Warr
I roamed through the forest with the demon woman riding on my head. I felt humiliated to let such a creature use me as its transportation. But I couldn't afford to piss Gora off, not since she learned about the guardian chains. The girl had been ruthless, pulling my chain if I did anything she found disrespectful. So, I had been complying with every order like my life depended on it because it probably did. I was ashamed to say that layer three had put fear in my heart. ( Curse my greed!) I thought as I continued to march. If I hadn't attacked her in my weakened state, I might have stood a chance against the little demon. Even if I was at full strength, I doubted my victor. My new master may be small, but she was mighty.
"Can we stop, please? I'm not used to being up all day." I said, slowing down a little. I would generally be sleep during the day and hunt during the night. It had only been two weeks since we started this journey, but my body still hadn't gotten used to the new schedule. I could do what I wanted back at camp, but ever since we left the others, my master had become stricter.
"Ughh... for an alpha, you sure do wine an afoul lot. I guess we can stop. I haven't seen any sign of this panther. Maybe Frons was wrong." Gora announced. The spider monkey had mentioned a black panther close to the monkey tribe. Log had mentioned a run-in with the creature that ended with the gorilla's retreat. Gora had deduced that this meant the panther was at least a layer five to cause Log to run away. We had been searching for the beast but found no trace of it. I was pretty sure the panther was either good at hiding, or it never existed. I couldn't see a hint of the creature anywhere.
"Whew!" I let out a long breath as I collapsed on the ground. Gora slid off my body and began to look around. I could tell she was deep in thought, but I ignored her. I tried to take a nap but kept getting interrupted by Gora incessant rambling.
"Maybe you should start your search at night. If it is a panther, it will undoubtedly be out hunting when the sun goes down." I explained, hoping to shut the woman up.
"Oh yeah! You may be right about that." Gora said as she lay next to me. I wanted to push the woman away but decided against any action. It would only lead to my master pulling my chain. I let the girl be and began to close my eyes when Gora spoke again.
"Why don't we talk while we wait?" She asked. I rolled my eyes at her words. The last thing I wanted to do was talk.
"I rather not." I huffed. I closed my eyes for only a second when I felt a slight tap on my head. I opened my eyes again to see the tiny woman poking me with he finger. I asked multiple times for her to stop, but she didn't. The girl kept poking me and asking questions. I tried to ignore her with no such luck.
"If I answer one of your questions, will you shut up!?" I shouted with rage. I was getting extremely agitated. Gora clapped her hands with glee. (Let's get this over with, so I can sleep in peace.) I thought as I sighed in defeat. Gora thought about her question for a long minute, which angered me even more.
"I got it! Why is your name warr?" She asked. The question caught me off guard with how straightforward it was. I figured she'd ask me something more complicated to explain, but her question was easy for me to answer.
"I was born during the war between the demons and the human on the mountain. So, my mother named me Warr. I stated simply. I thought my answer was more than acceptable, but it seemed to trigger more questions from my master. She apparently knew nothing about the war, the same war that created the dead woods.
"WWWWWhat War!?" Gora demanded. She got so furious that she threatened to punish me if I didn't tell her. I wasn't too keen on talking about the war right now. I wanted to sleep, but also, the war was a touchy subject for me. My family was originally from the dead woods before the battle between demons and humans. ( We were forced to move away!) I thought, grinding my teeth. I quickly pushed those memories away. I didn't care if Gora used the guardian chains. I wasn't going to say another word.
"Fine! A deals a deal, but I demanded that you tell me tomorrow. Or I'm really going to get mad." Gora pouted as she cuddled up to me. I was surprised that she didn't force me to speak. I was even more shocked at how comfortable the girl had gotten with me. ( If my ancestors could see me, they would be rolling in their graves.) I thought as I drifted off to sleep.
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Night came, and we were back on the search. We walked around for hours but couldn't find a trace of any beast. Still, Gora continued to search until even as I begged for us to quiet. I was getting bored of all this searching and a little hungry.
"Where the hell is it!" Gora yelled. She slid off my back and began to kick the nearest tree.
"We've been searching for days now. How hard is it to find alphas in this damn forest?" The woman yelled.
Crack!
"Oops," Gora said as the tree she was attacking started to crack. Although it was one of the smaller trees, it was still as thick as two men. But Gora had broken it in only a few kicks.
Boom!
The tree fell to the shaking the ground a little. (Well, if there is a beast out here, they most definitely heard that.) I thought as I lay down. Gora flop on the ground in frustration. She let out a long breath before she summoned something from her ring. I quickly recognised the smell of cooked meat, and my mouth began to water. I had to admit that I'd grown fond of cooking meat. It tasted a lot better than eating it raw.
