Kituo was sung by the claws of the fiends digging into him as he swung the lantern. The adrenaline pumping, he was able to ignore most of the pain for the fear of getting killed propelled him to keep swinging the lantern at his assailants. Just as he expected, the lantern was doing its job of protecting him properly. He was able to keep the fiends at bay for a little bit before reinforcements arrived. Kituo found himself swamped with an endless pile of enemies who refused to relent. Whenever he swatted one back with the lantern, another one came ready to reap him with its sharp claws. He winced as his felt blood ooze from his arm. Surprisingly, none of his newly attained injuries hurt as much as the rat attack despite that he was literally being torn to shreds. Kituo was unaware of the latent effects of the water he drank. He still kept fighting, his mind focused purely on survival and nothing else. 

It quickly became apparent to Kituo that he would not being going anywhere. Imagine how greatly that disappointed the coward. Stumbling upon yet another problem that could not solved by running away was both aggravating and saddening. The fiends insisted on ripping Kituo apart. He could feel their hatred and rage as they dug into him. But, like a phoenix, he emerged from the ashes of his own despair and continued fighting. By now Kituo's will was broken and it was only his adrenaline that drove him to keep fighting, his bodies naturally response to resist getting butchered. He desperately wanted to quit but his body wouldn't allow him to. He begged his arms to quit swinging and his legs to quit teetering about as they tried to steer him through the onslaught. The fiends continued their descent and Kituo continued to recover. No matter what he wished for - relief or death - he would be getting neither.

Not even the spear craftsman's arrival to his aid did not Kituo's automated defense. It wasn't until he saw the fiends fleeing from him after he killed one of them that he began to calm down. His heart slammed against the walls of his chest as if it were trying to break out of prison. The adrenaline that operated Kituo's body was drained and his tank was rushing towards empty. Time slowed around Kituo as he took a clear observation of the encompassing chaos. A girl had joined them in the clearing and was doing her part in fighting back the monsters. Sweat streamed down Kituo's limbs as his eyes and ears twitched, his senses stabbing him with the force of a gazelle's horns. He was in shock. Trapped within a paradox conjured by his own mind. His mind registered the carnage as an illusion while his body recognized it as real. Kituo was baffled as to which was correct.

Finally, retrieving him from his consternation was a single word from a familiar yet foreign voice that played in his head.

"Go," it told him and that he did.

His legs moving on their own once again, Kituo stampeded down the exact path that he would not have picked if he were in control of himself. It was dark and void of any preexisting lighting, the lantern's glow rectifying that obstacle as he advanced further. Over his heavy puffing he could hear the screeches of the winged monkeys as they chased after him. Kituo clenched the lantern as tight as a python around its paralyzed prey. His legs were burning and joints felt as if they were ripping apart. He didn't know how much longer he could keep going. Eventually, the last of steam vanishing, Kituo's speed gradually decreased until he dropped onto his knees. He threw his head back and was stunned to see that his pursuers had lost his trail - or so he assumed for he could no longer see nor hear them.

"I-I made it," Kituo gasped. 

He was due for a rest. He left his knees in the dirt for awhile before he pried his body up onto his feet. He couldn't stay in one spot for too long. There was no telling if the fiends were still after him. They were definitely more familiar with the forest than he was and he doubted they had much trouble navigating it. A worse realization Kituo had was that he was now all alone. He couldn't see Simon, the spear craftsman, nor the girl who had showed up in the midst of the fray. He was all alone with only the lantern, which was inanimate, to keep him company. Kituo couldn't pinpoint his exact thoughts on the matter. There were advantages and disadvantages to being alone, the latter heavily outnumbering the prior.  Now that he was without the benefit of comrades, Kituo had no one he could hide behind if danger came. That was horrific considering that danger seemed to be lurking around every corner of the forest. On the other hand, he did have his beloved lantern to himself. He was secretly afraid that the others would try and rob him of it once they took notice of its protective properties. Without the lantern Kituo was nothing. He had to secure his only asset and part with all who posed a threat to his dependence on it.

The transition into a peaceful atmosphere quelled the linger side effects of Kituo's shock, his cluttered thoughts dispersing and his body temperature decreasing. Any aching was beginning to subside as it was overwritten by a tingling phenomenon. Feeling better, Kituo failed to identify the healing scrapes and bruises that littered his body. The tingling, while he found it be awkward, soothed him. In comparison to the strenuous claw raking that  previously tortured him, Kituo deemed it the best feeling he had since the entire ordeal begun. He stared up into the canopy as he ambled aimlessly. 

[i]Bing![/i]

"Ouch!"

Kituo's forehead rung after it tapped against a hard object. Having fallen too deep into his recollections, which had recently become his favorite avenue for amusement whenever something wasn't trying to kill him, he failed to heed the bell dangling in front of him. 

"What's this doing out here?"

Kituo reared from it. If there was one lesson he learned it was that he should never touch anything that wasn't water or the lantern. Too bad he already brushed against the bell.