Rufus’s Tangent - An Unusual Man

Rufus Varg’s life was rather ordinary: parents who both loved and cared for him, a stable income to splurge once or twice every season, and a few friends to play around with, picking on and teasing each other.

Every night before Rufus went to sleep, his mom would read books filled with wondrous stories. Sometimes, they were romances between two people, overcoming all the obstacles separating them. Other times, they were about a day in the life of some made up character.

However, his favorite were stories about heroes. They all came from poor or average households before being chosen by some higher power. From there, they traveled the land, gaining strength before becoming strong enough to win every battle. Then, after seasons or years of training, the hero would face off against a demon lord: a powerful beast trying to destroy the world. After an immense struggle, the hero came out victorious, their tales told throughout history forever.

Of course, Rufus knew these stories were fake. He had rarely heard tales of strong people in this world, mainly because anyone with a skill above C-rank usually kept themselves hidden. Plus, he himself didn’t want to be a hero. Red wolves had a lifespan of around 25 years. He had no desire to spend a fifth of his life training to defeat some demon lord that didn’t exist. Though, that didn’t stop him from playing pretend with his friends.

When Rusu was fourteen years old, about three human years, his parents finally gave him permission to explore the forest just east of the capital’s walls. Most of the beasts living there were non-aggressive, so most kids hung out there, goofing off or whatnot. Rufus was no exception. There were days when he and his friends would play from morning till night: hunting weak beasts, climbing trees, eating wild crops. His instincts usually kept him from getting into real danger; however, his parents would scold him each time he stayed out too late.

Soon, the middle of winter came, and Rufus played around in the forest like usual. It didn’t snow near the capital, making it the perfect weather for a game. They ended up with a much larger group than usual: around fifty this time. Since there were so many, Rufus and others decided to play Infection: a variant of Tag where hiders became seekers when caught. While they could’ve played regular Tag, having people turn back into hiders would make the game last forever.

Everyone gathered around to play a giant game of Rock-Paper-Scissors to determine who the first seeker was. Unfortunately, Rufus ended up as the seeker after losing five times in a row. It sucked, but there was nothing he could do about it.

So, Rufus closed his eyes and counted. By the time he reached one hundred, everyone was long gone. The forest wasn’t that large, but it would take an hour to walk from one edge to the other. Thinking that they probably ran as far as they could in one direction, he began the chase with no clear destination in mind. As one of the faster kids, Rufus could catch up to a few of the hiders, assuming he ran into them.

Trees spanned in every direction, blurring as Rufus ran by. Roughly thirty minutes had passed, but he hadn’t stumbled upon a single kid. An unlikely situation. He began to wonder whether he passed one of them.

Still, running for so long quickly exhausted his stamina. Rufus needed a bit of a break, so he stopped by one of the trees and slumped down against its trunk. Catching his breath, he took another look around; however, there still wasn’t anyone in sight. Actually, there wasn’t any animal or beast at all. Usually, there would be a few bird beasts flying around. A sort of strange silence crept over the area–

“Hmm? A red wolf kid?” Suddenly, a voice popped out of nowhere. Rufus banged his head against the tree as he looked up. A man stood there where there was no one a moment before, like he just popped into existence. He sat on a chair backwards, leaning on the top rail, staring directly at Rufus with curiosity. His clothes looked rather fancy, something nobles would typically wear, but there wasn’t a speck of dirt or dust on him. An impossible feat in the middle of a forest. He looked so out of place that Rufus forgot how to speak for a moment.

“Hey? Red wolf kid!” The man began waving his arms widely.

“Y-yes!” Rufus responded reflexively. “How did you know I was a red wolf?”

“Would you believe me if I said you look like one?”

“But all people look like humans.”

The man responded with a shrug, though he sounded quite somber. “It’s mainly intuition. Once you meet enough people, you have an eye for these things.” The man then narrowed his gaze, causing Rufus to jump slightly. He looked to be in his early twenties, but the way he talked made him seem like he was much older.

“So, why are you in the forest?”

“U-um, my friends and I were playing Infection, so I’m currently searching for them.”

“Is Infection like Tag?”

“Yeah.”

“Gotcha. It looks like I’ll need to round you all up and get you home then.” The man sighed as he stood up from his chair, reaching out a hand. Rufus’s body was already unconsciously reaching out for the hand before his mind could process the situation. However, just before he could, Rufus caught a glimpse of what was behind the man.

Something that made his blood run cold.