Part-1
The past few days has been nice and fruitful till now. From the time I came here, day by day the environment gradually became colder and it is snowing already. It became quite difficult to work out here. But thanks to my work, my muscles have been developed and cuts are visible. Thanks to the wood cutting job. Consistency can achieve you the best possible outcome, and I am enjoying that right now.
Lucille and I started to wear winter clothes. Winter clothes of this world are actually warm. The special fabric prevents the cold air to come through. Kuro is also a living being but he doesn't feel cold; the reason would be his fur.
"Here Lucille! I brought some firewood. It sure is chilly today." rubbing my hands I say.
"Yes! It's colder than yesterday. Come here and warm yourself up with this fire."
We sit together on wooden chairs near a fireplace. In this chilling weather it's the best.
We don't talk much about our life in our own world. Just the daily chores talk. Except for the three days, one question rule. And today's that day.
"Lemme guess! You are about to ask a question today!"
Lucille speaks out of the blue.
"Huh?! Right!" I am surprised.
"But today! I will ask a question. And you will answer."
The tables are turned.
But why?!
"But that's not what we decided. What's your plan? "
I try to question her. There's something wrong. I get suspicious.
"Hmph! It's not fair if you are the only one asking questions. So for today, it's my turn." she says and smiles at the last of sentence.
"As you wish! I can't win against you."
She is a stubborn one. I can't deny her.
"So let me borrow your words. 'My world is so boring, I like this world. There's so much fun here'. " She tries to imitate me in my own voice.
Nah.. That's not how I say it. I say it with more pity and sympathy and with lot of whining. No one can beat me in that.
She leans forward and continues.
"You always keep whining about this. So honestly tell me, are you really bored of your world? Is there nothing that catches your eye?"
A difficult one! huh!
I am really bored to tell the truth.
But if I am being honest...
"I wanted to see fireworks with my friends."
"..." She looks in awe. As if she was expecting another answer.
"My world, it really is trash for keeping me away from the things I loved so much."
She leans back on the chair and listens to me carefully.
"For the race that I never wanted, I always missed my opportunities to go out with my friends. Even the fireworks!"
It's very difficult to endure, seeing your friends having the best time without any care in the world. It makes you jealous.
"And when I came to my current age, I noticed that people around me doesn't have any time to go to a show or whatever. So I restrained myself from acting up too."
They care about me without a doubt but I am not interested in them anymore. Their chance are long gone for their own sake.
But to this date I still...
"I still want to see fireworks with my friends..."
"Say! Say! Are these fireworks really that good." she says in excitement. She spoke like she wanted to change the subject.
"Yes! They are very beautiful. Haven't you seen one?!"
"No... I didn't socialise much and hardly went out - only for food. How are they?"
"Fireworks are the most beautiful things you will ever see. They go up in the sky like *fhisssssssss! And then BOOM! They are very colourful!"
"I want to see one too then." she leans toward my face and says.
Too close!!
*Blushes.
Her eyes... Why are they so damn beautiful...
They are much more beautiful than the fireworks I saw on television...
I get back in embarrassment!
"Then we will see together.."
"We are not friends so we can't! Hmph!" she gets back and says.
"R.. Right!" I nervously say.
"Would you like to stay in this world then?" Suddenly, she confronts me with a weird question.
(Is that even possible?) is the very first question that popped up in my mind. I mean I wouldn't mind it but it's not possible right?
Yeah.. I wouldn't mind living with her.
"Lucille, but it's not possible right?!" with a confused laugh I said.
"Yeah, you are right!"
Saved!
Still a tiny part of my heart wanted it to be true. To enjoy my life here, with her.
Am I dreaming? No I should know better that dreams never come true.
Doesn't matter if this isn't my world, dreams are never fulfilled anywhere.
Part - 2
I am out here again. The firepower gives out a lot these days. Piles of snow everywhere. It's even hard to drag a log of wood here and there. The geography of this area is also so rocky.
Lucille asked me if I needed any help. But as a man I denied it all! Which I am regretting now.
After what we discussed yesterday, I gave it a little thought. But as the rules stand out in this place-I cannot be here.
Sadly..
I should be missing for a lot of days on earth. My friends and family must have started thinking that I am dead or my funeral have already been held.
Who knows?! Let's get to work.
After some time..
Haa! Finally finished.
Let's looks for some fruits!! So I headed toward a new area.
As I moved forward through the trees. I noticed that snow isn't thick here. So I went in further. Although, she told me not to go much deeper in woods, it would be dangerous. But I don't think there's any danger here. I mean.. I hardly see any animals here.
Snow is also sparsely spread here.
After walking for a while I discovered a place which was fillled with so many varieties ! Which were easily accessible. Which rat will not go to the cheese of this size?
"Wo..W!" I exclaim in happiness.
Lucille will be very happy if I brought this many fruits home.
Fruits! Fruits! So many fruits!
I collect them one by one. Some were fallen on the ground and some were at my height's level. I move further in to see if I could get any new fruits.
