12 - The Forest Dweller!

“That didn’t take nearly as long as I expected.”

Woolie and I stood by the edge of a forest. As it turns out, I’d been mistaken; what I initially assumed to be a cluster of trees turned out to be another forest, with the same overgrown, towering trees as the one by home.

We set off at the crack of dawn, expecting to arrive by noon. But by the time we arrived the sun still hadn’t yet reached it’s apex; I’d seriously misjudged the distance.

“Mmm, more time to explore couldn’t hurt. What do you think, Woolie? Do you need a break?”

“Muumuu.”

“Alright then, let’s go.”

I climbed onto Woolie’s back, blades at the ready for any boar-like situations.

This forest was similar to the one back home, with familiar plants growing aplenty. The fauna here however, were considerably more scarce.

“Is it normal for creatures to migrate down the hill?” I wondered aloud.

There were several reasons forest dwellers might want to move their dwelling. Scarce supply of food and water, overpopulation, invasive species, an apex predator-

I shivered at the thought.

“I hope we don’t run into another boar situation…”

“Muu…”

The journey however, was rather uneventful. Already on autopilot, I went about collecting various herbs and berries. While I did spot new curiosities such as green-cap mushrooms the size of an umbrella, even Woolie was unsure if those were safe for consumption, so I ignored them.

I did see curiosities our forest lacked, like a flowing river brought about by a crashing waterfall. This one had fish in it, and I was very tempted to try catching some.

After about ten minutes of traveling, we encountered… nothing. It was as if Woolie and I were all alone here.

“Over there by that spring, Woolie. Let’s take a break.”

As Woolie settled down, I climbed up the tallest tree I could find to get a better vantage point. This forest wasn’t nearly as tiny as I originally thought it to be. In fact, it might even be larger than the one by home.

“Then why’re there so few animals about…?”

Worry seeped into my mind as I returned to find Woolie happily lapping up the spring water.

“This one’s a lot deeper than we thought, Woolie. We can definitely use this forest as a second foraging point, provided nothing dangerous is lurking inside.”

“Meh?”

Either his sense of danger was dangerously low, or Woolie had already become comfortable with the atmosphere here, with how similar it was to the one we’re used to. Maybe I’m being too cautious?

“They do say animals have more acute senses compared to people.”

I stared at Woolie, watching the blank stare on his face as his attention switched to the butterfly fluttering above, then extended his head to snap at it.

“… Maybe not all animals.”

“Muu?” Woolie tilted his head, blissfully oblivious.

“Still, this forest sure is quiet, isn’t it Woolie? There aren’t any screeching birds, and we’ve only seen one ferret scampering about. If I didn’t feel so apprehensive, I’d call this forest ‘tranquil’.

Tranquil Forest? It’d be good to give them names since there’s more than one now. Maybe I’ll call the one back home the ‘Screeching Forest’, what with all the birds. And of course the one way back with the wolves can be the ‘Dark Forest’.

“What do you think, Woolie-” I started, but paused. “… Do you hear that?”

“Muu?”

It was very faint, but I could barely make out the sound of something or someone… whimpering?

“Stay close, Woolie.”

I followed the voice as best I could. The closer we crept, the more it sounded like a call for help than anything foreboding, and I hastened my steps.

Could it be a person? But all the way out here…

Instead of a human being, the pitiful cries led me to a small, brown creature hidden amongst the shrubbery, curled up and shivering. It was bruised and dirty, with cuts all over its arms suggesting it had clashed with the ruthless rigidity of branches and the hidden edges of nature.

“Oh. Oooh… it’s a little bear cub…”

I gently scooped it up, so small it could fit into my palms. The little cub whined, calling out for its mother.

“Oh. Oh nooo… it’s a bear cub.”

Realization hit me as I held the little bundle of cuteness and immense danger in my now trembling hands. If any worried parents were to see me carrying their battered and bruised child, I’m dead.

