Hauling himself hand over hand, muscles stretching like one of those gross sticky hands each time he hoisted himself forward, the rumbling of his stomach a growling beast compared to the ambient noises of the forestry around him - one more inch, one more mighty heave, and he would collide with something far too solid to be a tree. "NA, HEY!!"
Yᴏᴜ ᴛᴀᴜɢʜᴛ ᴍᴇ ᴛʜᴇ cσurαgє ᴏғ ѕ t α r ѕ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴇғᴛ -ʜᴏᴡ ℓ ι g н t ᴄᴀʀʀɪᴇs ᴏɴ єndlєѕѕlч, ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴀғᴛᴇʀ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ.
☆═━┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈━═☆
ᴡɪᴛʜ sʜᴏʀᴛɴᴇss ᴏғ breath, ʏᴏᴜ ᴇxᴘʟᴀɪɴᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ i n f i n i t e; ʜᴏᴡ rαrє ᴀɴᴅ вєαυᴛιfυℓ, ɪᴛ ɪs ᴛᴏ ᴇᴠᴇɴ e x i s t.
The Digger lifted his head at the impact to his chest. Moments before, in the sweltering heat, his chin had been perilously close to where the brow of some ungainly little beast had just collided with him. He wore the comforting cloak of his wandering days, wrapped atop his usual gear, and while it was a blessed defense against the biting insects and ensnaring thorns of strange plants, it was also likely to be his grave. If the humidity didn’t kill him, Simon suspected that the hunger at the pit of his stomach, would. But now. Now.
“Ah. This delicious-looking monkey. I wonder if I can really eat it.”
Half-hopeful, and half-facetious, he steadied the stranger’s shoulder with the hand empty of his spiral-shaped staff. It wasn’t the best introduction, but it was what he had energy for.
He’d come to the wilderness in search of Viral, who had vanished from their radars after a harrowing storm had swept both he, and his craft out of range. The last flicker of communication they aboard the Chouginga had received, placed the Beastman’s Enki somewhere in a vast region near Simon’s current location. In a fit of concern, bravery, and incredible shortsightedness, Simon had descended to the world below in an effort to find his comrade. ….he’d left without supplies, and without a real understanding of how much energy it would require for him to contain his Spiral Power outside of the Chouginga’s steady, modified reality.
In a matter of hours following the massive expenditure of Spiral Energy it required to translocate to the planet’s surface, Simon felt completely sapped of his strength. He needed to adapt to the natural energies of the world, to alleviate the exhausting symptoms caused by its rejection of his own, foreign power.
To that end, he licked at his mouth as he stared Luffy directly in the eyes, and considered whether or not it’d be worth the laugh to pretend as though he intended to eat him.
