19 - A Disturbance

“Okay, that looks good.”

In my hand was a satchel of powder, kept contained by the thin woolskin which had become my main source of cloth for everything.

It was my first batch of antidote, something easily dissolved in water or direct consumption if needed. Two days ago, I found myself in the very exact situation I feared—I’d been pricked by the poisonous thorns.

Though I held the antidote in my hand—bloodgrass—as I called it, my curiosity got the better of me as I waited to observe the effects of the poison, despite Woolie’s adamant cries of warning.

The result wasn’t pretty. The gash gradually turned purple and leaked pus, something you’d expect to see of poison from the movies. As I began to regret my decision, I felt light-headed watching the scene unfold before my eyes.

It took everything I had to stuff my face full of bloodgrass, chew and swallow. The antidote was immediate and effective, but though the bleeding stopped I remained fatigued for the rest of the day, and it took another for the nasty color in my arm to return to normal.

However with this, I now had an ‘emergency pack’ of sorts; berries for nutrition, the medicinal paste I developed, a roll of woolskin bandages and this antidote powder, all fitted comfortably inside my old backpack.

“Now I just gotta wait for Woolie. He’s running a little late… I’ll go check on the broth in the meantime.”

The big pot of bones and meat had been sitting on the stove for a good few days now, kept going by the constant supply of quality firewood I’d stockpiled in preparation for winter.

“I’d say I can keep it going for about a week longer, before I have to move on to other supplies. Hah, if only I could fish…”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

“Oh- Woolie? That you knocking on the door? Haha, what am I saying, you’re the only one out here in the-”

I pushed the door open and was greeted by the sight of my white and fluffy friend-

It was a green creature-

“WAAAGHHAAAYOYOYOHWAT-TOH!!”

I kicked out so hard the goblin couldn’t react, taking the full force of my foot on its nose as it tumbled over in a heap.

“Wha- Huh? Why? How?!”

In my panic, I stumbled over the deep snow, failing to spot two more goblins approaching from further down the path-

“MUU!!”

Boing!

A streak of white slammed into one goblin and flopped onto the ground, rolling over to my side with his signature crying face.

“Woolie! Buy me ten seconds, please!” I called out, scrambling back inside.

“Muumuu?!” Woolie whined.

“Where are they, where are they- there they are!”

I grabbed my tusk-blades from the kitchen table, sweeping everything else onto the ground in the process. I jumped out the house only to see a goblin in mid-air with its club aimed towards Woolie.

“Nnyaargh!”

I jumped up in response and swung my blade upwards, slicing through its weapon and part of its ear.

“Gyargh!” The goblin screamed a terribly cry, clutching its bleeding wound.

“Ugh…” I winced as red began to stain the pure white snow.

Having butchered boars, I was no stranger to seeing blood and gore despite my age. However, this was different; the red spattered across a pure white canvas by my hands instilled a sense of foreboding in me.

Despite my momentary wavering, there was no need to raise my weapon again. The goblins grabbed their unconscious friend and retreated away, glancing back with wicked snarls as they made their way into the Tranquil Forest.

It was only when they were far enough to only appear as specks in the distance that I finally collapsed onto the ground, leaning against Woolie for support.

Wheeze! Wheeze!

I clutched my chest, feeling the wild, rapid beating of my heart.

Even after all that simulation training in my mind palace, I could not stave off the adrenaline-filled fear of the real world.

“Hah… hah… dammit, cough- I’m just a kid… where’s my guardian…?”

As I slowly picked myself up, a thought suddenly flashed in my mind, a thought that filled me with dread.

Where’s Mister B?

Mister B was the first line of defense against monsters breaking through the Tranquil Forest. If goblins managed to come all the way here, does that mean…?

“Woolie, I’m going to the Tranquil Forest. I have to check on Mister B!”

I rushed back inside to grab my emergency pack— the backpack already prepared with two days worth of supplies.

“Muu!”

“You wanna come along too?” Alright, we’ll be safer together anyway. Wait for me outside, I’ll be out in a minute!”

I grabbed two of my six blades, my mind racing.

“Rations, check. Medicine, check. Weapons, check…”

My heart was still thumping hard. There was a heavy sense of uncertainty in the air, and I couldn’t help but worry about the changing landscape of the highlands.

“Hold on, Mister B. I’m coming-!”

I jumped onto Woolie’s back, and we made haste to the Tranquil Forest.

*

“It’s too quiet in here…”

The Tranquil Forest was dead silent. It was quiet before, but there’d always been at least some activity. Now, there wasn’t a single animal in sight, let alone monsters.

The spring had frozen over; even the waterfall was suspended in time, imprisoned in a thick layer of frost and ice. In fact, the place looked so different from before I had a difficult time navigating to Mister B’s cave.

Thankfully, Woolie was already familiar with the route, and I could focus solely on threat-detection.

