As the birds chirp and flew across the flat lands, they flew past three people who was venturing away from the City, it was Starlight, Vlera, and Luke.
"Hahhh... Why do we have to leave so early? I'm still sleepy..."
"I'm sorry, Starlight, even I wasn't good with this desicion if it weren't for how far our destination is, but one thing... DIDN'T YOU JUST ATE YOUR BREAKFAST?!"
Early in the morning, Vlera woke Starlight already to depart from the City, they may both don't want the desicion, but it's their destination that matters. Starlight continued to walk while Vlera was talking...
"Hey, Luke, you good there? I believe you didn't had enough sleep either."
"Don't worry about me, Vlera, I'm used to this."
"Oh, really? Then I suppose it's time for your storytelling."
"Haha, yes, thanks for reminding me."
... To a man named Luke. After a laugh, Luke started to narrate his story about him and his partner.
"It started when a Huge Bird attacked us..."
ā
If I'm correct, it was 2 weeks ago. Me, with my partner, were venturing on a forest, it was a large one that we went in circles multiple times, it was when I decided to part ways with my partner to try and find the exit.
"Hey, Len, what do you think if we separated to find the exit?"
"What are you? Trying to get lost even more?"
She was Lenny Ariad, Len in short. Lenny was a combined soft, and sharp girl like Vlera. In normal occasion, she would try to befriend every animal that we've seen, but when emergency comes like this, her soft side fades as it gets replaced with her sharp side.
"N-no, not like that, I mean, if we were to do so, then our chances of finding the exit would increase."
"Yeah, and if we were "actually" to do so, then our chances of being lost even more increases as well!"
"*Urk!* Ah, yes... you got a point."
...
"Hoho, so you're polar opposites, then?"
"Huh? Why do you say so?"
Interrupting the narration, Vlera expresses her reaction after Luke told them about his low-being when with Len.
"If she was on her soft side, you'd be the one who's in sharp!"
"Huh? How?"
"C'mon, Luke, it's been yesterday since I noticed that your eye is literally investigating your surroundings!"
"Oh, do I?"
"Yes! Look, you just looked at me 4 times since I interrupted your story!"
"Uh... Okay, maybe I do."
"And when she's alerted, you'd be scared of her resulting in your lost of focus! Hahaha!"
"Ugh, okay, okay, I get it, you can laugh at me."
"Hahaha! Okay, I'm sorry, continue your story."
"Okay then..."
...
We continued to walk after my recommendation, it got so long that we now started hoping that we finally found the exit... it was when I found the cloth that I stucked in a tree recently.
"Doesn't that where... we started?"
After realizing the fact, I saw her eyes being watery, I tried comforting her to try and calm her down.
"Eh? Hey, don't cry..."
"B-but it's been multiple times that we've seen this tree!"
"It's alright, we would escape this place, I swear."
"I know, but..."
Upon patting her head in her seat beside a tree, I never noticed that she fell asleep in my shoulder, I tried to escape my arms into her shoulder, and I succeeded without waking her up.
"Alright, Len, there's no way animals would wake you up with this cover."
After placing a huge leaf to warm her up, I went for a small hunt for our next meal. It was an hour when I got back from the tree. I managed to get back when I willingly lost myself in the forest. I saw Len who just woke up and stood immediately to tell me something.
"Luke, I think I found a way to this forest."
"You think so?"
"Yes, I dreamt about something that leads me to the exit, come, follow me."
With a figure of a 13 years old girl, I'm the one who's naturally tasked to carry our bags, I slid in the meat I got from my hunt and followed her immediately-.
...
"W-w-wait, what?! A 13 years old travelling already?!"
"No! I mean, "figure," okay? She never grew up anymore since she turned 16."
"Oh, so she's a teenager now?"
"An adult, she was 18 nowadays, but her body does not tell it."
"Ah I see, so she must be shorter than me by a bit."
"Yeah."
...
Continuing the story, me and Len never saw the tree once again, it was a great signal that we were going in the right way, but then suddenly, we saw a bright-white light in the distance, and that was the signal of our success.
"Ha! Luke..."
"Len..."
"It's the exit!"
We went running in full speed like I never feel the weight of my bag behind me. We were so happy... until we found the meaning of that "bright-white light."
A giant bird estimated to be a 3-story building tall and 2 school buses connected together in wide was the one that we saw instead of the exit, because of our speed, we never got to slow down that resulted us from falling in its nest. It's nest was so deep that I fell with a severe back pain, but thankfully, Len fell in our huge bag.
"Ow...! Huh? Hey, are you alright?!"
"Len... run..."
