.
In a huge forest, a praying mantis is waving its foreleg, slicing the branch of a tree.
‘I will not become an underling of Royals,’ it thought, and slashed at the branch, leaving cut marks.
‘Especially getting close to humans, ‘ I shuddered at the thought of it.
My Grandfather was an adviser to the Royals who communicate with the Humans and acted as a translator between them.
The Directional bird is the mediator between us and will act as the head of the Insect Kingdom.
They will eat any insects that are against them, and all the insects follow it with no choice.
The entire kingdom is formed because of them.
The Insect Kingdom decided not to take part in the war between humans a long time ago.
Because according to Grandpa, the humans-in-white tried to persuade us to help them fight against half-naked humans.
But no insect accepted that proposal; according to our ancestors, those half-naked humans are the ones who were sent to the sky along with us, approximately 400 years ago.
The war between these humans started at that time and has been going on till now.
I grew up on this Island during this war.
I have also watched many fights between humans which are very scary.
I nearly died many times after getting caught in their fight.
I also saw many insects die in their fight with my own eyes.
If that giant snake is the first thing I’m afraid of, then humans are next on the list, followed by those birds.
That’s why I don’t want to become a translator of the Royals and get near humans.
So I ran away from home and roamed in this forest for the past few days.
I have not left my house because of how precious a translator-in-training is, and each time I sneak out, I will always encounter humans and nearly get killed.
Since I’m cooped up in the house all the time, others provide food to me, so I don’t know how to hunt, and got hungry as time passes.
I have not used my forelegs to slice anything for a long while; I only use them to learn sign language from my grandpa.
I did not know the usage of sign language until I overheard my grandpa.
That’s when I figured out it is used to communicate with humans, and they will also send me to work for the Royals as their translator.
I got the fright of my life.
‘Getting close to humans?
Like hell I will!’, I decided against it and ran away because it is useless to fight against my grandpa.
‘Humans are terrible,’ I concluded after seeing their destruction frequently.
So I have been training my forelegs to cut so I won’t die miserably and at least can defend myself.
‘I can at least use it to hunt,’ I finally decided, because I will run after spotting a human.
Strangely, the Island is silent today without the sound of humans fighting, so I searched around boldly, finding some leftover food from other insects to fill my stomach.
In the middle of the night, as I was sleeping, *Tsulalalala~* there was an uproar from the snake.
‘Who disturbed that snake?’ I anxiously went to hide properly.
All the insects and animals woke up shouting and screeching, running away from Nola, creating a stampede.
I quickly climbed high into the trees to avoid it.
I watched them running towards the edge of the island where a half-broken building was there.
‘Whoever is in that direction is dead,’ I thought, cowering fearfully, looking at the angry/panicked animals and insects.
The entire night was sleepless; I even saw glimpses of that snake searching for something above the forest from my hiding place.
I froze in fear when its gaze swept over my hidden place.
The mayhem took place till the morning; I only lay down to rest after that with a tired and hungry body.
I rolled, changed position, and changed trees to get sleep properly.
I finally found a dark area where I slowly got sleepy, but I could feel that the insects were gathering again; I ignored it to rest properly.
I even heard the Directional Bird rallying with its unique cry, but the rally will not happen without any intruder stepping onto this Island.
So I dismissed it as a hallucination due to hunger.
Rallying was one clause the insect kingdom agreed with the humans: if an outsider stepped on the Island when God’s army is absent, then the insects should stop the intruder.
There was not a day when both groups of humans were absent from the Island and intruders arrived at the same time.
So they did not use this clause for a long time.
After some time, I felt the ground vibrate and heard many sounds like buzzing, skittering, flapping, rolling, etc.
in my half-sleep.
‘Won’t they allow an insect to sleep in peace?’ I grumbled, rolling over and covering my ears.
Then there was rare silence, which I appreciate very much.
I felt the moths gathering nearby.
I ignored them since they are not dangerous and kinda dumb.
‘It is so nice to lie in silence,’ I thought in a half-sleep state.
My goal is to eat and sleep daily like this with no work.
Since I can’t eat, I will fulfill my half goal.
There is no grandpa here to hinder my goal.
I slowly started to enter a sleep state in this silence before it was destroyed by the “Uaah!” shout.
I looked annoyed by this sound, which destroyed my peaceful sleep.
