A New Beginning

Morning came as the sun rose lazily above the horizon.

It was quiet.

The only things distracting the tranquil forest were the distant waterfall and chirping of birds.

In the meantime, I haven’t slept a wink.

Somewhere close by, a woodpecker drilled away at one of the tall trees in the background. The soothing, rattling noise was loud, yet not too invasive.

Throughout the night, I kept checking the surroundings with my rex to make sure none of the villagers or wildlife would approach or endanger us.

Despite my excessive wariness, they never came.

Having kept my guard up for hours on end, I was reaching my limit.

The longer they took the more of a mess it was going to be to deal with.

Unless they decide to keep to themselves…

Please let it be that way…

All this time, I kept myself awake by meticulously stinging my hand against a sharp rock, but the effectiveness from this temporary solution was wearing off.

That said, I didn’t have a choice... I had to continue.

Incapacitated, and the girl unconscious, there weren’t exactly many options presented to us in this predicament.

If they showed up at my moment of weakness, that would be the end of the journey for both of us.

Therefore, I continued forcing myself to stay vigilant.

Foxes…

Deer…

Squirrels...

Snakes…

Rabbits…

Bears…

I have seen nearly every animal in the entire forest at this point.

Eyes severely strained and dry, I wanted to sleep... my heavy eyelids were becoming a nuisance to keep open.

If only I could just close them for a minute…

One quick… restful… minute…

I stung my hand on the sharp rock, hitting a nerve and springing back to life.

That was close…

My body aching from pain and soreness, I would love to introduce myself to a different sitting position, but I didn’t need to experience the side effects of doing so to know that I was going to regret it.

Struggling to stay in one place while my muscles suffered from atrophy, I heard something moving behind me…

But I was too tired to turn around and care anymore…

It doesn’t seem like a threat…

So who cares…

I sat there uninterestedly, unbothered to even move my head.

Suddenly, a giant moose came out in front of me.

My eyes widening, I have never seen one before.

Were they always this big…?

The gigantic creature was the last thing I’d want to make enemies with.

It calmly passed our location and went towards the waterfall basin to drink some water like other animals during my surveillance.

Seeing this view made it seem like some sort of sanctuary.

Peaceful and untroubled, wildlife flourished in the environment.

It was hard to believe that a couple of hours ago, some of the villagers tried to kill one of their own…

A child at that…

An hour passed, and the sun was fully out.

Shining bright in the clear blue sky, it was a refreshing view.

An eagle called out loudly, circling around the area from above.

Relaxed, I was truly assimilating with nature.

I felt like my rex was benefiting from the immersion too.

Suddenly, scrambling emerged from the direction of my earth shelter.

Either some animal got in and I regrettably failed to assure the girl’s safety – a chance equivalent to that of Gyorn appearing in my line of sight within the next few seconds.

Or…

She was simply awake.

Soon after, the girl ran out, scouring the surroundings anxiously.

She glanced backwards, seeing me and breathing heavily as she started to approach me.

“…you… are still here…?” she asked, looking relieved.

“Not going anywhere…” I said “why?”.

“…I thought… you… never mind…” she said dismally, “…what are you doing out here?” she asked.

“…keeping watch,” I responded hesitantly.

She looked at me, concernedly.

“… all day…?” she asked.

“…no…” I tried to lie, but she remained unconvinced, staring at me with distressed, troubled eyes.

“…you… have bags under your eyes…” she said confrontationally.

…cursed sleep deprivation…

I felt guilty trying to deceive her, but I was doing it out of consideration.

She continued looking at me, waiting for a response.

“…yes…” I said, resigning to her gaze, “…I am fine, I don’t want to sleep anyway…”

She looked down at my torso.

“…what… happened to your arm?” she asked, her eyes widened.

I rolled my head over to the right to see what was wrong.

Oh…

My hand coated in blood and ripped to shreds, I went a little overboard while keeping myself awake.

The rock must have been a little sharper than I thought…

No wonder I couldn’t feel anything anymore…

“…it’s fine… tripped a little bit… it will heal by itself…” I said.

She examined the rest of my body.

Stopping at my leg, she let out a gasp, her face overwhelmed with dread and horror as she glanced up at me.

