“So, what the hell am I looking at?” I asked Rachel, my AI companion taking up residence in my head. I was in the living room section of the cabin. More specifically, I was seated on the chair at the examiner’s table, scrutinizing a strange looking creature I held up by the lamp.

“Scanning…” Rachel said, gathering data as I held up the creature by the tail. It looked like a lizard. It was gray in color, almost a bluish white. Its skin was extremely smooth, and it had two black beady eyes on either side of its head. It was kind of cute. But it jumped on my face while I was sleeping and startled me awake. so, it needed to go.

A blue screen suddenly appeared in a corner of my vision carrying the creature’s information.

“it’s called a water lizard.” Rachel said. “They are extremely rare, and are only found in forest lakes, trees, and ponds. Like chameleons, they are also famously known for their unique ability to seamlessly blend in with their environment. However, the water lizard’s abilities far surpass those of the chameleon as they are able to actually cloak themselves to the point of being practically invisible.”

A cute looking creature with a really cool ability, I thought. But it still needed to go.

I took it outside then set it down in front of the cabin. That’s when I realized it was morning. I had only slept for a total of forty minutes, and I suddenly remembered how Rachel had said that the healing potion I took was only going to last for about an hour. So I needed to head into town as soon as I could.

After glancing around the environment for a bit, I looked down and found that the water lizard was no longer there. Maybe it had already left. I turned to head into the cabin to grab a few things before leaving for town. But out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly caught sight of the creature. The little critter had crawled up my shoulder.

“Nope. Nope. Nope.” I reached to grab the lizard from my shoulder then plopped it back down on the ground. “You, stay.” I gestured for it to remain where it was, before turning around to head inside. Then I found it on my shoulder again.

“What the… How do you keep doing that?”

I took the little white lizard from my shoulder and marched towards the lake. “Rachel.” I called out. “This thing can swim right?”

“Yes, but…”

I was just about ready to toss the lizard into the water when. “Hunter, look!” Rachel stopped me in the process.

At first, I wasn’t sure what she wanted me to see. Then I realized. It was what I was unable to see she was talking about. My hand. I couldn’t see it. I couldn’t see my hand. It was transparent. Not only that but when I looked down, I found that my entire body was see through as well. It was almost like I was a ghost. Some kind of near invisible phantom. Huh. I thought to myself. Interesting.

***

I was back in the cabin sitting on the chair. The lizard was sitting on the table in front of me, staring at me.

“Did you know it could do that?” I asked Rachel.

“No, I didn’t.” Rachel replied. “But I don’t see this as a surprise as information on the species is very lacking. The water lizards are hard to find. So not many people get the opportunity to study them.

“So, since it appears you are sticking around for the time being, what should I name you?”” I asked the lizard who continued to study me with a dumb founded gaze. Even after it had showed off its impressive ability to turn not only itself invisible, but also any other person who had to be touching its body in that very moment, I stilled tried to get rid of it. I had gently placed it in the water for it to swim off, only for it to then reappear on my shoulder the second I turned my back on the lake to leave. It was then I decided to stop trying to force it away and instead waited until it got bored and left on its own.

“How about Lakey?” I asked the lizard. “You know, because you came from the lake.” I waited for the critter to respond and I only got its dumb founded stare in response.

“Okay, what about Slick?” I asked the creature again, offering up another potential choice for a name. “Because your skin is so smooth.” I told it, but it once again gave me that dumb look. But then it blinked twice, and I took that as my confirmation.

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“Alright, then I guess we have a winner.” I said. “Welcome to the club Slick. You are an official monster slayer now.”

“You know it can’t understand what you are saying right?” Rachel said, and I looked at the creature. “No, I think it gets the gist.”

Suddenly there was a loud splash outside. Someone or something had jumped into the lake.

I quickly stood up from the chair and headed for the front door. Slick, who had been sitting on the table a second before I had got up, had now vanished. I stepped outside and turned in the direction of the lake. And that’s when I saw her. A little girl, maybe four to five years old, had jumped into the water and was now swimming to keep herself afloat. She was staring at me.

She had short black hair and wore a simple white gown. She didn’t seam to be having any troubles with the water. She held something in one of her hands. It resembled a fruit.

“Any idea who she might be?” I asked Rachel.

“I’m afraid not.” Rachel replied. “But my guess is she might be from town. Which reminds me. We really need to get going. You have ten minutes before the effects of the healing potion begins to ware off.”

“Let’s kill two birds with one stone then.” I told Rachel. “Let’s find out where she lives and help her get home.”

I tried walking towards the lake in order to speak to the little girl. Almost immediately she began moving away from me. it took quite a little bit of convincing on my part, showing the girl I meant no harm and telling her I only wanted to help her get home. Eventually she grew comfortable enough to let me approach the side of the lake.

“So, you got a name?” I asked the little girl who was now sitting on the ground beside me. she still had her legs in the lake, playfully kicking the water and haply munching on her fruit.

