Freedom Is a Constant Struggle

We wandered through the Chaos Lands; it was a lot different in this place than our world. Rocks had beautiful smells, flowers were squishy, and the animals all looked completely unlike anything I had seen in my life—not that I had seen much from my room.

“What creature is that? Lady Scarlet asked, pointing to a creature with tongues and teeth where eyes would be. It looked like a bear, but it had a large eye on the centre of its stomach, and its wings were webbed.

I brought up my book and flicked through the pages until I found the creature drawn in the book.

“That’s a G-Gril-p, Grilp. That’s a Grilp,” I clarified after reading the letters in the book.

“Ah, so that’s called a Grilp, huh?” Lady Scarlet commented, though she didn’t seem surprised.

It was almost as if she knew exactly what that creature was already. But that couldn’t be, why else would she give me the book to identify the creatures. If she already knew, then what purpose would it serve for me to read them out?

“We should probably hunt some food soon,” Mr. Ren mentioned to Lady Scarlet.

“Indeed. Let’s see…” She looked around at the various creatures in the area until she seemed to focus on one that was a short distance away.

“Kid, what is that creature?” She asked, pointing to the animal she had been looking at. It was a large creature with a long neck, tusks and spikes along its back.

I looked through the book. This one had a long name, so I struggled a bit with it.

“It’s called a t-ri-ggle-gr-u-ff. It’s called a trig-gle-gr-u-ff.” I struggled to say the animal's name. I hoped it wouldn’t upset Lady Scarlet.

She placed a hand on my head and smiled at me.

“What a great job reading that big name. You’re so clever.” She smiled. “It’s called a Trigglegruff. Zaloneas said they were edible, so that’ll do nicely.”

“I can go and hunt it if you want to stay and protect the kid?” Ren offered.

“Sure, it’s got a soft underbelly. If you slide underneath it, you should be able to slice it up easily.”

“Noted. Anything else I should be worried about?”

“It goes without saying; it has tusks and spikes. Also, you should be wary of the weight of it; just make sure you are out of the way before it falls. If you get squished, I’m not going to help you out.”

“Gee, thanks.” Mr. Ren remarked before running off towards the creature.

He seemed to follow Lady Scarlet's advice as he slid under the Trigglegruff, slicing its belly open and killing it. I didn’t like seeing it die, but I knew it had to be done so we could have food.

Sometimes you had to kill to survive, and in this case, we had to kill that Trigglegruff if we wanted to find the Chalice and survive. Although we brought rations into the Chaos Lands, we wanted to save that for when we couldn’t find anything else to eat.

Lady Scarlet and I joined Mr. Ren to assist with the preparations. We’d been walking for quite some time already, and I was beginning to feel a bit tired. Honestly, I had no idea how long we had been walking as there was no sun or moon to tell the time.

We set up camp just by the remains of the Trigglegruff. It seems that it was just a short distance from a gigantic body of drinkable water. Well, at least that’s what Lady Scarlet said. I had never seen water that was rainbow coloured before. Perhaps most water was colourful like this, and I had only seen the clear type.

Mr. Ren cut up the creature, and Lady Scarlet got a fire started so we could cook the meat. I knew I was useless, but I felt particularly useless in this situation. Lady Scarlet and Mr. Ren were so good at everything. I couldn’t even read properly. I was a dumb head, a stupid girl.

I looked at the surroundings around us. There were some trees that looked withered and decaying. They were black and had an eerie feeling about them. There were also hills nearby and a large body of water that seemed to go on forever. Perhaps it did.

“Kid, we are going to rest here for a bit. You should get some sleep.” Mr. Ren offered.

Despite being told I should sleep, I really didn’t want to. Dreams were scary and unpredictable. It was hard to tell what was real and what was not. The Chaos Lands were unpredictable enough.

I shook my head disobediently. I hoped my refusal wouldn’t upset Lady Scarlet and Mr. Ren.

“What’s wrong? Is there a reason you don’t want to sleep?” Lady Scarlet asked.

I nodded, though I didn’t tell her that I was scared. I didn’t know how to explain my fears.

“It’s alright. You are safe with me and Ren. We won’t let anything hurt you. You can sleep comfortably.” She smiled, and it made me feel a little better, but I was still scared of sleeping.

I cuddled Buddy, who was resting on my lap. Although it was hard to tell the time here, it was clear when it was ‘pat o’clock.’

Lady Scarlet looked a little worried. Perhaps even slightly shocked at my disobedience for not wanting to sleep. Perhaps she thought I was a bad girl. I was a bad girl.

“Alright, then if you want to stay up a little longer, that’s ok. Just make sure you rest soon. We don’t always know when it will be safe to do so.”

I nodded, relieved that I would not be forced to sleep. I didn’t want any more dreams. Dreams appear scarier than reality. The more I learnt about the world, the scarier I realised it was. Sometimes, I wish all the bad things would disappear.

“I want everyone to be happy,” I said out loud.

“Where did that come from, kid?” Mr Ren asked. Lady Scarlet looked equally surprised, and I felt somewhat embarrassed now, given their reaction.

“Um… when I first met Lady Scarlet, she asked what I desire. I want everyone to be happy.” I said, though now I wasn’t sure if I should have said that.

“What a wonderful desire.” Lady Scarlet remarked.

Mr. Ren just laughed. “Sure kid. I think I can get behind that dream.”

I felt really dumb for making that comment. Lady Scarlet shot Mr. Ren a scary look, and he stopped laughing.

“Kid, I know I may have laughed. But that is truly such a beautiful desire. I hope it comes true. I was only laughing at how pure a wish it is.” I felt better knowing Lady Scarlet and Mr. Ren thought my desire was a good one. I would have hated it if they thought it was stupid.

Suddenly, Buddy jumped off my lap and began to growl. It appeared that someone or something was approaching.

──✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧──

End Chapter 15