Fruit Hunters!

It had only been ten minutes walking with Druk and I already regretted travelling with him.

He occasionally used to grab pebbles and throw it here and there. His quick temper told me that one of these days, I would be crushed by a rock thrown over me by him. He changed his walking style every five minutes. He used to walk with me and after some time he would go on his four legs and run faster. Then I would have to catch up with him. I preferred his walking style more than him crawling, mostly because that would save my energy of running after him.

This world was new to him and he gazed at the trees around with amazement. "How is your world so colorful? Our Realm has all types of blue shades but this place…" His fascination was totally clear in his voice. I smiled and replied, "Yup. This is Darknor."

As we were walking, Druk asked, "Do you have food?" I brought my bag pack to my front and checked inside. "One sandwich." I replied. He smiled and stated, "Great! Now I want you to forget that you have that sandwich." I was astounded. I expected him to show off his claws and order me to throw the sandwich towards him. But instead, he wasn't that much of a goon.

"Why?" I enquired. "Because we are gonna hunt for food. You are with an adventurous person, kid. You need to become like me too." First of all, he was an adventurous animal. Moreover, why should I be like him? Just because he was intimidating and capable of strangling me to death didn't mean that he could rule over me. But being the good person I was, I agreed and the hunt began.

We wandered through the areas, finding loads of trees. None of them seemed to have any fruits. The determined Druk did not give up and kept on going forward, now walking. I followed behind, a bit slower. "We may meet up with some wild animals here." I informed him. Druk simply turned around smiling and walked ahead backwards. "Good. That would give you a glimpse of how dangerous I am. We can roast meat and devour their souls for lunch!" Druk exclaimed. I felt the evil Druk would fit better on King Jalaar's side rather than ours.

If we did find any wild animals, I would anyway be of no use. With my recent damage to the head, I barely had the ability to think, much less fight. I could try doing some attacks but I still needed some rest and lunch. I was growing hungry and Druk was not ready to listen to any of my excuses. We finally found a tree with fruits. The huge tree stood on the very middle of the path. Its leaves were green with life and the branches were fat and healthy.

Druk immediately started climbing the branches. The tree seemed to be old but containing fresh fruits. Druk plucked one of the blue fruits and took a bite. He gulped it and announced, "These are tasty! Let's get all of them." He jumped down to the ground and looked up at the big tree. With his right fist, he hit the tree so hard, I felt goose bumps. Many fruits fell on the ground. That proved that Druk was pretty tough.

We grabbed the fruits and stored some in my bag. We were eating the rest as we walked. "So, what type of an animal are you, Druk?" I enquired. I went very slowly with gathering all the information about my partner because he had pretty strong hands. I assumed he would shut me up and go on with having his lunch. But he was kind enough to speak. "I have no origin, kid. I think I don't have any parents. I think I just… came into existence one day." He answered.

I didn't understand what he meant. Was he trying to be funny? If yes, then he had a bad sense of humor. It was difficult to imagine existing without a certain source from which one came. Did this new type of birth make Druk special? "I didn't understand even a bit. But apart from my confusion, how old are you?" I asked. Druk looked at me as if he would punch me the next second. Then he smiled, showing off some of his teeth. "Old? I'm not old! I am around three hundred years young." His answer managed to astonish me once again. That proved it. Druk had a very bad sense of humor.

I had a nervous laugh and said, "That can't be true is it?" Druk stopped and for a moment, I decided to run. I thought he would smack me. But he simply went towards the nearest tree and sat down in the shade. "Nope. That's true! I am that young." He replied. I wanted to scream at him that three hundred years wasn't young!

"This astonished you, didn't it? I get that reaction quite often. I can live up to… I don't know – maybe as much as I want. Point is that I can be alive for a long time." He said. I slowly started understanding what he was saying. "So you are like the giants." I concluded. Druk gave me a confused look. He didn't know which giants I was referring to. After all, he lived in a Realm and not Darknor. I said, "Never mind."

We walked in silence for some time. I saw the Saphrop slowly going down. It was getting evening. "What about you? Age?" Druk enquired. Understanding my age is a difficult task. "Almost sixteen." I replied. Druk had a laugh and said, "You are way smaller than me, kid." I replied with a wide smile on my face, "Technically speaking, I am two thousand years old. So you are nothing in front of me." The creature stopped walking and stared at me with his jaw dropped.

The next half an hour went in narrating my whole story and the battles we fought up until now. We had walked quite far now and I could see the signs of settlements in the horizon. Druk was totally involved in my narration and he didn't utter a word. He was a great listener if you managed to shut him up. In the end, he concluded, "So basically you are in a war against your own father. But why are you on Darknor's side. You should be with your own planet."

"Well, I am the one chosen to slay my father. Also, Darknor taught me everything. More importantly, it taught me freedom. I can't bear the thought that my own father snatches other planet's freedom. Such a person cannot be titled as my father. We need to bring justice, Druk." I explained. Druk looked as if he was drugged. He was mesmerized by my statement. "You know what? I kinda like you, kid." Druk praised.

I smiled as we reached the near end of our journey. I could see Foster town in front of us. This was a completely different route that I hadn't yet travelled. We entered the town and I could see the tall, half destroyed Foster Plaza at a distance. Foster town had always been a bit misty. But I was feeling something negative in the air. I decided it would be best to get to a safe place as soon as possible. I started jogging. Druk looked confused but he followed.

As we came closer, I heard a roar. I hid behind the bushes on the side of the street with Druk. "Is that Inferno?" I asked myself. We slowly went closer, keeping safe distance. Now we could see what was going on. In front of us, I saw Amanda and Mark with hands on their back. There were ravens in the sky and also two huge monstrous creatures. They had two horns on their head and their skin was grey. They looked strong and initially, I wanted to run away. But then I realized that my friends were in their captivity.

"What should we do?" I asked Druk. He replied, "Wait." His stern voice and good experience told me that I should to follow him. So I kept quiet and looked at the prisoners. Then suddenly on the other side of the street, I saw Adonis, my mentor.