[XP]: 9500/10000
Fate wiped the sweat dripping from her chin as she looked at the dead slither under her foot. Although she was only five kills from reaching her goal, she was not very happy. "Slither! Slither! Why are there only Slithers!?" She was getting bored of killing the same thing over and over.
"Well, the sun is starting to set as it is. I guess I will just finish up and begin looking for a way back to the settlement." Fate looked around and quickly spotted her prey. After bounding through the trees, she quickly killed the last five slithers.
*Ding!*
[Level]: 1->2/20
[XP]: 0/25000
[Status Points]: 0->10
"There we go! I am now level two..." Fate reached down, slit the slither's throat, and took a drink of blood, maxing out her hunger. "I will distribute my points later. For now, I need to figure out two things. One is how to get back to the settlement, and my other problem is how to bring some blood back with me… No, the second part can be skipped. I have a whole slum to feed on. So I just need to find my way back..."
Fate knew where the cliff wall was since she had always kept the stream at her back. She did this so she would never lose her sense of direction completely. She decided to start with the cliff wall. That was the closest place to the settlement, as far as she knew. She figured she could follow it a little ways and maybe find a spot she could climb up.
Aiden was running a few things through his mind on how to finally reveal himself to Fate. He had been following her nonstop for the past night and day without rest, and his body was already very exhausted with all the running. What he found amazing was Fate didn't seem tired at all, and she was doing more exercises than him. He wondered if this was a trait of her race or not. "I guess I can only act like I was out hunting monsters and pretend to run into her..."
Aiden watched as Fate walked through the forest undaunted. Not a single monster tried to attack her. After thirty minutes of walking, she had finally made it to the cliffside. It was then that he decided to make his move while Fate was staring up at the cliff in front of her. "Miss, you wouldn't happen to be named Fate, would you?"
Aiden slowly walked out of the tree line with a smile on his face. But unexpectedly, Fate almost jumped out of her skin and went on guard. "Haha… Sorry I didn't mean to startle you. I was out scouting the parameter and noticed you standing here. Word has it you were dragged away by slithers and judging from your clothes, it seems you were. My name is Aiden Moore, do you remember me? I was the lieutenant that was with Sergeant Greystone. "
Fate stared at Aiden. She did not even notice when he arrived, but she did recognize him. After he almost scared her half to death and hearing Sergeant Greystone's name get mentioned, she went even more on guard. She did not say a word. She was not sure if she should attack or not. Even though she knew she could not win in a fight against him, she would rather go down fighting than being killed or worse. She would rather try to take him down with her than to let him have his way.
Aiden let out a sigh seeing how defensive she was. But he also felt this was good. If she did not have this kind of defensive attitude, she might not have lasted as long as she has and maybe would have ended up just like his sister. "Relax! I do not mean you any harm. Here take this jacket. It will at least cover the holes in your shirt. Please excuse the smell." Aiden blushed slightly, saying those last words as he tossed the jacket to Fate.
Fate let the jacket fall to the ground in front of her. She was confused as to why this young man was being so kind to her. He had helped her the first day he showed up by healing her swollen lip and eye that day. She couldn't help but think how guys normally treat girls when they want something. It was something she had run into often in the slums. People offering her things like food and money and such to get her to do something indecent with them. She looked at the jacket now lying on the ground and then back at the young man in front of her with no intention of picking the jacket up.
Aiden could only let out another sigh. "Look, believe it or not, I am more on your side than trinities. This may sound funny coming from a trinity, but I will not harm you. If anything, you remind me of my sister, who was stolen from my family. My sister was sixteen and a normal human. A trinity came and forcefully took her away. All I could do was sit and watch it happen. At the very least, the jacket will not harm you, so please cover yourself with that. It would not be good to go back with so much skin being revealed. You can follow after me from a distance if you would like. I can lead you back to the settlement."
Fate stared at the young man before looking down at herself and blushing slightly. It was true her shirt was much more revealing than it was before. She thought for a minute before slowly bending over. She did so in more of a squatting fashion, her eyes glued to the young man as she did. She picked it up and put it on. It was slightly damp from sweat, but she didn't care. "Go." She said one word and motioned with her head for Aiden to start walking.
Aiden smiled and took a good look at Fate in his jacket, which made him smile even more. He found her appearance in his jacket very cute. He then turned and walked ahead at a slow pace. He did not want to get to the settlement before dark, so he walked much slower than normal. "So, how did you end up surviving?"
Aiden's question was answered by the birds singing within the jungle. Fate stayed a good distance away at all times. The jacket that she was wearing was really too big for her as it hung down to her thighs. Her hands were hidden within the sleeves and in her right hand was her knife. She was ready to strike at any second if she had to.
Realizing she was not going to answer that question, he began asking more questions. "Did you get injured at all?"
"..."
"Did you see any strange monsters?"
"..."
"Did you get to eat anything?"
"..."
Each question was answered with silence. But this did not bother Aiden. He began humming a song as he walked along. At this time, as the sun was sinking behind the horizon, a young man and young woman were walking separately. The young man walked at a slow pace while the young woman followed behind him from a distance. The orange hue of the evening sky cast over the two from behind, causing their shadows to touch.
Fate could not understand the young man in front of her. He was busy asking questions left and right, and when she did not answer, he began humming songs. She was really not used to people being friendly to her. Especially not a trinity. But more things came to mind that began to worry her. She wondered just how long he had been around. She wondered if this young man had seen her fighting the slithers. She knew just by him pointing out the tears in her clothes that it was obvious that she was not hurt. 'I should not have washed the blood off me...' Fate thought as she frowned. She hoped she didn't already reveal herself, which would ruin all her plans and maybe even put her in more danger. She couldn't help but curse softly. "Fuck..."
"Hmm? Did you say something?" Aiden turned and smiled brightly at Fate, but all he got was a glare and silence in return.
'If it comes down to it, if I get caught, I will just kill myself. But before we get to the settlement, I need to take care of my appearance...' Fate knew since Aiden had already seen her regular appearance, there was nothing she could do about it, but she would not let others see her without dirty skin and messy hair. Fate began ruffling her hair as she walked and even picked up some mud and began smearing it on her face and exposed skin. She also took some leaves and sticks and pushed them into her hair to make her look even worse.
Aiden took a peek back and saw what she was doing, and nodded his head in approval. "Make sure you pull the hood up as well at the gate. It will help with any trouble that the guards will give us."
Fate hesitated for a moment but still did as the young man had said. There was no reason not to be over precautious. She knew if the guards saw her face and realized she was the failure that went missing, they might give her a hard time.
It wasn't long before they finally broke out of the jungle, and the lights of the settlement were now in view.