HER AND IT

                    CHAPTER ONE- IT

 It was dark and Lucy barely saw where she was going. She walked for few minutes and made a sudden stop. She walked outside the house because she heard movements coming from behind a tall tree. 

 She then started walking slowly towards the tree. Her heart started racing and her legs started shaking. Although this was happening to her, she never turned back. 

With the help of the moon light, Lucy saw a shadow. She walked closer to the shadow and asked, "Who is there?"

 Everything became quiet. The crickets, the frogs and the owls. It seemed as if the creatures respected the shadow and gave it a chance to speak. It was like an audience giving chance to a performer.

Lucy didn't turn back. She stood firm on the ground. She became quiet as she waited for the owner of the shadow to come out of hiding. She was scared inside but outside; she was as brave as a soldier.

She then heard growling and tree branches breaking slowly. The wind started blowing persistently. The tree shook. She started taking steps backwards and held her jacket tightly.

It came out of hiding and started walking towards Lucy. It walked in a way that creeped her. It walked like a human but it wasn't human. It's head faced down.

It was hard for Lucy to tell what it was because it looked weird. It had long claws. It had fur all over it's body but it wasn't a monkey. It had long ears like a tiger, but it wasn't a tiger. It had a long tail like that of a panther, but it wasn't a panther. Lucy couldn't see it's face because it was still facing down. 

 

It stopped walking and stood where she was standing before she walked backwards. It started growling while it's head was still facing down. Suddenly the weather conditions changed and started raining. The creature turned around and started walking swiftly. It wagged it's tail as it walked. 

 Her mother came out of the house with an umbrella. She started looking for Lucy. Little did she that Lucy was behind the house. 

 Lucy continued focusing on the creature's movements. It suddenly got down and walked on four legs. By doing this it looked like a lion, except, it wasn't a lion ether.

 Lucy's mother called out, "Lucy!" she was calling as she stood in front of the house. She continued calling Lucy. Finally, she heard her call and replied, "Coming mother!" she turned around and walked in the direction of her house. She walked for few seconds, then she turned to the creature.

 The creature had glowing red eyes like that of a lumer. Lucy looked at it as she walked backwards. It's eyes suddenly turned green.

 Lucy's mother called again. She turned around and replied, "Coming mother!" When she turned to the creature for the second time, it wasn't there. 

                CHAPTER TWO:  SIGNS

 

 

          Lucy ran back to her mother. Her mother was delighted to see her. Tess handed Lucy a new warm jacket.

          "Time to go inside dear."

          "Alright mom," Lucy replied sweetly.

          They both went inside. Tess gave Lucy a cloth to wipe herself because she was very wet.

          “Dear, also change your clothes,” her mother added.

          When Lucy went to her room, she looked outside the window hoping to see the creature again. But the creature was nowhere to be seen.

         Lucy wondered to herself, “What kind of creature was that? Will it come back?”

         Lucy forgot that she was instructed to change her clothes. She began doing something else and eventually, she dozed off. Later, Tess entered Lucy's room, and found Lucy sleeping in her wet clothes. She quickly made a fire in Lucy's room to keep Lucy warm. She then changed Lucy's wet clothes while Lucy was fast asleep. She could not feel a thing. She had a long day playing with her friends at the local ground.

          Early in the morning, Tess woke Lucy, "Wake up! Wake up!" Lucy tried to act like she was sleeping so that her mother could not disturb her. Tess walked towards the bed and gently pulled Lucy's blanket. Tess stood with her hands akimbo waiting for Lucy to wake up. She knew that Lucy was pretending to be sleeping.

          Tess then asked with a smile on her face, “Do you know that angels wake up in the morning?”

          When she heard those words, Lucy quickly opened her eyes.

          “Good morning mother,” Lucy greeted.

         “Morning my angel,” Tess replied as she gently pinched Lucy's cheeks.

         Tess got a brush and began to brush Lucy's long black hair. When Tess finished brushing Lucy's hair, Lucy went outside and smelled the morning air. The air was so fresh. The morning sun hit her cute face and Lucy felt alive.

          She went to the neighbours, door to door, greeting them with a big smile on her face. Lucy was loved by all her neighbours. Each and every day, Lucy would go to the neighbours to greet them.

          Lucy had a friend by the name of Frank. He was also Lucy's neighbour. He lived with his family about four houses from Lucy's house.

          Lucy and her mother, Tess, were staying in a village called ‘Zeze.' They moved to Zeze village when Lucy was a toddler. Lucy grew up in Zeze village. She knew the village from top to bottom, left to right.