I was sure that no one could find me in my hiding place as I blended into the background.
It is a way of survival taught by my grandpa for non-combatants- hiding, camouflage.
I lazily opened one eye toward the sound source to find a weird creature standing on a weird thing emitting colorful clouds.
The creature has huge, black bird-like wings and a black tail; it is about 2 ft in height.
I relaxed after seeing it was not a human.
I saw it speaking to the dumb moths.
‘Either I’m hallucinating or that creature is stupid enough to speak with Moths,’ I closed my eyes, ignoring it.
‘Sure enough, the hunger has created more hallucinations.’ I got comfortable enough to sleep again, ignoring the hallucination.
“CHOH~ CHOH~” I heard the cry of directional birds again.
The area suddenly became brighter.
Then I heard some yelling and saw the Moths flying.
I suddenly felt uncomfortable, so I opened my eyes to see something flying toward me.
I dodged it subconsciously.
*thunk* I looked at that thing to find an arrow spewing white clouds stuck to the tree.
My sleepiness went away soon after I nearly died.
‘Shit!
This is not a hallucination,’ I muttered, looking toward the place where I saw the weird creature.
*poof* Smoke surrounded that place, and many clouds similar to this arrow emerged from it.
I watched as the insects surrounding it were hesitating to enter it.
‘What is happening here?’ I looked around confusedly, then understood; that creature is an intruder and that the insects are following the bird’s order to attack it.
I watched with interest how the fight will take place from now on.
I suddenly saw a slug flying out of the smoke before the cockroaches entered the smoke fearlessly.
The fight started accompanied by an “Argh!” enraged roar from that creature.
The fight went on.
The bodies of cockroaches flew out of the weird vehicle, falling all the way down to the ground below.
Suddenly, I saw the cockroaches and other small insects scattered away from the smoke.
I looked confused before an irritating smell spread in the air.
It was tolerable for me, but hell for small insects.
I watched as the bees slowly entered the smoke ‘Now the main fight starts, I thought, looking forward to it.
Suddenly I heard a *twang* as an arrow flew just a few inches away from my face, scratching it and lodging into the tree behind me.
I turned to look at it ‘Aahh!
I nearly died again,’ I panicked, looking at the scratch on the left side of my face just below my eye.
I quickly flew towards another tree.
I just landed before another arrow arrived, *thunk* which I dodged quickly.
‘Why the hell do the arrows arrive wherever I go?’ I complained, jumping towards another tree as an arrow arrived, which I quickly dodged.
Even though I knew the arrows arrived after piercing through the bees, I still got angry at that creature.
*twang* *thunk* *swish* *twing* I dodged the arrows from then on in panic, but the arrows stopped after a minute ‘It is finally over,’ I sighed in relief and stopped to take a breath when I saw a flash inside the smoke along with a loud sound.
*bang* I suddenly felt pain on the right side of my face as something formed symmetrically scratch there, like the left side of my face.
I dreadfully turned to see a hole in the tree.’You gotta be kidding me.’ A bullet hit a few inches away as I jumped to another tree.
I started to run around in a panic.
‘Grandpa, save me!’ yelled in fright.
Just when I landed on a tree, *bang* I heard the gunshot and something pricking me ‘Oh!
I’m dead, I thought, losing consciousness.
I woke up after a while confused ‘Where Am I?’ I dazedly stood up to find many insects’ dead bodies, then I remembered everything and checked my body for any bullet holes, only to find that I was only scratched by bee stingers.
I sighed in relief after finding that I was alive and only fainted in fright.
I was brought to my attention by the words, “Huh!
Does this mean that my first enemy is him, not a slug or cockroach?” spouted by that creature who was sitting on that weird thing.
Then I thought about how many times I nearly died at its hands and became angry.
‘I’m already hungry, but this creature made me run all around for my life wasting my energy,’ I thought as my anger turned murderous as I glared at it.
I watched as the creature stood up vigilantly before spotting me, then looked dumbfounded.
I glared straight back at its big round eyes (goggles) in anger.
“O!
You are the one staring at me for a long time,” it asked, to which my anger raised.
‘You are the one who woke me from sleep.’ I flexed my forelegs.
“If you have ambushed me while I was fighting, I would have been in pieces by now?
Why didn’t you do it?
” It asked further, as my legs twitched for its blood.
‘Attack you?
