Willow's POV
"Oh, look Bernie...some new friends we can play with." She slowly walked towards the small pig village, amusement fluttering in her heart as she watched them go along their business. She smiled as they avoided her, veering away from her as she approached. Her large, eerily glowing white eyes watching every movement the pigs made, every glance towards her with their black, beady eyes. She caressed her lighter between her fingers, feeling the small metallic handle and pressing the worn-out teddy bear from her life before this world close to her as a spark flew from her lighter, creating a small, flickering flame. Willow watched it with delight as it wavered and bobbed about, unwilling to die just yet. Her coal-black pigtails bobbed up and down as she continued towards the heart of the village, examining every wooden board of the pig houses as she pictured them burning to the ground. She held up her lighter, fighting back the soon-coming darkness to fall upon the lands with the setting sun. Day 1 was beginning to come to an end, dusk had already come, and the pigs began to flee to their homes, believing to be safe from any harm.
The next thing she knew, Willow was standing a distance away from the small cluster of homes, watching with an expressionless face as each of the well-constructed homes were transformed to a small pile of ashes, their residents fleeing from the fire and escaping their fiery doom, their voices laced with fear. Had she done this? She looked down at her lighter, feeling the warmth of the metallic surface and examining the flower painted on it. She looked back up to the burning village, most of the flames dying down to reveal charred wooden frames. She was torn from her thoughts as she heard an angry cry calling out. Turning her head, she saw the few living pig people haring after her, anger blazing in their fierce gazes.
"YOU GO SMASH!" one cried.
"I KILL NOW!" cried another. Her eyes widened in fear as she turned to run away from her pursuers, desperate to escape their wrath. She tried to evade the attack of one as it cut her off, but she wasn't quick enough as it slashed its claws at her, raking the side of her head as she continued to try to run. Wincing in the searing pain along her cheek, she continued to run for her life, following the cobble path that led away from the pig village and again out into the wilderness.
Night fell at last, and she was soon engulfed in darkness. Something growled at her from the darkness, and she began to feel footsteps. She pulled out her lighter again and lit it just as the mysterious being began to creep up on her. She felt the hot breath of the creature just as the tiny flame pushed the veil of darkness away from her, creating a small, insignificant dot of light in the endless darkness. Within the very moment her lighter's flame was lit, the creature seemed to have disappeared. She let out a sigh of relief, staying where she was. The angry cries of the pigs had faded away just as night fell, and she was alone again at last with Bernie as her only company. She continued along the road, following the hard cobblestone, not knowing where she was heading. This is my curse, she thought. How am I to bear it? Why must I do this?
She clutched her stomach as a sharp pain shot through it. It felt hollow. As it growled fiercely she realized that she was beginning to starve. You'd better find something to eat before night comes! Maxwell's departing words echoed through Willow's mind. Maxwell...the tall, sinister man, holding out a cigar as he spoke to her. Anger flared in her belly, quickly replaced again with an aching pain of starvation.
As the morning came again, she had put a distance between her and the pig village. She had found herself in a deciduous forest, surrounded by the leafless trees and the catcoons clawing at their thick, white bark. On the other side of the forest she could just make out a group of shapes. She smelled dung. What is that? She walked closer to investigate, picking whatever berries she could find along the way, the same technique she had been following to stave off hunger. She continued to follow the pungent odor until she came across a field of yellow grass. Tufts of tall grass poked through the field in many locations, and the shapes turned out to be a herd of large, strange creatures. They were large animals with two large horns protruding through the thick fur on their ape-like heads. They walked heavily on four massive paws. Beefalo? she thought as she got closer to examine the peculiar animals. Her nose wrinkled at their stench. "What a disgusting, hairy beast," she muttered under her breath, turning away in disgust.