Ahh... I think I wandered off too far. I need to go back before I lose my trail. Losing my way home would be my biggest mistake in this forest. It will be worse in this cold weather.
Hush! This much should be more than enough. Time to go.
As I take my first step, my nerves sense something off-like if someone is watching me.
I take another step forward. This time I sense a shadow behind me.
I turn to check. But to my surprise, there is nothing but trees and fruits.
Remaining ignorant I continue.
This time the presence felt much stronger. But still there was no one when I turned around.
"Haaa...." I feel a very strange and horrifying breadth. I knew this time for sure that someone is behind me. I am able to sense the fear just from his breadth. Every cell in my body are afraid to turn around because they know if I turned I would be dead. But being afraid isn't going to help me.. So I mustered up all my courage and turned around.
A devil, a monster this are the very words that came to my mouth-to describe this creature.
A black shiny horn on his forehead. His bald head makes it more terrifying to see. Two eyes just like humans but has less humanity in it. He is double the size of Kuro. Nails so sharp and strong as if they are born to tear off anything from the get go.
His skin coloured purple like a brijal. His body covered with white fur to protect him from cold. I think the thick skin is enough to prevent cold.
His malecious eyes were screaming Kill! Kill! It's the same as it was before with Kuro.
He too might turn small if I show some affection.
But how can a creature like this exist!?It's just like some kind of fantasy I am living in. Will I be confronted by more creatures like this in the future? How will I survive?!
I lose my composure. Focus! Focus!
Even I say this my legs are trembling in fear. Ironically I am feeling kind of thrilled too.
I fall back on the ground in fear. With my axe in my hand I warn him to not get close.
The sweat coming down blurs my vision.
My chest is really hurting. Breadth is uncontrollable.
Lucille... She comes in my mind.
'Come to me if you encounter any danger.' that's what she said.
But how should I call her. This thing won't even allow me to shout.
Calm down!
First I need to go away from here. A bag full of fruits was lying beside me. I got a feeling like it was saying use me and run.
"Arghhhh! Take thissss!!."
"Ahh..? " it doesn't affect much but it will temporary block his vision.
I throw fruits in his face and I use my special technique, which is my last resort. My hidden technique to survive any bizarre situation. The technique which have helped me countless times. The 'Ultimate Sprint' technique.
Run!!
Part-3
Currently I am running away from a creature. Oh! But it has horns then may be it is a demon.
"Roar!! Rawwgraaaa!"
"Argh.....someone help me!"
It's still following me!
Even though I am using my special technique it isn't working. I think it's ineffective against this demon.
Thanks to these big trees. I am able to keep up with my technique.
Though the snow on the ground is making more difficult to run as my foot sinks in with each step but it is more beneficial to me because the same is happening with that creature. Because of his stupidly huge body, he is facing more difficulty than me.
The demon is having problem with running through this big trees too, so atleast for now I have a chance of escaping from his clutches.
I am at advantage here!
With a positive look I run forward.
"Grawwwww!!"
"What the... His speed increased!"
But how?
He is no longer dodging the trees and it's branches, he is breaking through with his raw strength. It's like he hit an enlightenment to deal with this ordeal.
He is using his strength to break the branches rather than avoiding it, which is helping him to stop it's deceleration and accelerating at the same time.
"Wha... What should I do now?!"
Think! There should be a way out of this.
I have seen how a predator moves. In most of the cases, vicious creature just want to kill their prey for fun or to eat. So they never stop chasing. Whatever the difficulty it may be facing while catching it's prey, it doesn't matter.
But..
-If the prey jumps into fire, they won't jump.
-If the prey jumps into the water they won't follow them: depends if they can swim or not.
The drive to avoid harm overrides the predator's drive to kill. So I need to think of something that can stop it.
"Oh yes! I know the perfect place."
The waterfall! It's nearby. I should hurry and swim across it. Once I cross the water the demon should not be able to cross it.
"Yesss! There it is!"
The demon is approaching faster. I need to swim across as soon as possible. I jump into the water.
"Owaa!!! It's so cold! Just cross it already! He is coming."
Hufff! Haaa! I made it. It's so cold! Now I am trembling from head to toe.
I am out of danger.
He is looking at me confused.
Hmph! (I smirk)
"Just go back now! You fool!"
Ha!
No! Wait! Why is he stepping into the water. Don't tell me he knows how to swim?!
Nope! That's not it! He can stand on the river bed. His height! I forgot how stupidly huge he is!
Nooo!!!! He is crossing the water. I quickly turn away and run in the woods again. The water trick didn't work.
"Hm?! Is this the dead end? Why is there a rock-wall blocking my path!"
Also at this crucial moment!
"Roar!!!"
Sheet! He is standing in front of me. I am against the wall now. There's no mean of escape.
Am I going to die here? No! But my life finally got interesting.
Am I going to lose myself again?
Am I going to die here? Because of this creature?!
