"Helen. Yes. Helen shall be your name. You will grow up into a strong girl and may you be the beacon of hope and shining light in the darkness of times."
It has been 3 months since the incident and the three of them have settled down in the underground cave. Their only purpose is to source for food so as to survive each day and this had somewhat became a routine for them. Theo decided to name the demi-child as calling her girl sounded cold and distant.
Theo's job is to protect the girls from danger and also to hunt for food, while Mia's role is to tidy up the place and to prepare their meals. As for Helen, she would occasionally help out with Mia or go out with Theo to hunt. Helen always look forward to hunting with Theo as she felt at ease whenever she's with him and he would often teach her the language of the humans. Today is one of those days that she looked forward to.
"Theo, Theo, letsh goshh noww!!" Helen gushed as she eagerly wagged her tail.
"Hahaha...Let's go. Say bye to Mia before u leave okay?" Theo ruffled her hair before grabbing his stone-crafted sword and his hunting bow.
"Okiee. Hehe! Bye Miaaa!" Helen said before running with Theo into the woods.
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Steady...steady... "THWISH" The arrow sped towards the unsuspecting rabbit and upon impact, the rabbit twitched for a short moment before its life ended in that cruel world. Theo and Helen ran out of the bush they were hiding in to collect their meal for the day.
"Yayy! Theo ish goody!" Helen complimented Theo as Theo plucked the arrow out of the rabbit.
"Hahaha! You little thing...come on. We still need to hunt for 1 more rabbit." Theo responded with a genuine smile. In his whole life, that is probably his first genuine smile without any hatred.
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"100...101...102...102..." After hunting down the last rabbit for the day, Theo would always train diligently to increase his stats while Helen would stare admiringly at Theo and cheer him on. For the past few months, Theo's stats have increased significantly and since he has more time now, he is able to practice punches and kicks.
Last practice for the day. Lightning manipulation. Theo imagined lightning replacing his veins, his fingers as the guiding path for the lightning to strike. Theo formed a bright ball of lightning in the palm of his hands which somehow contains a trace of black. He then strike out his palm which led to the lightning striking out at a nearby tree.
"KRACK KRACK...WOOSH", soon after it leaves his palm, the lightning engulfed the tree and soon after, the fire produced devoured the tree mercilessly until it was reduced to ashes. This sight; this spectacle; Theo can never get over it. It is simple just too overpowering. After getting out of his daze, Theo tiredly grabbed the rabbits and strolled home with Theo. The reason as to why Theo never used lightning manipulation is that it is too powerful, his prey will just reduce to ashes, moreover, it consumes a damn lot of stamina.
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"Hey Mia, we are back! We caught two rabbits today."
...
"Mia...?"
....
No response. The cave was dead quiet, the water droplets hitting the cave floor is the only sound. A shiver ran down his spine and as he was about to ran out of the cave to search for traces of Mia, a familiar pair of footsteps sounded behind him. Startled, Theo spunned around and unsheathed his sword, only to find Mia standing at the doorway dressed in a dirty robe.
"Ohh. Hi Theo. I was...uhh...taking a stroll...it was quite boring in the cave. Hehehe." Mia quicky explained herself and immediately grabbed the two rabbits to prepare the meal.
As Theo was too tired and since Mia was alright, he did not give it much thought and left towards the nearby pond outside the cave to wash up.
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"Miash cooking ish nisee!! Burppp!" Helen burpped after finishing her rabbit meal. Embarrassed, she immediately apologised and buried her head in Theo's arms. This gave Theo and Mia a good laugh which helpped them to get through each day-depending on one another-hopeful for tomorrow.
After sharing about the day and joking around, Theo tucked the girls in while he sang them a song he learned in his previous life.
"There is house built out of stone. Wooden floors, walls and window sills. Tables and chairs worn ny all of the dust. This is a place I don't feel alone. This is a place I feel at home..."
"Goodnight. Sleep tight." Theo whispered under his breath before checking his status.
Status.
Name: Theodore Miral Kasis Race: Human Age: 17 Titles: Will bender, ancient lightning mage Equipments: hunter's apparel Effects: Lightning affinity(50%), ???(50%) Skills: Impending Doom, Mind, immovable fortress(A strong will), stealth lvl9, lightning manipulation lvl 5 Health:350/350 Health regen: 100hp/min Stamina: 502/502 Strength: 401/401 Agility: 340/340 Mana: 111/111 Resistance: 306/306
As Theo was about to drift off into dream land, he saw a glint out of the corner of his eyes. This caught Theo's attention as he steadied himself and stealthily crept towards the glint. Once he got closer, he could tell that the glint came from Mia's pouch in the robe. Carefully, Theo reached towards the glint. It was a silver-tainted paper; To be more precise, it is a wanted poster.
It read 'WANTED: THEODORE MIRAL KASIS. REWARD FOR INFORMATION: 100 GOLD. REWARD FOR CAPTURING HIM: 1000 GOLD. URGENT!! ANYONE FOUND COVERING HIM WILL BE EXECUTED'
His heart sank. Theo's eyes shifted to the side and became glazed with a glassy layer of tears. As he blinked, they dripped from his eyelids and slid down his cheek. He bit his lips tightly in an attempt to hide any sound that wanted to escape his mouth.
'They tasted...salty' He thought.
Slowly, he opened his tear-stained lips and mouthed a word,"Mia..." Traces of disappointment, sadness, loniness and anger could be sense in his tone. Slowly, but unhesitantly, he pulled out his sharpened stone sword, and pointed at Mia.