Lizzy awoke to the blinding rays of the sun beaming through the dense branches of the bushes; lighting up her face with a gentle glow, that brought a comforting warmth along with it. She could hear the birds chirping away in the background, their wings fluttering as they flew from one branch to the next.
"O-Ow"
Lizzy struggled to her feet. Her wrist and arm still throbbing in pain from yesterday's encounter. She limped her way out of the dense bush and studied her surroundings. She was in what appeared to be a dense forest with large soaring pine trees that interlaced each other only yielding to the small 1 person wide dirt path that ran parallel to the bushes.
"Where am I?"
Before Lizzy could properly get her bearings she heard footsteps fast approaching, directly in front of her. She held her dagger out using her non-injured hand the tip of the blade pointing towards the direction of the footsteps.
"D-don't come close I-I've got a weapon!"
The footsteps kept approaching getting louder and louder. Lizzy could feel the hair sticking up on the back of her spine.
*Grrrrrr*
a loud, deep, ferocious growl emanated from the bushes in front of her
("Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!")
Soon the source of the footsteps came into view; a large wolf-like creature with shiny, pearl white fangs and huge grey metallic claws. It stared down at Lizzy with its menacing blood-thirsty red eyes as it emerged from the bush, gearing itself up to pounce.
"…"
"…"
*RAAAAAAGGH*
The creature lunged into the air using all its might; winding back and extending its massive claws in preparation for its strike. Lizzy stared, horrified at the terrifying creature; frozen with fear unable to act.
("Is this it then Am I going to die?...No I can't! I won't!")
At the last second Lizzy drew her dagger in front of her; barely managing to block the ferocious attack. The wolf claws impacted the dagger making an ear-piercing twang as they skidded off the blade. The force of the impact sent both Lizzy and the wolf flying in opposite directions; they landed meters apart with a loud thud. Lizzy attempted to stand up, but the pain was too much to bear, her already broken wrist was now in even more pain. She slumped back to the floor gripping her arm in agony.
("I can't die not like this! Get up! GET UP!")
Lizzy fought through the excruciating pain unwilling to let herself die; eventually managing to lift herself to her feet. She pointed her dagger directly at the wolf staring it in its crimson eyes.
"What's wrong! You afraid!?"
She feind confidence but in reality, she was shaken to her core by the monster that lay in front of her. She considered making a run for it but there was no point.
("With my wrist, I won't get far")
She reasoned
The wolf slowly lifted itself, rising back to its feet; bearing its huge sharp fangs at Lizzy. The two stared at each other waiting for the other to strike. Lizzy, hesitant to use her weapon and the wolf hesitant to get hurt. Neither side dared to make a move.
Wait hold on a second…
Lizzy noticed that the wolf seemed to be staring directly at her Blazer pocket. She put her hand in the tattered pocket and produced the old stale bread loaf that the guard have given her in the carriage.
"Y-You want this?"
The wolf stared at the loaf, grovelling. It had clearly been a while since it had eaten properly.
"Take it!"
Lizzy tossed the loaf on the ground in front of the wolf, making sure to throw it far enough away as to where the wolf would have no reason to approach closer. The wolf cautiously approached the bread sniffing it sceptically.
"…"
"…"
*Nom*
The wolf swallowed the loaf whole in one bite, scarfing it down furiously.
"Y-you must have b-been hungry huh?"
Lizzy examined the creature more carefully; she noticed the wolf had large gashes on its abdomen and front legs almost like it had been cut by something, or rather someone. Despite the vicious appearance of the wolf, Lizzy couldn't help but feel sympathetic for the wolf after all she was in a similar situation.
("Is it angry because it's hurt? To be honest I don't know if I wanna risk finding out")
The wolf's legs started to shake; its whole body straining. It fell to the floor with a thud, unable to bear its injuries any longer.
("It collapsed?! What should I do? I don't want to leave it out here to die; b-but I also don't wanna die!")
Lizzy stood hesitantly in front of the wolf as it groaned and cried in pain unable to lift itself again. She cautiously approached the wolf it looked at her, wincing.
"I-its ok I don't wanna hurt you!"
Lizzy placed her trembling hand on the wolf's head; reassuringly patting its matted fur, as she looked closer at its wounds. The gashes were recent, as they were still bleeding quite heavily.
"You got hurt pretty bad huh?"
Lizzy looked around her for something to use to close up the wolf's wounds.
("Leaves wouldn't work hmmm. Hold on what about my clothes!")
Lizzy proceeded to remove her blazer, leaving only her white under-shirt. She tore off one of the sleeves of her tattered Blazer and proceeded to tightly wrap it around the wolf's legs making sure to cause as little pain as possible to the injured wolf.
"There that should do it…Now..Agh!"
A sharp, stabbing pain shooted up Lizzy's arm; it felt like a thousand knives piercing her bones. Lizzy fell to the floor gripping her wrist as the pain spread, throbbing and pulsating.
"O-Ow"
The wolf studied Lizzy, as she writhed in pain on the floor. It was almost as if, it was feeling the same sense of sympathy Lizzy felt when she saw the wolf struggling. The wolf crawled over to Lizzy digging its claws into the ground as it dragged its injured body over to Lizzy.
("Oh no it's going to kill me…Please…someone…Caleb..He-")
The wolf curled up next to Lizzy like a mother protecting her cubs. Lizzy could feel its warm body hugging her like a warm fuzzy blanket. She felt oddly safe.
("Is this thanks for me helping it…I guess this isn't so bad…")