“Don’t worry… I will liv—"

“…how…?” her voice trembled, “…did you… was it… because of m—”

“No,” I answered resolutely. “Some animal… attacked overnight…”

She stared at me, her eyes flickering with tears.

“Really…” I reassured her, “…came up from behind…”

“…”

“…what are you going to do about it…?” she asked, the answer to which I wanted to know myself.

“It’s… not that bad…” I answered, more so trying to convince myself, rather than the girl. “I will figure it out after I eat…” I said, postponing the problem, “…are you hungry?”

She nodded slowly.

“Okay—”

“Wait. I will get something…” the girl said, “you shouldn’t move…”

“No, it’s fine,” I reassured her, “watch the… uhm… pond,” I said, preparing to show her my hand-rex coordination.

I tiredly raised my right hand, getting ready.

But I realized that there was a small problem…

It was still ripped to shreds…

Slightly catching myself off guard, I shook off my doubt.

Can’t be that much different…

“…alright…”

I lifted my left hand instead, and closed my eyes, planning to use rex for, hopefully, the last time today.

All the fish and their life forces appeared clearly within the basin.

Waiting for the right moment, I scouted the biggest one.

This one is good…

Okay…

Three…

Two…

One…

NOW.

Quickly, I snapped my wrist.

A big fish came flying out… severely off course into the trees.

Twigs audibly breaking in the distance, my face went red.

“Wow! How did you do that?” the girl asked, somehow amazed.

Extremely embarrassed, I chose not to answer.

As she retrieved the fish, I ashamedly prepared a skewer to cook it on.

It was an enormous fish, bigger than any I’ve ever seen, let alone actually eaten.

I seared the fish to a nice color as always, and we consumed half of it, saving the rest for later.

It was truly delicious.

Maybe part of that was because I had someone I could share my meals with, now…

I was full.

I tiredly sat back against a tree, which was a big mistake.

Immediately, my eyelids began shutting down without consent and my head started bobbing.

I couldn’t resist my body’s inclination to sleep anymore.

Summoning all my remaining strength, I addressed the girl.

“Do you mind… if I just… rest… a little bit…” I asked dazedly.

“Okay…” she said softly.

“…wake me up… instantly… if something… hap… hap’nsss…”

Her gentle smile was the last thing I saw before I dozed off.

Within seconds, I was out like a log.

It was a deep sleep.

I was dreaming about floating in something.

The sensation was highly realistic. It was as if I was there in person.

Swimming in something slippery and warm, a metallic scent filled the area.

Having been completely fine for nearly two months, it came out of nowhere.

As my eyes opened, blood was spreading into every single empty space.

I couldn’t move a single limb as I witnessed his imaginary execution… all over again.

“GRANDPA!”

“NO!”

The pool of blood belonged to him and was getting progressively larger.

How…

No…

Grandpa…

Do people… even have this much in the first place…

I looked on helplessly, as more red flooded the area.

I was drowning in it.

How…

How do I stop the bleeding…

I was struggling to keep myself afloat.

No…

Soon my head became submerged in crimson.

There was no way to get out.

It was filling up my lungs and coursing through my entire body.

My consciousness fading and going to some far away place, everything went numb.

I was sinking to the bottom.

Suddenly, hysterical laughter echoed within my head.

No…

“HAHAHHA HHAHAHH AHAHA HAHAH HAHAHAH”

Not again…

“HAHA AHA HHAHA AHAHA H—”

My eyes shot open, but I couldn’t see anyone.

Painfully, I rose to the top.

Catching my breath and coughing loudly, I felt as if my throat was being grated from within.

Treading desperately and scouring the area with my teary eyes, I was in the middle of a bloody ocean, with no land or human in sight.

It was still and completely tranquil.

Stranded, I frantically turned my head in every direction, but there was no end to it.

Laughter kept ringing in my ears.

Stop…

Blood stretching on for miles beyond the horizon, horrible panic settled in.

“HAHAH AHHA HAH HAHAH HAHA”

Where am I…

“HAH AHA HAHHA HA HAHAHA”

A screeching sound rang within my head.

Squinting from the skull-piercing noise, I was desperately trying not to sink under.

My head felt like it was being compressed into nothingness.

