Sunshine painted the snow with yellowish golden colour. Lee Shen woke up early as he always did. He was naked, but he didn't feel any coldness at night. He slept careless, like a baby. Perhaps it was the best sleep he ever had after joining the monastery. He sat on the branch and slowly stepped down from the tree. From the lowest branch, he jumped to the ground. His 'little brother' downstairs swung between his legs like an elephant trunk. After making sure that he still does not have any hunger or thirst, he decided to do his usual physical exercises. But certain concerns about his nudity distracted him.
'If it's not a dream, then its real. *looks down* I must do something about clothes. Hmmm…...I think I saw some quadrupedal beings yesterday night. But, it will be a suicide to go hunting now. I need to build up my strength. Hope there aren't any wolves in the vicinity.'
Taking the cover of snow which was about his knee, Lee Shen slowly moved towards where he saw the pack last night. As he neared the site, he saw blood traces smeared on snow. Later he found some pieces of bones which seem to be the only leftovers of yesterday's hunting pack. This scene gave him chills.
'This means there are preys and predators hiding in plain sight. Better retreat!'
Without wasting a second, Lee Shen went back to the tree and climbed to his spot. After a moment's hesitation, he decided to reach the highest branch of the tree. Even before climbing to the top, he glanced at the sky, only to have his heart skip a beat.
'Two…..two suns?! The heck! Which damned world has two suns?'
His mind was freaking out! Two stars, one orange-reddish and another, a yellowish-orange, radiated it's warmth on him. He was alright looking at them. His eyes didn't ache. After almost losing balance, He tightened his grip and prepared his mind for more surprises to come.
*sigh*
He sighed as he poked his head through the leaves for a clear sight. There weren't any new features he could be amazed on. He and the tree were surrounded by an endless snowy plain. After observing every nook and corner around him, he noticed some life-saving facts. One, he is definitely not on Earth. He considered twin stars and the doughnut moon as evidence. Two, What he saw yesterday was not adult wild animals, but children of six-legged beasts roaming around. He saw two six legged creatures as big as a bison, with two pairs of forelimbs and a pair of strong and stout hindlimbs. Third and final, everything, literally EVERYTHING around him had the ability to kill. That's because he saw a fluffy rabbit-like creature kill and eat a child bison-like creature in a bloody fight.
With trembling hands, he stepped down to his usual spot. He was glad that he did not go to hunt. He thanked fate for his retreat earlier. Lee Shen believed that his hungerlessness was a blessing from the heavens.
For the time being, he decided to take a nap, but was soon woken up by some irritating scratching sounds followed by a loud 'thump'. He jumped up as soon as he felt a strong vibration passing through the tree. He unconsciously looked down. And what he saw drenched him in cold sweat. That damned six-legged parent beast and it's two children were at the bottom of the tree. The parent was charging at the trunk of the tree while it's children were clawing the bark. The tree was strong, but Lee Shen clearly heard a cracking from the trunk.
'Holy stupid fuck…...am I about to be its food?! The tree won't hold too long. The moment it falls, I must make a run for it. I know i can't beat it, still…...I hope to!'
Lee Shen cursed his stupidity due to which he's about to die. How could wild animals not have keen sense of smell?! But he wasn't willing to give up. He knows that the beast is far more powerful than him in strength and speed, but still couldn't just give up like that. So he mustered his courage to put up one last and final act before he died. If it worked, he would live. If not…...he didn't want to think of that part!
Every second passing felt like a year for him. The trunk finally admitted defeat and the lone tree fell on the snow. Lee Shen jumped right before the tree kissed the ground, hoping that snow might act as a shock-absorber. His ignorance to science nearly made him a cripple, but how can one think of smart ideas when death was knocking at the door?
Gritting his teeth in pain, Lee Shen ran with everything he got to reach as far as he could. Then, the child beasts started blocking his way one after the other. They stood in a way to let him run in a specific direction. Unknownst to him, the beasts were intelligent. He saw a gap among their formation and ran through there to escape.
He unconsciously glanced over his shoulder to see the parent chasing him, but they didn't. It stood near the tree trunk looking at him fleeing. He couldn't find a reason for their suspicious behaviour. The next moment, his eyes went wide as soon as he realised that he was actually running straight to where the pack had their party last night. He gulped his saliva as he realised the trap set for him.
The next moment, a child beast which was hiding in snow pounced on him from his right. He could only make a slight change in his posture as the sneak attack was too good to avoid. The beast's right claw made a huge slash on his stomach before landing. Lee Shen felt immense pain which momentarily disrupted his running rhythm. He fell down with the forward momentum and a bleeding stomach. His pain made him numb to run, at the least, to stand up. He mustered his strength and tried to crawl away, but the child beast was already blocking him. He lost all hopes of life.
As the parent beast came running towards him, He wished to live again. As a vicious overgrown set of white teeth closed on him, he closed his eyes and prepared himself to embrace death!