          The both of them lived a happy life. Although it was a village, they were very happy. At least for some time.

          After greeting her neighbours, she went back to her mother and asked, "Ma! Are we going to the farm today?"

          "No... Not today. Maybe tomorrow."

          "What can I do?" asked Lucy.

          "You can clean the house and I will do the rest."

          "Okay," she replied.

          Lucy started sweeping the house with a broom that she made some months back. When Lucy touched anything, it was like an angel touched it. Everything that she did pleased everyone.

          She finished sweeping the floor and organizing the house. The house was clean and sparkling. Her reward was to go and play with her friend Frank.

         “Do not go very far!” Tess warned.

          Lucy and Frank walked to a nearby play ground. At the ground, they found their friends playing hide and seek.

         “Can we join you?” Frank asked.

          "Yes," they all agreed.

          “We will hide, and Lucy will come to find us,” said, Angela, one of Lucy and Frank’s friends. She added, “Count from one to twenty, then seek us. No peeking!”

          They all ran to their hiding places and stayed there waiting for Lucy to eventually find them. They were very careful, they did not make any sound that would give away their hiding place.

           Lucy began counting, "One... Two... Three... Twenty! Ready or not, here I come." She ran quickly and aggressively after her friends, looking high and low, left and right.

She found the first one hiding under a tree. The second one was hiding under some bushes. Others hid behind big rocks and huge tree branches. Although they all hid in good places that were almost impossible for anyone to find them, Lucy found them without any difficulty. It was like she knew were every person  was hiding.

         After she found everyone, they all complained, "How did you find us so fast? This is not fair."

          "What can I say? I'm talented," she smiled. "Your turn to count," she told Frank.

          Lucy and her friends ran to hide while Frank counted.

         "One...Two... Three... Twenty! Ready or not, here I come," Frank started looking for his friends. It took Frank some time to find his friends.

         He finally found everyone, except for Lucy. She had found a good hiding place, no one had any idea where she was hiding. Frank and his friends joined hands and looked for Lucy. They looked everywhere for her, high and low but, they couldn't find her anywhere.

          It had been twenty minutes and Lucy was still hiding. Frank finally gave up and yelled, "Lucy! I give up! Come out!" Nothing happened. She never came out. All of her friends got worried. They formed a circle as they were discussing some ideas to help them find Lucy.

          Ten minutes later, Lucy jumped down from a very tall tree and landed in the middle of a circle they had formed. Everyone was startled that they almost ran away. They stopped and looked at Lucy, and then looked at the height of the branch where Lucy was hiding, their jaws dropped. They stared at each other with their eyes wide open that a fly could easily fly into the wide open eyes.

 

          George, one of Lucy's friends exclaimed, "Wow!” he continued, “You jumped down from there? Weren't you scared?"

          Lucy laughed and replied, "Maybe I was. Maybe I wasn't."

          Everyone praised Lucy for her incredible jump.

          Angela asked curiously, “How did you manage to climb such a tall tree without being scared?”

          Lucy replied, "My desire to climb the tree was far much greater than my fear."

          The sun began to set. The sky had produced a spectacular ray of light. Everyone at the ground went home.

          Lucy realized that time had flown by so quickly because they had so much fun. She grabbed Frank's hand and ran. They were fast and careful as they moved in the green bush. The bush was so deep that it would have been difficult for an ordinary person to find their way home, but luckily, Lucy knew the village top to bottom, she knew every shortcut which led to her house because she lived in the village for fourteen  years.

          Frank and Lucy arrived in the village before it was dark. Frank walked to his house, his mother was also waiting for him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                         CHAPTER THREE:  THE VISIT

 

 

          It was now night and the moon was out in the sky. It's light was spectacular. The villagers could find their way around the village because of the moonlight. Some of the villagers started a fire outside their houses. They sat down around the fire, the elders told interesting stories to the young ones.

          Meanwhile, Tess was having supper with her daughter in the living room. They sat down on a green mat made from vines. They had put candles in the corners of the house to light up the house while they eat their food.

           Lucy spoke, "Mother! Today I had fun with my friends. We played hide and seek --- all day long. When it was my turn to hide, I hid so well that they all gave up," she giggled.

          Tess smiled and replied, "That's good, dear. I'm very proud of you…"

          As Tess was still talking, a man barged in. He was wearing torn clothes. He was not wearing any shoes on his feet. He wore a trousers that was held together by a rope around the waist. His face was very worrisome. He panted slowly and quietly, as if he saw something very scary.