You are the one who shot me non-stop.
When will I have a chance?’ I waved my forelegs, experimenting to attack it.
“So you’re swordsman?” It questioned me.
I thought for a while, ‘Yeah, I’m going to slice you.
That means I’m a swordsman to you.’ I nodded at it.
“Psh!
You are an insect.
You will be killed easily if you duel a human,” It mocked me.
‘Why will I be anywhere near a human?
I will run away as soon as they near me,’ I seriously looked at it.
‘It really is stupid,’ I concluded.
“Then I will challenge you to a one-on-one,” It yelled towards me, waving a sword-like burning thing in its hand.
I looked behind that creature to see a centipede approaching.
‘Who wants to fight one-on-one with you?
Aren’t you satisfied with nearly killing me so many times?’ I glared angrily at it.
‘I will just pincer you with that centipede bro over there,’ I decided as I waited for the centipede to arrive, vigilantly looking at the creature for it to make any move.
Finally, the centipede arrived, and I saw the creature get slightly distracted by it, so I quickly flew towards it to take its head.
‘Die!
for disturbing, my sleep yesterday and today,’ I screeched at him.
Before I could cut its head, I saw the thing it stood on fall, dragging it along, so I flew a few inches above its patterned head (Bandana) and clashed with the centipede bro’s mandibles.
I flew above in disappointment at missing the opportunity to kill it.
The centipede bro suddenly started attacking me.
I dodged quickly.
‘Why are you attacking me?’ I yelled at it in panic.
It ignored my question and continued to attack; I dodged it easily and slashed back at it, leaving a white mark on its exoskeleton.
‘My enemy is running away, move asshole,’ I yelled at it.
“Hey, Mantis!
Since you didn’t attack me on my back, I have decided to appoint you as my rival,” that creature yelled from below.
‘Rival?
Ok, I’m going to kill you anyway,’ I dodged the centipede, looking down to see the creature fighting some bees.
“Now Let’s finish our duel,” It yelled, looking at me.
‘I wish that is easy when he is annoying me.’ I glared at the centipede when I heard a loud blasting sound.
I saw the creature below being dragged away by that weird thing blasting toward the sky.
‘What…!
It escaped from here?’ I looked angrily at the thing in the distance.
“NNnoooo!
MY Duueell…” It cried in panic at its missed duel, hanging from that thing.
‘Argh!
It escaped,’ I looked angrily at it; the centipede attacked me suddenly.
I dodged and glared at it.
‘It is all because of you,’ I angrily charged at it, dodging its attack and slicing it.
The attack successfully cut one of its antennas in half; it withered in pain, glaring angrily at me.
‘Uh-oh!
Now I have done it,’ I gulped fearfully before hightailing out of there.
The centipede started to chase me angrily as I flew away from it.
My tired body can’t exert more energy to fly, but my only advantage is flying.
If I lose it, the centipede will arrive quickly with its numerous legs.
I lost the centipede after some effort and landed on a tree, panting.
‘Why did I stupidly attack him when I don’t know how to fight properly?’ I thought after reflecting.
‘It is all because of that weird creature.
I will find and kill it,’ I vowed, then landed on the branch.
‘First, I need to rest,’ I hid properly and slept peacefully.
-O- I woke up early in the morning due to hunger.
‘It is all because of that thing.
I didn’t eat yesterday,’ I grumbled and angrily started to look for it.
I found its trail after searching sometimes and that creature is fearlessly venturing into that snake’s territory.
‘It really is stupid,’ I confirmed.
‘Anyway, its death will be in my hand.’ I sped up to avenge my stomach and sleep.
I easily spotted the colorful clouds.
‘Did it come to die here?
It can be spotted from miles away,’ I lamented at that creature’s IQ.
I quickly flew to its front and stopped it from going further; I was shocked after looking at the creature.
‘What…?’ I stared in horror.
It said something, but I was entirely focused on its human face.
‘It is a Human?’ I saw a human face entirely different from what I saw yesterday (Without masks, goggles, and a bandana).
I started shivering in fright.
‘It’s a human.
Am going to die?’ I thought, planning to run away.
‘He will definitely kill me for what I did yesterday,’ I gulped, looking at the human.
“Who are you?” he asked.
‘Huh…!?
Why is he asking about it?’ I stared, flabbergasted, at him.
