"Uuuu..."
The girl wakes up at last. Quickly, I leave the scene to peek at her from the cave entrance.
She blinks once and twice, until she notices the pebbles arrayed in front of her.
They are shaped like a present box, with fruits laying on the inside. And then, near them, another group of pebbles are arranged like the shape of a moth-butterfly.
Of course, it was me who did that. If I can't communicate with words, then I will communicate with images instead.
Now, to see her reaction.
"A present? From... the monster?"
At this moment, I present myself. Slowly, of course. Don't want to scare her after all.
She gasps when she sees my appearance; fear etched on her face. I counter this by making the most cute and pathetic face I can possibly do as a chimera butterfly.
"You... you are not a bad monster?"
I let out a tiny shriek in response.
"I see. I am sorry for thinking you are bad, Mr. Moth."
I come closer to her, letting her touch my insect body.
It feels nice.
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After that, we have dinner with the fruits I have gathered. She eats the fruits with a happy smile on her face. I try not to eat too many fruits so that she will get a bigger share.
"Mr. Moth." She speaks while she's peeling her banana. "Would you happen to know the way back to the village?"
The village? So there is a village around here.
"You see, I was supposed to gather herbs in the forest for mama. But I got lost, and now I don't know how to go back. And the herbs are all gone too..."
Her scarlet eyes are starting to get watery.
Before any tears can fall off, she wipes them with the sleeve of her red cloak.
"N-nevermind. Of course a monster like Mr. Moth wouldn't know about the village."
It is decided. I'm going to look for the village tomorrow.
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Welp. Turns out the village is pretty damn far from where the cave is.
I am quite amazed that the girl has managed to stay alive while walking all the way from the village to the cave. That's at least 10 km or so.
Though this does explain why I haven't seen any other humans during those long days before I evolve to this butterfly form.
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Anyway, I find the village, and with it, the edge of the forest.
It's your typical village you see in your RPG games; wooden housing, a sparse population, etc.
I can't get any closer without scaring the villagers so I can only peek at them from the forest trees.
If only I had evolved to a more domestic animal like a cat or a dog...
Oh well, at least now I know where to return the girl to.
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"Really, Mr. Moth? You know the way to my village?"
Her eyes glitter with joy looking at my pebble drawing. It shows an arrow pointing to a house.
I shriek happily.
"Yay, you're the best, Mr. Moth!"
I smile inwardly as she gives me a big hug. Gone are her apprehension for my ugly form.
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We depart right in the morning next day. Seeing how my form doesn't exactly allow her to climb on my back while I am flying, I will have to carry her using my telekinesis.
"Waaah, we're so high in the air!" she shouts as we lift off from the ground. I am proud how she isn't afraid of the heights at all.
I make sure no predatorial or other dangerous creatures would get anywhere close to her location. From mischievous monkeys to monster plants, all either fall to my sleeping dust or to my telekinesis. Yes, I now can perform telekinesis on two objects at once. The trick is to split your concentration to both objects. At first, it's hard and not exactly stable, but now I trust myself enough to carry the little girl safely.
When we get close to her village, we land down near the forest. She understands at I cannot show myself to the villagers.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Moth! I will never forget your kindness!"
She gives me a parting kiss--not in the mouth of course, but on my body--before running towards the village.
One good deed finished, I return to the depths of the forest.
I have to evolve once more. I cannot go among the humans looking like this.
I just hope I will obtain a better looking form next time.