Unlike her, I fell solid through the ground that made me aching the whole time, it only happened when I managed throw our large bag onto her for her to land, because of it, she was safe.
"Ughhh! Out of all methods you can think of, this is the one you chose?! You could've grabbed me and land together in that bag!"
During her scolding and my back ache, my face still had the guts to be red.
"Hey! Don't blush like we're not on a life or death situation-!"
*SCREEEEECH*
In the middle of her scream, the bird behind her replied with even more loud scream, it surprised her turning her gaze into the bird.
"Now, now, if it weren't for your risky tactics, we would be fighting this bird together... Too bad, it's only Lenny who's this bird's gonna face."
*Zoom!*
After her speech, she dissapeared with no trace. Her long pale white hair is no longer to be seen. Her white dress of that a princess synced with her speed, before the bird could even react, she was behind the bird.
"Threads Punctured, ten strings into none."
With the mentioned dress of her, she used it's long fabric to be a thread and goes past the bird. Yes, she went inside and to the other side of the bird's head.
*SCREEEEECH*
The bird felt the pain and blood started running from the wounds. After the technique, it summoned large fabrics surrounding the bird, Len lands and swiped both of her hands together.
*Swip* *Swip* *Swip*
"Threads Imprisonment."
After casting, multiple thread noises could be seen around the place. Even without seeing every thread she was using, I could sense it on how it cuts even the sound. The noises went for several seconds, I was wondering why and how could she be casting the technique without the bird doing anything until I noticed the fabric in my own clothes.
- - -
"I see, so when you went inside the bird, you corrupted it's brain by implanting threads around it? Sheesh, I must also wonder how could you read my mind using your Thread."
After seconds of lying in the ground, the noises stopped, then, she closed her hand.
*Grips*
In a matter of second, a sudden deafening sound was made, the fabrics around the bird had magically dissapeared, and after I knew it, she had successfully pinned the bird to it's position without having any chance to fight back. Also because of this technique, me, along with our large bag, was pulled onto her and we escaped immediately using her threads.
!!!
"AHHHH!"
After I finally get closed to her, she surrounded me with strings.
"Aren't you a boy to start with? Why did you scream?"
"Can you explain yourself when you got randomly pulled by something?!"
"Oh yeah? Doesn't make sense since I actually got to talk with you using my string a moment ago?"
"And what's the point?"
"That means I have the full control of every threads around you, and you should've expect it!"
After our short arguement, we finally got to escape from the nest without using our feet. As her threads travel through the woods, I noticed that her dress is getting thinner and thinner making her exposed.
"Shouldn't you stop using your thread already? I mean... your dress."
"I could make another."
"B-but, your..."
"What?"
After noticing her own self, she got my point.
"Heh, alright, there you go."
"Huh? AHHH!"
Using the strings in my shirt, she blocked my vision that made me completely useless now that my body is already pinned with her string.
"You should be worried that I could still do this to you."
"Why?"
"Since I used barely enough strings to that huge bird, it could break freely once it regained function."
*SCREEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!*
"And... Jinx."
After her line, a huge shadow blocked my already blocked eye, just from the disappearance of the sunlight, I knew the bird was finally onto us, I noticed that Len stopped, and broke me freely from her strings.
"Luke, take that fabric in our bag."
"Huh? Why?"
"What?! Stop the questions and move already!"
After taking the fabric from our bag, she made a huge slingshot using two trees.
"Hop in."
"Huh? WHY?!"
"OF COURSE WE'RE ESCAPING!"
After we went flying using the slingshot, we saw how the bird demolished everything where it lands, we did a small whistle that showed how glad we are to escape.
"And now, an emergency fabric was used."
"Len, now's not the time to think about it, not only that the fabric is used, our bag was also gone!"
"Can you understand the situation?! If you even get that bag into that slingshot, it wouldn't send us this far!"
"Now that you mentioned it, how should we land? We're still flying you know?"
After the realization, we heard another screech from the bird, this time, it was pure terror.
In a second, I was caught by it's beak.
!!!
"Luke. LUUKE!!!"
"AHHHHHHH!!!"
Because of how fast the bird had become, we never got to react that made me stucked to it's beak as I went farther and farther from her. From her vision, I knew her mind was saying, How could that bird fly so fast when that slingshot sent us considerable meters in one second? But it was my last guess from her after her figure had disappeared from my vision. After minutes of breaking freely from the bird, it got irritated and dropped my from the sky. I was panicking, panicking that my death is approaching closer, until I noticed myself moving still in a river.
Since then, I found Vonth City, which is where we're departing right now.
ā End of Chapter 19