The entity opened his eyes to see the moon shining brightly in a cloudless sky. His face was dripping with cold sweat, and his body ached in pain. The temperature was still low, and he could feel the chill attempting to penetrate his skin, but the unnatural heat radiating from his body overpowered it.
He was about to sit up when he felt a weight leaning against him. He looked over and saw golden-brown hair spread across his chest. That was when he noticed the woman he had just met in the forest, sleeping beside him. Her breathing was soft, but her body was shivering from the cold. Instinctively, she squeezed closer to him, seemingly trying to draw more of his warmth.
He nudged the woman and he felt her mumble something incomprehensible. Failing to wake her, He instead forcefully sat up leaving the woman alone on the rough floor. The entity was about to enter deep thoughts when suddenly she woke up with a groan.
"Hnn. Too cold."
The woman sat up and eyes widened when she saw him already awake.
"What happened?" He asked first.
"Y-you woke up."
"Tell me." He demanded.
"Uhm… okay."
The woman nodded and began explaining what happened before he fainted. Apparently, she had followed him and the boar after it threw him into a tree. As she approached the scene, she heard additional movement and quickly hid behind some grass. From her hiding spot, she saw another boar emerge from the bushes, staring intently at the entity lying helplessly. She swore she could hear it speak as the first boar prepared to charge again.
She said she wanted to intervene but was too late—the first boar had already dashed forward and was about to skewer him when, out of nowhere, a random branch viciously slammed it to the ground. The woman couldn't believe her eyes at what happened next. Ahead of her stood a massive tree with visible hunting eyes and a gaping mouth, its eerie presence sending shivers down her spine.
Then she heard a cacophony of strange noises, incomprehensible and otherworldly, as if the entire forest had suddenly awakened.
The terrifying tree miraculously moved, though she had no idea how it managed to do so. For a moment, she thought it smiled sinisterly at the two boars. The second boar let out one last squeal before retreating into the bushes, disappearing from her sight. She couldn't see its condition, as her focus was solely on the menacing tree.
Meanwhile, the first boar, bleeding and trembling, struggled to stand upright. The tree simply watched, its gaze unrelenting—perhaps directed at her as well.
Eventually, the first boar managed to get back on its feet and ran away, never once looking back. The eerie tree slowly turned, its gaze lingering until it finally faded into the distance.
Wasting no time, she rushed to the unconscious entity and hoisted him up as best she could. With urgency driving her, she fled the scene, her heart pounding. The weight of the tree's burning stare pressed heavily on her back, but she forced herself to keep running, letting her feet carry her wherever they could.
For some reason, she didn't explain why he had found her sleeping next to him, but he decided not to dwell on it. It was obvious she had sought the abnormal heat he radiated, especially with how cold the night had been.
"Are you okay now? I tried to wake you several times, but it seemed like you were hurt pretty badly," she asked softly.
Growl. Growl.
The sound of a protesting stomach echoed through the quiet, cold night. The entity didn't bother figuring out whose stomach it was. Instead, he shifted his focus to more pressing matters.
He thought about how close he had come to dying, just like that. He didn't even know if there was any real motivation to keep going. There seemed to be none. If that living tree hadn't saved him, his body would have been nothing more than a meal for those two boars. What was that tree, anyway? And why had it chosen to help him?
Still, the reality remained—he had almost experienced what could have been heaven or hell. Yet, against all odds, he had survived and was given a chance to find his purpose. Perhaps his original purpose in this strange place was to explore the world, but through some unfortunate turn of events, he had become lost in this forest. Maybe there was a bizarre creature, like that strange tree, that had somehow erased his memories for some reason.
The entity then looked at his hands, now free of calluses, and contemplated what had happened—why his power had failed him last time. He remembered that the heat had been there, working somehow, but it hadn't been enough. It felt like something was preventing it from regenerating fully, from becoming a proper fire. Regardless, he knew he had to figure out how to harness this ability if he wanted to escape this damned forest.
"Can you roughly tell the time?" he asked the woman, who was now shivering severely from the cold.
"I don't know… but it was already nighttime when I managed to sleep. It's probably close to midnight."
He nodded and said, "Be wary of your surroundings."
With that, he faced the nearby tree trunk, hoping it wasn't one of the moving trees or one of his kind, as his hands were pressed against it. The entity searched again for the heat to materialize, but this time, he focused on the magical device that was unseen in this world. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate. Surprisingly, it only took a second before a blazing fire shot from his hands and started to consume the entire tree.
He heard the woman's shocked gasp behind him but ignored it, focusing all his will on concentration. He couldn't afford to lose control, and who knew if he would be able to do it again successfully. Once the fire had finished burning the entire tree, he immediately found another one to practice his mysterious ability. He didn't care if another beast noticed the smoke nearby. All he could think was that he wouldn't succumb to the fear the two boars had instilled in him. He would even burn the whole forest if it meant killing those two.