I was like all the others but later I realised it's pointless. All the efforts and resistance just lead to another path of repetition of society's custom.
Nothing is new! Everything is being taken away from me again!
I am scared!
"Gwaarrrr!" he clicks his neck as if he is signalling that game is over.
I am powerless and unfaithful.
Lucille...
Suddenly I see a shadow running from the side.
Hm?! Lucyyyy! Why is she here and why is she running over here! What is she holding? Is that a sword?
No! Don't come here!! My voice, fear swallowed it.
I am confused! She should run away isn't it obvious? Why to run toward the danger willingly?
She shouts-
"You dare hurt Rayan!! " her face looks angry and scary.
"Huh? What?!"
She jumps in the air at the height where the demon's head is! And swings her sword.
No! It's not a normal sword!
It's a chain sword!
Swinging her hand she leaps across the demon. The chain sword contracts into it's original shape.
What happened?! The movements were so fast that I couldn't see what happened.
The demon's neck. A slight horizontal line appeared not immediately after Lucille landed. Blood sprinkles out and the demon's head slowly slides down his neck and falls in front of me..
*Thud!
And his body falls on his knees and later on the ground.
*Thud!
Huh!? Wh... What...?
Part-4
BLOOD?!
The demon's head is right in front of me. She killed the demon in an instant by whom I was nearly getting killed.
Seeing her beheading him, my skin crawled out. It was haunting for my first time.
I know Lucille inside out. She's dependable, strong,stubborn, kind...
But this.. This is different. She stood their like nothing happened. Suddenly she snaps out of it and comes to me.
"Rayan! are you hurt anywhere?"
"Ahh... Ummm no.. No!" Stammering a bit I said.
"Thank God! I was really scared back then!" she relieves herself.
I don't think she was scared, rather she was confident and scary.
Cool too.. She really saved my life. It's happened twice now.
"You.. You were so cool! Thank you for saving me!"
"Eh!? Yeah... Right! Thank you!" she stammers a bit.
I think my compliment embarrassed her. Right! She is still the Lucille I know.
"What.. What was that creature?!"
"That was a 'Daikin'. A creature of this world. They are merciless killers that hunt in group."
So it's not a demon like in a fantasy. It's just a creature like Kuro but extremely dangerous.
And it's my fault that he came after me, I even jeopardise Lucille's life too.
"Sorry, Lucille!" I apologise her by grabbing my ears.
"No! No! Don't say sorry. They were gonna come at us sooner or later. I should have anticipated that this would happened. It's my fault. But now that they found us..we need to prepare when they show up again." she is saying very confidently as if there are more to come.
Only a single 'Daikin' took the life out of me. What if a group comes? That means I am gonna be dead soon anyway.
"What do mean by that?" I question her.
"Daikins, they live in a group in this forest. There was no way that we would be able to live in peace with these animals. So my Grandpa set up a barrier that wouldn't allow them to feel our presence."
With magic?! Wow!
"However the barrier was no longer in use when you walked out of it and now they can find us..."
Urghh!! I shouldn't have gone too far..
And probably this one might have been cut off from the rest of the group and I ended up founding him. And the result -we are in big trouble!!
You are telling me that we were living in a cage, covered with cloth- comfortably with food and all the resources. Then you suddenly remove the cloth and discover that all the time you were surrounded by lions and on top of it the gate is OPEN now!
How would you survive?
"Then, what do we do now?"
"Sorry Grandpa! This is an emergency." she whispers to herself.
"I will tell! First let's go home." she says.
I nodded.
She stops and stares at me. Her eyes catches an attention at something on me and asks me casually-
"What's that white thing coming out of your pocket?"
"Ah.. Umm that!" I stutter and continue - "That is a white rose I found for you!" I found it while collecting fruits. I thought it would look good on Lucille. I take the rose out of my pocket and extend my hand toward her.
"It will look nice on you!"
*She blushes
"F.. For mee..?" She flinches and feels embarrassed about it.
I nodded firmly as I am screaming - Take it!
"Oh.. Ok then!" she takes it. In embarrassment she looks down at the flower. Her cheeks glow red and her hand trembles. The very same hand that just cut a clean head.
She carefully puts it in her hair.
"Beautiful!" I whisper.
*She blushes.
"By the way can I call you Lucy?!"
She gets surprised and shocked!
"Not as a friend!" I exclaim immediately!
"Lucille is too long to call out so I just made it short to say it. Your name is absolutely pretty. I like it so much."
What am I blabbering about?
Dang shyness! Let's say it.
"But can I use an alternative? Is that okay!?"
A lame reason. She too knows that I made it all up to call her Lucy. I doubt she will say yes to this!
"Ah! Ok then! Let's go already." she turns and marches forward.
Yippeeee!!! I can call her Lucy!
What is this now! A horror romance! Whatever!
Lucy... Hehe!!
I continuously called her Lucy all the way home. She was literally annoyed by then and gave me a flick to my forehead. Not a normal but a strong one with her power.
But still the pain went away as I called her Lucy again.