          "Mr. Anderson?" Tess called out as she stood up in surprise.

          She quickly ran and got a chair and gave it to Mr. Anderson. He sat down quietly. Mr. Anderson was Tess's neighbour. He was the one that was informing Tess of everything that happened in the village. He was Tess's journalist.

          Tess sat down next to Mr. Anderson and questioned, “Why the surprise visit Mr. Anderson? Is everything alright?”

          "I have to tell you something," he said quickly.

          "Tell me," Tess insisted.

          "I can't tell you this in front of Lucy. It's quite horrifying," he cautioned.

 

          Tess stood up and got Lucy, she took her to the bedroom. Tess put a candle in her room. She asked Lucy to sleep. She refused but her mother insisted.

          Several minutes later, Lucy fell asleep. She slept peacefully and innocently. When Tess saw that Lucy was asleep, she got the candle and walked with it back to Mr. Anderson. Tess made sure that Lucy was really sleeping before making her way back to Mr. Anderson.

          When Tess entered the livingroom, she insisted, "Tell me now,” she assured him, “Lucy is asleep.” She then sat down next to him and listened attentively.

          Mr. Anderson began, "When you came here ten years ago, I didn't tell you this," his face was sad and worrisome.

          "Tell me what?" Tess asked anxiously.

          Mr. Anderson began to  explain, "In this village we had ancestors that guided us"

          "Our ancestors protected us from danger. They helped us. We would ask for anything from them and they would give us more than what we asked for. Until..." His face changed. It became like that of a disappointed person.

          He continued, "Some years back, some of our ancestors got angry. They divided into two spirits. One set of spirit is called ‘Save’ and the other set of spirit is called ‘Kill.’ Just as the names indicate, one spirit kills while the other saves"

          "The Kill spirit grew stronger and stronger each month. The Kill spirit produced something that our eyes have never witnessed. They produced an evil creature. The save spirit tried to form a creature to defeat the evil creature. But the evil creature was stronger. It killed the save spirit."

         "The evil spirit was instructed to kill all the people in the Zeze village. When we first saw the evil creature; we couldn't believe it. We thought we were dreaming. The creature has a long tail, It walks like a man but it's not human. It has fur like a monkey but it's not a monkey. We call it ‘CLAWS,’ because of its long claws."

          "Claws comes every after ten years in the night to feed on flesh. We survived because the Save spirit formed a creature just like Claws. We called it ‘SHIELD...’ Shield protected us whenever Claws attacked. But shield was weak. Ten years ago, we tried looking for shield but we couldn't find him "

          "Today I have received news that... Claws is back. He was spotted three nights ago. He is early this year. I suggest that you keep watch at night and don't go out for any reason. This year I don't think we will survive, but it's better we try to communicate with the Save spirit to help."

          When Mr. Anderson finished talking, he stood, Tess walked with him to the door. He walked out of the house and left.

         Tess was very worried. She thought to herself, “Lucy loves going outside at night. How am I going to explain this to her without scaring her?” She thought for some time and concluded, “I will think of something by morning.”

        She quickly locked the door thoroughly, looked outside the window, locked it as well and walked to Lucy.

          Lucy was a girl who loved exploring things. She loved moving up and down. She never feared anything, big or small. She stood firm. But this time, Tess was worried because Claws was not an ordinary animal but a spirit.

 

 

 

                              CHAPTER FOUR:  AT THE FARM

 

 

          Early in the morning, the rooster clucked. Everyone woke up and started their day. As usual, Lucy ran to her neighbors to greet them.

          Few villagers went to see their crops at the farm. Others went to fetch water. Others stayed home so that they can take care of their houses and chickens.

          Meanwhile, Lucy went to her mother and asked, "Mother, aren't we going to the farm today? Yesterday you said that we would go today,” she reminded.

          Tess replied, "We will go as soon as we eat breakfast." Tess was preparing Lucy's favorite food, Chicken soup. She enjoyed having chicken soup in the morning. Lucy agreed and went to do other chores.

          As soon as Tess finished preparing breakfast, she called Lucy. When she heard her mother calling, she ran quickly. Before running to her mother, Lucy was feeding some of the neighbour's chickens.

          The aroma of the soup was so good, It filled the entire house.  Tess was amazing cook. Her soup looked very appetizing.

          When Lucy entered the house, she exclaimed, “Wow!” They both sat down on a mat and ate their breakfast.

          When they finished eating, Lucy took the plates and cleaned them up. Tess was now preparing to go to the farm. She had forgotten to tell Lucy the news she received from Mr. Andrew the previous day.

