.....
"....."
A long time had passed since she discovered yet another strange scene in this world.
'Invisible fish.'
Alya's eyes tiredly dimmed whilst she dragged three human-sized fish over her fully drenched shoulder.
Her limbs felt like wet noodles. She could barely stand, talk of walking.
She had used a vine to tie them to her back, then with loud painful grunts, she slowly dragged her tired feet forward. Though the fish on her back were surprisingly light, she still felt achy and tired.
As she grudgingly walked back to the site, she thought back to an hour ago.
...an hour ago....
'Yeah, I'm done with this.'
She gazed warily at the fish swimming towards her. It was very well past her ability.
"If they want fish, they could go get it themselves."
Alya's drenched body shivered from the cold air.
'...'(if I'm not killed they definitely owe me new clothes.)
With a frown she turned away, ready to leap over to the bank and walk away, but then she heard the sound of heavy footsteps suddenly approaching. Alya's body froze on the spot.
The next second, she leaped over to the other side of the river and then hid behind a tree nearby.
'.....'
Alya's eyes carefully searched for an approaching silhouette through the mist.
'Definitely not the size of a human....'
Soon enough, the silhouette slowly revealed a large, furry brown body. An enormous and rugged-looking brown bear, larger than an elephant, came into view.
Alya's pupils shrunk.
The rugged bear gave a loud horrific yawn, revealing large blade-like teeth and a long black tongue that curled as its mouth closed back. Its large paws adorned with huge black claws entered the water.
Alya's breath halted, and her entire body froze from fear, she didn't move an inch from that spot.
She had never seen such a menace bear back on earth. Its size was one thing, but its whole likeness was monstrous. Her heart palpated so loudly she could feel it in her ear drums.
'What kind of world is this!'
She warily gazed at the bear on the other side, there was nowhere to run, if she did, the rusty leaves beneath her feet would give her away.
The monster got to the middle of the river and stayed there, unmoving and focused. Moments later, it dunked its large head in, despite the river's strong currents.
Slightly curious, she stared intently, not moving from her place.
'Fishing huh?'
Instantly, the bear's submerged head swiftly came out, with one of those large invisible fish in its strong and massive jaws.
With little to no effort, the bear threw the fish over to the other side of the bank and then dunked its head again in the river.
Less than a second later, it brought its head out, again with another large fish in its mouth.
Although Alya was still terrified of the beast, she was intrigued.
Still behind the tree, she watched as the bear caught more fish. And in less than a minute, the bear had caught more than ten of them.
Done with its fishing, the bear slowly got out of the water.
Alya knew it wouldn't be possible for it to carry them all with its mouth. It was probably going to eat them then and there or take them home batch by batch.
Alya internally begged for the bear to take them home. She couldn't stay in that spot any longer, it would soon be dark in a few hours.
Lucky for Alya, the bear took two fish in its mouth and then started to walk away.
As it did, it suddenly stopped, then intently looked back in Alya's direction.
On instinct, Alya looked away, her heart had almost burst out from her chest as she did. She held her breath and stood still for a minute.
The bear didn't seem to notice anything, it then searched its other surroundings. The place was as silent as a graveyard. Convinced that there was no one around, the bear continued on its way.
Alya stayed still for another minute before she slowly looked back, the place was empty. She sighed in relief when she saw only the fish.
'I almost got a heart attack.' she breathed.
She warily checked her surroundings a few times over, then carefully jumped the river rocks over to the other side.
When she did, she noticed the fish on the ground. Suddenly a reckless thought came to mind.
'It can't possibly eat all these right?'
Alya knelt beside one of the punctured fish and stared impatiently.
'For its family?'
'There's no way it has that much, right?'
Alya paused for a moment. Her heart pounded faster as she pondered.
'If I take this... wouldn't it find my scent and hunt me down?'
Alya's drenched body shuttered at the thought. But soon enough, her thoughts wandered off to Nyx and the old man. She wondered if those strangers would protect her, she was already terrified of them as is.
'Gonna test my luck then....'
.....Current time...
'Hope this doesn't come back to bite me.....'
Alya quickened her pace.
Clouded by her thoughts, she tripped on an unseen tree root, causing her to fall face flat on the ground.
"Ow!..."
.....
Minutes later, Alya had reached her destination.
There, Nyx and the old man we're still waiting. The old man was still drinking tea, and Nyx was sprawled on the ground, sleeping peacefully.
Alya's eye ticked as she saw this.
"Ahem!" Alya coughed, trying to get their attention. Though the two had felt her presence, even before she had spoken.
The old man didn't bother to look up. He ignored her presence while quietly sipping his tea.
Nyx, on the other hand, still lying on the ground, peeked with one eye open.
"You're still alive?" She mumbled.
"Disappointed?" Alya retorted with a frown, but Nyx gave a smile.
"On the contrary....."
Nyx slowly sat up, then glanced over at her master.
"Master."
Alya walked towards them, then untied the vine.
"Here," Alya grumbled.
The old man took a glance at the fish on the ground. He noticed the punctures on each of them, and he could guess what had happened.
