Drabble #4

The Night of the Sentinels

(A/N: This drabble is set in the KRP Murderworld)

There was something about tonight.

There was something in the night air - it seemed colder than usual. Even if his ally Heron argued that they shouldn’t make such a big fire for camp tonight, Qiu insisted they should because the night oddly had him chafing his hands over the arms of his jacket. The hairs on the back of his neck rose after every wave of the cool breeze and the feeling prompted Qiu to be more cautious tonight.

There was something about how the night sounded - or, rather, how it didn’t. The chirping of the crickets, the croaking of the frogs, the constant rustling in the forest of the various predators that inhabited the island with them - they were all… not there. The night was silent… peaceful, almost.

And that worried him.

The night worried Qiu so much that he decided to survey the area around him and Heron’s campsite for the second time. His nerves were just telling him something tonight and wouldn’t let him get to sleep. They vibrated in his skin as he explored the forest, like they were looking for some kind of thrill, or preparing for some kind of danger. Qiu’s instincts told him that tonight wasn’t going to be a normal night.

He was just about to find out why.

A sharp pain to the side of the neck, an electric pulse sent through the transmitter before an audible sigh is heard through the speakers. The screen isn’t utilized this time, just the speakers scattered throughout the arena.

“Oh, fuck,” Qiu cursed, as he realized what was happening. “Fuck,” He quickly reached into his jacket pocket for a lighter and was ready to click a flame out at any time. He looked around him. He was deep in the forest. Trees that could harbor all kinds of dangerous shit surrounded him. “Fuck!”

There’s a pause before a voice speaks.

“As much as I appreciate the formation of alliances, the activity has been quite dull. It seems as if all of you have forgotten the objective of this arena, such docile activity and loyalty is plainly speaking — boring.

Heron. Shit. She was all alone. Like a reflex, Qiu’s feet immediately sprinted to her direction. Arcade better not fucking touch her.

“Hence, in order to remind you all, I have decided to send in a few companions. I would recommend playing nice, but I doubt they could comprehend such a command.

The cold wind bit at his face as he ran, his hand still tightly clutching the lighter. What kind of bullshit was Arcade planning this time? Doesn’t he ever grow tired of being such a piece of shit all the time?

“Kill or be killed, only the strong will survive.”

“Coward!” He screamed at the sky, still running to Heron. He knew Arcade heard. “If you’re so strong why don’t you come at me! Come on! Douchebag!”

When the robot dog stood in front of him, Qiu screeched into a stop, and once again, he was reminded that it was never really a good idea to curse at the very psycho that was running this place.

He clicked the lighter on, eyes fixed on the… creature in front of him. Qiu wasn’t sure what it was. It was metal, but its movements were light and it moved just like a wolf, but more sinister, and Qiu was certain it was also more dangerous. Qiu followed it with eyes as it encircled him, he noticed something on its side: 007 - those numbers were engraved on it and Qiu would be damned if he knew what that meant.

The flame that was initially on the lighter was now in every cell in Qiu’s body. The looked like feathers on him - a visible aura… of anger, of power.

Qiu watched it stop. He mimicked the move. It crouched. Qiu executed his battle stance: He stood firm on the ground facing the robot, right foot forward and both burning fists raised up to his chest. It lunged forward, its mouth open and in that moment, Qiu realized that it wasn’t a robot dog at all. It had sharp metallic incisors that, aside from looking like the blades that would deliver him his death, also very greatly resembled the teeth of wolves.

Qiu gathered all his strength to his right forearm and flung the mechanical wolf as far away from him as possible. And then, he willed all the fire from his body to run to it and swallow it, but Qiu heard no familiar wailing and what the fire spat out wasn’t burnt bones and ashes, but the same exact thing - but now…also on fire, and running towards Qiu once again. “Oh, fucking HELL”

He sprinted away as fast as he could. Looking around, he focused on converting his adrenaline into a plan that won’t get him killed. He also just realized that he was still running towards Heron’s direction which meant that - unless she had already been devoured by one of these metal monsters - he wasn’t just facing his death, he was also forcing Heron to face hers.

He pulled the lighter out again and created a flame. He threw wide boomerangs of flames around him, causing every tree he passed by to be sliced down to the ground, some of them even piling up. This would hopefully slow the metal wolf down. When Heron and his campsite was on sight, he stopped running and focused on finding anything that he could make into a barricade. He summoned every animal he sensed nearby with his flames - birds, foxes, wolves - he threw all their dead bodies at his mechanical enemy but everytime it stumbled, it resiliently got back up on its four feet.

But, Qiu, found his chance when he spotted a thick tree on the robot wolf’s path. He tried to slice it with fire immediately, focusing so much on getting down just in time. “Ugh!” He grunted, using all his energy to strengthen the fire he directed at the tree’s base.

As the precious seconds passed, the wolf neared and the tree neared to being cut down, until finally, the wolf was right below its range and Qiu, for the love of all things holy, finally succeeded and the tree trampled the metal thing into the ground.

His breathing was labored when he finished. That thing was probably done for. He scoffed as he walked back to their campsite. “That all you got, Arcade?” he said and stuck his tongue out at the sky.

And honestly, Qiu’s starting to hate himself now for never learning from his mistakes because right after he bad-mouthed the creator, he heard what creepily sounded like metal from behind him. And, looking back, his suspicions were confirmed. It was that damn metal bitch.

“Fucking. HELL!” He shouted before running again - as fast as he could - to where Heron was.

There was certainly something about tonight.

It was the Night of the Sentinels.

-Desimandrius