Early morning the border forests of city c were alive with sounds. Birds sang happily and critters roamed around in the ground, eating debris.
A young fox appeared out of its den. Birds started to give warning calls, loudly chirping and flying over it
Hearing these calls, a young rabbit hid behind a huge cider tree, peering around the surroundings. Spotting a little fox close by, it silently hid its body in the rootstocks of the huge trees.
but none of the beautiful creatures noticed a small figure crouching down in the bushes. A pale hand reached out and grabbed a hold of the little bunny's neck.
"Ee!!!!" The little rabbit twisted its neck, trying its best to escape his clutch.
Jian Rue gazed at his bounty with a big grin. "Caught you~"
He had been tracking this little bunny for a while now. Just last week, he caught a glimpse of its pure white fur in the dangerous forest. he had set up traps but the little rabbit never took the bait. But thanks to that little fox's interference could catch it so easily.
"let's see if you are a girl or a boy," he turned it over and checked its underside.
"Oh, you're a girl! that's nice," he whispered softly.
Hearing his soothing voice, the rabbit calmed down. Its pink eyes fell on his handsome face.
"It's okay little one… it's okay. You're safe."
The young man was in his late twenties, yet He had a boyish charm to his face. His grey-green eyes shone brightly, peering at the young bunny.
"Hi little bunny, I'm Jian Rue. And I promise I won't eat you. at least not you, but I might eat your children. If that is okay with you.," The young man hugged it to his chest. its soft fur gently caressed his arm.
after a very long time, Jian felt joy.
joy in having a companion.
"Since you are going to be my pet, you need a name. What shall I call you… paws? Patches?" he rubbed the small black patch on its head.
The bunny dully looked up at him.
"You look unimpressed."
The rabbit turned its head, looking away from him.
"Fine, I'll name you little Paws. Is that okay?" he cheerfully kissed the top of its head.
the little bunny finally gave in to his pets and closed its eyes calmly.
"Seems like you like the name. Little paws, let's go home~"
Jian Rue placed it in his small gunny bag and slung it on his back.
Catching a rabbit was a bountiful haul, but he didn't wish to eat it just yet.
"I'll build a small cage and raise it. Maybe find a pair for the little bunny and let it breed. We will have infinite rabbit meat~"
The times were hard and the food source was scarce. Finding a young bunny like this was a very rare occasion, if it were anyone other than him, the bunny would have been skinned alive instantly.
he had always wanted to find a cute companion to give him some respite. a cute bunny would work so well. plus, if little bunny had a few kittens he can raise them for meat. It was a win-win anyway one looked at it.
Humming softly in his mind, Jian Rue stepped over a huge, toppled tree. His foot accidentally stepped on a twig. A loud crunching sound was heard underneath his feet.
Jian Rue froze. the blood drained from his face when the whole forest went quiet instantly.
'Bad… this is bad!!!'
the young rabbit panicked in the bag.
Jian Rue squatted down and vigilantly looked around. It was daybreak, and the sun was rising, but since the forest was so dense, the canopy of the tree hid most of the sunlight. His visibility was low.
He cautiously hid in a bush.
These sides of the forest were dangerous.
There had been rumors floating amongst the survivors before that there was a grayling wandering around this area. it was passed around so long ago that he eventually forgot about it. Every day he had been foraging around these places cautiously, but today he made a silly mistake because of his carelessness.
'Shit… I should have been more careful... I shouldn't have been distracted...' he mentally berated himself. Holding his breath, Jian Rue watched his surroundings.
a small movement was seen in the oak tree ten feet from him.
Grey tentacles appeared inside a massive hole in the tree trunk. Soon, a gelatinous body pushed itself out of it.
Jian Rue froze up like a statue. His trembling hands instantly went to his utility belt, gripping the blunt dagger tightly. This was the closest he had ever come to a grayling.
The grey creature turned to his side.
His racing heartbeat went up a notching upon seeing its face. it had a pair of huge back eyes with various little visual receptors. Its mouth was just a small finger-sized hole.
Jian Rue remained motionless. a grayling cannot sense its prey unless and until it sees movement. Its color receptors are not that great, which is why hiding in the bush was the best bet.
He held his breath with difficulty.
But suddenly the rabbit in his bag wiggled around, rustling the leaves nearby.
