After thinking about it for a bit you decide to put your Free Points into your Agility Attribute raising it to eighteen.
Perhaps if you’d been just a bit faster you would have been able to save Derrick, but it’s too late for regrets now. The only thing you can do at this point is to move forward and try to find your way out of the forest.
Although it’s late in the night, you don’t feel too tired. Your stomach, on the other hand, is a different matter altogether.
It’s been some time since you’ve eaten anything and if you want to find the energy to get out of here, you’re going to need something to eat. The problem is trying to find it. Forgetting about your non-existent wilderness skills, the darkness alone is going to make finding anything near impossible. Add to that your utter lack of weapons and you’re more likely to become something else’s midnight snack than you are of finding anything to eat.
Not seeing any other choice, you decide to wait until morning.
Still, staying in the forest at night is dangerous, however with no other options you need to make the best of it. Scanning your surroundings and only seeing trees, you figure the only thing you can do is to get yourself off the forest floor. At the very least you'll be safe from most wildlife ... unless they can climb. It's still safer than being on the ground.
Spotting a suitable tree, you walk over to it and start to climb. You're surprised at how easy it is and you find yourself much more nimble than you expected as you scurry up the tree as if you’ve done the same thing hundreds of times before. It seems your improved Agility is already paying dividends.
You perch yourself on a decent sized branch, high enough that you should be safe from anything looking to eat you ... so long as it can't climb. You rest your back against the trunk, shifting to get as comfortable as possible before bracing yourself for a long night.
Odd noises resound throughout the forest keeping you on high alert, every snap of a branch rustle of a bush in the wind startling you.
After some time you finally begin to relax as you start to get use to the noises. You begin to drift off until you're jerked awake by a large crashing noise. You listen closely, eyes wide as you peer in the direction of the noise as something large makes its way through the dense forest headed in your direction. Whatever it is, it's large enough that it's forced to push its way through dense bushes.
Eventually it breaks through the foliage and you peer down cautiously from your branch, trying to make out what it is. However the night is darker than ever, the moon having disappeared behind the clouds, and you can't make out anything other than its size being larger than that of a horse.
You have no idea what it could be, a bear maybe? You really hope it can't climb.
You watch as it roams the small clearing, sniffing sounds coming from the creature before it suddenly leaps onto the spot where Derrick’s body is.
You watch as it begins to dig into Derrick's corpse, the sounds of tearing flesh echoing through the forest.
The moon comes out from behind the clouds and you finally get a look at it. As you do, you unintentionally let out a loud gasp.
You freeze as the creature pauses in its feeding and turns its head towards you. You look on in horror at the monstrosity.
Standing on all fours, the eyeless creature sniffs the air through two small holes that rest just above its circular maw. Its skin is a fleshy-grey and its powerful muscles ripple as the creature arcs its shoulders under the moonlight. It opens its mouth and you can see row after row of spiraling teeth, drool and flesh falling from it in equal measures as it lets out a horrendous roar.
The trees shake at the noise and you feel your head spin dizzyingly. Your vision flickers as you teeter on the edge of fainting and you know its only moments before your body succumbs to the creature's roar.
Eventually the creature stops and you struggle to keep hold of the tree as much as you do your consciousness.
It turns away from you and back to the mangled body of Derrick, now mutilated beyond all recognition.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
You watch as its sharp claws easily gouge into Derrick's flesh before bringing it to its face.
You wish you could do something, anything, feeling like you somehow owe it to Derrick to at least protect the dignity of his death, but you know there is nothing you can do.
Whatever this creature is, the chances are it could tear you limb from limb with ease.
Eventually it tires of its feeding and you hear it give out a satisfied growl as it begins to lumber away.
You remain quiet in the tree, content to stay there until morning, any spark of adventure that had once burned inside you now well and truly quelled by the beast.
You can only hope that you'll never meet its like again.
----------------------------------------
The bright light of morning finally arrives, bringing with it not peace and tranquility, but a gruesome, horrific scene as bits and pieces of Derrick litter the clearing.
You close your eyes and swallow dryly, trying to banish the images from your mind. You had known it would be bad, but nothing had prepared you for the sight of the clearing in the day.
Deciding it's high time to get out of there, you quickly climb down the tree and head off in the opposite direction of the creature. The more distance between you and it the better.
You walk aimlessly for some time as you make your way through the forest, your stomach too unsettled to think about food, but eventually your body's needs win out over your terror.
You keep an eye out for anything edible, but at the same time your hopes are not high. After all, you have no idea what in the forest is safe to eat in the first place.
As you keep walking you eventually come across a bush with several berries. They’re small and red, looking a little like mini cherries. Despite your hunger, you’re cautious. This forest is strange and you can’t afford to eat something that will make you ill.
Still, you know you won't always have a choice. You pick as many of them as you can, stuffing your pockets with them. If you really can't find anything else to eat they’ll have to do.
After another hour or so of walking your only other successful attempt at foraging is a handful of bizarre looking mushrooms that have joined the berries in your pocket.
You’re getting tired again, the lack of food beginning to truly take its toll.
Finally you've had enough, you need to eat. You sit down on a rock and pull out the berries and mushrooms, trying to decide between the two of them.
Your decision is interrupted, however, by a chittering above you.
You head snaps up, fear on your face as you remember the spiders, only for you to let out a sigh of relief as you take in a lone squirrel on the branch above.
Your relief, however, is only temporary as the squirrel jumps down at you, heading straight for your face.
You jump out of the way, dropping your handful of food as you barely dodge its claws thanks to your improved Agility.
You stare down at the squirrel in mild disbelief as it turns to you, its teeth bared.
It looks savage. Rabid perhaps?
It doesn’t matter as it leaps at you again, but this time you swing your hand and activate your ability, swatting the critter hard.
It hits the ground and bounces, the strength from your blow too much for the small animal.
It lies on the ground twitching and you realize you must have broken its spine.
You feel a tinge of regret over having injured the animal, despite it attacking you first, before you decide that you should put the creature out of its misery.
Hesitantly you put your foot over its head and shut your eyes tightly as you step down.
You wince at the following crunch, but know it’s for the best. The creature would have only suffered worse otherwise.
As the squirrel dies, a blue box appears in front of your vision.
Small Gicko Squirrel defeated; 37 experience acquired.
The box disappears as you finish reading it. Apparently the animal was called a Gicko Squirrel, whatever that is.
You sit back on the rock and stare down at the mess on the ground, the berries and mushrooms scattered from when you dropped them.
The choice still remains on what you should eat, although as you look at the dead squirrel you suppose there’s now another option on the table.
What do you eat?
1) The red berries?
2) The bizarre looking mushrooms?
3) The Gicko Squirrel?
4) Eat everything?