Rise Of Pandora

Rise Of Pandora: XI. We Will Find A Way

"This whole time we thought these devils came into our world from the hell below us. Damn how we were wrong. It has actually been us who have been living in their land, this land of devils."

-Maddard Bessarian

IV. Foreigner

He explored the forest, his eyes fixing on every single feature of the forest he held to his interest. Gaijin looked up and saw some small woodland birds tweeting and fluttering above by a tree branch where a rather unusual looking white owl was perched. It was looking at Gaijin, watching him walk along the forest floor. Its eerie gaze was locked on him.

Gaijin turned his attention to the bird and began staring at it until he found himself locked in a stare with the white bird. He was taken by the bird's steely features and piercing expression. Its eyes were two colorless white voids that tried engulfing him in.

Its white appearance juxtaposed the gloomy climate, yet, in some strange way, it seemed to cast the most darkness. There was this beautiful ugliness about the small owl. From the irregular largeness of its head to the uncanny smallness of its wings, the bird was rather unique.

Gaijin eyed it cautiously as he gradually began to acknowledge the owl's odd appearance.

Gaijin, do you see that too?

"Yeah...I see it," Gaijin answered.

The bird has some sort of mutation. Do you think the poison from Pandora's monsters could be the cause?

"I do not know. From my experience with those things, the poison from their bodies rotted the flesh, but never did I see a body become mutated from it." Gaijin abruptly grew quiet. There was a particular question wandering the vastness of his mind.

No. We do not speak of her.

"Okay, I know but it could certainly be a possibility. I mean look it at...in regards to appearances, it does not stray far off from one of her creatures. They did not call her the mother of all monsters for no reason."

Gaijin, Enough! Paying that vindictive woman any mind is not worth bothering, believe me. Pandora and those monsters of hers is the only objective. Neither of us needs reminding of how terrible those monsters are?

With a troubled sigh, Gaijin told Prometheus that he did not need reminding.

"But what if I am right?" Gaijin muttered.

Gaijin stared a bit longer at the owl, gauging those lifeless white eyes. He huffed and began to walk away. But just as he took a step, the bird spread its wings, revealing rows of ruffled and matted feathers that hung loosely from the wings. It flew down and landed on Gaijin's shoulder. It unfastened its beak and chirped. He brushed the bird off of his shoulder with his hand. He was tense, that much he could not deny. 

What the hell is this bird's problem? Gaijin thought to Prometheus.

Leave it alone. It will fly away.

It flew in front of Gaijin, flapping its wings in front of his face. He grunted and smacked the bird away with the back of his hand but it hardly flinched. 

"Prometheus, it is not flying away..."

Gaijin was now standing in front of the bird, their eyes locked once more. He tried walking past the strange owl but it was insistent. It followed him and was in front of him again. Gaijin was becoming irritated. He reached out and caught the pesky animal by the belly and pulled it close.

Peering into those two colorless pearls, Gaijin yelled, "Look! Prometheus, you cannot tell me that this is not one of her creatures. This is Echi—"