The question of what should I do was the first thing that surfaced in my mind when I heard the ruffling sound.
I have been through this before and can very well predict to a certain point what the outcome would be.
I would muster up my courage and have a go at it, only to end up being brutally shot down hard.
It's not hard to understand once you have experienced it!
Despite knowing what the outcome would be, there is this urge in me telling me to start and fight, convincing me with essential reasons that I admit to be true.
Just like what happened the first time, will I be trapped here until I finally kill something?
No. What did happen the first time?
The last I remembered was fainting after I had tried everything I could to fend off the beast.
I never really got into what happened after that because I assumed it all to be a dream.
After I found out it wasn't a dream, I was so preoccupied with discovering what had happened to my body that I never really thought to think about how I survived the first time.
Now that I am here, I find myself questioning what happened?...
Was the actual mission not to kill but to show the determination to kill? If so, that would explain a lot about how I survived the encounter even after I collapsed.
"Alright then, it's settled".
Though I was of one mind, I had no choice but to test out my hypothesis.
The ruffling sound had yet to get in close proximity to me so I still had enough time to prepare.
When I say prepare, I don't mean come up with some weird tactic that will only end up failing me.
This time, I am going toe to toe, head to head with whatever is going to appear.
It sounds foolish and no matter from what angle one analyses, it certainly looks foolish, what I intend to do is.
But what can I say? I have no weapons nor resources to rely on in this dense solitude of a place called a forest.
The closest I have ever gotten to a weapon is cutting a tree branch and sharpening the tip to be as pointy as a pencil and as deadly as the tip of a knife.
And exactly where did that weapon get me? Brutally beaten, wounded and eventually unconscious. That's where.
Which is why I decided, what's the use of preparing if it is only going to end up failing?
That energy I would waste on trying to build up a plan I know will fail, I would rather use it to go up against the beast while I am at full strength.
Besides, I am not just going in blind. This time around, I believe I have something to rely on.
Unlike the first time when I was nothing but a fourteen-year-old, it's different this time.
How? This time, I am a fourteen-year-old who is experiencing some absurd changes going on with my body.
I have great eyesight, the kind that rivals a hawk. Great hearing that puts a bat's sensory hearing to shame. Excess stamina that I don't have a read on exactly how much of it I have.
And other of such things that I am on the verge of figuring out!
This is my chance to get a field test. Dangerous? Yes, it is, it is. But there are certain moments in life where if you don't take that leap of fate, and dive straight into the danger, you will never be able to find yourself going forward.
Rather, one would only remain stagnant, blaming their idleness on other things, whereas the fault has always been them.
This is one of those moments!
This is my life now, and I have to learn to start adapting to it, and accommodate it instead of trying to run from it!
"Breathe in and breathe out! In, out. In, out!!".
I said as I heavily inhaled the surrounding air and heavily exhaled it.
That said, my resolution to face the incoming beast should not be a justification for allowing carelessness to take place.
My words as spoken, I will go at it toe to toe, should not be interpreted as me having the intent to go at it in a frontal combat.
Come on. I am young, not stupid.
I steeled my legs into the hardened ground and gathered enough force into it.
Having accumulated enough, I used the force in my leg to lift my body off the ground and propelled myself high, as far as the branch of the tree that was closest to me.
With my eyesight, I marked my landing spot as I made my safe landing on the tree branch.
I never doubted my capacity to reach a branch that was ten feet taller than I was.
I had once succeeded in climbing a tree branch that took me eight steps to get to, a feat that shouldn't be possible for someone with my height.
That same confidence was what assured me that I would be able to make the jump if I wanted to, and I did.
I glanced at the next branch that was above me, and with profound acrobatic moves, I made my go at it.
First, I walked two steps on the tree trunk, and at the second step, I detached my feet from the trunk and rolled my body up in the air as I flew past the branch I intended to land on.
It was exhilarating that my body could keep up with my thoughts, and I was more than excited to see what else I could do with my body.
Safely, both feet landed on the branch at the same time, steading my body on it.
"This is good enough". I said, content with the view from where I stood.
I could see everything that was below me and ahead by an extended range of about a mile away.
That was more than enough time to spot the kind of beast I planned on facing once it got within close range.
Also, enough time to think of ways and measures to go at it.