“Strange, not a single goblin in sight. Were those just strays from their group? But how’d they manage to sneak past Mister B…?”

I expected at least a battle or two, but my preparation appeared to have be unnecessary. Unfortunately that only made things even more uncomfortable; the unknown was far more worrying than that which I knew I could handle.

The journey was uneventful, and we arrived at Mister B’s cave without trouble, only to find the cave entrance completely blocked off by a large boulder.

“… Mister B?”

There was no response.

Why is there a boulder?

There’s no way Mister B would allow something else to do this. No doubt, he was the one to place it here.

If that’s the case, it means he’s blocked off the entrance so no one can enter… is he recovering from an injury…?

“Oh! Oooh…”

I climbed the boulder until I found a small crevice and peeked through the gap, squinting hard.

Indeed, I found what I was looking for; two large bears asleep on a pile of leaves, their little cub nestled between them.

“Of course… they’re hibernating through the winter.”

I heaved a sigh of relief knowing they were safe, having assumed the worst when I saw the goblins. Looking back, I was panicking way too much thinking mere goblins could take out Mister B.

“But this means no one’s protecting the forest? No, there has to be.”

Something else must be keeping the monsters at bay during the winter seasons, or the rest of the highlands would’ve been infested by now. Currently, the forest was peaceful, other than the three goblins I encountered.

“Speaking of, where are they?”

I’d resolved myself to take over Mister B’s job and hunt them down, but I had zero experience in tracking, hoping to simply spot their green skin in the sea of white. Unfortunately—or fortunately, I haven’t seen them.

“Shall we go deeper, Woolie?”

“Meh.”

I never had a reason to step foot beyond Mister B’s dwelling, but now that he’s out of commission, I have to figure out what’s going on for myself.

“It’s times like these I wish I could communicate with animals.”

The change here with the arrival of winter was similar to the Screeching Forest. The once lush bushes were replaced by the same, poisonous thorns I fell victim to, half-hidden beneath piles of snow making them hazardous to travelers.

“Maybe the goblins just fell victim to the poison…” I hoped aloud.

While possible, I found it unlikely I wouldn’t have spotted a body or two if that were the case. As soon as that thought came into mind-

“There’s one! I see one over there!” I directed Woolie by my pointer finger. “Look, its got part of its ear chipped off; that’s the same one!”

It was a goblin, aimlessly shuffling ahead with its mouth agape.

Something’s wrong.

“Woolie.”

“M-muu…”

We approached slowly and cautiously at first so as to not alert it of our presence, but it was unnecessary. Even as we walked up by its side, the goblin ignored us completely; no, it was unaware of our presence.

I waved my hand across its face.

Unresponsive.

“What’s going on?”

We trailed the goblin from behind, hoping to learn its destination. As it turns out, it wasn’t too far away.

“A glade?”

It was a small glade amongst the dead trees. Or rather, it should have been.

In this field of white, shaven by the relentless snowstorm brought about by the change of seasons, tall trees stood with their leaves basking in the sun, a field of flowers in full bloom among lush greenery.

In this small glade was a miracle in winter.

“What is this… magic?”

It was the only explanation I had for this phenomena. As I trudged through the melting snow onto soft grass, I saw what was no doubt the source of this miracle before my eyes.

A great fox as large as if not larger than Mister B, with fur of pure white that should have blended in with the snow, if not for the fact it sat amongst a colorful array of flowers instead. Surrounded in thin layers of mist, the white fox narrowed its red eyes as I approached, its gaze centered squarely on me.

All of a sudden, I felt a chill run down my spine. I slowly turned to observe my surroundings for the first time, only to see the area infested with goblins, all with the same empty stare as the one I followed.

I gulped, my hand reaching for my blades. I froze as a piercing gaze electrified my nerves, unable to move.

Where’s Woolie? I can’t hear him.

I shifted my gaze everywhere except the white fox’s eyes, finally settling on the small bundle of fur at its feet.

Is that a little fox? I guess that’s its child… a mama fox protecting her offspring?

I felt my gaze being pulled upward by an unknown force, but I did everything in my power to look away-

It’s so cute… I wonder if its asleep? Its eyes are closed, but it seems to be breathing heavily…

The air was getting colder, even for me. The scarf around my neck wasn’t nearly enough anymore, and my body began to shiver as my vision rapidly darkened, brightened, darkened, brightened-

Its tail looks so fluffy… like Woolie… cute snout… fire? Blue flame? Paw… there’s a gash. Its such a pure white that the purple stain really stands out… ah, it looks kinda familiar… I think I’ve… seen it before…

I lost control of my body. Am I even breathing? Unwillingly, my eyes locked onto the white fox’s gaze, it’s red eyes shone so brightly it blinded me, but I couldn’t turn away… until my vision turned completely white-

And then there was nothing.