Chapter 38: Finding Ferral

After Ferral was taken by the eagle experiment; Leona, Ezekiel, and Belle all race after him. They continued their chase, but Ferral was only getting farther and farther from them. Eventually, the three were stopped by a large building in their path. Climbing it or going around would’ve taken too long, and going through from the inside was dangerous. They settled on going around, but by that time Ferral was already gone…

“Damnit! We lost him.” Leona cursed. The three of us continued to look up at the sky, panting. “Now what?” I asked. “I know!” My brother exclaimed, “Alright gang, let’s split up and search for clues.” Leona looked at him, crossing her arms, “And how do we plan to look for clues when they were in the air? Dumbass.” Ezekiel looked around, nodding his head, “You’re right, fair enough.” “You are right on one thing, we should split up to cover more ground.” “But if all three of us go separately, what if we encounter someone stronger than us?” I asked concerningly. “That’s why you and Ezekiel will be together while I go out on my own.” Leona answered. “Wouldn’t you still want us to help you in case of a strong opponent?” Ezekiel asked. She scoffed, “Please, I’m one of the strongest people on this god-forsaken island. The only other person I can think of is the idiot.” She turned her back to us, “Besides, I’ve got a score to settle and I don’t want either of you getting in my way.” “So then you’re making this more about fighting someone rather than actually finding Ferral?” I asked. “I’m going to be looking for that clown, but I’ve also got other plans.” My brother and I looked at each other and he shrugged. “Well, try not to get hurt.” Ezekiel told her. “Hmph, tell that to yourselves.” She bolted off, leaving Ezekiel and me alone. “Well, we’re never gonna find him just standing around. Come on, sis.” I nodded, and we jogged off in the opposite direction from Leona.

“Wait…how ARE we supposed to find Ferral?” Ezekiel asked, “He could be anywhere on this island.” “Guess we’ll just have to ask around.” I suggested. “There’s no way it could be that easy.” The two of us stopped and looked around to see if we could find someone. As we looked around, we could hear the sounds of other experiments fighting. I kinda forgot what was really happening around us, this entire island was a battlefield. Fights were happening all around us…..as well as deaths. Ezekiel tapped my shoulder and I turned around. He pointed toward what looked like a pair of feet underneath a destroyed clothing store. We looked at each other then back to the building and started to walk slowly toward it. As we crept closer, we could hear a faint sound coming from the building. It sounded like snoring. We found a large hole in the building and when we looked inside, we found a woman on a large rock sitting cross-legged with her head in her right hand, sleeping. She was an older woman, wearing a black pantsuit with a white undershirt and matching black high heels. She had a medium-length bob cut and her hair was a vibrant orange with dark spots littered on it. Her animal ears were cat-like; white with black tips. “Which one of us is gonna wake her up?” I leaned over and whispered to Ezekiel. “Rock paper scissors?” He suggested. I nodded and we formed our hands into fists, then went on the count of three. “Rock. Paper. Scissors. SHOOT.” We threw our hands and I had a rock while he had paper. He laughed mockingly at me and I sighed, then I got closer to the woman. I carefully went and tapped her shoulder, but nothing happened. I went and did it again, this time her hand slipped from her face and she shot awake. She looked around rapidly until her gaze was fixed on us. The two of us looked at her and waved, “Hi.” We greeted her. She yawned and rubbed her eyes, “Ugh, am I STILL here?” She complainingly asked as she stretched. “ Thought this ridiculous crap would’ve been over with. Huh? Are you two children lost?” She asked us. “N-No.” I responded, “What are you doing under here?” She got off the rock and pushed past us to walk outside. “She seems rather aloof.” Ezekiel said as we followed her out of the building.

