I woke up completely wrapped up in my cloak after another good night of sleep. The contrast between the warmth caught inside the cloth and the cold breeze blowing outside encourages me to go back to sleep. Sadly, I know I should not waste any more time. After some inner struggle I decide it is best to get up. With a heavy sigh I exit my cocoon and face the cold world.
The wind immediately sends shivers down my body. Rubbing my arms, I curse the cloudy morning sky and sit closer to the campfire. Even when I put my hands above the flame, the weakly lit fire does little to warm me up.
“D-D-Dammit why is it so cold!?” Looking up, the greyish clouds seem to forecast a coming storm. I have no time to waste. I need to hurry up and return to the village before it starts raining.
I quickly get up on my feet and start stretching. To my surprise my body feels surprisingly light. I move my arms in circles and hop in place to test it. My muscles are still a little sore but for the first time in a while I feel like I can move normally. With delight I open my status screen and confirm I am slowly recovering.
Motivated by the good news, I resume my journey. This time I remembered to put out the fire before leaving. Looking back, not making sure the fire was completely out yesterday was really dumb. The forest may be cold but starting a forest fire is definitely not the solution. After stomping around and kicking some dirt on it, I grabbed the unused fishing spear and head back to the river.
Following the river should eventually led me back to the place where I fell into the water. From there I should be able to make my way back to the village. Walking along the river should also make it easy to spot fish. I really want to eat. Rubbing my noisy stomach above my shirt, I confirm that I need to take better care of my new body. I cannot afford to keep pushing myself like this. I have no idea what the limits of this body are. I have no idea whether this body can keep living like this. All I know is that I need food and rest.
Even then, my knowledge about this body is very limited. Staring at the four winged birds burring themselves into the tree trunks I realize that I don’t really know what I should do about my diet. I probably need a lot of food. This body is small and small animals need to eat a lot to stay alive. I also look like a child and kids need to eat a lot to grow up healthy. That being said, I have no way of knowing if that is how this body works. I could be wrong. I can’t really use the knowledge of my old body as reference. Not only was I awful at keeping myself healthy, since I am no longer human there is a chance all my assumptions could be wrong anyway. I am in a completely different world now. My 30 years of experience as a man may not translate well into this little demon girl. Maybe eating sporadically was better for this body. After all, it’s been several days since I arrived here and I am doing relatively fine. If it turns out this body needs a specific diet, then eating the wrong thing or the wrong quantity could make me very sick. Asking the villagers about the biology of my species may be a necessity if I want to get better.
I continue to walk next to the stream lost on my thoughts for what feels like hours. With the sun completely covered in clouds I only have my own tiredness to measure the passage of time. No fish had swam by so far. With a heavy sigh I stop to look around me.
“This makes no sense. I have been walking for hours. I should not be that far away from the village now” The current did not drag me for that long. Yet no matter where I looked the waters and surrounding forest were completely unfamiliar to me. Filled with uncertainty I pick up the pace, desperately searching for a familiar view. After a few meters I am forced to come to a stop again. The stream in front of me is almost completely encaged by the surrounding trees. This river here is too shallow to be the one that dragged me away.
Concerned, I decide to climb a nearby tree hoping that I would be able to see the village from here.
But no matter how hard I try, all I can see is forest. Then I realize the distant mountain range I saw yesterday is now just a few kilometers away.
I climb down feeling defeated. As soon as my feet touch the ground I let myself fell on my butt. With panicked breathing I realize I have no idea where I am. I realize I have been following the wrong river this whole time. I finally realize that I am lost.
Frustrated and scared, all I can do is let out a scream. I let all my emotions pour out as I hold my head between my hands.
“I am such an idiot!!”
As if to reply to my roar, a loud sound echoes through the forest. The sudden noise quickly puts me on my feet. With my makeshift spear in one hand and my dagger in the other, I nervously start scanning my surroundings. It looks like my sudden outburst attracted the attention of some wild animal.
The beating of my heart becomes distractingly loud. The rustling of the leaves on the wind drowns all the sound around me. The birds on the top of the trees fly off in a panic. I desperately look around but I see nothing. I take some timid steps with my trembling legs but nothing comes out to attack me. The feeling of being watched weights heavily on my mind. All I can do is wait with my back against the tree, hoping that I won’t be ambush from behind. I have no idea what is coming. I have no idea where it is coming from. I have no idea when it is going to attack.
Suddenly, a large figure jumps out from the bushes to my right. All my mind registers is a row of teeth quickly coming closer to my face. I forget to use the spear to attack. Instead, I instinctively rise my hand to protect myself, accidentally sticking the piece of wood on the creature’s mouth. That seems to be enough to stop the teeth from closing on my flesh.
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Fully extending my arm to create some distance is not enough to put me outside of its mouth’s range. I don’t even try to pull the spear from its powerful bite. I instead let go and quickly crawl backwards. Remembering I have a dagger on my other hand I pointlessly start swinging it in front of me. The creature doesn’t come closer. Instead, it spits out the wood on its mouth and starts slowly circling around me.
