The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

A Monster and A Hard Place

The closer Sophia got to the plume of smoke, the harder it was to go much faster. The terrain was getting rougher and running through the forest in flip flops isn't as easy as one might think. The pale blue skirt she was wearing was still dripping wet. Her satchel bounced at her side and she clung onto the strap tightly, making sure it wouldn't fall off her shoulder. The scent of the fire was getting stronger. It wasn't long until Sophia could see the actual light of the fire in the distance. Luckily, it didn't look very big. And she hoped it would stay that way. If she couldn't get there in time, there would be no stopping it.

While living near the west coast seems like a dream to some, most don't realize how easy and spontaneous combustion occurs. And when the conditions are right, an entire landscape can be engulfed in flames in a matter of minutes.

This was something both Sophia and Apollo knew all too well. As if they didn't have enough to worry about threatening their existence.

Sophia finally got closer, but she couldn't run any more. There was no wind passing through, but she started hacking and coughing as the blaze grew higher. She looked up, thinking she could hear something. Almost like shouting. She heard her name called. When she finally approached the area, she finally saw what was going on. An entire tree had been lit on fire, the black smoke was rising higher and the ground around it was starting to become scorched as pieces of the tree fell off and were starting to ignite the ground. Sophia untied the blouse from her waist and held the damp shirt up to her face, making it easier to breathe through. She took a couple steps back as the heat intensified. She heard her name called out again and when she looked up, she thought she saw figures moving around. They started waving at her and Sophia gasped.

"What the hell are you guys doing up there?"

"Sophie! Help us! Please!'

We're stuck! We can't get down!"

"Please! We need help!" the twins coughed between each sentence. Sophia couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Where's Apollo? Ah, nevermind! I'll deal with this, but you two need to get out of there, now!"

"How can we do that?!"

"You have wings! Get away from the fire and try getting to the other trees and get down that way! Just get out of there!" Sophia shouted as she started moving around to the other side of the tree. The twins lost sight of her in the smoke. Both their eyes and lungs stung, they could barely see a thing. But they did their best to climb up what was left of the tree and used their wings to push away the smoke where they tried to find the closest tree. The twins didn't hesitate for a second. With the help of their wings, they leaped out of the tree, aiming for the nearest branch they could hold onto. They ended up falling through, slamming against the smaller branches before they finally caught themselves on a stronger branch and pulled themselves up. They were out of the tree and away from the fire, but they couldn't stop coughing. Tears flooded their face. They have never been so terrified in their lives, but were relieved to finally get out of danger. They tried looking around for Sophia, but it was still difficult to see through the tears and the smoke. They heard a strange splashing noise followed by hissing. The smoke was starting to turn white and the heat of the fire was dying down. The twins continuously wiped their eyes until they finally stopped producing tears and tried making their way back to the ground where they leaned against the trunk of the tree, desperately trying to catch their breath. Somehow, the fire had been put out and the tree was nothing more than a long stick of charcoal.

Sophia emerged from the smoke not long after, still holding the damp shirt to her face, also coughing. She quickly put something away in her bag before slinging it back over her shoulder, also trying to catch her breath. She looked up at the twins.

"Are... are you guys okay?"

"Y-yeah... I think... I think so."

"Good. Where's... where's Apollo? What happened?" Sophia asked. The twins coughed more before they could say anything.

"Something... something happened... after that earthquake."

"It... it just appeared... out of nowhere! We didn't even hear it coming!"

"Apollo... he tried— he tried to fight it off! But... but... that thing..... it caught him."

"What?"

"That thing— that... monster took him. It dragged him off when the tree caught fire!"

"We were stuck! We couldn't do anything! I don't know what happened."

Sophia had a shocked expression on her face.

"Where did he go? Where did you last see him?" she asked in a serious tone. The twins looked around frantically for a moment before pointing out something in the dirt.

"There! Over there!"

Sophia rushed over and instantly noticed fresh tracks just aways from the burnt tree and they lead deeper into the forest.

"C'mon, this way!" Sophia shouted as she sprinted off into the trees. The twins quickly rushed behind her, but they were having a hard time keeping up. There was still smoke in their lungs and they had neverr seen Sophia run so fast. Once or twice, she called out to Apollo. Her voice echoed through the trees.

It wasn't long until they heard something in the distance. Sophia stopped and the twins skidded behind her, trying to catch their breath. Sophia just remained still and listened. A loud roar echoed through the trees, making everyone stiffen. It was shortly followed by familiar shouting.

