Mio felt being squeezed and stretched as she was flung to who knows where. She felt herself moving at unknown speeds while being surrounded by a kaleidoscope of colors which was quite disorienting as these colors flowed around her. She released a loud "oomph" when she felt the impact of her body crashing back to earth though not painful which was a relief.
She laid still on the cold earth for a few minutes to get her bearings sorted. She released a grunt while pushing herself off the ground focusing now on where she landed. She stared incredulously around her, not recognizing the place considering the large trees which she did not recognize and not a hint of civilization in sight.
"Where the heck am I?" she exclaimed as she shakily stood up. She patted herself down, checking if she lost any body parts during the transit, and found that she was relatively intact, though her school uniform was a bit rumpled and dirty due to the impact.
However, she was caught off guard when something small smacked right into her stomach which pushed her back to the ground again. Out of instinct, she grabbed whatever hit her and pushed it off her body as she scrambled to stand up staring at the thing.
It was a dog-like creature the size of a small cat. That in itself was normal but the pair of angelic wings on its back threw normality out the window. Upon closer look, it had silky yellow fur all over its body except for the white adorning its stomach. Its golden brown eyes shone with intelligence. Also, it was shouting at her in excitement which was definitely not normal. Nope, not normal at all.
"Mio! Mio! Mio!" was the squeaky call from the creature as it ran around her in happiness.
"Who… or what are you?" Mio asked while standing still. Trying to avoid showing any signs of hostility just in case the creature decided to attack her. She was not going to take a risk despite the fact that she was bigger. She did however mentally prepare herself to kick the furball in case it does.
What she didn't expect though was the creature stopped suddenly in mid-run before snarling at something ahead.
"I'm Otto. But this is not time to chat. We need to run now!" Otto snarled before headbutting Mio's back. Thankfully it wasn't that strong but it was enough to push her forward.
"Run? Why?" Mio asked in surprise before a loud cry alerted her. She turned around and saw something that made her shiver in fear. "Oh my god!"
In front of her was a creature that she only read about in myths and legends. A creature that is both beautiful and dangerous. A gryphon, a hybrid of a lion and an eagle. With sharp claws and beaks ready to tear her apart, with a wing span that's much larger than its body.
"What is a gryphon doing here!?"
"No time to ask, just run!" Otto screamed at her before bolting away. Mio's survival instinct kicked in. Facing such a creature, flight was the preferred choice instead of fight. She ran after Otto but not before grabbing her bag with her gun in it.
But before they could run far, the gryphon spread its wings wide and with a loud cry, it flapped forward causing a strong burst of wind that bowled into Mio and Otto. Both crashed into the bushes and rolled around in the dirt before a sturdy tree stopped them with a loud crash.
"That hurts!" Mio groaned when she felt the painful bruise on her back. She looked up and saw the creature looking at them like a predator toying with its prey.
Otto snarled at the creature, trying to warn it off but all he got was an amused cry from the hybrid. "We can't run away from it. All we can do is fight." Otto looked at Mio " Get your gun out of the bag fast. Shoot at it to scare it off."
She stared incredulously at Otto as if he was crazy. Wait, Otto was definitely crazy for suggesting such a thing.
"You want me to shoot at a freaking gryphon with an air gun? Are you crazy?" Mio growled. "Did you see the size of that thing? How can a pellet from an air gun scare that thing off?"
Otto shook his head as he nudged the bag over to Mio. "Just trust me. Get your gun out and get ready to shoot."
Not seeing any alternative, Mio hastily took out her gun. She was surprised, however, when she finally saw what she was holding. What was supposed to be a silver Desert Eagle air gun, she was now holding something similar to her old gun with a modern look to it. It now sported glowing green lines along its body with intricate runes along its length which was glowing ominously. She was about to check the bullet chamber when she realized that it no longer has one. She was about to ask but Otto beat her to it.
"You noticed your gun changed, right?" Otto asked which made Mio nod in affirmative. "I will explain it later. Now aim at the gryphon's wings since we are just trying to scare it off. Visualize that you have a bullet in your chamber. Imagine a powerful bullet that can destroy anything in its path. Picture it in your mind as it exits the chamber like a cannon towards your enemy. Picture it clearly then pull the trigger."
Mio did as instructed. Otto's voice seemed to have a hypnotic effect as she visualized everything clearly. She took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. She was surprised when she felt something like electricity and heat flow through her body and to her hand. It flowed into the gun causing the green lines to glow bright as the tip started to gather particles of light. Her surprise turned into a yelp when the cannon-like boom was released and the recoil threw her back.
The gryphon suddenly felt a sudden surge of fear when it saw the light in front of it. Its instinct was telling it to dodge but it couldn't do so fast enough. Its body was able to dodge the projectile but it clipped its wings, blasting a hole through the feathers and soft membranes underneath. The pain made the gryphon screech so loud that it echoed throughout the once quiet forest. Deciding that this lunch was too dangerous to partake, it shook its wings, and despite its pain, it speedily flew up and out of sight.
Mio dazedly looked at her gun and at the fleeing gryphon. She was about to say something but was interrupted but an excited dog.
"I'll explain everything later. Let's find somewhere to hide first. This forest is dangerous." Otto warned that got a glare from a clearly irritated Mio.
"You don't say?" she exclaimed sarcastically before sighing. No use thinking too much right now. The dog was right. They do need to find somewhere safe to hole in for the time being. Everything happened too fast right now and there were dozens of questions she wanted to ask. On top of it all, she was pretty drained physically like she ran a marathon for hours without stopping. "Alright. Let me just get a breather and you lead. I think you know this place better than I do."
Otto nodded and waited for Mio to stow the gun away into her bag. He led the way into the depth of the forest until they found a river. They followed it upstream until they reached a waterfall. A cave was conveniently behind it and Otto led her into it.
It was the safest place they could find for now and it would have to do.