“Uh…”

I turned to Woolie, who seemed completely oblivious to the potentially perilous situation I found myself in.

“Should I leave him here for his mother to find? I really don’t want to tango with a bear. But… who knows what dangers might be around the corner. Ughh…”

“Auu…”

“I can’t-! He’s too little to ignore,” I sighed. “I’ll make it quick. First I’ll find a warm place, then do some simple first aid… Good thing I brought some of those bandages I whipped up last night. Woolie?”

Hearing me call his name, Woolie bounded up to me.

“Here you go… a nice, fluffy bed for you to cuddle on. Now let me take a look at those injuries.”

As Woolie walked further into the forest, things began to change. Trees became more spread out, with thicker trunks to support nests and house small critters, bringing a little life back to the silent forest. It was almost as if I was transitioning to a whole new place.

I inspected the little cub atop Woolie. It didn’t look great, but didn’t appear to be life-threatening either. I’d only managed to make a small batch of medicine having only just learned the basics of herbology, but the small box of herbal paste should help ease the cub’s pain somewhat.

“Here, little cubby, want some berries?”

As he nibbled weakly on the treats, I carefully spread the salve over the exposed cuts-

“Woolie, could you slow down a bit? It’s a little too bumpy for me to work here.”

“Beh…”

“Already at slow speed, huh. Should we stop? This little guy’s really shivering from the cold. Oh! How about that cave? Can you bring us there, Woolie?”

“Meh!”

We arrived right as I finished my final inspections on the cub. It’s a good thing I was so paranoid about Woolie getting hurt; I’d also done some research on basic animal care, with Hooty’s help.

“Okay, this cave looks fine, the wind shouldn’t be able to get us in here. Woolie? What’s the matter?”

“Behh.”

Woolie shook his head, unwilling to enter the cave. I got off his back with the cub in my hands, peering inside.

“There’s nothing in there, Woolie. Look, you can see the wall at the back; it’s just a dead end, suitable for animals to make a home out of. There’s even a bed of leaves there- ah.”

I see, Woolie’s wary of entering the home of an unknown creature.

Still, it’s better than being out here. I’ll just enter, make the little cub comfortable while I dress his wounds and leave.

“Wait here, Woolie. I won’t take too long.”

“Muu.”

Woolie hung around close by, staring at butterflies while I brought the cub inside.

“It’s quite bright in here; as I thought this cave is really shallow. You okay, little guy?”

“Guu.”

I placed the cub on the bed of leaves and immediately got to work, spreading medicine on its wounds and bandaging it up. The little cub was so small I had to cut the bandages with my blade; something I prepared for the much larger Woolie and myself.

“Can’t believe I’m using these for the first time on a bear cub.”

“Guu…”

“You want more berries? Here.”

After dressing up his wounds the best I could, I fed him a little of my supplies before sitting back to watch, relieved everything well without a hitch.

“Let’s take a quick break before we leave. Aww, aren’t you a cute little guy. Don’t mind if I-”

As I reached out to pet the little cub’s head, I heard a low growl from behind, my body tensing up in an instant.

Oh god, please no.

Slowly, I turned around, my heart sank as I did everything in my power not to scream as brown fur entered my peripheral vision. There it stood on two legs, menacingly. I looked up to witness the scowling face atop a mass of fur over three times my height, a great battle scar across its face.

“H-Hello, papa bear…”

“Grr…”

Thumpthumpthump-

Is this what they referred to as ‘heart beating out of their chest’? Because it really felt as if I was about to receive a heart attack. Every instructional video I watched on Nuutube might as well have been thrown out the window; all the important tutorials on how not to panic doing nothing to alleviate my rising panic.

There’s no point trying to ‘play dead’ like in the movies. He’s already aware of me, and all that’d do is waste the precious little time I had left to think… or scream.

The only thing influencing my next decision was the muscle memory I’d developed from training, as I unwittingly took on a posture ready for combat.

“Graw!”