She continued along the wide, yellow field and began to notice more and more small holes in the ground, some with strange rabbits with horns coming out of them, some seemingly empty. Many more of the creatures roamed aimlessly about, sniffing at the ground. She stopped beside one of the holes. Stupid rabbit, she thought, come out so I can eat you! Her hunger was becoming more and more fierce the longer she ran about. Her cheek continued to burn as she turned away, looking over a group of rabbits hopping along, completely unaware of her presence. She narrowed her eyes, a plan igniting in her mind.
She had an idea.
She slowly crept up on one of the furry creatures, waiting for to catch it off guard so that she could get the jump on it and make it a quick, easy kill, as well as her lunch. He looks tasty, she thought. She quickly ran up to the creature, chasing after it and nearly caught it, if it hadn't ran away quickly. She watched as it ran away from her. She scowled. "Come back here so I can eat you!" she called angrily. She chased after it, matching its speed and almost seemed to be gaining on it. When she was finally close enough, she reached out, and tried to attack. Now! She punched the creature, but it only recoiled and began to run again. She chased after it again, watching as it seemed to turn while she followed it. Only when the small creature ran back into its hole she realized that she had been tricked by the rabbit so that she chased it back to its own den. "Stupid rabbit!" she cried out angrily. She looked up to the sky, seeing the sun begin to set once more. Dang it! She turned around again towards the large herd of beefalo, watching disdainfully as they continued to roam about, paying her no mind. How easily they'd burn... she thought. She pulled Bernie out from her pocket, looking over his dirt-covered face as she brushed his button eye.
She pulled out her lighter once more to keep the night away from her, fearing that the creature from the night before would come after her again. She continued along her way back to the birch nut forest. She passed a sleeping catcoon, deciding not to attack it as her cheek felt hot once again with the pig's scratch. "Stupid catcoon," she muttered beneath her breath, "looking so comfortable..." She sighed again, continuing to head along her way as she watched dawn begin to break in the distance, turning the dark, invisible night sky to a pale blue.
When the sun at last dawned, she put away her lighter again and began to devise a new plan to catch her meal. She looked over to see a berry bush, filled with large, ripe, juicy berries, ready to be picked. Willow walked over to start picking the red berries, sticking them into her mouth as she picked them. However, half-way through clearing the bush of them, a beak poked out through the leaves, and plucked a berry straight from between her berry juice-stained fingers. Out of frustration of her berry being stolen, she called out angrily. "Hey!" Suddenly, a large, fat bird burst from the berry bush and hared away quickly. She stared in confusion at the gobbler as it ran to another bush, plucking all of the berries from it, and running away again. "You stupid bird!" she called after it as she began another chase. She began to gain ground as it stopped at another berry-filled bush to eat, but when she neared it, the gobbler ran away from the bush, leaving half of the berries still among the green leaves. Grumbling, she walked up to the bush, looking at the small berries still left.
She plucked one off of the plant, picturing the bird burning in a large fire, and just before she ate the berry, she came up with another idea. She looked over to where the gobbler was, looking at her with thoughtless eyes as it flapped its wings uselessly. She slowly pulled the berry away from her mouth, watching as the gobbler's gaze followed the fruit. She smiled wickedly as she started to tear away the rest of the berries from the bush until she had a small handful. She walked up to the gobbler, stopping just far enough that it didn't run off again. Setting the berries on the ground, she didn't tear her eyes away from the bird. She slowly backed away, still watching the bird carefully. It looked away from her to stare at the berries on the ground, eying them hungrily. It began to walk towards it, completely unaware of Willow walking up to it to meet it at the clump of berries on the ground. Before it could begin to take a berry from the pile, she punched it as hard as she could, causing it to recoil and panic. It ran a little ways before stopping, and turning again at the berry. Stupid bird, she thought again.
She repeated this process a few times before the bird collapsed at last. Willow triumphantly eyed the meat on the ground, bending over to tear at the white flesh hungrily. But as she ate the first drumstick, she felt strange. Was it because it was raw? She smiled as yet another idea penetrated her thoughts. Time to make a fire?