Force Majeure: Part 2 - Grave Digger

"He made his great grandchildren believe you could live to 103. 103 is forever when you're just a little kid, so, they lived forever."

The wind whipped around his body rapidly as Kitsune ran down the long dirt path. The harsh pounding of the rain couldn't help but slow him down. Behind him, lights shone from out of the fog, causing a stir in the night. He couldn't look back, not now. Quickly, he tossed off his coat to run faster, leaving his stash of guns and his sword behind him as he tried desperately to get away from this lunatic that was chasing him. He quickly glanced to the right and to the left for a way off of the road, but there didn't appear to be any, for along the path there were rows upon rows of hungry, maniacal animals ready to devour him if he lost his step. All of a sudden, packs of wolves came from out of the side of the forest, chasing after him. This only caused him to run faster, sprinting as hard as he could as they nipped at his heels, the sound of a juggarnaut machine not more than 100 meters behind him, hidden in the dense fog that made up this stormy night. All of a sudden, he tripped in a pothole full of mud and water. He fell flat on his face, his entire body covered with mud. As he quickly looked up in alarm, the wolves began to circle him, licking their chops like he was their next course for dinner. He gasped, trying to regain his breath after the rough pace he had traveled. Rolling onto his back, he looked behind him to see what the hell was following him the entire time. The lights on the machine grew larger and larger, the silhouette getting clearer and clearer, until....

Sharply, Kitsune sat up from his slumber, drenched in cold sweat. He breathed hard, looking around to see if the wolves, or even better, the machine was still there. But there was nothing--nothing at all. He had been having that damn dream again.

He was sitting on a large tree trunk in a park, with a low density of trees surrounding him. Any sign of life had been vanquished long ago by whatever had ravished this land. He slowly stood up, his legs and arms feeling numb from the workout he had done in his sleep alone. Before he could stand up, however, he accidently stumbled, sitting back down on the trunk. He decided to rest a little while longer, catching his breath. He looked down at his feet, noticing he had taken off his trench coat the night before after he had been suffering from exhaustion, traveling 60 miles the last three days without stopping. Knowing that this would be a very long travel, he decided that the only way he could reach Aries as soon as he could was to travel long distances during the day, so as to hide from the dangerous criminals that roamed the land during the darkest of nights. Kitsune didn't know why they did this, for there was no authority anymore, but he supposed that they didn't want to get caught stealing or harassing other people for their food, money, and personal items.