          They got all the tools that were needed; a hoe, an axe and a rake. They even carried enough water to drink and food to eat. They started walking. Their farm was quite far, it took about two hours walking.

          Lucy and her mother were used to walking to the farm. They knew that if they were lazy, then there was not going to be any food on the table. They had no other option but to ignore the distance and walk.

          They had three farms. The first one took two hours to reach it, the second farm took three hours and the third farm took four hours. That meant that it took an extra one hour to reach another farm from the current farm. All the three farms were in the east direction.

          In the first farm, Tess planted vegetables. She planted medicine in the second and third farm. From time to time they went to the second and third farm to check on it. To make sure that the medicine are growing as they are suppose to.

 

          When they arrived at the first farm. Lucy saw that the vegetables had grown well and were ready to be harvest.

          "Mother, the vegetables have grown. Is it time for them to be harvested?"

          Tess replied, "Yes it is dear." Lucy smiled, Tess continued, " You start harvesting the vegetables and I will remove the weeds."

          Tess and Lucy started doing their tasks. One harvested the vegetables and put them in a basket, the other removed the weeds and throw them away. When Lucy finished harvesting the Vegetables; she helped her mother.

          After two hours they finished their work. Tess decided that they should go to the other farms to check on them. They packed up all the tools and were on their way.

           As they were walking, Tess remembered what Mr Andrew told her the previous day. She thought of a way to tell Lucy.

          They came across a flat rock. Tess told Lucy, "Let us rest here." They had put the tools down and sat on the rock. Tess looked at Lucy and started talking:

          "Princess, this is the last time you and I are coming to the farm."

          "Why?" she asked.

          "Lucy, when we get home. As soon as the sun sets, you should also be inside."

          "Never go out in the dark" She cautioned         

          "Is there anything wrong?" Lucy asked.

          "Let us just say, it's for your own safety," Tess replied with a smile and kissed Lucy on the forehead. They had harvested enough vegetables for themselves. Tess didn't want to return to the farm because Claws.

          They rested for twenty minutes before they continued their walk to the second farm.

 

          When they reached the farm, they did their tasks quickly. They did not waste any time at the farm. When they finished their work, they went back home.

 

 

                                         CHAPTER FIVE:  THE PLAN

 

 

          Two days had passed in the ZeZe village. No villager went to his or her farm. They had gathered enough food for themselves. No news was heard about Claws.

          For the past few nights, everyone changed their schedule. The villagers slept during the day and stayed awake during the night. This was to make sure that Claws doesn't surprise them.

          Tess went to visit Mr Andrew. He was seated near the lake close to the village on a stool. When Tess sat down next to him, he didn't notice her. He was deep in his thoughts.

          The view of the lake was spectacular with the sun above them. Tess left Lucy playing with Joseph. She was told not to go anywhere except the bathroom.

          Tess tapped Mr Andrew on the shoulder. He was startled by the tap.

          "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she apologized

          "What can I say? You need to be alert during these times," he said.

          "Mr Andrew, are we going to survive?" she asked.

          "I can't lie to you. I don't know if we will survive or not," he replied.

          "Tell me more about this Claws," she insisted.

          "It is an evil creature that feeds on human flesh. It only comes out of hiding in the dark. No one has ever seen it's face. It feeds for ten days and goes away for ten years. Then the same thing repeats itself."

          "It has only been six days, right?" she asked.

          "Yes. Sadly it has only been six days," he agreed.

          "Can't we just ran away from this village?" she asked.

          "We are 135 people in this village. Unfortunately, we can't all make it," he replied.

          "But surely we can do something. Can't we escape in the night? Tess asked curiously.

          "We can only do that if we see Claws in this area. If we go without seeing Claws, we might just find it in our way. Then what will happen? We will all die."

 

          "So you mean to say that, we will escape as soon as we see Claws here?" she asked.

          "Yes... There is a village far from here. It's called Zulo. If we manage to ran away from Claws, then we will go to Zulo," he assured her.

          "Alright"

          "Tess, I suggest that you start packing. I will see how many people I can engage in this attempt. We don't know when Claws will come. It is better if we are ready to go. It has been six days already... The last days are always dangerous."

 

          "Okay. I will go and start packing," Tess went away.

 

 

 

 

 

                                         CHAPTER SIX: THE ESCAPE

 

 

          The sun was about to set in the ZeZe village. Everyone in the village locked themselves inside their houses. No one made any fire outside. They all sat and watched the doors and windows. They tried making the village look deserted.

