WTA: Monstrous

‘The last thing Nightshade could remember was a loud bang, and he had fallen unconscious.

When he woke up, metal chains were cuffed around his paws and held him close to a stone wall. It was cold; colder than the hostile jungle he had grown accustomed to. The ground beneath him was stoney and smooth, unlike the grass covered floor he came to know.

There was a sudden slam, and Nightshade immediately tried to get into a defensive position, but the chains limited his movements. He sensed two different heartbeats in the room, but only saw a blur of his own fur and dark grey colours.

“What is that thing?” A gruff voice sounded out, laced with confusion and worry.

“I-I don’t know, sir. While I was making my way through the jungle, it-it came out of nowhere!” A more panicked and timid voice replied. They both sounded male.

Nightshade growled, his tongue lolled out of his mouth, and his saliva dripped out of his mouth and onto the floor, narrowly missing the chains. The area of floor that had come in contact with the saliva was burning through. Nightshade could sense both heartbeats quicken in pace.

“The… the…”

“s-saliva is acidic!” The timid one finished off, both of them nervously shaking.

Nightshade suddenly roared, showing off his long teeth and while roaring, spit acid saliva onto the two, making them both scream in pain. They ran out of the room, and slammed the door behind them. Nightshade couldn't sense their rapid heartbeats anymore.

They were gone.

For now.

———

Days had gone by, the two had entered the room every so often with food for Nightshade. The iron cuffs had left nasty cuts on his paws, eventually leading to them scarring.

Nightshade lay on the cold floor, left in his thoughts. He drooled while his tongue hung out of his mouth; the drool landing on the iron chains. The acid burned through, leaving Nightshade to wander around the room, but the shackles still clung to his feet.

He didn’t notice he was free until he went to stretch.

As soon as he realized, he screeched and charged forwards, crashing against a wall. He continued to bash the wall until it crumpled into a pile at his feet.

Nightshade roared again and bolted, running blindly past numerous heart beats, but he just wanted to get out.

He just wanted to go home.

Something suddenly caught his ankle and he face planted into the ground, stunning him for a short amount of time, but just enough time for a handful of heartbeats to pin him down.

Nightshade shrieked again, sending acid flying. He heard screams of some, but still stayed pinned down.

Something painfully pricked Nightshade, causing him to try to rip free of this mysterious grasp.

The heartbeats thought it would knock him unconscious.

But it did the opposite.

Nightshade suddenly doubled in size, shrieking in pain. Acid flung out of his mouth, hitting countless of heartbeats. Dozens of screams could be heard, but Nightshade wanted to leave the noise. It hurt so much.

Nightshade launched himself upwards, breaking through something before feeling the cool air of the night. He knew he didn’t know where he was, and he knew he wouldn’t get far, but he flew off into the night anyways, still screaming with pain. He avoided humans at all costs from that day forwards, and the same went for the humans...’

…

The little girl sat on her bed with wonder plastered onto her face.

“It’s said that at night, anywhere on Neversight, that you can still hear the monstrous screams of ‘Nightshade’, still trying to find his home.” He father finished off, glancing at his daughter.

Her face was bewildered, and slightly worried.

“I feel bad for that… what’s it called again?” She asked, looking up at her father with a goofy grin.

“A mowl.” Her father corrected. She nodded.

“Yeah! I feel bad for that mowl. It wasn’t right for us to just take him away and hurt him like that…” The girl pouted and crossed her arms, staring at the floor. Her father chuckled and tucked her daughter into bed.

“Your too sweet for this world.” He remarked, kissing his daughter on her forehead. She yawned and snuggled into the covers.

“Goodnight, love.” Her father said and got up, walking towards the door.

“Mm… night.” She mumbled and drifted to sleep.

But Nightshade had never been released back into Neversight. 

He had been transported from Neversight to Scarlands by boat.

There was a faint purple glow outside her window, but she fell asleep before she noticed...

(Word Count: 771)