Deep under the forest of Appares, the phrase Survival of the Fittest proclaims to be the only rule. A large bird hunts and snoops down a poor bunny which tried to escape its grasp by tumbling over and kicking away attempting to fled with its life. The bird saw the effort and followed his grasping claws with a strong gust coming from his giant wings. Wind blades formed giving the bunny its last breath. The bird claimed its prize and intended to fly away when a bright light flashed in the middle of the forest. A boy appeared 2 meters mid-air and fell down to the ground near a tree.

  The river stream gushing over its bed of rocks, piercing noises from the screech of the bird and the gentle swishing sound of trees as the breeze comes by, filled his ears as his whole body numbed to the intense pain the fall gave him. Kneeling on one leg as the other foot supports his body, grunts came out of his mouth as he grabbed unto a tree beside him. Everything is blurry and his mind is filled with hazy memories.

  Uncomfortable and fatigue does not even start to describe each part of his body from head to toe. A scratchy part on his long chestnut colored hair gives him every reason to be annoyed. Leaves and pebbles start to fall out when he rustled them. It falls unto his leather vest, which is worn over to his dirty white shirt. Looking down on his top, he found a necklace with a tooth pendant and a strangely shaped short dagger with the initial L on its handle on the pocket of his vest. Wonder what the L means he ponders as everything in his memory is hazy. His name, beautiful hometown, and lovely parents are dark and blank.

  Towering trees bearing thick 3 meters trunks fills his field of view while fiery colored birds flap their fiery tailed wings flying from one tree to another. A faint ray of sunlight hit his eye, blinding him for a moment, as it passes through the cooling green of the forest roof. The sense of beauty and untouched virginity upon his surroundings was breathftaking but did not give him the feeling of nostalgia or even a sad moment in the past. Upon the thought of the place being dangerous and unknown gave him a cold shiver down his spine, the whole forest now seems to give him terror as he tries to find sense on where he is and even if he is from around here.

  “Where the heck am I? I need to get back to- “As thoughts turned to words, the memories fadely popping up from nowhere. One thing to the next starts to show color and meaning. But when anything starts to make sense, it crumbles down beneath and reached nothing but the tip of his tongue showing another blank state. It gives him nothing but horror of not knowing anything about his life. “Why can’t I remember? How did I even get here?” Head turning left to right, anything that is seen gives him a stab on his back head as information from the past and present gives him nothing but confusion and a mountain of questions.

  As more and more questions trouble his already aching head, he wandered slowly through the virgin forest. A black-pawed baby squirrel saw him and run up to the tree. He followed the cute little guy and was again blinded by the sudden sunlight that passed through in the crevices of the leaves. Upon being hit by the blinding light, memories flowed through his head like a flash flood from a broken dam. The light! A bright white light! His mind was filled with fuzzy and unclear images of his past but it only gives him more confusion than clarity. Two figures could be seen towering over him as it seems they are adults and is reaching down to him and giving him a touch on the cheek. Live on, Laurent.

  Flashing lights filled the mind with sillhoete of what was his past memories. The memories that took to long to remember was now white and bright flashing lights. The things that gave him confusion now gave him a head-splitting headache. The intense information overload gave his body excruciating pain as it goes down stabbing every inch of his skin like something is coming out. His legs gave up and he knelt down to the ground, clenching his aching forehead. He gave out painful shouts and it reverberated through the woods. The grasses around him rustled and rapid stomps could be heard approaching. He was in such a hell-like state that he did not pick up this danger-sounding signs of an ambush. After 10 seconds that felt like centuries to him, his breathing gradually got strained and heavy as his body couldn’t take the pain, he let out a soft shout and passed out against a pile of leaves in the ground. He slowly regained consciousness over the course of several hours. The headaches were no longer there. The pouring stream also came to a halt. The birds' lovely chirps had been replaced by the soul-stirring howls of the crows, as he could no longer hear them.