          The creatures of the night started producing their natural sounds. The frogs started croaking, the crickets started chirping and owls started hooting. They made noise for about five minutes.

          As the villagers were thinking of how they were going to survive, the creatures of the night were now quite. The wind started blowing persistently. The people in the village were quiet. They were all scared  because the wind was not blowing in a normal way. The wind blowing persistently meant that Claws was near.

         Later, they heard growling. This time the growling was very loud that everyone in the village heard it. When one of the villagers looked outside the window, he saw Claws walking towards them. It's eyes were glowing red. It's tail was wagging vigorously. The dogs barked at the creature, all the four dogs were killed by Claws while the villagers watched helplessly. The villagers that witnessed the death of the dogs were scared.

          Lucy was sleeping while her mother was still packing. She also saw what happened to the dogs. She knew that it wasn't safe to stay in ZeZe village anymore.

          "Wake up Lucy!" she said as she sobbed.

          Lucy woke up and saw her mother, she asked, "What's wrong, Ma?"

          "Wear this jacket, We are leaving this village now," Tess said. Lucy quickly got up and wore the Jacket her mother gave her.

          "Claws is here!" the villagers yelled. Everyone started panicking. While others were running for their lives, others were being killed by Claws and fed on their flesh. There was screaming in the village. People died like flies.

         Mr Andrew knocked on Tess's door. Tess was scared to open but Mr Andrew assured, "It's me Mr Andrew." Tess opened the door for him.

         She started crying as she saw how many people died outside. She said, "Mr Andrew, isn't it time to leave?"

          Mr Andrew agreed, "Yes, that is why I am here. We are waiting for you outside. We are going to Zulo village, we are about thirty villagers who might survive today."

 

          Tess quickly held Lucy's hand. They went outside and ran north. After meeting with the other villagers, they continued heading north.

          Little did they know that Claws already saw them leaving the village. It continued killing and feeding on the villagers that remained behind.

 

 

 

 

                                   CHAPTER SEVEN:  IN THE JUNGLE

        

 

          The villagers that escaped started rejoicing. Lucy started looking for Joseph in the crowd. She looked everywhere for him but she couldn't find him.

        When she went to her mother, she heard a voice, "You see that I'm also good at hiding." When she heard this, Lucy was filled with joy again. She knew the owner of the voice.

         She turned around quickly and saw Joseph with Mr Andrew. She ran to him. Tess tried to hold her back but Mr Andrew assured, "I will look after them." Tess agreed, she let go of Lucy's hand.

 

         "You are here," Lucy said.

          "Yes..." Joseph replied.

          "Where is your mother?" she asked.

          "I don't know," he replied with a sad face.

          "And our friends? Where are they?" she asked.

          "I  have only seen George and Agnes. The rest I don't know," Joseph replied.

          Mr Andrew interrupted, "Forget about what happened back there. Focus on the place we are going. It is much better than the place we left."

          The villagers walked in one group. The men walked in front and behind while the children and the females were between the group.

          They walked for one hour and decided to rest. They sat down gently without making noise.

          Mr Andrew stood up and explained, "There is a chance that we might survive today. If we follow some protocols that will be explained, then we will be fine. As you know, we are going to Zulo village. We might reach there in two days time. The first thing is that we should not make any noise. Two; We should be together at all times. No one should leave this group for any unnecessary reason. As for the food, we have to share the food until we reach our destination. " The villagers agreed to share the food and water.

 

          Later that night. The men stood and kept watch while the women and children slept. They didn't make any fire because they were afraid the fire would lead Claws to them. They kept themselves warm by wearing warm jackets. It was a very cold night.

          Meanwhile at the ZeZe village, Claws finished feeding on the villagers and was on its way to the rest of the villagers. It stood up and walked like a human while following the scent of the villagers.

          When it was about five kilometers away from the villagers; It climbed a tall tree and sat on a branch. It had night vision and powerful magnification. It saw everything and everyone like it was near them.

          Lucy had a hard time sleeping in the bushes so she just sat quietly and peacefully whilst leaning against a tree. She watched her mother sleeping. It looked at Lucy for quite a long time before it left.

 

 

 

                             CHAPTER EIGHT:  HER AND IT

 

 

           Early in the morning, the villagers woke up and continued their journey to Zulo village. They were very excited that they had made it through the night without been attacked by Claws. But they knew that sooner or later it would surely get to them.

          The villagers walked quickly because they knew that there was no better opportunity of escaping from Claws than in broad daylight. They walked as fast as they could.

