The Hidden Keeper

EPISODE 7: THE JUNGLE WORLD'S SCREAM

Aira's pained cry echoed through the jungle.

Red vines slashed across Aira's face. The air was hot. Heavy. Alive with ancient fury.

She plummeted between leaves the size of houses. Each leaf could crush a village. Below her lay only darkness. Endless green darkness.

"World 2... Volcano Core..." Aira laughed, blood staining her teeth. "Where is it?"

CRACK!

The entire jungle trembled. Such a monstrous roar that trees bowed. Birds fled like living fire.

Golden eyes opened in the darkness. Bigger than Aira. Sharper than daggers.

A lion. But not a normal lion. Fire of thorns burned around its neck. The ground shattered with every step. This was the Jungle King's beast.

It saw Aira. And smiled.

"RUN!" Coyol's voice tore through the sky c***k. "That's a World Beast!"

Too late.

The lion leapt. Twenty feet in a single bound. Claws like swords.

Aira twisted away. BOOM! Where she stood, the earth became a crater.

She pulled out the green stone. Its light was dim now.

"One strike," Aira said through bloodied lips. "Only one strike left."

The lion charged again. Faster this time. Its roar carried ancient jungle words. Words that shattered minds.

Aira's knees gave out. But then...

A faint sound. Barely a whisper.

"SAVE ME... PLEASE... SOMEONE SAVE ME..."

Aira froze. Turned her head.

Behind a root, trembling, a small white rabbit. Eyes full of tears. Frozen by fear.

It was the same one who brought her to this world. Asking for her help. And now Aira couldn't let anything happen to him.

The lion's shadow fell over the rabbit. One more strike and it would become blood.

Something inside Aira broke.

Not the heroine. Not the "Daughter of the Sky".

Just a girl who couldn't watch the weak die.

FLASHBACK - 2 HOURS AGO:

Aira was walking home. Feet aching. Stone cracked.

Then... a sound. Like shattering glass.

"Please... someone... save me..."

She stopped. Looked around. Empty street.

The voice came again. From inside a drain.

Aira bent down. Lifted the cover.

Inside - a small white rabbit, leg trapped in rusted wire. Shaking. Eyes wide with terror.

Aira cut the wire with her stone's light. Freed him.

The rabbit didn't run. He touched her hand with his nose. Warm. Trusting.

"Thank you, Daughter of the Sky," he said. "You can help me. Come with me to my world. Everyone needs you there." Then a wave of bright light came and both of them vanished into it.

When Aira opened her eyes again, she was in a huge green jungle. But this wasn't a normal jungle. Everything here was seventy times larger than Earth jungles.

Aira stared in shock. "What... is this, where is he?"

Before she could understand, the lion attacked her.

BACK TO PRESENT:

The lion's claw was one inch from the rabbit's head.

Aira moved. Not with magic. With rage.

"NO!"

BOOM! She slammed the cracked stone into the ground.

Green light exploded. Not 50x. Just 2x. But enough.

The lion was thrown back, screaming in pain, thorns burning.

Aira stood before the rabbit. Blood marking her back. A claw wound.

The lion circled her, growling. "You... protect something weak?"

Aira wiped blood and smiled. Cold. Dangerous.

"Weak?" Her voice was steel. "This 'weak' trusted me. And I don't break trust."

She pointed the cracked stone at the lion's heart. Green fire ignited.

"Touch him again. And I'll burn this entire jungle. World 2 included."

The lion stopped. World Beasts fear one thing - a human who fights for someone weaker.

The rabbit crawled to Aira's feet. Touched her ankle.

"Why... why save me?" he whispered.

Aira didn't look down. Eyes locked on the lion.

"Because someone told me," she said softly, "that saving three worlds means nothing... if you can't save one life in front of you."

Silence.

Then the lion lowered its head. Bowed.

"The Jungle King will know she is not ordinary," it growled. Then vanished into thorns.

The rabbit looked at Aira, eyes wet.

"My name is Pip," he said. "And World 2... Volcano Core... it's not a place. It's a prison."

Aira's blood turned cold.

BOOM! The red sky c***k flashed again. "7 days" changed to "6 days 23 hours".

The countdown had begun.

Now she had to save the Jungle World.

And she had little time.