  The sun went to the other side as Laurent slowly woke up. His body is now in a better state as his mind was clear but still no past memories. His vision was filled with a relaxing and moving scenery of the orange sunset hitting the leaves as small animals looks down on him from their branches. His body was being hit rock after rock as a biting sensation was felt down on his leg. He was in fact being dragged by a giant gray wolf with a black mark on its back. Am I going to be food?! He turned his head and saw two more wolves on the back following them. The other one in the back left was the same as the one carrying him but the one on the right was much larger and have a black mark on its back and on its snout. It seems to be the one leading the small pack.

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  The adrenaline rushed up to each of his senses. Anxiosness, nervousness, and pure will and determination to live was felt as he was ready to take on a fight. Images of his body fighting with all the joints swinging in full motion and back turning, devastating blows was suddenly flashing to him. The polished knife skills, that his body seems to remember, gave him confidence, that he never thought he has, in this dire situation. He would take care of the wolves with movement and skills not with his mind, that does not even begin to comprehend, but with a body that is ready to kill.

  Okay, here goes nothing. He reached down his vest and grasped the strangely shaped knife, that seems it is his and he had been using it for way too long. Back arching, stomach curling, his body yanked up and hammered down the knife, all in one swift motion hitting the unsuspecting wolf in the head. The wolf suffered concussion, bleeding, and shock and passed out on the spot giving him his leg back. "That's one down" confidently said as grunts and snarls sounded out in the once silent and eerie path. His foot turned and legs jumped to gave himself space with the two opponent. The wolves could be seen coldly staring into his prey-labeled body while they also feel slight fear and wary of him so they waited out their next move.

  With no time to waste, he stooped down and intended to step back in sudden motions to escape because insticts were yelling at him that taking the fight could endanger his life especially with the wolf leader that has been eyeing down and measuring his body. His swift motion gave him enough room to breathe but the wolves were fast as the large one was already chasing him down but the other small wolf seems to be arching its back. He kept going and was being pursued by the large wolf. Instincts yelling and signaling red as his surrounding started to fill with horror. He turns his head towards the small wolf and it seems black eerie aura was converging to its back, forming what seems to be a black arm-sized spike that will either give him a hard time or instantly kill him when it hits.

  He turned his back and bolted. Zigzagging to try and dodge the upcoming doom. Cold sweat running down his back as he pants and pants while scurrying to create space between. The intense aura the spike created as soon as it was casted became more and more unbearable. He looked back while running to see if the spike have already been launched. He saw the large one in the side not running anymore but is waiting for the small one to finish his thing. The moment waited until the second came when the spike is launched and head towards Laurent. Laurent saw a tree and hid behind it as he tried to catch his breath.

  "Oh Shi-" Exclaimed as he saw the projectile coming. In a matter of seconds, the black spike flew and reached him. The tree got the full force of the spike and shook uncontrollably. Crashing sound and debris flew out as the spike managed to make a big hole in the giant trunk of the tree he was hiding.

  Hurried stomps and snarling growls gave sign that both the wolves were already on their way to take a bit on their runaway sweaty dinner. Moves his body knows run through his mind as if the situation was already done in the past and everything is deja vu. Chest rose and his back arch while he made the tree his running block. He kicked full force and shot out like an arrow away from the wolves. The sound of their food running away gave them enough reason to go all out. Their fur stood up as a black condensed substance went around their paws. The wolves' speed and agility doubled instantly which he did not notice because he was already far away.

  Looking back and thinking he lost them. Laurent stepped on a rabbit hole the size of him and conviently hiding him from the wolves' sight. Snarls and stomps sounded as if they were going the other way and this gave him sigh of relief. Laurent is currently 8 years old, flowing tears and sniffing nose started as his body went through hell. Thoughts about his caring mother showed up only as a white memory and stab his back head again. He stopped crying and just focused on his current predicament.

  Needing food, shelter, and a stable source of water is essential in order for him to survive and find an answer. Not knowing about his past did not affect his knowledge about survival as it seems he received a training from the same towering adult man that seems to be his father. Buried under the rabbit hole, his stomach grumbled and his throat dried from all that running. The shining night stars above gave the forest a beautiful scenery as if it had not been trying to kill him.

  -End of Chapter 1-