The beast in front of me is larger than the wolves I encountered the other day. Its slim figure and long legs gave it a somewhat canine look. It is certainly closer in look to a jackal or a dingo than a wolf. Its almond stripped fur makes it blend to the background, making it hard to pinpoint how far from me it actually is. In its rear end a long tail whips the air, creating an unsettling loud noise that reverberates through my chest. Its most prominent feature however is its absurdly long snout completely covered in sharp curved teeth. With a roar, its mouth opens on an impossible angle and the creature charges towards me. It seems it is capable of dislocating its jaw like a snake. It seems it is planning on swallowing me whole.
I roll to the side as fast as I can and somehow manage to dodge its attack. Its teeth sink deep into the tree that was behind me just a second ago. I try to stand up but something pulls on my cloak, cutting my breath. Looking behind I see the cloth is caught between the beast’s teeth and the tree trunk. It seems to be stuck. With no hesitation I use the dagger to cut the knot on my neck and start running.
The creature takes no time to free itself from the tree and cut my escape route. With a swift movement of its tail it whips the ground in front of my feet, forcing me to stop dead on my tracks. I reflexively put the dagger between us to defend myself but I quickly realize this is pointless. Neither my arm nor the blade are long enough to put me outside of the range of its bite. This defensive stance provides no real defense against my opponent. As if to mock me, the creature continues to violently whip its tail, forcing me to step back. Rushing in to attack it won’t be an option.
As usual, the only thing I can do is run away. Focused on escaping, I use my free hand to shot /steal/ at it. I don’t bother to check if it connected. As soon as the black wind leaves my palm I turn around and start running. I run between the trees as hard as I can. The sound of broken branches and crushed grass behind me tells me that the monster is pursuing me.
With swift movements it quickly catches up to me and uses its tail to throw me to the ground. Using the momentum of my fall I manage to roll away and avoid its bite. All the creature gets is a mouthful of dry leaves. I try to take advantage of the situation and stab it on the face but all I manage to do is piss it off. The dagger is not sharp enough to pierce its skin, it only leaves a superficial cut across its nose.
Panicked, I quickly try to get on my feet but as soon as I turn around a heavy swing of its tail pins me to the ground. A sharp pain spreads through my back as the air is forced out of my lungs. As I try to put some strength on my limbs a warm liquid stains my clothes. I try to drag myself away but the creature stops me with a paw on my leg.
Ignoring the unpleasant pain in my bloodied back I twist my body and shot /steal/ once again. The imposing row of teeth heading in my direction jumps backwards to avoid the attack, letting me escape. With some difficulty I rise my hand and shot again, forcing the beast to create some distance between us. This gives me enough time to stand up again.
The pain on my back makes it harder to move. I rise both my free hand and the hand holding the dagger in front of me, hopping that my weak defensive stance is enough to prolong this standstill. The creature circles around me menacingly, cutting my routes of escape. Not that it matters, my legs are shaking too much to run.
Careful not to break eye contact with it, I start scanning my surroundings for something I can use. My options are limited. There is nothing in this unfamiliar forest that would give me an advantage. Seeing me distracted, the creature tries coming closer but shooting /steal/ at its feet stops it on its tracks. With a desperate glance I finally notice a hollow trunk on the corner of my vision.
With no time to think, I dive into the bushes and crawl into the hollow tree. The snapping sound coming from its mouth closing behind my back pushes me to keep crawling. I crawl until I hit my head with the end of the small tunnel. The hole is a lot smaller than I thought. It is barely big enough for me to sit with my legs extended and the ceiling is too low for me to stand up. I twist my body to turn around in the enclosed space and throw a kick to the mouth trying to get inside. As soon as I retreat my leg, its pawns enter the hole and start digging in the entrance. This is immediately followed by its mouth reentering again. As I kick it in the nose, the creature goes back outside and resumes digging, only to try biting me again. With each time its mouth gets closer and closer, forcing me to squeeze myself against the wall.
Cold sweat starts pouring down my body as I realize the beast has digged enough room to fit its face inside the tree. With an unpleasant sound, the creature dislocates its mouth and a pharyngeal jaw shots from inside its long snout. The tiny mouth covered in teeth stops only a few millimeters in front of my nose. The view of that huge maw filled with sharp, hook like teeth clouds my eyes in tears. The alien like mouth shutting right next to my face makes me wet myself in fear.
Shaking in despair I try to make myself as small as possible. I try to create as much distance from those scary teeth trying to drag me inside the monster’s throat as possible. This is pointless. Hitting my bloodstained back against the wall is a grim reminder that I am trapped inside this small hole.
Having exhausted all my options, all it is left for me to do is scream. I scream as hard as I can. I scream at the top of my lungs in the hopes someone would save me.
As if to answer my prayers, the monster lets out a pained growl. It tries to get out but in its panic it seems to have gotten stuck on the entrance. A loud buzzing sound reverberates through the hollow tree as the monster flails around in agony. This continues for what feels like an eternity but the creature eventually drops dead. With it, all of the noise outside also stops.
My uncontrollable sobbing and the loud banging in my chest don’t let me process what just happened. It is not until I notice a high pitched voice asking if there is someone in here that I realize the danger is gone.
Slowly poking my head outside of the tree, I see a pair of green eyes behind glasses staring at me.