The Whistling Jungle

That eerie whistle never stopped ringing in my ears as we made our way through. While its intensity fluctuated, it continued to torment my head.

The jungle pressed in from all sides, cloaked in a heavy and unnatural darkness, complementing the unsettling whistles all too well. Monolithic trees rose like spires, their trunks jagged and uneven, as if carved by someone with a deranged vision and unsteady hand.

Their twisted branches clawed at the sky, forming a tangled canopy that choked out the light and left our surroundings in a dim, muted gloom.

Beneath them, ruffled bushes crowded the undergrowth, their broad, coarse leaves swaying.

It was strange. This deep into the jungle, the air was utterly still; yet the leaves bristled.

Every step seemed to echo too loudly, as if we were being watched while the jungle held its breath and silently waited.

Barely anything around us was clearly visible. Anything could have been hiding anywhere.

Even the motion of my pounding heart was too loud. This told me that we weren’t supposed to be here. Living beings from outside weren’t welcome.

But who had created this? Why did it exist exactly? What creatures were we going to find here?

As I thought about it, I realised I had forgotten to ask Ren what this mission encompassed. I sharply, yet ever so quietly, whispered in his ear shortly after tip-toeing over to his side.

“Ren. You haven’t even told me what to expect in this mission.”

Ren turned to me, looking somewhat puzzled. He scratched his head, huffed, then began explaining. “It’s basically the same as last time. We make our way through this place, fending off anything that comes our way.”

“Surely there’s something a bit different? It can’t be exactly the same, right?”

“Well, I guess so. We’ll come to crossroads at some point. But don’t worry about that, I’ll make sure we go the easier way so the monsters aren’t as tough”.

From the moment I heard monsters, I must have frozen without realising.

“Ummm…Taro? Are you okay?” Ren said to me.

I gave him a telling side-eye as I gulped. I tried to maintain my confident persona, but it was diminishing, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

“Wh–What monsters?” My voice cracked, causing an echo to reverberate around the jungle. Nothing seemed to move, however.

“Pshhhh. Nothing special. To be honest, I’m not even sure what they are myself. Just some random creatures, I guess. Nothing to be afraid of, anyway.”

Ren wrapped his right arm around me and squeezed me tight close to him. He leaned his head against mine and smiled cheerfully. “So long as you keep a look out for yourself, I’ll make sure nothing too threatening comes for you…okay?”

I tried to replicate his smile, but his was too genuine to copy.

“That’s the spirit. Let’s keep going. This place is way cooler in person by the way. I wouldn’t mind stopping for a moment just to take it all in.”

We kept moving, gliding our way through each section of the jungle. Ren led the way, confidently guiding us along each crossroad as he’d memorised the entire jungle’s layout. I was impressed that he had remembered everything. Not once did he second guess himself.

I made sure to stick close to the other two, scanning the gloomy atmosphere despite my ears still stinging from the eternal whistling. It made it almost impossible to tell where the monsters were. But that didn’t stop us from taking each and every one of them down in a flash.

Nothing was too dramatic.

Some were about our size, some larger, and others were very small. I started to realise what Ren meant when he said he wasn’t sure what the monsters were. They were indescribable.

Regardless, we handled them. Well, they handled most of them.

I did what I could.

I did take one down though. A stubby, twenty-centimetre thing with too many legs and twitching antennae. It was halfway up my leg before I even noticed — how I let it get that close, I’m still not sure. I kicked it off, stomped it flat, and tried to pretend it hadn’t squealed like a helpless child.

At that moment, I realised I didn’t feel scared anymore. Nothing came close to disconcerting me. My heart was steady, and any coldness within my body had disappeared. Maybe Ren’s confidence was finally rubbing off on me, or maybe I was finally finding my own.

Perhaps this place wasn’t so bad after all. It was just like Ren said — so far, it was easier than I thought it’d be.

We then came to what Ren said was the last crossroad.

“Which way is it then, Ren?”

“Left. Whichever way we go, we’ll have to face something much more difficult than anything previously. But I remember the left path being far easier.”

Finally, there was light within our sight. I could see that not too far in front of us was a glistening end to the darkness of the jungle. We were coming close to the exit.

GRUMBLE.

Ren’s stomach growled.

“Ummmm…guys. I think Khrom’s a little hungry.”

Izumi interjected as I began to speak, and shortly after darted away from us, determinedly galloping towards a large plant and assertively shouting at Ren. “Don’t worry, Khrom. I’ve already spotted some berries that will help appease your hunger.”

Did I ever mention how pretty she looked when she ran? It was like a prancing—

“Oh no. Izumi…please. Don’t go over there.”

Bemused, I turned to Ren who sounded overly sarcastic.

“Ren? Why are you talking like—”

“Oh well, I guess she isn’t listening to me. We’ll just have to let it happen then.”

My face froze for a second. I angrily glared over at Ren as his tone didn’t match what he was saying at all.

“Oi, Ren. What are you talking about?”

He continued to ignore me, as a smirk slowly stretched further and further on his face.

“Ren! Ren! Oi, Ren! Why are you—”

The ground began shaking with an immense magnitude. It felt as though the entire place was erupting.

I rapidly turned, knowing that Izumi must have been in danger.

A giant split appeared in the ground, and from the cracked jungle floor, emerged a colossal, glistening monster, clawing its way out to the surface.

Izumi balanced effortlessly atop its serrated shell. But even her amazingness couldn’t help my nerves at that moment. My breath caught as I laid my eyes on the one thing that I prayed not to come across.

This monster was crab-like. Massive pincers. Beady eyes. Its sideways skitter tickling the back of my throat.

Have you ever heard of Kabourophobia? Of course you haven’t. Who’s scared of crabs? Me. I am.

And what the hell was a crab doing in a jungle anyway? This game — this whole mission -– was nonsense. Crabs don’t belong here.

I backed up. Trembling, my fists clenched tight out of fear rather than resolve.

My breath raced ahead of my feet. Then, another deafening crack split the air. I didn’t want to look, but I was too curious.

There, looming over me, was another one of those monsters. A different colour this time, but equally as terrifying.

As I could feel the hair on my arms rise and my heart pause for a short moment, Ren appeared from the corner of my eyes.

He, of course, had been waiting for a moment like this. He grabbed hold of my shoulder and his face was beaming. I could feel the excitement in his hand as he grasped me tightly.

“Alright Taro, let’s do this!”