Chapter 85: Camp Swine
Back at camp, while the Minotaur was busy meditating in the surrounding woods, the two women were left unattended.
You never leave ladies as gorgeous as them, unintended.
Even though it originally was a tranquil night on the foot of the mountain where the trees began and formed the woods, a warm wind blew over. There was a storm brewing and coming. September and April knew nothing about this yet, but it was happening. The Autumn leaves on the ground blew over. Some of them covered April, as she was still snoring. The wind grew stronger and moved the trees a bit. Dark clouds with orange lights appeared into the sky, replacing the much calmer and normal ones that had been seen earlier. The orange lights revealed themselves to be electricity, running through these new clouds. It was dry. Even though it totally felt like there was going to be some rain with the addition of these shadowy clouds, it wasn't the case. There was no water so far. No rain coming down. Only electricity. Lightning. Vibrating through these clouds. The storm was about to explode. There was this brief moment during which it could be said that it was the calm before the storm… It truly was something like that… It was calm and silent. The only thing that could be heard was the electricity in the sky, vibrating and sounding louder and louder as the time went on. The sound that the electricity was making was exactly what woke April up in the middle of the night. She was sleeping pretty deeply, and yet she woke up. It wasn't exactly common for her to wake up in the middle of the night like this. She opened one eye. Then, opened the other and realized that this thing she was wearing was quite strange.
She searched for Junk with her arms, but never could find him next to him. She sat up in bed. Looked around. He wasn't anywhere to be found, which shocked her to say the least. Where was Junk, all of a sudden? She looked at the spot where September was sleeping on the other side of camp, and she wasn't there either. There was no one in camp but her. April was alone. She was on her own. She tried remaining calm, but ended up being a lot more difficult than she thought it was going to be.
"Hey, guys, where are you?" she called out to them. There was no one that could answer her. April decided to stand up and leave this safe and warm spot underneath her blanket. She looked around. Began investigating in the hope of finding September and Junk. April was now wearing nothing, but another thin, violet nightgown that the Autumn witch so kindly handed to her. She couldn't sleep in her Victorian-style dress. It didn't make any sense. Especially since it wasn't cold here at all. It was quite at the foot of this mountain. Keeping the dress on while sleeping wasn't an option. Fortunately for her, there was always September who could give her more and more of this same skimpy nightgown that was barely covering anything at all. Perfect for warm nights such as tonight.
April looked around camp and couldn't find anyone.
She also couldn't find anything, really. No traces of the two other members of the group leaving. Nothing. At some point, the gorgeous, elvish young woman came close to penetrate the woods surrounding the camp. She had the feeling that perhaps, just perhaps, they had gone into the woods without waking her up and telling her. But she didn't. She was too scared to go into the woods on her own. It was much too dark in there. Too far away from the bonfire. So, instead of exploring the woods, searching for Junk and September, she turned back around and decided to venture into another direction in search of them. She categorically preferred remaining closer to camp and not going too far into the woods. April had learned her lesson about going into the dark woods alone the other day when she left the Autumn Tower and met a terrible fate with Araknar, the demon lord who trapped her outside. She wasn't making that mistake again. Oh, no! So, this time, she turned heels and walked back to camp. However, as she turned heels, she was suddenly greeted back to camp by someone she didn't expect to see again… She jumped when she discovered a tall and large, dark, semi-humanoid shape standing there, right next to the bonfire. It was a person. No. It wasn't. Not really. It was a large creature who had his fingers intertwined together behind his back. It was a manly creature. He was calm. Motionless. Until he wasn't… He turned his head back a little to take a direct look at the frightened April. The monster was a pig. A swine. It took April a couple of seconds to fully recognize him, but she was convinced it was him not too long after he turned his head to her. She could never forget that swine's face. It was Monsoon. One of the many monsters who was after September, Junk and her.
"You are not going into the woods to meet up with Junk?"
"Monsoon…" April said his name, afraid and worried.
"I believe he is meditating and finding his inner peace at the moment. What a fool. He can only deny the true nature of his monster-self for so long. If he continues making an imposter and a deception out of himself, he is never truly going to become a serious monster," he said.
"Monsoon… What are you doing here?" she confronted him. Stepping back from him. Noticing that she had just stepped back and was preparing himself to run away from him, the monster pig suddenly ran at the speed of light and made it seem like he teleported himself right next to her. He placed himself right behind her. She could no longer try running into the dark woods.
"Too bad the Minotaur is too busy mediating to guard you," he mentioned to her.