The grayling's head instantly snapped his way.
"Fuck…" Jian Rue shot up and ran.
"igheeeeeee!!!!!" with a weird-sounding screech, the creature ran after him. Its tentacle-like arms grabbed a hold of the tree trunk and literally rocketed itself forward.
"Fuck!" he ran in a zig-zag motion to throw it off, but the creature was relentless.
'It looks starved...' It was highly likely that the grayling was hibernating in the hole in that tree for a long time. it was his unlucky day that he stumbled upon it. 'Shit…. how can I fight it….' his blunt knife can't even cut meant that well. He can't go into this fight putting all his trust in it. Right now, he can only use his environment to his advantage.
Jian Rue hurriedly tied the rabbit onto his utility belt and took out his knife. 'I can't run away from it forever… quick. what can I do?' This thing can run faster than a cheetah and can even persist for as long as three days.
He had to fight back.
Panting, he gazed back at it.
The grayling's small mouth opened and a huge squid-like tentacle wiggled out, rushing to grip a hold of him.
Jian Rue gritted his teeth. 'Fuck I need to outsmart that thing… how...'
Right now, he was in unchartered lands he had no clue about his surroundings.
While running, he took a careful look ahead. He spotted a huge piece of rock jutting out from the ground as soon as he reached it. He slid down and picked it up.
He tossed it right at the grayling's head.
"igheeeeeee!!!!!" it let out a painful screech as the rock hit its head.
Taking this chance, Jian Rue hid.
The creature shook its head and glared around with a vengeful gaze. Ist tentacles moved around furiously in the air picking up any movements close by.
When a small scratching sound was heard behind a tree and the creature took off to it at full speed.
A small gunny bag was all it found close to a tree trunk.
By the time it realized it was a trap a dagger had stabbed right through its soft skull, piercing its small brain.
Its body went limp and it fell dead to the ground.
Jian Rue panted loudly. "Oh fuck… fuck that felt good." he plucked the dagger out. Grey blood oozed out of the creature.
the alien creature's whole body had started to turn into a gooey water-like substance, and gray blood soon started to corrode the plant growing around it.
Grimacing, he wiped it on the leaves nearby and hopped over it to pick up the bunny.
At the last minute, he decided to leave the bunny rabbit as a decoy.
"I'm so sorry…" he hugged the bunny softly in his embrace. The little creature's heart was racing so fast in its chest. "you're safe now… I'm really really sorry…"
Soon the rabbit calmed down.
The whole forest regained its vigor. The chirping birds flew around, happily singing their song.
Jian Rue left the premise as soon as he could. if another grayling found him by the corpse of its fallen member, he would be done for.
As he was stepping away, he noticed a patch of white flowers.
"You don't say…" he happily ran to it and touched the small stalk of the plant. the tender flowers were growing on its head like a bulb. He pinched the stem slightly. a fresh scent of onion spread around.
It was wild onions!!!
He hurriedly dug the up and bagged it up leaving behind a few plants. the next generation seed of these plants will create an onion patch in about three months.
Jian Rue placed his gunny bag down and took out a worn-out map from his belt. He marked down that spot. the next time he came out to forage for food he can easily find this spot and get a fresh batch of onions.
the little bunny poked its hand out of the bag and peered at him with interest.
chuckling, Jian poked its small pink nose.
"You must be a lucky bunny. We killed a grayling and even found onions," he whispered, petting its soft fur.
The rabbit let out a small sound and melted into his embrace.
just as he got up, he spotted a tall stalk of some hemp-like plant. After inspecting the leaves, it turned out to be a wild oats plant. "You really must be my lucky charm."
Jian Rue collected a handful of the oat seeds and left the remaining on the ground for it to grow in the future.
"Grandma is going to love this." grinning he happily ran back home.
Home was nothing but a small motor room with barely enough head space to stand up. this was the only structure that remained unharmed near his area. It was close to the forest, so other scavengers do not like to get close. It was the safest place he could find.
Walking in he switched on the small solar light. it flickered a bit but lit up after a while. "Grandma I'm home."
"Bian…. Bian is that you, my grandson?" an old voice called out from the corner of the room.
"no. it's Jian, grandma. Did you forget about me again?" he smilingly walked close.
