The boy was sure that the red haired human was really ill. Or else, why would it run away. He had left it in a safe place away from any of the beasts. He had even left it where there was plenty of food, which, it could eat if it got hungry. Those conditions would make him very happy and willing to stay if a stronger human had left with them. Not to mention that, he had covered it with the skin of the buck so as to keep her warm and comfortable. The boy was bewildered by his fellow human's lack of gratitude. It had even vomited by the sleeping place!
He closed his eyes and tried to sense to other party. He found it easily. It moved very slowly. But, it was actually running straight into the territory of another king. Did it really want to die so much?
He took off in the direction of the human and caught up to it immediately.
***
Anya was running as fast as she possibly could. The thought of that boy who could easily kill so many of the 3rd grade beastmen and even stop that huge dragon's arm, brought a shiver up her spine. She had fainted when the boy had carried her away at that fast speed. When she woke up, she found herself stuffed inside the cut open, empty womb of a dead Regu-Buck. It was a class 4 dire beast. Something which would have needed 3 cryocasters like her to kill and that too with some difficulty. She couldn't figure out how a child who looked about 8 years old would have that sort of strength. Also, that pained draconic roar that had woken her up…that couldn't have been caused by the remaining squad. They had sorely mistaken the strength of a class 9 dire beast. Even their army of 500 strong could only struggle. But, they could have had the chance to escape if it weren't for that child.
Thinking of him, she couldn't help but be fearful. Covered in blood he stood naked to easily catch the arm of that monster they had struggled so much against. What had he been thinking, leaving her in such a terrifying place alone? When she woke up and saw that she was inside a dead body, one that was also half eaten, she felt so nauseated that she could only vomit. Crawling away from the place, Anya had started running away from the area in the direction opposite that of the dragons roars. Anywhere would be better than there.
As she continued running, her mind had cleared and she started to notice a weird anomaly. There were no other beasts near her. Though she was happy that there was nothing chasing her, that brought up the question of why? As she was thinking of this, Anya saw a big gold and silver striped tiger lying lazily under the moonlight in the middle of a clearing. It was looking at her dead in the eye and she thought, 'So that's why…this is the territory of an aurum-argentum tiger….' She slowed to a stop and stiffened in fear as her brain started to process the situation she was in.
The tiger got up and slowly, very slowly walked up to her as she closed her eyes to accept her fate again. But after a few breaths had passed, the tiger had not killed her yet. She opened her eyes to see the back of the same boy in front of her. This seemed to be the second time tonight that she found herself in the same situation.
The boy dashed to the front of the king. He saw that it was stalking the human but seeing him, it grew cautious and paused its footstep.it growled lightly in a questioning tone and he nodded. This human was indeed under his protection. The tiger shrugged and went back to its sleeping position and signaled him to take her away while letting out a lazy yawn. The boy turned to look at the other human in a slightly angry way.
Eyes wide, Anya watched the boy calmly interacting with a ferocious beast. The tiger was actually of a higher level than the dragon which their group had targeted and been wiped out by. After sending it away, the boy turned to look at her in a threatening way. She could once again feel her blood running cold. Before she could say or do anything, the boy grabbed her shoulder to carry her. He then dashed back to the place with the two carcasses before putting her down.
He put her down and tore a piece of meat from the dead body and offered it to her. Looking at the slightly bloody piece of meat, she hesitated before accepting it. She didn't think that he wanted to hurt her and none of the other humans were killed by him, only the beastmen. She cringed at the thought of the slaughter and decided to put it out of her mind. So, she started talking to him.
"What is your name?"
"Do you live here alone?"
"Where are your parents?"
"How are you so strong?"
But, to every question, all she got was a blank look that didn't seem to understand anything. She finally understood that he couldn't speak or understand anything she said. She sighed and was about to give up when she heard,
"Wwa..wat ees eor nnaim?" in a broken unused to voice.
He continued, "du eu leeve alone?" She raised her head and was shocked.
"Uer ar eor parans?"
"Hau ar eu so strong?"
As she watched on, the boy had repeated everything she had said word for word in a sweet voice albeit broken. Before she could say anything, he repeated,
"What is your name?"
"Do you live alone?"
"Where are your parents?"
"How are you so strong?"
She was ecstatic. He was so intelligent that he could repeat what she had said clearly the first time he had heard it. She continued to say various things. Everything about her. What the names of the beasts and plants around them were. She told him the alphabets and numbers and various common knowledge as he repeated everything she said word for word perfectly. In an hour, he had started to understand everything she said. By dawn, he could speak the language fluently as if it were his mother tongue.
He had asked what the round things on her chest were and he was hit on his head. Though the punch had hurt Anya more than the boy, she explained to him that she was a girl and that all girls have these organs called breasts. It was the same as the ones found in female beasts. Though the boy claimed that he had never noticed them before when hunting.
"So, what is your name?" Anya asked in a tired tone of voice. She had not slept all night.
"I don't have a name" The boy replied with a bright smile which was not tired in the least. This was the first time that he was talking with another of his kind. The excitement he was feeling couldn't be described in words. He knew because despite learning so many words, the boy couldn't express his feeling clearly.
"You can't not have a name. Hmm let me give you one." By this time, Anya and the nameless boy had grown quite close and she no longer had her guard up.
"No! I want to name myself." He said. For some reason, in the depth of his mind, he didn't like the act of naming. If someone were to name him, he'd rather that it be himself.
"Ok, if you don't really want me to. But I cant keep calling you boy, can i? Lets see, I know, Ill call you brother."
"Fine by me, Anya."
"No, you will call me sis from now on"
"Okay, sis!"
"Now, let me continue my questioning, Why do you live alone and how are you so strong?"
"But you asked me…"
Cutting him off, Anya said, "I know what I asked. Forget it. Just tell me if you have any memory of other people, humans I mean."
"No, I can't really remember anything from before 3 years ago. My first memory is spitting out the water from the beach west of here."
"You actually didn't die from drinking that radioactive water!?" Anya asked paling.
"No, after spitting it out, the water seemed to crawl away back to the ocean."
"The water here has turned sentient!?" Anya exclaimed. "Okay, forget about it. Tell me, how exactly are you so strong?"
"Oh that? I kill the beasts and eat their flesh unlike you. I also drink all their blood and any other liquids inside them. I've always wondered what they drank. But, I never saw anything. They only eat other beasts like me. The few types who eat the grass don't even get the blood. I tried to eat the grass as well but it didn't make me stronger."
"How can you even digest the…whatever, I don't want to know. You are just too weird. Anyway, what happened to the dragon that we were fighting" That brought bad memories to her which she suppressed.
The boy excitedly jumped up and exclaimed, "I almost forgot about that! Come with me! I'll show you." Saying so, he carried her on his back and took her towards the clearing which used to serve as the dragon's nest.