"This way!" Sophia rushed forward again. The twins sighed painfully before going after her. Their path lead uphill where the sounds were getting louder. By the time they got to the top, they were shocked at the scene before them.

The monster was there, furiously digging in the dirt. Sophia crawled forward to get a better look. It was a Shadovian. A much larger variant. She had never seen anything like it before. It looked like a large tree had fallen over onto some boulders, and the ground beneath it curved inwards, creating a small gap between the rocks. And trying to hide inside it was Apollo. he was trying to wedge himself inside the gap, avoiding the monster as it was trying to dig him out. He was trapped.

The twins saw this too and glanced at Sophia.

"Sophie, Apollo's down there! I think he's stuck!"

"What do we do? We have to get him out of there!"

Sophia just stood there and breathed heavily. Her lungs burned from running and she only watched as the monster barked at Apollo while trying to dig him out. Sophia didn't think for a second.

"Hey! Up here! Look over here!" Sophia shouted at the creature, waving her arms to get its attention. The twins immediately recoiled and tried to get her to stop, but it was too late. The creature stopped digging and turned its head. Sophia's blood ran cold at the sight of its eyes, realizing her mistake. The creature charged at them on the hill, making the twins tumble over as Sophia dodged quickly as the creature climbed over the hill. Sophia unfolded her wings and shot upwards, quickly pulling herself into a tree and climbing upwards. The monster slammed into it as it tried to follow the twins, making Sophia slip and fall, but she managed to catch herself on a lower branch just before she hit the ground. She looked down to see the twins dashing through the trees as the monster went after them. Surprisingly, it was having a hard time keeping up with them as the monster was so large and the trees were so dense, it was struggling to push through them, making it easier for the twins to avoid it. Sophia turned her head back around to see Apollo struggling to get out of the hole. She pulled herself up, unfolding her wings again and called out to Apollo. She jumped and glided down just as Apollo noticed her. They both reached out at the same time and grabbed each other's arms.

"C'mon! Hurry! Before it comes back!"

"Sophie! I'm stuck! My wings..."

Sophia pulled as hard as she could, able to get Apollo's body out of the hole, but noticed he had pushed himself so far in that his large wings were stuck inside the tighter areas. Apollo used his other hand to try and pry them free. He managed to inch them out little by little, until Apollo looked up and quickly pulled Sophia's head down.

"Get down!"

The monster had come back and nearly took Sophia out. The two pushed themselves back as it continued to swipe at them. Sophia instinctively reached her hand into her bag and pulled out the crystal. A flash of light transforming it into her sword and she started swinging wildly.

"Get back! Stay back! Get away from us!"

The monster moved back slightly, allowing Sophia to push herself up, still swinging, but not really making any contact. Apollo was frozen behind Sophia. He managed to pull the last of his feathers free, but the monster had them cornered. It wasn't until Apollo noticed his arm clutching the side of the rock. A find mist was starting to form around it as his fingers turned blue and frost slowly grew from where they were gripping the stone. He quickly pulled it back before looking up at Sophia. She took another step forward and swung at the creature and it roared at her.

"Sophie, get back!" Apollo shouted as he lunged forward and slammed his arm into the ground. A large trail of ice grew from his fingertips as Sophia stepped away and it reached the monster's leg, freezing it to the ground. It noticed this before it took another swipe from Sophia, realizing it couldn't move and it barked in frustration. Apollo focused as the ice slowly grew up the creature's leg as it started clawing at itself, trying to get free. Sophia quickly grabbed Apollo's other arm, seeing the chance and pulling him away. Apollo unfroze his arm as they quickly tried to climb out of the ditch, but the creature noticed this instantly and swiped at them with its free arm, knocking the pair away as they tumbled in the dirt. The both of them were stunned. Apollo looked up, seeing his friend struggling on the ground and tried crawling towards her. Meanwhile, the creature wrestled with itself for a moment before crushing the ice and freeing itself. Sophia noticed the creature snapping its head towards them and quickly reached out to Apollo. The two were able to grab each other's arms again just as the creature lunged at them, scooping up Apollo's legs and dragging him away. The two screamed as they held onto each other. Sophia accidentally let go of her sword, focusing her grip on her friend. The monster snapped its jaws again, catching Apollo's lower torso, making him scream louder. Sophia wrestled to free her friend, but it was no use. The monster swung her back and forth, dragging her legs in the course dirt until it flung her off and she slammed against a large rock. Apollo screamed at her as the monster turned away, heading deeper into the forest. Sophia was unable to get up. The thundering footsteps of the beast became softer as the cries of her friend also got quieter as they got further and further away.

Before she knew it, Apollo was gone.