"I'm starving Jacky..."
"Don't worry Sera. I'll find you food once we find a place to stay for the night.
After a brief episode at the entrance of the dungeon, Jack and Sera decided to find a good place to settle before nightfall. Unfortunately, they've been walking for tens of minutes but there is no caves or place he was satisfied.
"Oh! A berry!"
"SERA WAIT---"
*munch* *munch*
"Blergh, So bitter!"
"Thank God it's not poisonous."
Jack knows that she's been running for half a day and must be starving. Therefore, he decided to leave her to find some food. She quickly found a hollowed tree and chose to hide in it. What a convenience.
Jack carefully scanned his surroundings. He advanced cautiously, looking for fruits that seem edible. Knowing that he didn't have time on his side, Jack set aside his fear for the unknown and run forward. He got a little too far away but there was still nothing edible in sight.
'This is a goddamn forest right?! How could there be not a single fruit in here?!!!'
*Rustle* *Rustle* *Rustle*
"Hm?"
Jack jumped and immediately turned towards a small bush. He gulped and nervously approached it.
'Must be just some animal, right?'
*squeak* *squeak*
'Hah... just some rabbit.'
However, before Jack could walk away, his nose twitched as if he smelled something delicious.
He slowly turned his gaze back towards the rabbit.
*drip*
Saliva began to slide down his elongated tongue. His own hunger resurfaced, clawing at him. His eyes turned bloodshot and the only thing that remained in his mind was to slaughter and rip that rabbit apart to devour its flesh.
Unconsciously, he slowly advanced towards it.
Step by step, he slowly loses his senses and was being overwhelmed by his animal instincts.
He didn't know what was happening. All he knows was that he needs to devour this meat to quench his hunger.
*squeak*
Seemingly sensing a menacing aura, the rabbit turned around. Jack's frightening appearance immediately scared it to scampering away as fast as it could.
However, like a hunter looking at its prey, Jack immediately dashed forward in all his four.
The rabbit was fast, but Jack was faster.
Nevertheless, the rabbit's body was designed for escaping. Not to mention the fact that it was an experienced escapee.
Using its flexible body, it was able to evade Jack's attacks and make sharp turns to lengthen their distance.
This seems to annoy Jack.
His eyes gleamed with seriousness. The veins in his arms bulged when tremendous power was transferred as he made one powerful leap.
Despair flashed through the rabbit's eyes but it still tried to leaped towards a clearing after they reached the end of the forest.
*SLAM*
Jack caught the rabbit mid-air before he slammed towards the ground.
The rabbit squirmed and cried to no avail. Above it were an opened mouth full of razor sharp teeth, slowly closing in.
*splurt*
Jack bit its head off before proceeding to devour its flesh.
He didn't seem to mind the slimy flesh. It was raw, but to him, it was the most delicious meat he ever had. Blood splashed across his face but he didn't seem to mind it.
*crack*
The sound brought Jack back to reality.
He realized he was kneeling infront of a cliff. There was an apple tree loaded with fruits and a basket filled with it. But more importantly, there was a girl wearing a plain white sundress at the end of the cliff.
She seems to be of the same age as him. She have a bluish black hair and a little mature face. The typical face of a big sister.
However, the most eye-catching was her giant burnt scar covering the right half of her face.
There was extreme fear in her eyes looking at the frightening appearance of Jack devouring the rabbit. She slowly stepped back till she reached the edge of the cliff. Jack stared at her with shock as the ground she's standing cracked and her left foot slides down.
"Shit!"
Jack's remaining humanity forced him to immediately dashed forward. He used his left hand as a grapple hook to hold on top of the cliff before falling to catch the girl's hand with his right.
Jack started to swing. After accumulating enough momentum, he directly threw her back.
*cough* *cough*
Dirt stained her clothes and her arms and legs got bruised from the fall. She coughed and slowly sat up and looked at Jack who seems to be exhausted and was struggling to get up.
She inwardly debated whether she should help him or not. The memory of the slaughtered rabbit was still vivid in her mind and she couldn't help but went pale and shudder.
'Of all the time I can get tired, why now?!'
Jack's hands began to tremble as his andrenaline went off.
'No! Sera's still waiting for me!!!'
Summoning his last drop of strength, pushed himself up. Sadly, his arms went limp halfway and he began to fall.
*grip*
"H-hold on!"
Thankfully, the girl chose to help him at the last moment.
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"I feel like I'm going to die... I can't feel my limbs..."
"M-me too..."
Both Jack and the girl now lay sprawled on the ground, exhausted.
The girl sat up and took a good look of Jack. She noticed that the terrifying aura she felt earlier disappeared. Despite his terrifying appearance, after taking a better look, he still looks quite charming to her.