The old lady squinted her eyes. As soon as he was close enough, the old lady scoffed and turned her face. "You? You're not my grandson. Why are you still here? Get out!" she hit him with her pillow.
Jian dryly chuckled. "We live together, Grandma."
"We don't! you are not my grandson! You... you parasite!" the weak old lady hit his face accurately.
His smile wilted for a second. but soon he put on a comforting smile on his face and held up little bunny "I… I found a bunny. We can raise it together. I heard they have little ones every three months. we can have ample meat. Isn't that awesome?"
"Get away from me! You dirty thing!" the lady growled and panted after a while.
Jian closed his eyes slightly. From childhood to his youth, he could never think of a day his grandmother or grandfather called out his name lovingly. His twin brother, Bian Rue, was always their grandson... while he ...he was just a 'thing' to them.
He picked up and dusted the blanket that had fallen off her.
"Don't tire yourself. I'll leave. You have to lie down." He helped her lay down on the soft bedding and covered her trembling body with the blanket. The old lady closed her eyes again.
he peered at her with a soft sigh. it had only been five years and her dementia had progressed to such a state. She couldn't even remember if she ate or even if she went potty. even then she would call out to Bian. She never once called out his name.
He patted his aching heart slightly. 'It's okay... she is old... old people forget things.…'
His eyes started to tear up. Suddenly, a soft weight hopped onto his lap. Little bunny rubbed against his palm and gazed up at his face.
Jian smiled and kissed its head. 'What am I thinking…at least I have a family…' He wiped his face and went to work
He washed off the wild onion bulbs he had collected and fried them up in open fire. The smell of fresh onion wafted in that small space. The outside of it was charred, but the inside was well-cooked. He cut them up into thin slices.
He had already cut off the top half of the onion for the little bunny.
The little creature stayed by his feet, eating the green onion shoots.
"Bian… Bian, where are you?"
Jian Rue crawled over to her and adjusted the torn-up warm blanket she had pushed off. "I'm making your favorite caramelized onion. We can have it with the wild oats." He gently held her worn-out hands.
The woman flung his hand off with a disgusted look. "Where is Bian... I want my Bian. I haven't seen my baby in such a long time. Want to see him. I want to see him!!" she pushed him away forcefully. "it's all because of you! You hail bringer of evil! Why did you come to us? You are not his twin! You are not!!!" she cried hysterically.
he lost his balance for a second and fell to the floor with a grunt. even so he still smilingly gazed at her. "Bian is will come, grandma. It's because it's not safe outside. That is why he is staying safely at a spot... he will come for us."
Only after hearing that did the old grandma's wrinkled face lit up with a smile. "Is he coming today? Call him now! I want to see my baby! The last I saw he was so wan and thin. I bet he is being treated badly. I want my Bian home... call him home... call him home," she wept loudly.
"shh…. Shh..." Jian hurriedly shushed her. "Please don't cry, Grandma. I'll bring him here. I promise. He will be here in ten minutes. Please don't cry..."
"you, go get him,"
"Right after you eat your breakfast," Jian Rue patiently fed her a bowl of hot porridge and a small dish of sauteed wild onion. After he was done, the bowl was empty. There was nothing left for him to eat.
His tummy growled loudly.
The old woman did not seem to bother about that. She kept mumbling her Bian's name and cuddled up in her fuzzy blanket.
Jian Rue's smile stiffened up. he got up, stumbling with exhaustion. "I'll bring Bian here… just stay silent, okay grandma. Don't make any noise or a big bad creature will come for you..."
His grandma nodded and dozed off into dreamland.
Sighing, Jian Rue arranged her bedding again. while leaving, he cautiously locked the doors, making sure that he was silent as possible.
The rubble road was what faced him. He slowly hopped over the uneven rubbles on the ground and silently proceeded to the main street.
A few grey corpses were lying on the side of the road. He carefully moved close to it. It was a grayling. Its tentacles had been cut off brutally and its head was detached. But subtly he could see a small red marking below the neck indicating its age.
When graylings grow old, they turn red and it starts from their neck.
'This grayling must have been one from the first purge… it has its marking...'
with a sigh, he jumped over it calmly.
A dead alien was a common yet fearful slight because it was currently the year 2028. It had been five years since the interspecies war began.