The bear’s roar upon seeing an enemy was enough to cause my legs to quiver, as my mind began to race through all the techniques I’d learn, only to realize they were all but useless in the face of a massive creature like the one before me.

Wheeze. Wheeze-

I took rapid breaths as my vision narrowed; the only thing in focus was the bear before me as he swayed to one side to peek behind at the little cub.

“Grr?”

“Guu…”

The bear made a face as if he were raising an eyebrow, then widened his eyes as he saw the cub.

He must be thinking I was here to whisk his son away while he was out. Which means there’ll be no escape for me soon. I have to act now-

“WOOOOOAAAAAAHHH!!” I shrieked.

Having paid no heed to an insignificant little whelp like me, I managed to startle the bear with my most desperate cry. The most opportune time is now-!

“HYAAAHOOO!!”

I jumped, throwing the hardest, strongest kick I could muster right at the bear’s shoulder.

Wham!

The impact was so great I could feel the shockwave from the collision as the bear raised its arm in defense.

“Grr?” He growled softly, completely undisturbed by my all-out attack.

Run.

Run.

“WOOLIEEEEE!!” I screamed as I dropped to the ground under the bear, rolling between its legs making a beeline straight for the cave exit.

I didn’t look back to see if I was being chased, spotting Woolie cowering among the bushes, his careless hiding spot doing nothing to cover his white woolly body contrasting heavily with the dark wood of the forest.

Upon hearing my call, Woolie popped his head out, tears streaming down his face.

“Go Woolie, go!”

I jumped onto his back mid-run. As Woolie picked up the pace, I glanced behind to see-

“AHH!! He’s chasing us, he’s chasing us, Woolie! Speed up! Out of the forest, quick!”

“GRAWW!!”

“MUUUUUU!”

It was chaos. I hacked away at overhead branches and vines as Woolie scampered about wildly, desperately trying to shake off the bear by going through heavily obstacled areas hoping I’d be able to remove them with my blades in time.

Every time I turned around, the bear would be hot on our heels. However contrary to chasing us in earnest, he was instead casually running on two legs instead of what you’d typically expect from a normal bear.

“What’s with that thing?!”

“Graww.”

“Is he fooling around- he’s toying with his meal! On the double, Woolie!”

I’m not about to become dinner for the thing I just helped nurse back to health!

When we finally managed to break through the woods out into the familiar open valley, Woolie went full throttle, a huge spurt with no more obstacles to deter his top speed.

“Get us away from here, Woolie!”

I turned back one last time to see the bear hanging around the trees, staring at us for a while before finally dropping to all fours, then disappearing back into the woods.

“I… I think we’re good now, Woolie. You can relax.”

“Beh…”

Woolie plopped onto the ground, gasping for breath.

“You did great, Woolie. Looks like all that training paid off, eh?”

It was times like these I was glad Woolie could run faster than he looked.

“Mmm… Maybe that forest isn’t as safe as I thought it’d be. What do you think, Woolie?”

“Muumuu…”

“Yeah. Let’s think of an alternative, shall we?”

I walked the rest of the way back alongside Woolie, turning around occasionally to make sure we weren’t followed by an apex predator.

“Come to think of it, we managed to make it to the Tranquil Forest way quicker than expected… maybe I overestimated the distance to the top of the hill. Even at the relaxed pace we’re going, it’d probably only take half a day. Maybe even a couple of hours if we make haste.”

Perhaps my sense of distancing had dulled too much during the time I was bedridden, having only one view outside my window for reference during the majority of my past life. Or perhaps my point of view as a small kid just made everything appear so much larger than they really were.

“Looks like we’ll have to reevaluate our plan, eh?” I said whilst petting Woolie’s head.

“Meh.”

Woolie’s panicked, crying face had already returned to his usual default of nonchalance.

There were no more incidents after that and I retreated into my mind palace, indulging in the futility of looking up how to live in harmony with an angry bear.