Adrian sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning as the mountain air chilled his face.
He blinked groggily, looking over at the little girl who was still sprawled out on the ground, deep in sleep.
She hadn't moved.
Not even an inch.
"Hey… aren't you going to wake up?"
"Boo-boo... bah!"
Adrian mumbled, crawling over to her.
He poked her arm tentatively, then shook her gently.
No response.
His brows furrowed as he pushed harder this time, trying to jostle her awake.
"Hey! Come on, wake up already…"
Still nothing.
Adrian pulled back, staring down at her unmoving form with growing concern.
He flexed his tiny fingers, his mind racing.
Something felt different.
His hand looked slightly more grown, his fingers less pudgy than before.
He had fallen asleep as a chubby baby, right?
But now his body seemed just a little more developed, more… solid.
As if a year had passed since he fell asleep in the forest.
Not by much, but enough for him to notice.
He dismissed the thought for now, focusing back on the girl.
It didn't matter how much he had grown.
The real issue was her.
Shaking her again, more urgently this time, he gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Come on! Wake up!"
"Deh... deh... gu!"
The sun had long disappeared beyond the horizon, and now the night had fully fallen, the sky turning a deep, inky black dotted with stars.
Hours had passed.
Adrian's lips twitched, panic rising in his chest as the situation sank in.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait… why isn't she waking up!?"
He tugged at his hair, his mind racing with worry.
His breaths came faster, more erratic.
It had been nearly 10 hours, and she hadn't moved a muscle.
His small heart pounded in his chest as realization set in.
"I'm screwed. I'm so, so screwed."
"Fuk...me ...fuk...d," he muttered under his breath, rocking back and forth.
If she didn't wake up, he was all alone up here, at the top of this mountain, with no idea how to survive or where to go.
And he was just a baby, for crying out loud!
The cool wind whipped across the mountaintop, sending shivers down his spine.
He could feel his bare bottom getting cold, becoming numb over time.
He glanced around, his eyes wide as the vast, open landscape loomed around him with only a small hut in front of him.
Adrian chewed on his lip, looking back at the girl.
She was his only hope—his only protector.
If something happened to her, if she didn't wake up…
No, he couldn't think about that.
She had to wake up.
She was strong, right?
Strong enough to kill that bear, strong enough to conjure milk from nothing.
She had to wake up.
Adrian hugged his knees to his chest, trying to steady his racing thoughts.
He needed a plan, something to keep his mind off the creeping dread clawing at him.
First, food.
Which he already had in the bottle.
And second, shelter.
Which he already had in front of him as the hut.
Adrian blinked, his infant body trembling with weakness, but determination surged through him.
He had to do something—he couldn't just leave her out there.
Struggling to his feet, he stumbled forward on all fours, crawling toward the small hut that stood before him on the mountain peak.
Despite the cold biting at his skin, he pressed on, his tiny legs pushing him forward through the dirt and rocks until he reached the door.
Panting, he nudged it open with his head, and it creaked as he stepped inside.
The interior was simple, almost bare, but cozy in its own primitive way.
The walls were made of packed soil, keeping the warmth in and the cold out.
A sense of relief washed over him as he felt the temperature shift ever so slightly.
It wasn't much, but it was enough to calm his frazzled nerves.
His eyes scanned the room.
In one corner, a large clay pot held dried wheat or grain seeds, piled up as if stored for the winter.
Beside it, a makeshift bed of dried bushes and straw lay on the ground, looking rough but functional.
The other side of the room held farming equipment—a primitive axe, a hoe, a shovel, all tools a village farmer would use, nothing modern.
His mind raced, trying to piece together what he could use to help him pull the girl into the hut.
Adrian glanced back out the door at her small, motionless form.
She was lying about 20 meters away, and there was no way he could drag her inside with just his infant strength.
He needed something to help him.
Fast.
Looking back into the hut, his eyes landed on the pile of straw used as bedding.
It wasn't much, but it gave him an idea.
Straw could be braided—twisted together to form a makeshift rope.
He remembered something from his past life, vaguely, about how primitive ropes were made.
With a spark of hope, he crawled over to the bedding and began tugging at the dried bushes and straw.
It was slow work—his tiny hands struggled to grip the straw properly, and he fumbled more often than not.
But he didn't give up.
He painstakingly separated the driest pieces and began twisting them together, strand by strand.
His little fingers ached, but he kept at it, forcing himself to concentrate.
Once he had a small length of rope—barely a meter long—he moved to the large clay pot where the dried wheat was stored.
He could use that pot as a counterweight if he could somehow tie it to the rope and drag her body inside.
It wouldn't be perfect, but it was his best shot.
Adrian carefully looped the braided straw around the pot's neck, testing its strength.
It held.
He tugged at it a few times to make sure it wouldn't snap under pressure, then hurried back outside.
The cold hit him like a wall, but he gritted his teeth and kept moving.
He reached the girl, her body still lifeless on the ground.
"Okay… okay," he whispered to himself, trying to think of what to do next.
He couldn't tie the rope around her body; she was too heavy, and he couldn't reach around her properly with his small arms.
But he could try to use the rope as leverage.
Crawling closer, he nudged her tattered clothes, biting into them with his two tiny front teeth.
It wasn't much, but it would have to do.
He positioned the rope under her, making sure it looped around her waist as best as he could.
Then, with all the strength he could muster, Adrian crawled back to the pot.
He bit down on the straw rope and tugged, using the pot's weight to create a small amount of pull.
The girl's body shifted, just a little.
"Yes!" he muttered, excitement bubbling up in his chest.
He pulled harder, inching her toward the hut.
It was slow—agonizingly slow—but it was working.
With each pull, the pot's weight helped him drag her body a little closer, the rope doing most of the work as he leaned into it with everything he had.
Every few meters, he had to stop and catch his breath.
His body was tired, his muscles straining under the effort, but he couldn't stop.
Not when he was so close.
He kept pulling, inch by inch, until finally, after what felt like an eternity, her body crossed the threshold of the hut.
Adrian collapsed, panting heavily, but relief washed over him.
She was inside, and they were safe from the cold—for now.
He crawled back to her side, checking to make sure she was still breathing, then curled up next to her, letting the warmth of the hut settle over them both.
As he lay there, his heart racing from the effort, one thought crossed his mind:
'I did it...'
"Baa... hehehe"