Ok, It's official, groggily waking up after almost dying was now his signature move. He hated it to the core but there was nothing he could do to change it.
He groggily sat up. The first thing he saw was a naked middle aged woman slowly changing her clothes in the.....where was he? It looked like a cave. He slowly looked around him to get his bearings. He completely ignored the woman, he wanted to be respectful and give her privacy, but he had also lost all hope in humanity and their romance so.....he didn't give a shit.
The woman turned around after she had put on her floral dress....no literally, it was made of flowers, and looked at the young man. She then started walking towards him. He looked at her and waited to see what she would do to him.
"Drink this"
"What? Why?"
"Do you want to live or die?"
"Of course I want to live, I have to do more training!"
"Then drink this"
Saying so, she shoved the bowl that was beside him straight down his gullet, wood and all. He choked on it, coughed and sputtered, but most of the liquid had made its way to his stomach.
"What the hell?!"
The woman just glanced at him and stood up, before making her way to the entrance of the cave. Still disgruntled, he stood up to follow her. He lost his balance almost immediately and crashed back down to the floor. The woman turned her head to look at him.
"Don't move yet, or at least, don't try. You suffered a bad injury to your head, you won't get too far."
She left after that brief piece of advice. He continued to lie on the floor, face eating the dirt. He eventually got tired of the taste of dirt and dragged his face out of the impression on the ground. He suddenly realised that unlike all the other horrible things in this forest, this woman did not immediately try to kill him.
He eased up and decided that it was okay to relax in this place, since he did not seem to be in any danger. Then the woman came into the cave and he forgot everything he said, again tensing up like he was about to fight for his life. The woman saw him on the floor, hackles raised, and just sighed.
She walked over to him, lifted him and set him on the cloth again, where he had been resting previously. He did not stop her. Even if he was cautious, he was not ungrateful enough to bite the hand that fed him, literally. She sat down near the other end of the cave and started to draw on the dirt with her finger.
Curious, he looked over at what she was doing. It didn't seem important, it was just a few letters and num...Wait! He didn't know how to read!
He glanced at the woman. She seemed like she knew what she was doing, writing quickly with steady strokes.
Strange, what was she doing in a abandoned cave? He decided not to think much about it. Instead, he wanted to use this chance to become an expert in the language of this world.
"Ahem, ahem"
He coughed to get her attention. She did not react. Maybe she did not hear him, she could be hard of hearing, he wouldn't know.
"AHEM, AHEM!"
"Do you need some water?"
After hearing her response he really did start coughing.
"Cough, cough, cough...yes..."
She got up to go get some water from a little pot near the entrance. He decided to just ask the oblivious lady for help.
"Can you teach me how to read and write?" he asked as he took a sip of water.
"Didn't you learn how to? You seem quite old. Did your parents not teach you how?"
He grit his teeth at the mention of his parents and decided to tell a white lie that he wished were true.
"I'm an orphan"
"Then did the orphanage you were in not teach you?"
"I didn't go to an orphanage"
"But that isn't possible, all children who have lost their parents are sent to the orphanage regardless of their will"
"I don't know what to tell you if you don't believe me"
"I don't believe you"
"I still don't know what to tell you"
"How about now?"
"Still nothing"
"Ha.....fine, come here"
He staggered over to sit beside the woman. She started to write characters on the dirt using her finger.
"This is Aeo....this is Des....this is Rak..."
He slowly learnt this world's alphabetical system under her tutelage. The day bled into the night and he stretched his arms and yawned.
Seeing this, the woman went over to part the vines that covered the cave entrance. Seeing how late it was, she walked out and started walking towards the back of the cave.
He decided to follow her this time since he could. His rate of recovery was getting faster and faster. She did not seem to mind. Once they reached the back, he was shocked.
Rolling hills stretched out for miles, crops growing on some, and giant fences with, you guessed it, farm animals and even a few regular animals (which didn't make sense at all and I'm surprised you guessed it).
"Nope". He turned and started walking back to the cave as soon as he saw the farm animals.
"Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope..."
He was walking, but he wasn't moving. The lady had grabbed his collar and was holding him in place.
"They won't do anything to you. They are different from the ones outside. I have tamed them"
"Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope..."
The woman sighed and started dragging him towards his trauma.
"AHHHHHH.....ARE YOU CRAZY LADY? GET ME AWAY FROM THESE FREAKY FARM...THINGS!"
"You have to overcome your trauma"
"NO I DON'T, I'M FINE WITH MY TRAUMA, MY TRAUMA IS MY FRIEND, DON't CHASE IT AWAY!!"
She did not listen to his pleas. Once she neared the pen with the fiendish pigs in em', she lifted him with one hand and launched him in.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!"