Rea and Mika were shivering on the tree, watching how the beastmen were investigating the area.
The two girls waited for an hour without making a move, because they didn't know if those monsters were still around the area, though they quickly noticed a small detail.
"Rea... I'm hungry..." - Mika murmured tearfully.
Rea gritted her teeth as she stroked her stomach because she was starting to feel hungry too, and it wasn't like one could blame them when they hadn't eaten anything since they came into this world - "Easy, we'll be safe soon..."
Mika nodded weakly as he felt his stomach growling.
The girls continued to wait for another hour, though the hunger was becoming impossible to resist.
"I think they've already left..." - Mika said in the hope that they could now go down for food.
"No, those beasts are calculating and patient hunters" - replied Rhea as she shook her head. She, as a good [Dragon Frontier] fan, had searched for extra information about the characters, that's why she knew that two hours was a short time for a monster like Leo to give up.
"But..." - Mika muttered while biting her lip.
"Please hold on a little longer, it's for our safety" - said Rhea as she grabbed her friend's hand.
"Ok..." - Mika muttered as she let out a sigh.
Time continued to pass slowly, until another hour had passed.
Mika and Rhea were on the verge of collapse from the hunger they were feeling, and the stress wasn't helping in the least.
"Tch, I don't think they're here..." - said a male voice.
Mika began to sweat because just as Rhea had said, those beastmen were still in the area.
"I guess me the scent stayed in this place because that human woman rested here..." - Leo said while frowning slightly - "Ok, we've wasted too much time already, it's time to get back to camp or the general is going to start getting annoyed."
"Tch, and here I thought we could finally have some fun" - muttered the third beastman as he kicked a rock.
Leo looked around one last time before also clicking his tongue and walking out of the place.
Mika let out a sigh of relief as he prepared to go down, when he felt a hand on his shoulder - "!"
"Shh" - muttered Rhea as she continued without moving.
"¿?" - Mika gave her friend a confused look, waiting for the reason why she had stopped her.
"It's possible they're still around the place, and their words were just to make us let our guard down" - Rea said quietly.
Mika again began to sweat as she looked at her friend in fear, not because she was scared of her expression, but because the actions of those monsters had worked. She had let her guard down and was about to go downstairs to get something to eat.
The two girls kept quiet as they waited, only to hear the bushes in the distance begin to move. Slowly, a male silhouette emerged from these, he was Leo, who had not left, in fact, he was looking around with a frown on his face, a confused expression on his face, as if he was wondering if he had made a mistake.
"Your majesty, we'd better get back" - said the first beastman with a frown - "We've wasted too much time already."
Leo seemed to have an annoyed expression, though he quickly nodded - "Ok, let's go, the human woman is not in this place."
The three men quickly walked in a northerly direction as the two girls let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Are we safe now?" - Mika asked with concern.
"It's possible" - Rhea replied as she looked around carefully, though she didn't notice anything strange, though this in itself was strange because it shouldn't be so quiet a forest as dangerous as this one.
"Can we go down?" - Mika asked as she rubbed her stomach.
"Let's wait a little longer, just in case" - muttered Rhea as she gave an apologetic look to her friend, who could only nod reluctantly.
Another half hour had passed, and seeing that the situation was still calm, Rea decided that now was a good time to be able to go downstairs.
Mika was moved because she felt that she might pass out at any moment from fatigue, both physical and mental.
The two girls slowly climbed down and looked around, as if they were a pair of meerkats guarding their family from potential predators.
"Do you know if any of the nearby plants are edible?" - Mika asked as she felt how a hole had appeared in her stomach.
"Yes, but we'd better get moving, we can't stay long in this place, not when those monsters could come back at any moment" - said Rhea as she took her friend by the hand, and they walked south, after all, the best decision was to get as far away as possible from Leo and his minions.
The two girls started their journey, not noticing how a pair of golden eyes were watching them from the darkness of the lush forest.
* * * * *
"Are you sure this fruit is edible?" - Mika asked skeptically.
"Yes, the red one means it's not fully ripe yet" - replied Rhea as she picked up a green apple with yellow dots - "I know it looks poisonous, but I can assure you it's delicious."
Mika frowned before taking a bite of the apple, only to widen her eyes at the delicious sweet taste of the fruit - "Delicious!"
"I told you so" - Rhea smiled as she took a bite of her fruit and felt her taste buds melt.
The two girls had been walking through the forest for a full hour, and they were a little tired, but they still kept walking because they knew they were still in danger.
"Do you think we're safe, Rea?" - Mika asked as she sat down on a nearby rock and hugged her legs - "Do you think we can get back to our world?"
"I'm sorry, I'm not sure" - replied Rea regretfully. She knew that in this kind of situation she had to be positive to become her friend's pillar, but at the same time she knew that it wasn't good for her to give her too much hope because when she found out the truth she might end up taking her own life.
Mika was silent for a few seconds before letting out a heavy sigh - "I see..."
"I'm sorry, Mika" - apologized the blonde haired girl.
"No, it's good that you're honest with me" - smiled Mika, though she quickly started sobbing.
Rhea went over and gave her a hug as she felt her friend break down in her arms.
"If my calculations are correct, we will soon reach a clearing, nearby is the village of a kind sage who will help us" - Rea said as she comforted her friend.
"Really?" - Mika asked excitedly because they could finally escape from this horrendous place.
"Of course" - replied Rea with a huge smile.
Mika started celebrating when she heard this news as she felt her strength renewed - "What are we waiting for, let's go meet that sage!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, but that will be impossible..." - said a male voice.
Rhea and Mika's expression changed drastically when they heard this voice because they recognized it immediately.
From out of the bushes, Leo came out in all his wild glory, with a huge smile on his lips.
Rea started to tremble because she did not expect this kind of situation.
In the game, after escaping Leo's detection range, there shouldn't be any more dangers, a scene like this hadn't happened on any of the routes.
"You were following us all this time?" - Rea asked apprehensively.
"Of course" - smiled Leo as he licked his lips - "Not bad for a pair of humans, you are beautiful, though your bodies leave much to be desired..."
Mika shivered when she felt the beastman's obscene gaze, so she quickly hid behind Rea because she was the stronger of the two.
Rhea took a long breath before grabbing a branch and a stone.
She knew that these two items were useless, but she was hopeful that she could buy some time for the sage to arrive.
As a good support character in the early game, as well as one of the few player-friendly NPCs, the sage had a huge detection array throughout the area around his home, this with the purpose of help all the people who ended up in the forest.
"Do you really want to fight?" - Leo asked with a huge grin - "Well, I'm going to humor you..."
Rhea gritted her teeth before getting on her guard. She had practiced Kendo, so she was hopeful that her physical skills could defend them long enough for the sage to come to their aid.
"You have a good look, I guess I'll have some fun with you after I'm done with that weakling" - Leo said as he shook his head - "And don't worry, I don't plan on hurting you too much."
Rhea let out a war cry before running to the beastman, only to feel everything start to go dark after she felt a small pain in her head.
"Sleep for a few minutes, when you wake up you're going to enjoy it" - those words, along with Mika's scream, were the last thing Rea heard before passing out.