          During lunch time, the villagers sat down in groups of five and shared the food among themselves. They rested for a while and continued walking.

          The sun was now setting, the villagers sat down. Mr Andrew passed out an announcement, "My fellow villagers. This is the time when we need to work together. If we survive today, then before the sun sets tomorrow we will be in Zulo village. But if we don't, then..."

          He looked at the children, they had fear and tears in their eyes. He then told them to keep watch and stay quiet.

          The moon was above them. The villagers saw nothing but tall trees. Everything was quiet and peaceful.

          At midnight, the wind started blowing persistently. The frogs  started croaking, the crickets started chirping and the owls started hooting. The villagers knew that Claws was near. They started panicking and sweating.

           Tess held Lucy tightly. The villagers got sticks and were ready to fight Claws. The men formed a circle, were the women and children stood inside the circle.

          The frogs, crickets and olws made noise for about five minutes and they all became quiet. The villagers heard growling coming from behind a tree about thirty meters away from were they were standing.

          Claws came out of hiding and started walking slowly towards the villagers. All the men stood and faced Claws. As usual, it's face was facing down. The wind continued blowing persistently. Women started screaming, children started crying, others fainted. The villagers knew that, that was the last time they would ever see the moon. It continued walking towards them slowly.

 

          When Lucy saw Claws, she told her mother, "Ma! This is the creature I saw some days back. I just forgot to tell you." Tess looked at Lucy, there were tears in Tess's eyes.

          "Don't cry, Ma," Lucy comforted.

 

          Lucy quickly walked out of the crowd and walked towards Claws, her mother tried to hold her hand but Lucy's hand slipped through Tess's hand. Her mother ran towards Lucy but she was held back by Mr Andrew.

          "Lucy come back!" Tess yelled. She tried fighting Mr Andrew but Mr Andrew was too strong.

          When Claws sensed that someone was walking towards it, Claws stopped walking. Lucy also stopped walking.

          Claws slowly turned his head up and looked at Lucy. The villagers were shocked to see Claws' face because no one has ever seen his face. It's face was hideous. It had long tasks like a mountain tiger. It's eyes were glowing red.

          It started walking slowly towards Lucy. It had that creeping walk that terrified the villagers.

          Lucy didn't run away,  she stood firm on the ground and stared at Claws. It's head was bending slowly left and right. Claws stopped walking and stood in front Lucy. It growled at her.

          While Claws was growling; Lucy's eyes suddenly turned white and glowed. The villagers didn't see her eyes because she was facing Claws. They didn't Know what was happening to her.

          When Claws saw Lucy's eyes, it knelt down. The villagers were surprised after seen Claws kneeling down before Lucy. They wondered why he was kneeling.

           Claws said in a deep and scary voice, "Master." The villagers were terrified to hear Claws speak. It was the first time to hear Claws speak.

          Lucy started speaking in a more scarier voice. She was not the one controlling her speech, "Go back to where you came from. Do not trouble these people," She commanded.

          Claws replied, " But if I go, I will starve." 

          Lucy continued, "You have killed many people in the village. These are the only people remaining."

          "Why do you care about these people?" Claws asked.

          "Leave from here!" she yelled.

          Claws started growling loudly but Lucy yelled even more, "Leave!" Her voice was so loud that the ground shook, the trees were almost breaking. Claws stood up and climbed a tree. He jumped from tree to tree and was out of sight.

 

          After seeing what happened, Tess ran to Lucy and stood in front of her. Tess saw Lucy's eyes glowing. She was terrified.

 

           Lucy said, "I can see that you are scared. Never be afraid,"

           "Lucy, what is happening to your eyes?" 

           "I'm not Lucy, I'm Shield. Your daughter is fearless. That is why I chose her. She is the only one capable of taking risks. People in your village died because they had fear. If they didn't have fear, I would have helped them. Tell your fellow villagers not to be afraid of anything.  And do not speak to anyone about your daughter's transformation." Lucy's eyes quickly changed to their normal form.

          Tess asked, "Lucy, is that you?"

          "Yes Ma!" she answered sweetly, her voice was sweet again.

          Tess hugged Lucy tightly and said, " My brave little girl."

          When everyone went to Lucy and asked why Claws ran away. Tess replied that Claws was full and he will never trouble the villagers again.

          "What about the scary we heard?" The villagers asked.

          "I don't know," Tess replied.

          In the morning, the villagers continued their journey. After walking for hours and hours, they finally saw Zulo village. They all rejoiced.

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                            END