-White Bunny POV-

The eagle disappeared into the earth, all traces of blood and feathers disappearing with him. The grass shimmered faintly, tinged red at the tips. Without offering any explanation, the wolf started moving again.

[White Bunny: Alright, what the fuck was that?]

She asked as politely as she could. She had waited long enough, and now she wanted answers.

[Black Wolf: The eagle with trees, now.]

The wolf said serenely. He made his way through the trees, walking barefoot across the grass. The dappled light gave his face a soft look, and he seemed undisturbed by what had just happened.

[White Bunny: So you can just- say a few magic words, and the forest will kill something for you?]

Her voice came out strangled. She could outmaneuver a creature, but an entire forest? Even if she stayed off the ground, given how the grass had grown after devouring the eagle, the roots weren't the only things she had to worry about.

The other window- the one she was avoiding, not wanting to deal with the [System]'s games quite yet- shown a little brighter, as if to remind her of the power the [System] had promised her in exchange for their little deal.

[Black Wolf: Forest- no! Forest nurtures. Forest never take needlessly.]

The wolf said, sounding horrified at the thought.

[White Bunny: ... right.]

The bunny said warily, still watching every plant for any hint of danger. She wasn't eager to test the wolf's theory, not when every tree they passed had wisps of red woven into their bark. Had every tree eaten…?

The wolf beamed in return.

[Black Wolf: You understand! The forest good!]

The wolf said brightly, with the kind of voice that made her wonder how he'd managed to survive for so long. Even the smallest bugs skittering across the trees were terrifying, filled with too many legs and bearing strange, curved tails that looked like they stung.

[White Bunny: ... let's just get out of the forest, please.]

She said tiredly. She had the sinking suspicion this would become a problem later, but she was far too exhausted to argue right now. Her entire body ached from running, falling, and being torn apart by creatures far more deadly than her. She still had the [System]'s window to deal with- the damn thing reappeared every time she tried to get rid of it.

The wolf wandered through the trees. He had learned to avoid branches after one of them snapped under his step, but he still paid no attention to their surroundings. He walked right past the shadows twisting around the trees without a second glance, completely missing the eyes watching them from above.

Her fur crawled with unease. [Sixth Sense] couldn't pinpoint what, exactly, was watching them, only that it was dangerous. Not for the first time, she wondered how he had managed to live for so long. Then she remembered the massive size of his wolf form, and- well. It made sense.

The wolf kept walking. He crossed the massive, rushing river at its narrowest point, clearly used to finding his way through the trees.

[Black Wolf: What did System take?]

The wolf asked eventually, once they had safely made it to the other side of the river. She silently cursed herself for mentioning the bargain to him.

[White Bunny: Not much.]

She hedged. The [System]'s laughter rang through her mind, and she couldn't tell whether it was memory, reality, or a really fucked up hallucination.

[Black Wolf: That's good.]

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The wolf said, clearly relieved. She hummed in agreement, a tendril of guilt twisting in her stomach. Even if she was telling the truth- the [System] hadn't taken but gifted her something- the wolf still believed her far too easily.

Was it really a gift, though, if the [System] had bargained with the wolf's life?

She glared at the window in front of her again. It had followed her through the forest, as if the [System] was taunting her with the "deal" they had struck.

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Class: Monster

Ask a monster what makes them a monster, and they will answer this: "the willingness to sacrifice everything to achieve their goals."

Available Skills: [hidden], [unknown], [???], [removed]...

Sub-classes: [unknown], [hidden], [removed]. [hidden]...

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It was the most useless window ever. The only information it provided was that the [System] clearly thought this was some kind of game, because what sort of description was that?

[White Bunny: Why?]

She had demanded after the [System] showed her the window. Things that were too good to be true always were, especially if the [System] was involved.

[System: No one fears the monster hiding in the cave. But give the monster something to care for, a reason to step into the light... it would be so tragic if you wasted away in the forest forever.]

The [System] had said softly, every word filled with perfect conviction and sincerity. It was all a ploy- the bunny did not know what the [System] wanted, and she doubted it was peace. But as long as the wolf survived-

She had accepted it the damned class, the stupid quest with all of the [System]'s conditions. Even if she knew she was playing into the [System]'s schemes, what else could she do?

The bunny closed her eyes, trying to shut the window out, but of course- the window floated amidst the black, defying any ideas of reality. She gritted her teeth. Still, she had run for longer than she had slept, and even with the unnatural blue glow of the window, it was easy to give into exhaustion.

━━━━━━━ ● ━━━━━━━

The wolf nudged her, stirring her from her sleep. She opened her eyes slowly, finding the wolf sitting on the dirt. He held a leaf out to her, and she eyed the leaf with no small amount of distrust.

[White Bunny: It's not poisonous, is it?]

[Black Wolf: Of course not!]

He protested, sounding hurt by the suggestion. She looked around the area, trying to determine which plant the leaf had come from.

It wasn't hard to spot the plant, not when it was right in front of her and quite literally glowing. The plant looked ordinary enough, except for how it had two, huge blue fruits which pulsated with light.

She wished she was joking. She really, really did. But the fruits were shaped like hearts, and the fruits expanded and contracted like if the hearts were beating.

[White Bunny: No.]

She said flatly, telling the wolf as much as she was telling reality. This was ridiculous.

[Black Wolf: Sweet!]

[White Bunny: The. Tree. Has. Beating. Hearts.]

She enunciated very clearly, just in case the wolf was touched in the head. She had managed to find a normal bush, so why couldn't he just find a plant like that again? Sure, those berries had burst with red, sticky juice- disturbingly similar to blood, now that she thought of it- but this was something else.

The wolf shrugged.

[Black Wolf: Don't try to eat hearts. If you try, plant tries eat you.]

Oh, that was just wonderful. Wonderful. Did she mention how wonderful it was? Because she felt like it deserved a second, third mention. Was there anything more wonderful than a plant that tried to eat you?

[Black Wolf: Just try. No vomiting, promise.]

There was something wrong with her, because she eyed the leaf, seriously considering it. While her instincts weren't screaming at her to run, they certainly warned her to be wary. There was something off about this plant, and it wasn't just the creepy hearts.

Eventually, the sharp pang in her stomach won out. The plant hadn't attacked them yet, and she doubted the wolf was going to be able to find anything less dangerous.

[White Bunny: If I vomit, I'm vomiting on you.]

[Black Wolf: Deal.]

She sighed, wondering how she had fallen so far in a single day. She nibbled on the end of the leaf-

And of fucking course, the plant reacted, all the hearts lighting up at once. The air grew heavier around the plant, choking the life from her lungs and-

The wolf picked up another leaf from the dirt, sticking it in his mouth.

[As a member of the pack, the effect of [Child of the Forest] has been shared with you to a lesser extent!]

The pressure vanished, and she sucked a sharp breath in.

Just what the fuck was that?

She demanded as much of the wolf. He blinked, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

[Black Wolf: What was what?]

Wonderful.

She glared at the plant, chewing angrily. The glowing hearts twinkled in response, and she got the distinct impression that it was the plant's way of laughing at her.

The plant was conscious? At this point, that made sense.

She ripped another bite off, a bigger one this time. Once again, glowing hearts lit up. This time, the aura washed over her. Not comforting, certainly, but not outright hostile.

She ate a few more leafs. Each leaf distinctly sweeter than the last, all wrong, wrong, wrong. When the wolf asked if she was finished, she was more than happy to declare herself full.

She couldn't wait to get out of this damned forest.