“Is that safe?” I asked Rachel, my eyes trained on what she was eating.

“Sun fruit.” Rachel replied in my head. “extremely healthy and nutritious. Not to mention quite tasty.”

Catching me stealing a glance at her breakfast, the little girl suddenly stopped eating and plunged the remainder of her fruit in my face, urging me to take a bight. “E.” she said, gesturing for me to go ahead.

“Umm, thank you. I’m quite full.” I lied, smiling. ”I had a lot to eat this morning, so you should go ahead and finish that.” The little girl studied me with inquisitive eyes for a moment, almost as if she knew I was lying. But then she continued eating, and as soon as she was done with the fruit, she got out of the water to get another.

come to think of it, how did she get a hold of the one she had been eating. The sun fruit tree that was standing by the lake was quite big and tall. Most of the fruits were at the very top of the tree, almost several feet high. Even if I super jumped, I still wouldn’t be able to reach them. Just as I was starting to convince myself that she had probably gotten the one she had been eating from among the fresh once that had fallen at the base of the tree, she then did something that left me dumb founded.

She walked over to the side of the tree then positioned herself so she was now facing the lake. Then she took a couple steps back and looked up. Her targets were a few very juicy looking sun fruits that were located at the topmost part of the tree. She licked her lips in anticipation then performed a little crouch. Then, after centering herself, she suddenly broke into a short sprint and leaped into the air.

I immediately took my legs out of the water and got to my feet. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The little girl continued to soar towards the top of the tree, not a look of fear or worry plastered on her face. Instead she was laser focused on her targets, and the moment she reached her goal she quickly plucked two of the fruits off the tree before clutching them closely to her chest and letting her momentum and gravity take over. She began falling towards the lake but just before she fell in, she somehow slowed her descent and landed in the water with a soft splash.

She emerged out of the water a second later smiling and holding up two very ripe sun fruits.

I was speechless.

When she swam out of the lake, she came to meet me and held up one of the fruits for me to take.

“Thank you.” I said, still a bit shell-shocked at what she had just done. She motioned for me to resume our initial sitting arrangement by the lake, and I obliged. Then as soon as she took her first bight of the sun fruit she was holding; she gave a little gasp then pointed to my left shoulder.

I didn’t even need to see the thing she was pointing at to know what it was. Slick, the water lizard from earlier, was now perched on my left shoulder.

“Oh, umm, he’s a friend.” I said to the little girl as I picked up Slick from my shoulder and placed him on the ground between us. Cautiously, she watched him for a little while before eventually deciding to pull a little bit of her sun fruit a part and offered it to him.

Slick haply accepted the treat and nibbled on the piece of fruit until he finished it. then he rushed up the little girl’s arm and came to a rest on top of her head.

The little girl began to laugh.

“Wait, he’s not poisonous right?” I asked Rachel.

“He is.” She replied.

“What?”

“Relax, I’m kidding.” Rachel said. “Water lizards are extremely docile creatures and pack no venom. So Slick is completely safe to be around.”

The little girl had resumed eating her sun fruit and she was also now feeding Slick as well. I in turn, took a bight of my sun fruit, the first thing I had tasted since I woke up in the forest. It was delicious. An explosion of a flavor I have never tasted before. However, before I could take my second bight, something happened.

“Warning. Hostile approaching.” Rachel’s voice boomed from within the inside of my head, and before I could ask for any more details something large and heavy suddenly came crashing into the sun fruit tree in front of us. So many of the fruits came splashing into the lake as a result.

I quickly turned my attention over to the little girl, and the last thing I saw was her gazing in the direction of the noise with a terrified expression on her face. I was just about to tell her to run and go hide in the cabin when I realized she was slowly turning invisible. The noise from the crash must have terrified Slick and he was now trying to blend into the environment while still sitting on the little girl’s head. At least whatever monster had arrived wouldn’t be able to see her anymore.

I couldn’t say the same for myself though.

“Go. Hide.” I said to the empty space beside me, where the little girl once sat. And the sudden sound of receding footsteps told me she had gotten my message and was now running to hide in the cabin.

I got to my feet and took a bight of my sun fruit before tossing it aside. Then I looked up in the direction of the tree and found the thing that had crashed our early morning breakfast party. a massive grayish creature with six black eyes and six long legs was staring down at me from the tree. It had giant shark teeth and possessed what looked like the tail of a scorpion, with a massive stinger at the end. The monster looked considerably large and powerful, and with my overall health only at 57%, I really couldn’t tell if I had a chance with this creature. But I had to try. After all, I didn’t have just myself to worry about in that very moment. I also had the safety of the little girl to think about as well. So the creature needed to die.

“Alright ugly.” I said. “Let’s….”

I was about to throw a really cool one liner when the massive creature suddenly lunged at me from the tree, cutting me off.