"Here the girl said as she threw the meat at me." I caught the big chunk of what tasted like deer meat. I crafted the food down quickly and laid down to lick my lips. Gora pulls out some more food for her to eat. The woman pouted as she tore into her food.
"Why are you so dead set on finding more alphas. You can't possibly think they'll follow you willingly." I ask sarcastically. The only reason I joined was that I didn't want to die. ( Did she plan on beating these beasts into submission. ) I thought as I looked at the demon woman. Her yellow eyes locked on to mine. The moon's light bounced off her pupils, made her eyes shine like stars in the night sky.
" I acquired quite a lot of territory recently. As a ruler, I need to at least know my neighbours. I am just going to have a conversation with them." Gora explained. I couldn't ignore her logic. The surrounding alphas will find out that Log is gone soon. Some of them may even come knocking at her door when they figure out Log is gone. But if she thought they were just going to talk, she had another thing coming.
"I don't need them to join me. I just need them to know that it would be a bad idea to fuck with me." Gora said, letting her blood lust leak a little, sending a shiver down my spine. I quickly shook off my fear. The girl was a monster in disguise. I pitied any beast dumb enough to challenge such a creature.
Crack.
The sound of a branch breaking caught my attention. It was hard for me to hear it with my superior hearing. But I was shocked to see Gora latch on to the sound. The forest was loud, with sounds of small beasts mingling. So for her to lock on to the same sound was surprising.
"Come out!" I said as I sensed a faint presence drawing near. I didn't like being stalked like I was prey. Gora seemed confused at my words but said nothing.
Seconds later, black smoke formed a few feet away from us. The smoke started to disappear to reveal a beast. It was a layer five black panther about half my size. I quickly relaxed when I saw the beast. It was no match for me.
"Why are you trespassing on my land, tigre?" The panther asked me. Completely ignoring Gora, who seemed to take offence to the gesture.
"We come in peace!" Gora shouted, getting the beast attention. I giggled a little as the black panther ignored her again.
"A human pet? How strange." The panther said as it looked back at me. I didn't say a word, too busy trying not to laugh.
"Umm, excuse me! I'm nobodies pet! In fact, I'm her master! Gora yelled, stomping her feet like a child." I could help but laugh at her. Gora looked as if she wanted to squeeze the life out of me. So, I decided to cut my laugh short. I didn't want her using the chains on me. The panther was stunned as he looked from me to Gora.
"This layer three snacks is your master. How humiliating! Hahahaha. The panther said with a hardy laugh. The beast words hurt my pride and made me furious. Gora, to look angry as she shook her head.
"Enough! I came here to meet the neighbours of my territory not to be disrespected by some kitten." Gora announced, glaring at the panther.
"Tigre! I would advise you to get your master under control, or I will! The panther said. The little beast was really starting to piss me off. I wanted to leap and rip the panthers head off, but I knew Gora didn't want that. That's when a thought crossed my mind. I smiled as a plan formed in my head.
"HA. As if a weakling like you could even lay a finger on my master. You think too highly of yourself." I said with a smile. Gora turned to me, so fast head almost snapped and her glare was now fixed on me. I said nothing as I watched the panther become enraged at my statement. I decided to add more fuel to the fire.
"I don't even have to move. My master is strong enough to crush you all on her own." I said as I laid down, letting my guard down. I wasn't too worried about a layer five beast. Plus, I was more than confident that Gora would wipe the floor with the panther. ( Come on, take the bait.) I thought as I looked on nonchalantly.
"Then just sit and watch me eat your master right before your eyes." The beast said, disappearing into smoke again. Gora tried to talk the beast down, but it was too late. In seconds the panther was in front of the girl, claws outstretched, preparing to slice Gora's face. ( Poor boy, he has no idea what he's gotten himself into.) I thought with a mischievous grin. I could already see the black aura surrounding Gora's hand.
Boom!
My master caught the beast on the side of the face with her first. Driving the panther to the ground. The impact created a small crater on the forest floor. The blow wasn't enough to kill the panther, but it was enough to knock it out.
"Damn you, cat! Why couldn't you keep your mouth shut!" Gora scolded. I just smiled as I walked over to her. When I reached her, I noticed that the panther was waking. The beast eyes shot open in fear which put another smile on my face. I was about to gloat when I saw the panther start to cry. (What a baby, Is he really going to cry?) I thought.
"Whaaa Waaa! Mommy!" The panther screamed.
"Mommy?" Gora asked, looking at me. Before I could say anything, a roar shook the trees. ( So, there's another one.) I thought as I felt the presence of another more powerful beast approaching.