The Hunt

A dead tree stood alone. It's skeletal branches clawed at the orange-tinted sky like a twisted omen against the few streaks of clouds. Dust swirled in the howling wind, carrying remnants of ash and sand across the expanse of sun-scorched earth while its cracks spidered to the horizon.

Adjacent the dead tree was an outcrop of rock, and atop it crouched Theios. He laid flat, his ragged brown cloak merging him with the rugged terrain. From a distance, he was almost indistinguishable from the surrounding stone but up close his purple skin peeked through.

He has endured eighteen years of being among the purple skinned. There were no purple people before the year 2000. Before the arrival of the Azurians. ,But now, 221 years later, there were a few thousand others of purple heritage. Or so he was told by his parents. To the masses, the Azurians with their lush blue skins were the true people of this orange planet called Earth. Humans were the invaders and sworn enemy who forwent living in harmony. Theios was neither human nor Azurian - but also both.

He was a Blend.

Theios adjusted his x-ray visor goggles and scanned the lifeless terrain for signs of movement. The visor hummed low in rythym with the sway of his silver hair. Nothing yet.

His torn cloack blew in the wind and flapped against his backpack filled with scavenged gadgets and meager survival gear. On the side of his backpack was a segmented baton glinting with eerie light carefully placed within arms reach. Under his cloak was a makeshift patchwork chest plate that had saved him more than once and had the scars to show for it.

He reached around his backpack and pulled out a device shaped like two slim metal bars stuck to each other. He pulled the bars apart forming a screen between them. He began tapping the screen of the scanner module and from his bag a metal orb the size of his fist hummed and lit up.

"Wakey-wakey," said Theios.

He lifted the orb and threw it in the air. The orb expanded in a circular shape above his head and remained there floating.

"Alright, Kumo. Let's see who is hiding," said Theios.

"Warning, friend Theios. We are in hostile territory," replied the hover bot Kumo with an odd tone of warmth, "Hybrids may attack at any moment."

"That's why I have you dear Kumo," Theios replied smirking, "Help me find lunch and we'll be long gone before those bastards show up."

"Leave it to me, friend," replied Kumo as it floated down the hillside.

Its scanners lit up as Theios watched the terrain map update on his screen. He switched to an xray view that showed contoured lines of the terrain with mostly yellow and orange heat fluctuations. The emptiness carried on for some time. All that was out in the wasteland seemed to be Theios and Kuma.

Then suddenly, a purple dot entered the edge of the module screen. Then three. The piercing sound of a squeal broke the silence, drawing Theios’ attention to three rabbits darting across the cracked earth.

"Are they being chased?" he muttered, squinting through his visor.

“Seems a bastard has shown up,” Kumo announced.

Now he saw it — a two-headed viper hybrid slithering after the rabbits, its glossy scales gleaming like rubies under the eerie sky. One of its heads struck with precision, devouring a rabbit in a single, crunching bite.

“Dammit,” Theios muttered, beginning his descent from the rock. “At least chew first.”

Before Theios got down hill, the viper’s second head snatched another rabbit, leaving only one frantically fleeing. “I really need to find some range gear,” he grumbled before shouting, “Kumo, stall the viper!”

Theios jumped off the remaining rock and in one motion before landing activated his boots. He began gliding across the wasteland leaning forward as a force field below his sole and heel proppeled him toward the fleeing rabbit and colossal viper hybrid. A faint hum similar to that of the hover bot reverberated from his boots. A battery indicator flashed red.

"I've got to be quick," he said to himself as he grabbed his segmented baton extending it into a staff, crackling with electricity at one end and forming a blade the lenght of his hand at the other.

Kumo zoomed toward the viper as it lunged for the rabbit. “Halt, viper bastard!” it said, knocking the right head aside. The viper's jaw slammed into the ground, momentarily disoriented.

“Good job, Kumo!” Theios shouted, then again quickly, “Watch out!”

The viper's other head lashed out, grazing Kumo as the bot barely evaded.

“Are you okay, Kumo?” Theios asked, still chasing the rabbit.

“Yes,” Kumo replied, retreating. “Did my life flash before your eyes?”

Theios laughed. “Nah, I was too busy watching this little guy,” he said, eyeing the fleeing rabbit.

But the viper was relentless, its two heads closing the distance rapidly.

"Attack incoming," said Kumo.

As Theios reached for the rabbit, the viper lunged, forcing him to dodge but he took a swing at the viper. He struck the left head with his electrified staff, causing it to recoil, but the right head retaliated, driving him backward.

His boots sputtered. The red light flickered without end. “Not now,” he muttered, stopping his momentum with his staff just before hitting the same rock where he started this hunt.

“Friend Theios, I recommend retreating,” Kumo called from above.

“No chance,” Theios replied, his gaze fixed on the rabbit scampering up the rock.

The viper lunged again. Theios swung his staff, but the viper's lunge was a faint. His staff hit the ground and the viper slammed him against the rock. The impact shook the rock, sending the rabbit tumbling down.

Both Theios and the viper looked up to see the falling rabbit.

In a split-second decision, Theios leaped with his remaining boot charge. The viper's right head lunged for the rabbit, while its left aimed for Theios.

Kumo swiftly intervened, knocking the left head off course causing its razor sharp teeth to just miss Theios' leg crashing instead into the rock. Theios swung in one desperate upward strike with his bladed staff. The viper's right head clamped shut the rabbit within its mouth. But before it could swallow, it's head was already separated from it's body.

Blood sprayed as the hybrid hissed violently. Theios’ boots died midair, and he landed awkwardly, wincing in pain. Flat on his back, he panted heavily as he tried to get up expecting another attack. However, the viper had scurried off retreating into the wasteland. Only a severed head and a trail of crimson remained. Theios intentionally collapsed to the ground.

Kumo hovered down. “Another hunt successful."

"I am beat," exclaimed Theios.

A faint squeal from the severed head caught his attention.

"Lunch and dinner,” said Kumo.

Theios laughed. “No way I’m eating a hybrid, Kumo. Gross.” He eyed the massive head. “But how am I gonna get it back to sell?”

The head alone was as big as he was tall. Standing gingerly, he retracted his staff into baton form. His visor flickered, its low-charge warning blinking faintly. He shrugged turning it off.

Opening the viper’s mouth, he looked intently at the trapped rabbit still squealing. “If only I didn’t need food,” he murmured with a hint of remorse.

Theios pulled out a small knife from his pocket then reached carefully for the rabbit. Silence fell upon the wasteland once more.

He wrapped the rabbit in cloth, and wiped the blood from his knife. Next, he tied a cord around the two sharp teeth of the vipor and tied one end to Kumo.

“Let’s get out of here before something worse shows up,” said Theios.

With Kumo’s hum at his side, Theios trudged through the dusty expanse, dragging the grotesque trophy behind him.