“Did we meet before?” he asked, increasing my confusion.
‘Is he testing me?
Will he kill me if I lie?’ I thought, then nodded my head truthfully.
“Are you my friend?” he asked further.
‘Why would I be friends with a human?’ I vehemently denied it and used sign language, which I had learned all my life to communicate with him.
‘I’m your rival,’ I signed after deciding to use this title to escape from here.
‘I hope he won’t kill his rival,’ I thought, signing it.
“Are you my pet?” he asked, ignoring my sign.
‘Why are you not reading the signs?’ I angrily denied it and signed vigorously as he noticed it.
His uniquely colored pupil widened in recognition.
“Then what are you to me?” he asked, ignoring my signs.
‘That’s what I have been signing.
Even though he is a human, I forgot he is stupid,’ I grumbled and stopped using sign language.
‘Let’s speak in idiot’s language,’ I decided, then pointed at his sword, ‘Your sword,’ then at my legs, ‘My sword,’ then crossed my forelegs, ‘Fight,’ so ‘Rivals,’ I gestured.
“I know,” he shouted.
‘Phew!
Finally, he got it,’ I sighed in relief.
‘Now it’s time for me to run,’ I decided, then looked at the human.
“My training partner,” He declared.
‘This idiot!’ I face-faulted.
‘Now I’m sure he is not testing me, but his small brain can’t remember me.’ I became confident in escaping from him.
‘How difficult it is going to be to escape from an idiot!’ I decided.
Before I could proceed, a cry of an animal in fright sounded from the direction behind me.
I suddenly froze in fear.
‘My number one phobia is just behind.’ I shivered as the human talked about something, but my head shook in fear.
By the time I recovered, I was sitting behind the human on the back of the weird thing.
‘Who Am I?
Where Am I?’ I thought.
‘Oh no, this human is kidnapping me.’ I panicked.
‘What to do?
How can I escape from him?’ I frantically thought of a solution, ignoring the human rambling about something.
‘Ok, calm down and look for a chance,’ I calmed down to hear the human saying about giving me a name.
‘Why is he giving a name to me?
Did he want to remember the names of the person he kills?’ I began to panic again.
I regained my senses after hearing the name “Scyther,” and my eyes widened.
‘This name… is made for me.’ I liked it very much.
Suddenly, we heard “CHOH~ CHOH~,” that bird’s shout.
‘What day is today?
I encountered the top 3 of my phobias,’ I fearfully looked around.
‘Only Royals are remaining on my phobia list.
Surely they won’t appear, right?’ I dreaded the thought.
Then some grasshoppers arrived to attack, which the human sent me to fight, yelling, “Scyther, I choose you”.
That sentence somehow matched the scenario, but I felt like his pet.
I went and fought the grasshoppers to get good points from the human so he wouldn’t kill me.
As I was beating the grasshoppers, I think I heard him call me.
I was also tired after not eating for a long while, so I quickly flew back, landing behind him.
As soon as I landed, I crossed my forelegs to defend against an attack that I felt arriving.
I felt something clash with my foreleg.
‘What happened?’ I confusedly looked confused to see a mantis standing in front of me.
I quickly recognized her.
She is a royal princess.
I had seen her in the capital when I visited it with my grandpa.
I soon realized my situation.
‘Ahhh!
I just stood against a Royal and even stopped the princess,’ I panicked fearfully.
‘It seems fate doesn’t want me to live,’ I lamented, then started to think of a solution.
But to my horror, the human behind me shot the princess, who dodged it to my relief.
The princess flew back towards her bodyguard and looked at me curiously.
‘I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m so dead,’ I thought frantically.
‘she will identify me from now on,’ I jittered in fright.
‘Maybe, I will explain to her, so she can forgive me,’ I decided, then looked at them with my red, sleepless eyes.
.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________ Author’s Note So…
we finally get Scyther’s side of the story.
Apparently, humans are terrifying, Royals are terrifying, giant snakes are terrifying…
and somehow the most terrifying thing he encountered was this particular idiot.
And now he’s standing in front of a Royal Princess after blocking her attack.
Good luck, Scyther.
You’re going to need it.
I wanted to show Scyther’s perspective and explain what was going through his head during his first encounters with our protagonist.
Hopefully this gives a little more context to our giant mantis…
and makes his situation even funnier.
Enjoy!