Nyx had also noticed them, but she didn't bother to ask, she just wanted to eat.
"What about the firewood." The old man spoke, then immediately went on with his tea.
"Huh?" Alya's face contorted.
"You didn't tell me to get firewood."
Water still dripped from her clothes and hair, and aches could be felt all over her tired limbs.
"I don't suppose you want me to eat it raw." the old man calmly retorted.
'You can try.' Alya's inner thought echoed.
Though she was irked and annoyed, she couldn't refuse. She was sure her life was in their hands.
Inwardly seething, she dragged herself into the woods again.
Minutes later, she came back with an armful of stones and firewood.
"Done." Alya seethed.
The old man looked up again, then back at the cup filled with a fresh batch of tea in his hands. Soon after, he spoke again.
"You know what to do."
Nyx, who had sat up once again, and was peacefully having a cup of tea with the old man, gave a cheeky smile.
Alya grudgingly did the assignment. She gathered the stones in a circle, then arranged the sticks to make a large fire pit.
She then took two long sticks and planted them vertically on opposite sides of the circle.
With tired arms, she raised two small stones and struck them against each other to start a fire.
'Where's the fire magic when you need it?'
After much struggle, she managed to start it.
It was then that Alya looked back at the two. Her eyes slowly dimmed from exhaustion.
"Can one of you pass me the fish?" She mumbled.
Nyx looked up at the tired girl in front of her. A soft, low chuckle escaped her lips.
"Sure."
Nyx weakly got up with the fish in her hands and walked towards Alya.
"Here."
Alya grabbed one fish from Nyx, and with a long stick, she pierced the fish and then placed it stop the two uprighted sticks. She did the same for the other two.
With her arms free, Nyx delved her hands into her pockets.
"Here..."
Nyx tossed two small bottles in Alya's direction.
Alya turned back, and in a panic she instinctively caught them. Her brow raised in confusion. She stared at the green and blue bottles.
"Hm?"
"Spices."
Alya cautiously opened the blue bottle and looked inside, which was filled with a yellow powder. She took a careful whiff of it, it was indeed a spice, and it was very nice.
She sprinkled some on the fish then closed the bottle. She did the same with the other one, which was the normal salt.
Nyx walked back to stay with her master, while Alya stayed near the fire pit.
The three stayed in silence. Alya had no reason to talk to them, so she just focused on grilling.
Moments after, Nyx broke the silence.
"So,"
"So?" Alya replied, with her focus still on the fish.
"Which animal did you steal them from?"
Alya momentarily froze, that instant she felt her heart pound so hard it rang in her ears. Immediately she tried to compose herself and went on with what she was doing. With a low tone, she replied,
"Steal?"
"Mhmmm....No need to hide it, I'm impressed"
Nyx's compliment startled Alya, she turned her head.
"Huh?"
"How did you manage to steal it? Was the animal around?"
Alya was shocked by her questions, she expected a different scenario to turn up.
Alya didn't know how to answer, she wondered if it was a trap. She glanced at the old man, seemingly uninterested in the conversation, then glanced back at Nyx, who gave a lazy but attentive posture.
After what seemed like forever, she answered truthfully.
"Well, the bear wasn't..."
"So you stole it."
Alya's words were cut short by the old man's voice. Alya turned to him only to be met by the old man's cold gaze. There was no hint of anger in his posture, but it was something much eerie.
"And from a bear, how brave."
Nyx gracefully chimed in, intrigued.
Alya stayed silent for a moment, unsure of what to say. Her mind was in a blur of what to reply with. As moments passed by, her thoughts came to a halt, what was then confusion became anger belting from her chest. With a strict face, she bellowed,
"What did you expect? How do you think I can catch something like that?"
Though she was furious, the tempo of her voice instinctively reduced, though it still couldn't hide her annoyance. She couldn't be careless to anger them.
"The bear did pretty well though....." Nyx's smile widened as she teased.
Alya's face glowered at her taunt. Her mouth opened up to retort, but she was silenced by Nyx's finger before she could.
All of a sudden, Nyx had appeared right beside Alya, her dainty index rested on her lips while her face inched close with a frown.
"Very brave...and impeccably dumb..."
"Eh?"
"You're in very deep waters, dear..." Nyx cooed, then tapped Alya's lips three times. Her frown remained as she did.
"And you just got here....." Nyx muttered.
"Huh?"
Alya's face contorted, her mind muddled over what she meant. She took a glance at the old man meters away, still sipping his tea, then back at Nyx, her confused mind mixed with fear at the thought. With a stutter, she asked,
"W-what are you talking about?"
With her eyes still on Alya, Nyx's finger slowly left her lips, then used the same to tap her own chin. Her hazy eyes glumly gazed upward, at nothing in particular. She stayed silent for a while, still staring up at nothing. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she calmly responded with a smirk.
"You're gonna die."
Happy New Year 🙂↕️. I hope everyone's past year was good. Sorry about last year, things came up, but it's all good now, Thank God. Hopefully, I will post a lot more chapters this year. Thank you all for your support last year and the year before that. Let's all work well in the new year🙏🙏.