frustration, “That is not the point! If you don't show up tomorrow, you are going to get expelled!”

David stops what he was currently doing to reply. “Siri, school just isn’t for me. I just don’t see the point in what we are learning and doing there. But out here, I feel alive like where I am supposed to be. Sorry, but I just don’t see any reason for me to return to class and learn theories from silly textbooks.”

As he finished his words, a rush of anger came about Siri. “No reason to come back? Fine, then you just stay out here and never come back to school again!” She turns around and begins to stomp away.

Although David was confused as to what caused Siri’s outburst, he knew she was extremely upset. He began to chase after her, but as he caught up, David sensed danger nearby. He quickly jumped in front of Siri with his back facing her. Siri was about to ask David what was wrong but once he held his right hand out, she knew better than to continue talking.

Out of the tall grass emerged a threatening animal known as the Boar-Pantera. It had the anatomy of a panther but at the side of its mouth were tusks found on boars. It slowly approached the humans, letting them know it was here for a battle.

As the creature was staring David down, his right hand reached for his back, attempting to grab his weapon, but it wasn’t there. He realized that he left his weapon back at the scavenging area.

With a predatory animal starting them down, David thought as quickly as he could, “I’ll distract it, you make a run for it.” Siri violently opposed the idea but as the creature pounced towards them, David swiftly pushed Siri aside and they both managed to dodge the pre-emptive strike from the creature.

David got back on his feet quickly and kept his eyes on the beast. The Boar-Pantera was slowly circling its prey waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Siri knew better than to jump recklessly into the fight. Instead, she ran to the area that David was scavenging from earlier. It didn’t take long for her to find the spear that David had left behind. She quickly grabbed the weapon and rushed back towards the fight.

David continued to keep his composure while being stared down by the ruthless predator. After circling its prey five times, the Boar-Pantera finally pounced. David managed to dodge the first attack but he was now lying on his back and had some trouble getting back up. The Pantera quickly recovered and prepared itself to pounce again.

As the beast began to leap towards David, a voice called out to him, “David, catch!” Siri arrived, throwing his spear on the ground right next to his right hand. David quickly grabbed the spear with both his hands and held the shaft between him and the beast. He was able to stop the Pantera’s claws from reaching him, and then used the momentum against the beast by pushing it aside, giving him some breathing room.

The separation created some time for David to get back on his feet. Immediately after getting up, he went back into his battle stance, ready to go another round against his opponent. The Pantera also wasted no time recovering from the fall and prepared to re-engage.

Before David charged towards the beast, he quickly thanked Siri for getting his weapon but also urged her to flee to safety. As the two combatants continued their showdown, Siri turned around but stopped midway. Memories from her biology class sprung into her mind. She remembered reading about animals such as the Boar-Pantera. The book said that although these creatures were hunters and fighters by nature, they only do so for survival or protection. It was clear to Siri that the creature was not looking for a meal, so that left her wondering, why was it fighting? As Siri continued to think, a noise from the rubble of metal broke her thought. She followed the sound and it led her back to the area where she found David’s weapon.

David and the creature stood apart staring down one another with their focused eyes. At the moment, it seemed they were locked into a stalemate but it was clear that the longer the match continued, David would be in danger. Despite those odds, he gripped his weapon tightly and braced himself for another assault.

The Panther bent down and pounced toward its target once more. David waited for the perfect time to side-step the creature and slam the shaft of his spear at it. He successfully landed a hit on the right rib of the animal but not without sustaining damage of his own. His hand held his left leg and when raised it back up to look, his hand was covered in blood.

David was in a tight bind, his left leg was bleeding and his foe was back on its feet. The Panther could smell blood and knew that it had the upper hand. As it proceeded towards David menacingly, Siri yelled to grab the creature’s attention.

The pantera turned around to face the girl while David, with his eyes wide open, signalled for Siri to leave immediately. The panther was ready to strike at the defenceless human but there was something in Siri’s arms that caused it to freeze. In her hands was a boar-pantera cub, which Siri released to allow it to run towards its mother.

With the cub and its mother reunited, the Panther saw no need to continue the senseless battle. They both turned away from the two humans and departed the area as if nothing happened.

After David was certain that his opponent wouldn’t come back to attack them, he let out a huge sigh of relief. Then his tone changed into yelling, “Are you crazy? Why did you come back? That thing could have attacked you!” Siri was appalled by his reaction, “You ungrateful little… If I didn’t show up you wouldn’t even be…” Before she could finish her sentence David began to collapse.

Luckily, he managed to catch himself by digging his spear to the ground. His leg was still bleeding and he needed to treat it before it got worse. “Hey, do you have some bandage wraps I could have?” David asked. Siri was still furious but she reached into her backpack and begrudgingly threw a roll of bandage at David.

As David was wrapping up his wound, the anger had left the two of them. David thanked Siri for coming back. He wondered how she knew about the lost cub. “Well, if you would show up to class more, maybe you would learn a thing or two.” They both had a good laugh about it and continued talking until David was finished wrapping his leg.

Once the wrap was tightened, they both stood up ready to return to the colony. They could see the sun beginning to set on the horizon. The sight was one to behold as Siri pointed to what looked to be a flock of birds migrating towards the direction of Colony Five. She was mesmerized by the sight. David also took in the view, but he also felt something was off. He took a closer look and noticed that the things in the sky weren’t birds, they were flying drones.

He quickly alerted Siri, “We got to go, now!” Hearing the urgency in his voice, she didn’t argue. However, before they were able to run, they felt the ground rumble but it wasn’t an earthquake, it was the sound of something gigantic coming towards them.