"Oh God, oh what the fuck am I going to do now?"
"You're going to remain calm."
"Easy for you to say, you're safe inside my head!"
"Oh shut the hell up, for crying out loud, what the hell is wrong with you, you raging moron?!"
Jaden backed slowly away from the advancing hoard until he bumped into the media station just behind him. He quickly decided that this was as good a place as any to make his stand, and shed himself of his backpack. He briefly considered trying to get on top of the media station, but chose to remain on the ground where at least he knew he could fight effectively, rather than try to scramble up and balance on the steeply slanted screen.
With one hand Jaden unsheathed his dagger, and with the other he pulled his hatchet from it's holder on the side of his pack, flipping and locking it open with two smooth movements.
"Alright dogs, gimme what you got," he muttered under his breath.
"Actually, though the Spotted Hyena does share some characteristics with the canid family, it is really not a relative of the dog."
"Shut the hell up!"
*****
Takyle whipped around to face the girl.
"What the hell is this? What are those things?" she demanded. The girl nodded calmly and coldly.
"Those are hyenas, approximately half a dozen of them. And your other friend, the tall fellow, is facing a leopard."
"Why? Why are you doing this to us?"
"You chose this."
"What?! You know what, nevermind. Put me back, put me back now!" Takyle overruled her fear for just a moment to move toward the girl menacingly. The girl didn't even blinked, let alone back away.
"You cannot. You must control the game."
"What game?!"
"This game. The game with the animals... If you want your friends to live you must control the game. We will play together."
With that the girl turned back toward the images hanging in the void, and with a growing urge to panic, Takyle slowly turned with her. ~
