The forest of mysterious creatures

Dear Goddess,

Hey it’s Sota, I’m really grateful for what you’ve done for me so far. No seriously! I really appreciate everything, you’ve even given me a bag of money and a knife. The only thing though, IS THAT I WISH YOU PLACED ME SOMEWHERE I COULD MAKE USE OF THEM!

****

It’s been ten minutes since I was sent here, my clothes are wrinkled after crashing through five trees on the way down. Even one of my shoes is barely hanging on, well I guess that’s better than nothing. I examined the items I received from Miss Fianna, those being the bag and the knife. Within the bag were a whole bunch of silver coins, on one side of the coin was a shield and on the other was a rose. Looks like the currency between Earth and this world are different.

Next up was the knife, I don’t know much about blades though. I pulled the knife out its sheath, considering how heavy the hilt looked, I’m surprised how light it is. The length of its blade wasn’t that long, but I could feel that the blade was sturdy. I doubt I could kill anything with it, so I guess I’ll use it as a cooking knife.

Speaking of cooking, now I need to figure out the most important part. How am I gonna survive here? I mean sure I’ve been safe so far, but long will that last. Considering that nightmare sized dragon fly I saw before, something tells me I don’t wanna stick around here. Especially if there’s any spiders around, those things terrify me!

“Well I better get a move on, especially before my bad lu-”

*Snap*

I immediately jumped behind a tree, a twig snapping in the middle of a forest is usually a sign something's about to go wrong. I started to hear footsteps, I cautiously looked from behind the tree. However, there was no one there. It doesn’t make sense I hear footsteps, so where could they-

“Gggrrrrrrrr!”

Huh? I noticed a growling coming from the area I was watching, but there’s nothing there! Was what I thought until I looked closely at the ground. There was a strange shadow moving on the ground, it was shaped like a cheetah. Before I started scouting for the creature’s body, something solid started coming out of the shadow. When it fully emerged, I saw what looked like a panther. It looked like it was sniffing for something, that’s when I noticed something nerve inducing. There was a claw mark on the tree I was hiding behind, this area was its territory and I’m an uninvited guest! I gotta get out of here, but moving now would alert this thing. How do I escape then? Suddenly I heard the sound of the wind, it began howling for some reason. Next thing I knew, a bird with a lance like beak swooped down and pierced the panther. The panther however didn’t take damage, the attack passed through it. It then began to meld itself onto the bird’s body and began to bite its neck. This is my chance! I escaped before the panther’s battle intensified.

****

It’s been 5 minutes since I’ve started running from that panther, I think I'm safe now. Geez what the heck was that thing, some kind of shadow panther! If things like that are out here in this forest then what else is there.

*Pop*

Me and my big mouth, I turned my head to find a giant bubble next to it. It bumped my face and began to fly in the other direction. It felt like a balloon was on my face, just where did that bubble come from. I then noticed that in the trees there were a whole bunch of bubbles, just where are these things coming from. That’s when I began hearing something, something that had a rhythm to it.

*Pop pop pop* *Pop pop pop*

“I think it’s close by…”

My curiosity got the better of me again, and I found myself following the sound. However, before I could find the perp behind the bubbles, another stray bubble entered my path. I picked up a branch and stabbed the bubble with it, that should take care of-

*BOOM*

I blinked fives times the moment the bubble exploded, the recoil sending me flying back onto my rear. As I stood back up rubbing my aching butt, I noticed the stick I poked the bubble with was broken and steaming. No way, are these gasoline bubbles? What am I getting myself into? My question was soon answered when I finally heard the culprit.

*Ribbit*

“...Huh?”

I turned to see a frog as big as my head making the bubbles, I hopped up into the air and shot them into the tree brush above it. It actually looked a little cute, I couldn’t help but move closer to get a better look. That’s when it noticed me and hoped up to me, it then motioned its arms up. I think it wants me to hold it, not wanting to get boom bubbled I obliged it. Upon holding it in both hands, the frog began to smile at me. I was puzzled by the weird creature in my hands, until it spat up goo on my face and hopped out my hands. I couldn’t see it, but I heard its laughter before it ran off. That little bugger, this isn’t over!

****

I decided to head to a stream to wash my face and get the goo out of my shirt. Eventually I found a fountain shaped plant that was spraying water everywhere. I decided to wash up there, I cupped my hands and threw the fresh water on my face. While doing this I accidentally tore off one of the plant's vines. Soon enough the plant began to move, I backed away in a panic and then noticed something. The plant had six big grooves on its body, to go along with the small one’s spraying water. Soon some of the smaller grooves began producing what seemed to be soap bubbles, and out of the big grooves came seal-like appendages. The soap and water washed off the leaves and vines, reveal the fountain plant to be some aquatic creature. I was scared until I watched it start nibbling on the leaves it washed off. Oh, it must be an herbivore! Then it looked at me, and I froze. Maybe I can explain myself to this guy!

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. I was just trying to wash my face.”

The sea monster turned its head sideways, then it sprayed water on me like a hose. I ended up on my rear again, only to stand up drenched with water. It then blew slightly warm air out the holes of its shell, I found myself freshly cleaned and dried. I looked at it again, the monster is actually a turtle isn’t it(although its neck is pretty long). The turtle gave me a wry smile and kept eating its food. I guess that was thanks for waking it up for its meal, I smiled back and went on my way.

Alright enough exploring, it’s about time I found my way out of here. I got lucky to meet some friendly aquatic creatures, but what if next I meet a shark with legs. Actually scratch that, the last thing I need is to will things into-

*Ting Ting*

“What was that just now!”

I could’ve sworn I heard something, nah maybe it’s just me.

****

Our little hero continued to wander through the forest, without realizing the meaning behind the sound he just heard. As well as the danger it was about to bring.

*New* BAD LUCK COUNTER: 0