Axel cautiously made his way towards the large reddish leaves, blue streaks running along its edges.
He stopped just short and poked one with the Gishiki, then jumped back as if expecting the plant to bite. His eyes darted everywhere, scanning for abnormal movement, but nothing moved except the leaf itself, swaying lazily.
"I'm not having that," he muttered and poked it again, but the same thing, then he poked another leaf, but no reactions.
"So just plain old normal leaves," Axel conceded with a scrunched up face.
He reached out, pressed a fingertip to the leaf's surface—warm, soft, slick with moisture. "What's the meaning of this?" he mumbled, brow tightening. "This wasn't here before. Not even close."
And it's not just a small leaf, that I'd say I ignored it with the tension, this was like an entire tree, multiple leaves, as big as banana plant fronds covering the entrance of the cave.
Axel took a deep breath and shook his head, then with Gishiki in hand, he pushed a leaf out of the way, revealing an unexpected sight.
He took a deep exasperated breath, the smell of wet tree sap, along with something metallic wafting into his nose, his shoulders slouched back, face scrunched with unbelief and awe, "what in the actual hell," he muttered, hand clamped over his mouth.
Where barren rock had been moments ago, a jungle now sprawled outside the cave, dense, alien, alive. Strange trees stretched into the dark, their bark glimmering faintly. Plants he'd never seen rustled in a soft, damp wind.
Definitely not here a few minutes ago.
The place was still dark, but a bit brighter than before, reddish even, but the blue light was still more evident. Looking around, Axel staggered back into the cave and sprawled on the ground, "what is this, what in hell is this," his voice cracked.
"Perhaps I'm hallucinating," he murmured.
He rubbed his eyes hard enough to see stars. Opened them again. The leaves didn't vanish.
He stood up and stepped outside again. The sprawling jungle was still there, the croaking of frogs, the chirping of crickets in the distance.
"Nope, can't be real." He slapped himself across the cheek, really hard. The sting bloomed instantly. "Ow—okay. That's… not a dream."
Still, doubt gnawed. He looked around, muttering, "But what if my brain's faking everything? It can simulate pain, right? It can stimulate any feeling, how do I know if what I'm feeling is even real then," He groaned. "Let's not go full philosopher."
The least thing I'll want to do now is start getting into existential debate, He joked to himself, but if not that, what is this, he looked around again, his eyes narrowed as a thought creeped in, could I be dead, I did pass out or at least that's what I think.
To make sure, he strode up to a nearby tree and punched it. The bark bit his knuckles.
"Ow!" He hissed, clutching his hand, then darted back into the cave, eyes wide. The echo of his shout faded into silence—no roar, no thunderous wings.
He blinked, then let out a shaky laugh. "The pain's real. Guess that means I'm alive… or my brain is screwed."
Axel blew a raspberry and looked at his knuckles, slightly reddened, for now I'll believe I am alive.
He checked his pulse just to be sure. "Still got a heartbeat. Still hungry. Still sarcastic. Yep, definitely alive."
The leaves outside swayed lazily in the breeze, glowing blue along their veins. His stomach growled again.
Then it hit him, silence. There was no dragon roar. Nothing massive moving in the distance, no flapping of wings.
Does that mean it's finally hibernating as I hypothesized, perhaps this is like a change of seasons or something, an abrupt one at that, his grin stretching wide.
"But first," he stood up and went outside, then he took a deep breath and yelled, "To hell with you."
The shout echoed through the jungle. He scanned the trees, adrenaline flaring, then gasped as a bush ahead trembled violently.
He tightened his grip on the Gishiki, every nerve screaming incoming monster. The shaking grew faster—and then something small and purple hopped out.
Axel froze. The creature blinked up at him, tilting its fuzzy head. Two oversized ears flopped sideways, a pair of stubby horns poking out between them. Its eyes glowed faintly violet, its buck teeth catching the light.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
The creature twitched its nose, staring at him with open curiosity as if contemplating if to move forward or back, before suddenly bouncing back into the brush. The leaves shivered, and it was gone.
Axel took a deep breath and started laughing, he was right. It seemed the dragon wasn't coming, after all it should have heard his laughter or shout by now, not to mention there was a creature roaming about now, unlike before.
He clutched his ribs mid-laugh and winced, "almost forgot about that."
But wait, doesn't that mean other creatures are out now, and there are potentially dangerous ones like that snake, not to mention blue eyes from before.
"And I'm here laughing like a lunatic," he muttered. "Might as well be yelling, 'Dinner's ready!' to every monster within a mile."
He glanced toward the entrance. Fortunately, a big tree had grown on top of the cave, and as if unable to withstand its own weight, the branches, leaves and vines grew downward, forming a natural curtain over the entrance, providing a nice camouflage.
Then came a distant roar, not the dragon, something rougher, more animalistic.
Axel's smirk faltered. "Yeah, no. I'm not auditioning for 'Survivor: Hell Planet' today." He darted back into the cave.