Coincidence Twice
While Jennan was holding her breath and concentrating on the area where the sound was coming from, a shadow appeared, and her heart skipped a beat. A huge breath came out of her. She was not even aware that she was holding her breath when a young man came into her view. When he saw her, he stopped and started looking back at her.
She was not expecting to see a human in this forest. Looking at him from top to bottom, she found out he was a young man, not more than sixteen years old, with brown hair, light skin, and black eyes. His height was not taller than 165 centimeters (5.6 inches). He was wearing strange clothes, but apparently it was a traveling clothes. At his back, he was carrying a backpack; though it was hanging on one shoulder, but it looked similar to the one she was given.
For a few seconds, each one of them was looking at the other one, standing still, perhaps waiting for the other one to take the initiative, but none of them moved or said anything. Finally, Jennan decided to start a conversation and said, with a wave of her hand, "Hi, my name is Jennan. What is yours?" She looked at him with a forced smile, waiting for a response. He said, "Aden, nice meeting you," without moving from his spot, which put her at ease for a moment. At least he was concerned about her, which was something.
The staring contest continued between them. None of them had anything else to add. In order for the conversation to continue, they must be both strangers to each other, and it's not like a coffee shop where you initiate a conversation with a random stranger. They didn't know each other's situation, and they met in a forest. None of them know what is going on or what is going to happen. So being cautious is the best way to deal with a situation like this. The biggest thing that took over Jennan's thinking was the mission to survive and not knowing what to survive from. Maybe this young man in front of her is the one that she has to survive. Who knows?.
There were not many options that she could choose from at the moment. She can't trust him, and if she runs, she is not sure if she can outrun him. If he attacks, she doesn't know if she can defend herself from him. So what else is remaining? She knows that she has to come up with a solution and reach a decision as soon as possible. She wouldn't be able to just stand there and stare at him indefinitely. She can't measure his strength from his appearance, and his wariness towards her is also something to consider. All this didn't take more than twenty seconds, and she finally decided to continue the conversation with him and see for herself if he was a friend or foe.
While she was contemplating, he apparently reached his decision, and he moved towards her while saying, "I was headed to the Thames Kingdom, and my vehicle broke down on the road. Suddenly, there was this message in front of my face while there was a very dense fog, giving me a mission, something game-like. Are you the one behind what is going on?"
That was a lot of information. At once, more than what she bargained for. She thought that in her mind, not saying it aloud, she was surprised that there was someone in a similar situation like her, but still. She became suspicious of him immediately. Maybe all this was an act to let her guard down and trap her. She wouldn't disclose all this information at once without at least knowing something in return or getting some information in exchange.
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But he was coming towards her, and staying silent like this would not help. If he was telling the truth, then by keeping silent, she would make him more suspicious of her, and that is not good for her by any means. "No, of course not. I don't even know who you are, and why do you think that I am behind whatever you said?" She asked him a question and gave him an answer at the same time, still trying to get as much information as possible from him.
When he heard what she said, he stopped moving forward. Jennan started staring at him again. He didn't move much from his spot to begin with, so there still wasn't much distance between them. At this point, Jennan decided to counter him with another question before he asked any other questions or even gave an answer to her initial question, knowing that her question may have given him an answer to his first question. At the same time, if he is innocent, it may clear the issue, and depending on his answer, she will be able to judge what to say or do from here on.
Maybe or maybe not, but she doesn't have anything else in mind. Also, if he wanted to hurt her, she believed he would have done it already. "Are you the one who kidnapped me and brought me here against my will?" she asked, and she took one step back, trying to show him that she was suspicious of him. Also, the surprise was totally visible on his face when asked, "Kidnapped?". "Were you kidnapped and brought here?" She felt somehow relieved, not totally still; she couldn't let her guard down, but she had a feeling he was not an enemy.
She didn't take long to make up her mind. Simply put, it is one of two things here. First, he is the same as her, or he is working with the ones who brought her. In the case of the first, he will be an asset, and he could help her survive, and get to the bottom of this thing. But in the case that he is with them, then keeping an eye on him and getting as much information as possible is the best option.
She looked at him in the eyes and said, "Why on earth will I be walking alone in a dangerous forest by my own choice? Isn't it obvious to you?" He looked at her and said, "Sorry, nothing is making any sense to me. I don't even know if I am in a dangerous forest or in the backyard of your house," and she started laughing. She looked at him, wondering if what he was saying was true or false, but from the features of his face when he was talking, it really looked sincere.
She asked him, "Any idea what is going on?" He looked around and said, "No, I don't have any idea." He stopped talking and looked at her and said, "Did they give you a mission?" She answered him, "I don’t know about you, but mine is surviving." "How about you?" He answered, "The same; survive for 24 hours." She asked, "Any idea how we are supposed to survive?" He answered, "No, but I am sure it is something dangerous."
While they were talking, they both heard a sound coming from behind them. Sounds of hoofs running, she felt her heart popping out, and was scared in a way she had never felt before in her life, and suddenly two huge beasts came to a full stop around one hundred meters away.