UnCanny

The Man in The Straw Hat

"Stupid bear should have just minded his own business" Arbeya grumbled as he placed a bloody hand against a tree and used it as support to pushed forward. His bloody hand print staying on the tree while he moved forward to the next one. Practically dragging his feet forward.

His other hand was clutching his side where he had 3 very large gash marks that were bleeding profusely.

In the distance behind him, the white horned bear lay on the floor. Unconscious. It's eyes rolled back and facing the sky and his face having a noticeable large bruise where it had gotten punched. A few of it's canines that it had been so proud of, now lay on the floor next to it's face.

"Which way is camp again?" he asked and peered around the dark forest. "Now I'm lost, I could get stuck her for awhile. Atleast I know where to get some food if it comes down to it" He said and turned to face the unconscious bear. "Does bear meat even taste good?" he questioned and shrugged it off.

Turning around to face his true dilemma, finding a way back to camp.

That's when an idea suddenly formed in his head. Turning back around, he began to walk out of the forest and towards the riverbank once more. "Where is it? where is it?" he questioned till he finally saw the mountain. If he remembered correctly the mountain was behind the forest a little ways back. The camp was in front of the forest, which meant by walking in the opposite direction of the mountain he'd find camp.

"Alright, now I just need to walk back to camp and get some bandages for my wounds" he said, still clutching his side. He was losing a lot of blood though and could feel himself getting drowsy.

His body beginning to feel heavy and tired from lack of sleep as well as the fight with the bear. The bear had made him have to use his ability, which only drained more of his power. He could replenish his power with sleep, but he couldn't very well drop down and sleep with the wound at his side bleeding out.

Then, the bear began to shift behind him while he was stuck in his thoughts. The bear beginning to rise to it's feet, this time being even more furious than before.

He heard the crunching of rocks rubbing together under the bears paw and turned around to face it.

"Really, I'm outta juice too. I wish I had some milk or bandages or something, but I guess I'm just gonna have to beat up this bear again" He said but his vision became blurry from blood loss.

He began to sway side to side like a drunken uncle who had too much to drink on new year's.

His breath became hitched and his heart began to pulpitate.

He soon collapsed and stared up at the bear. His eyes beginning to focus slightly as the bear stared down at him and showed off whatever teeth Arbeya hadn't knocked out.

Arbeya simply glared at the bear as his mind began to race and a smile appeared on his face.

"I...I can't die here...I refuse to die here...I still have things to do in this world...more adventures to go on with my f...friends and family" He spoke slowly as he rolled onto his stomach and planted his hands firmly onto the ground. Grinding his teeth together at the sudden pain he felt from his side.

"I just realised...this is it...I asked for this...I've been wanting to go on an adventure...with high stakes and just have fun like I did in America...this is what I've been missing" he said and pushed himself onto one knee. Looking up at the bear and noticing the beast was unmoving. "Huh?" he questioned as he looked up at it. The bear soon began to fall over and land on the ground. Blood beginning to gush out of its body as it lay completely motionless on the ground.

Arbeya's head turned to face a man that stood behind where the bear once stood.

The man seemed to be dressed like a ronin.(A ronin being a masterless samurai. A samurai who doesn't serve under a lord or a master but lives for themself)

He had on a straw hat often seen in old samurai movies, a black vest, white baggy pants that reached down to his ankles, brown wooden sandals, a white cloak hung over his shoulders and a katana strapped to his side.

Other than that Arbeya couldn't see much else. His vision was still slightly blurred.

"Are you alright? did I accidentally hit you with my attack. If I did I'm so sorry. I wanted to kill the bear so that I could eat it" the ronin said as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

A rumbling then came from the forest and Arbeya turned his head to see a giant paw get placed onto the group. A loud ferocious roar then came as an even larger horned bear arrived. This one was approximately 12 feet tall with claws that were 5 inches long. It's horns were large and coiled around like a Kudu's. A large number of black polka dots lined the bears white fur.

This was none other than the mama bear and she was pissed off. Seeing one of her children laying dead on the floor, she began to roar even louder.

"This isn't going well" he said as he watched the mama bear charging toward them.

His first instinct was to dodge and run away, he was in no shape to fight and he knew it. His wounds wouldn't let him though, looking down he saw his black pants completely red with his own blood.

His mind began to race, trying to think of an escape route to take. But it wasn't needed. The mysterious ronin stepped in front of Arbeya. Wind picking up and blowing his cloak back to reveal the black and white hilt of his blade.

The ronin then placed his hand onto the hilt of the blade, then removed his hand and turned to face Arbeya. "Are you alright?" he asked and Arbeya stared at him in complete bewilderment.

"C'mon I'll take you back to my place to heal you" he said and grabbed Arbeya's arm. Putting the boys arm around his shoulders and beginning to support him to help him walk. Arbeya turned his head and strained his eyes to see the bear once more. Only to see that the bear had been completely split in two, its mouth still agape and its organs open for the world to see.

But that wasn't it, looking even behind the bear. There was nothing but c*****e and destruction. The forest had a clear divide in it, a deep trench had been dug through the ground and the trees in the way had all been cut clean through as well.

Turning his head to face the ronin, his final thoughts before black out were.

Who is this man?~