Chapter 14: To safety!
Author: Man, you're lucky. Got yourself a comfortable bed and a ride just like that.
Vira: Yeah? You wanna try lying on a plastic board with snow? I'll even get you the clothes and everything.
Author: Nah nah, I'm fine. I enjoy watching others suffer, not suffering myself.
" You sure? Trust me, the chilly wind and the cold board will be an experience you'll never forget." said vira with a kind smile on his face
Author ignored him and started narrating the chapter.
After Vira pulled all the clothes onto the sled, he went to grab the sickle and scissors.
Unfortunately, his small hands just sank into the snow, locking him in place. Seeing this, Woof gently bit his clothes, a slight look of disgust on his face.
"Huh? What?"
Vira was both shocked and worried as he sensed a hint of disgust coming from Woof. But fortunately, Woof wasn't a human with complex thinking patterns or any sort of hypocrisy.
He simply barked at Vira, telling him that he stinks.
It turned out that weeks of soaking and, well, defecating in that diaper was too much for the odor-neutralizing agents to manage. Fortunately, it seemed to be of good quality since it didn't leak.
After being put back on the sled by the disgusted Woof, who had to bear the burden of him and his filth, Vira asked Woof to go and bring the scissors and sickle.
Woof happily obliged.
The scissors weren't much trouble, as they had giant holes and tightly entangled cutting parts. But when he tried to pick up the sickle by bowing his head down to bite it, he was startled by a loud voice impacting his head.
"What the heck are you doing?!
Bite the handle! The wooden side, not the sharp edge!"
It was Vira screaming, having been paying attention to Woof and catching him trying to bite the flat surface instead of the handle.
Fortunately, Vira had been paying attention, as the chill was affecting both him and Viper. If the dog were to get injured, they would have lost most of their hope—a dog that couldn't bite or, worse, was bleeding constantly wouldn't be able to take them far.
Especially not Woof, who was on the older side, with slightly loose muscles, cloudy eyes, and fur beginning to gray. If he suffered an injury, Vira would probably have to say GG to himself and just hope that his next respawn would land him in a better spawn point.
After hearing Vira's reprimand, Woof cowered and meekly picked up the sickle—this time, biting the handle.
Once he placed the sickle on the sled, Woof ran toward the front, bit the rope, and sprinted forward, hoping Vira wouldn't be angry anymore.
Unfortunately, it was not a good decision. Vira, who was sitting on his butt, was jolted back by the sudden acceleration and fell. Fortunately, he landed on the clothes, so he wasn't harmed.
As he tumbled down, he hurriedly shouted, "Stop! Stop, you dumb dog!"
Hearing the command, Woof stopped suddenly—but the snowy ground made the sled slip forward, turning Vira's escape into an unwanted joyride. He nearly got hit by the scissors and sickle that were flung forward.
Fortunately for Woof, though Vira was getting enraged, snake blood was not that potent. It was nutritious and full of energy—enough to keep Vira awake way past his normal sleeping time—but it wasn't enough to make him act as he wished.
Feeling the physical drain of blood loss and the mental exhaustion of his rage consuming him, Vira forced himself to calm down. Or rather, his sheer desire to survive left him no choice.
He simply rolled up the scissors and sickle in a shirt, then collapsed onto the pile of clothes, pulling Viper—now motionless from both blood loss and his natural instinct to hibernate—close to him.
It would have been fine if Viper had eaten enough, but he had refused to drink milk for Vira's sake. His hunts hadn't gone well either—there were no signs of rodents or birds in the garden, and the cold made it impossible for him to travel further without freezing to death.
The only reason Viper was still alive was because of the leftover food scraps and discarded bones in the kitchen sink, buried under a pile of unwashed dishes. But it was a stretch to say he had enough to eat for two weeks from that alone.
Now, he was hungry, drained of blood, and cold—so much so that he could no longer move. This worried Vira, but he could still feel that Viper was alive. There was nothing he could do to wake him up.
So, he laid back on the sled, pushed Viper inside his clothes, and fed him the blood dripping from his hands.
Just hoping that his body—strangely resilient for a child as young as him—would be just as useful to Viper, providing enough energy for it to wake up.
Although Woof was with him now, the dumb dog was in no way as close to him as Viper was. During these weeks, the snake had been his only comfort in this accursed world.
As he laid on the sled, hoping that his blood had enough energy to ensure Viper's survival, Vira closed his eyes, wishing they could reach humans faster. He knew he couldn't survive in the wild—he needed to find human civilization, an orphanage, or at least some kind strangers willing to take care of him. But as time passed, the sled hadn't moved much—if at all. Wondering why, he opened his eyes to see the dumb dog just standing there, staring at his face instead of pulling the sled.
"Now move, you dumb dog," Vira said helplessly to Woof, who had previously never waited for a command before running but now stood frozen, silent in fear of any reprimand.
Finally woof started to run and feeling the chilly wind hitting him as well as the movement vira hugged his arms closing them and laying it on viper's cold body hoping it could warm it better
With Woof's quick movement, the trio reached a small town. After stopping, Woof came back to Vira and licked his face, rousing him from his rest. Vira opened his eyes reluctantly, feeling incredibly tired, but he knew he couldn't afford to ignore the situation. If he didn't wake up, Woof would likely be beaten, and Viper, still inside his clothes, would be turned into soup by the humans once they saw him.
With a deep sigh, Vira sat up, bracing his hands on the elevated section of the sled. He glanced around, taking in the unfamiliar town, and then turned to Woof, speaking firmly but softly, "Walk around slowly."
But soon, he changed his decision and asked Woof to rush inside the gate as the sky started to drip. The snow came suddenly, changing the plans of not only Vira but also of people and animals, as they started getting inside their shelters.
Unfortunately for Vira, this was bad, as the animals who might have come to his rescue were now huddled inside their shelters. His hope that some kind humans would help him was dashed as they too were huddled inside the warmth of their cozy homes with their curtains closed.
But all was not over. The people were still inside the houses; as long as he could attract their attention, he would at the very least be fed. Unless he managed to hit the jackpot and attract some psychotic person with no empathy or people with twisted minds. But they are rare, aren't they?
No matter. After Woof started to run, Vira just picked a house at random without even looking at the surroundings. He opened his mouth to let out a cry—a simple cry, as long as he could muster, that he would have food to eat.
The unfortunate fact was he was not strong enough to even do that. His throat remained damaged even after all this time—two weeks. He expected that his throat would have been healed in these two weeks, but unfortunately, it had not, and he had not noticed, as all his conversations were with two beasts that he had an unknown connection with, one that did not need sound.
Still, even when he couldn't cry, he had other options. He asked Woof to bark and slam the red door he was in front of, but to no avail, as the owner of the house did not respond at all—not to the annoying loud bark or his door being banged.
Unwillingly, he gave up after a few seconds, as the snow was making the temperature drop a lot, and he did not have much time to spare. So, he ran around with Woof to other doorsteps and started doing the same. Unfortunately, the result remained unchanged.
Perhaps God felt he had been unfortunate enough, or something, but just as he was banging helplessly, he heard a sound.
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Fun_fact my mood was in weird active state so there might be unhumorous jokes in the chaps so ignore them