Swaying up and down, I saw something with my blurry vision.

A big shadow began covering the entire ocean.

An eclipse?

As I calmly turned around to get a better look, I froze.

There was nowhere to run.

I didn’t even notice how it got here.

There was no noise, no signs, nothing…

A gigantic wall of blood silently crept up on me…

And continued growing closer with every second.

Losing all will to live, I stared at the tsunami of blood in my final moments.

As I closed my eyes, something heavy collided with my cheek.

I was back.

Heavy droplets tumbled on my face as I woke up from the nightmare I thought was going to be my last. I was laying on wet, solid ground and as I opened my eyes, blurred images started coming into focus.

It was raining, but what kept falling down my face, weren’t raindrops.

Bent over my head, shaking and crying, the girl held her gentle hand in another.

“…why wouldn’t you wake up…”

…

As I regained my senses and she calmed down, she slowly recounted the events of what happened.

How I was sleeping peacefully for hours, until I entered my nightmare.

How I was calling out for grandpa, suffocating, and pleading for help.

How she kept shaking and shouting for me to wake up, but I wouldn’t budge.

How I eventually stopped breathing and my heart went silent.

And finally, how she slapped me awake with all of her force.

“…does it hurt…”

“…no… thank you… for…”

“…”

I threw up on the ground.

“Are you okay?!” the girl jumped up.

Coughing and burning up from my new fever, I felt like shit.

“…thank you… for waking me up…” I finished, painfully recalling the horrible dream.

I was out of there, but now I had another problem.

All my limbs were on fire.

I have never felt this sick in my entire life.

The girl gasped as she touched my fiery body.

“…your body… it’s freezing cold…” she said anxiously.

…what?

…I feel like I am being burnt alive here…

“I feel hot…” I said hoarsely. “…do I have a fever…?”

“…no…” she said, after checking my forehead.

“…are you sure…?” I asked feebly.

“…yes…” she answered, “…what… what should I do…?”

I felt like I was going to die.

“…take off my shirt… please… I can’t take it anymore…” I said.

She looked concernedly at me.

“…but your body—”

“…please…”

She took off my shirt. Her eyes quivering, she was speechless.

“Aarghhh…” I groaned.

The heat got worse.

Meanwhile, the girl was busy looking at the horrid scar I got from cauterizing a wound I got from a Zepsis member impaling me.

“ARGHHH… I… feel even hotter now…” I breathed heavily, feeling as if my body was being set ablaze.

…what… is this shitty sickness…

The girl, suddenly breaking out of her stupor, looked at me worryingly, her hands trembling.

She touched my body again.

“…it’s even colder… you need warmth…” she said, alarmed.

She looked around nervously, her glittering eyes desperately searching for a solution to my problematic illness.

Getting up clumsily, she hurried to gather some dry sticks for a fire.

The problem was… nothing was dry anymore.

The rain had soaked every single corner of the forest.

“…no…” she murmured.

“…what… are you doing…” I croaked, seeing her in the distance.

She turned around, extremely distressed.

“…need… to make a fire…” she said, “…but everything is wet from the rain…”

On the brink of death, I decided to trust the girl more than my own senses right now.

“…bring anything… I will do it…”

After blanking out for a second, she gathered some wood and brought it over.

“…put my arm towards it… please…” I asked weakly.

She approached my right arm, glancing at me worryingly because of its current condition.

“…it’s fine…” I groaned.

The girl lifted the arm gently, outstretching it and placing it next to the wood.

With all concentration I could muster, I first removed the moisture.

Doing it in my sorry state wasn’t easy, but I somehow managed.

Since it was raining, there was no need to encircle the fire with earth to protect the forest.

Less work for me…

Next, I outstretched my trembling finger and tiredly started the fire.

Contrary to my worrying, the heat it generated didn’t make me feel worse.

It was a comforting, warm feeling.

Enough to make me fall asleep, one more time.

***

The girl looked at the boy.

‘His hand…’

‘He fell asleep with it right next to the fire…’

She took his hand and gently placed it a safe distance away, but before she could release it, he had already closed his cold grip around her own.

She sat there for hours, holding his injured hand in her warm, gentle embrace, keeping watch.