She did a few more stretches, twister her upper body causing her back to crack. She sighed, “Well, now that that’s over you two still haven’t answered me. Are you lost?” We looked at her confused, “I’m pretty sure my sister said no.” Ezekiel responded. She turned to us, “Did you? Well, speak up next time, darling. My hearing isn’t as good as it used to be.” “Okay, I’ll ask again, what were you doing in that building?” I asked the woman. “Well, I WAS looking to see if there were any cute outfits,” She said, “But most of the stuff there was either ruined, ripped, or tacky. Then I realized I could hide in there until this whole thing would end. Then I dozed off.” “Why did you even bother participating?” Ezekiel asked. “I originally didn’t want to, but my agent insisted, You know, a publicity stunt.” The two of us were so confused about what she was talking about, and she could tell. “Do you NOT know who I am?” She questioned. “Are we supposed to?” I responded. “Are you suppose-….I am world famous fashion designer Scarlett Jaguar!” She declared. “So I’m guessing you're an experiment with a jaguar as your animal?” Ezekiel said. “You got that right, honey.” “Guess it was hard to tell because you only have the ears.” I added. “Of course, why would I wanna look like two? Ruining these heels; they’re worth more than anyone else on this island,” She smirked and flipped her hair, “Everyone except me.” “Riiiight,” Ezekiel responded unamazed, “So I’m gonna take a shot in the dark and say you haven’t seen our friend, huh?” She shook her head, “No, haven’t seen a soul.” “Figures. Let’s go, sis, this woman ain’t gonna help us.” “Yeah.” We started to walk off but Ms. Jaguar got in front of us, “Now now, children. Perhaps I could aid you in your little search.” She insisted. “What’s the catch?” I asked. “Helping out two poor innocent children reunite with their missing friend will do wonders for my image.” She explained. “Can you even fight?” Ezekiel questioned. “Oh sweetie, I may not enjoy it but I’m still an experiment. It’s in my DNA to be a fighter.” She answered. I smiled, “Then you can help us.” “Beautiful, darling.”

As the three of us walked around looking for Ferral, Ms. Jaguar asked about him. “His name is Ferral.” I told her. “Ferral?” She asked, “Quite the name. I like it, it’s got flare. What is he like?” “His animal is a wolf,” Ezekiel replied, “He’s got blueish-black hair, pretty tall, kinda stupid.” Ezekiel chuckled and I elbowed his shoulder. “He’s not THAT stupid.” I said, “He was raised in isolation with no one to talk to and doesn’t know much about the world, but he’s really nice and always helping others.” “I see. And why would someone who wants to help others enter something where you kill others?” Ms. Jaguar asked. “Well, it’s complicated….” I started, “His reason…and our reason too for joining is to help free other experiments that are in our generation. And he wants to stop the organization that created all of us.” “So he wants to rebel against them? This Ferral is an interesting individual.” My brother and I looked at each other, never realizing how that’s basically what Ferral’s trying to do. I doubt Ferral knows this, but even if he does it’s not a bad thing. It just makes it sound grander than it should. “So how strong is this Ferral?” She continued. “He’s the strongest person we know.” Ezekiel told her. “Is he good looking?” “Eh, I’d give him a six.” Ezekiel responded. “I’d say seven and a half.” I added. “Strong, nice, and not ugly. He sounds too good to be true.” Ms. Jaguar laughed, though the two of us didn’t get it. As we continued our search, we heard a slight hissing sound coming from some of the buildings so we stopped to see what the sound was. “I heard four.” Ms. Jaguar said. “Really? Sounds like it’s all around us.” Ezekiel questioned. “No. There’s one in the building to the northeast, two in that wrecked library to the southwest, and one in the home in front of you, Belle.” I squinted to see if there was anything, then something lunged out of the house toward me. I screamed, but Ms. Jaguar jumped in and kicked my attacker to the ground. Then three others burst through the buildings Ms. Jaguar said, trying to attack us. Ezekiel dodged them and ducked on the other while Ms. Jaguar grabbed the third one’s arm and flipped it to the ground. The three of us moved away from our attackers to see what they were. It was three guys and one girl, they had green and black armor-like clothes, and long curved blade-like appendages on their wrists. They all had bulging yellow eyes, and green antennae, and moved their heads in a tweaking manner. The two on the ground got up and dusted themselves off, “Stupid, woman.” One of them said in an insect-like tone. “It doesn't matter, it’s four against three.” The woman said. “Who are you guys?!” Ezekiel shouted. The four turned their heads creepily at us, “We’re Experiments 2348, 2349, 2350, and 2351: Praying Mantis.” One of the guys said. “We’re pretty hungry…” “And you three look like fine meals…” “Kehehe, yeah I can’t wait to dig in.” They all chuckled, licking their lips. I groaned in disgust, then noticed Ms. Jaguar taking off her heels. “Only thing you creeps are going to be digging into is the gravel.” She transformed her arms and legs into their jaguar state. The mantises turned their bodies to face us and got ready to attack again. “Alright kids, show me what you can do.” “RIGHT!” Ezekiel readied himself, “Come on sis, let’s kick some their bug asses.” I smiled and nodded, then got into fighting position.