He seems friendly, as if the one who slaughtered the rabbit was a different person. Maybe him saving her life changed her outlook of him.
"Uhm... M-my name is Elise!"
She lowered her head shyly.
She only has three friends since no one likes her scar. It became a shadow in her heart that made her isolate herself.
Jack also took a good look of her. Although she was still a kid, she also exudes a charm that makes you stare at her longer.
The longer you stare at her, the more beautiful she gets.
Probably because of his origins and the fact that his appearance was also terrifying, her scar actually looks cute to him.
"You actually looks cute... and your scar compliments your beauty."
Perhaps because no one other than her friends and family complimented her, especially her scar, those words was enough to throw her mind in a flurry.
"Y-you're handsome too!"
Seeing her get so worked up, Jack started to laugh loudly while she can only look over in confusion.
"I'm Jack. I'm actually looking for food."
"You mean that rabbit..."
Only now did Elise actually noticed the blood across his face. Jack also felt it before he rubbed it off with his rugged clothes.
"I-I can't really remember what happened... I might gone crazy from hunger."
Hearing this, Elise stood up and went towards the apple tree. She carried a small basket full of apple and brought it over to Jack.
"You can have my apples!"
"R-really?! You can last a few days with this much apples!"
"*giggle* We have plenty of food. We don't need apples."
"Oh... I'll take this then. Thank you very much! I promise I'll repay you for this!"
Jack happily took the basket and prepared to leave.
"Wait! W-will you come back? I can bring you delicious food next time... You can also take apples here anytime. Father said it was a magical tree that can bear fruits everyday."
Elise feels a little loss after seeing her newfound friend leaving.
"But... I think this is enough. Anymore and I'll feel like I'm abusing your kindness."
"You're not! You're a friend! Father said to help your friends unconditionally. Also if you become like earlier again due to hunger, you might hurt other people even if you don't mean it. So please let me help you. "
Jack stared at her pleading face and can't help but smile.
"Ok. Next time I might introduce you to Sera. Bye!"
"I'd love to meet her!"
And with a wave of their hands, a quite terrifying but a pleasant encounter come to an end.
Elise looked on until his back disappeared to the forest. She uttered a deep sigh and sadly sat down--- not until she saw the remains of the slaughtered rabbit with its innards scattered around and head missing. She grew pale and started to retch.
*clang* *clang* *clang*
"Little Eli? Little Eli!!!"
A loud clanging noise of metal plates approached. It was a group of armored knights with a blonde middle aged man leading them. After noticing the crooked position of Elise and the horrifying remains of a dead animal, Morris dashed towards her.
"Little Eli are you alright? What happened?!"
Morris felt ashamed that he failed his duty as the personal guard of the miss, but more angry at himself for failing to protect his niece.
"I-it was just a wolf... Yes! A wolf! I-it stole my apples..."
He felt even more angry hearing that her life got endangered. He directly kneeled down in front of her.
"I endangered My Lady's life and deserved to be punished!"
Seeing this, Elise got frightened and helped Morris up.
"No Uncle Morris!!! It actually just accidentally chased a rabbit here and then took my apples... I-I just got frightened, but I'm completely fine!"
"I still needs to be punished. Don't worry, I'll tighten the security around you and make sure none like this happen again."
Elise panicked. She knows that Jack might get killed if he was found out. She will never be able to see her friend again if this continues.
"No Uncle Morris!!! I-I don't want feeling like someone is watching me... I promise this will not happen again!"
"But---"
"Just give me one of those defensive scrolls like father said!"
"I... I'll discuss this with my lord. For now let us go back.
Behind them, one guard is bewildered by the story.
'Wolves eat apples? They even took the basket!'
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"I'm lost..."
The sun was setting, and reddish orange sunrays shown on the forest. Jack was still walking and wandering around but he can't remember where he came from. He was starting to panic since Sera was still there waiting and it was getting dark.
He didn't know what to do until he smelled a familliar scent.
'I don't remember my sense of smell being this sharp.'
He followed it like a dog sniffing in the air until he saw the familiar hollowed tree and a little girl curled into a ball inside.
He gently smiled.
He approached and gently rubbed Sera's face to wake her up.
"Sera, I've brought some food!"
She tiredly sat up and yawned before rubbing her watery eyes.
"Jacky...? Apples!!!"
She exclaimed before greedily grabbing some and biting it with a huge smile.
"SWEET!!!"
"Eat as much as you want."
Sera ate three apples before falling asleep leaning at Jack. It was a little uncomfortable position to him, but he can't really bear to wake her after seeing her cute sleeping face. Therefore, he just endured it with the determination of a knight fighting for his nation.
Eventually, he fell asleep leaning back on the tree. He might just woke up with a numb neck or a painful back in the morning. A pretty good trade in his opinion.