The entity had successfully created a forest fire before his brain detected something unusual, like a signal telling his body to stop whatever it was doing. Meanwhile, the night was illuminated, with smoke rising into the sky, which was full of stars, as the entity collapsed onto the ground, trying to ease the pulsing pain in his head.
The scene suddenly became quiet, except for the roaring sound of the fire burning. The entity looked around for his companion and saw her, far away from the fiery heat. He made his way toward her and attempted a smile.
"I never got the chance to thank you for not abandoning me there."
"Thank you," he said sincerely.
The woman smiled shyly and asked, "What do we do now?"
"Well, the fire may attract those two here."
"Then we'll have to run!"
"No. If they come, we'll fight them."
"A-are you sure?"
"We have no choice. We can't be safe while those two are still lurking around."
The entity could see that the woman was nervous and afraid—so was he. But he thought, as time passed, their chances of survival diminished, and their hunger became impossible to ignore. He hadn't planned to tell the woman what their first meal in the forest would be. Surprisingly, his heart didn't mind consuming sentient beings, which confused him. But he didn't let it bother him and focused instead on how it increased his chances of survival, which put him at ease.
"I'm sorry for my impulsiveness. I promise this will be the last time."
The entity knew she didn't have much choice, and sure enough, he saw her nod. After all, he was the only one she could team up with and rely on in this forsaken land.
Throughout the night, tension was visible on both of their faces as time passed. The duo guarded every nook and cranny, staying alert for any beasts that might emerge. But their efforts were in vain, as the night remained peaceful.
The entity was relieved to have more time to prepare. He didn't give much thought to why the enemy hadn't shown up. Perhaps the boars were tending to their injuries and had decided to hunt them another day.
Here's a revised version with corrected grammar and improved flow:
The moon faded as the sun slowly rose into the sky. Another day had begun for the two lost humans, but they were more than ready, despite the sleepless night. The cold was still biting, but he thought his companion could handle it. If she couldn't, he was there to create a fire and perhaps practice more with his only card against their adversaries.
The entity planned to scavenge for food and look for any clue that might point them to people. The two moved quickly, and by the time the sun reached its peak in the sky, they arrived at what seemed to be the shore. But what they discovered shook their souls. Over the frozen sand was not sea water, but instead, mountains of ice stretching across the horizon. This was not the shore. In fact, all they could see was white.
The entity looked at the woman, confusion evident on her pretty face.
"H-how is this possible?!" she exclaimed.
"Maybe we're on the wrong side," the entity calmly suggested.
"No. This is where the sun sets."
The entity then examined the frozen sand, searching for any trace of the woman's footprints. The woman joined him. Not long after, the two found tracks frozen in the ice. The woman hurriedly stepped beside one of the footprints, and it matched perfectly.
But the entity noticed different tracks beside the woman's that clearly didn't belong to her. He examined the tracks, which were the size of his head, and was surprised to see they were shaped like hearts, with distinct claws—tracks that could only belong to the giant boars.
He followed the trail, which led from a gap in the trees and into the mountains. That's when he deduced that the two boars must have discovered the woman's tracks and followed her into the forest. He looked at the grim expression on the woman's face; she must have realized, too, what had really happened.
He was about to tell her to continue on when he heard rustling coming from the side of the mountain forest. He signaled for the woman to be quiet as he tracked the movement. He squinted his eyes and saw a pair of animal ears peeking through some bushes.
He heard the woman beside him trying to tell him something.
"It's a hare," she whispered.
"I know. We hunt them."
The entity glanced at her and nodded.
"Then we will hunt it."
The woman nodded in agreement.
The two moved forward slowly, careful not to make any noise with their steps. As they entered the cold trees, they finally spotted the animal. Sure enough It was a snow hare, its fur a thick blanket of white, blending almost seamlessly with the snow-covered ground. Its ears were long and pointed, twitching at every sound, and its large, dark eyes were fixed ahead but the problem was its size—it stood as tall as an average human.
The entity was about to discuss what to do next when he saw the woman run ahead, passing him toward the oversized hare. He didn't know what had motivated her to act so fearlessly. Maybe she held some personal grief over the creature, or perhaps the unbearable hunger had finally taken its toll.
The hare was oblivious to the incoming threat as it chewed on some grass. It finally noticed the noise, but the woman had already jumped into the air. The hare's long ears perked up, but a barefoot landed on its skull, and its eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets due to the impact.
Bang!
The hare's face mashed into the ground as blood splattered everywhere. The sound of startled birds came from the trees and the sky, caused by the commotion below. The entity hurried to finish what the woman had started, but the hare did not get up. It lay motionless on the ground, dead.