The Tailed Warrior of The Unknown Race

Chapter 2

As I slowly stirred from my sleep, I felt an odd sensation. Many odd sensations. The ground felt… less solid, like I was on an ultra thin pillow. There was also wind; a lot of wind, and it was blowing on my face. I don't think the outpost was ever this windy before. Maybe they had opened the gates. No… they've done it before, but I've never felt this sort of breeze. It was chilly… cold… and did I say chilly? Yes, I did, and the wind made that really apparent. Fortunately, this strange wind mixed well with the bright sunlight that poured onto my closed eyelids…

…

….Wait…sunlight…?

That… the sun usually doesn't shine on my face. Like, at all. My cage has a stone roof, blocking that from ever happening. And then there were the tree canopies outside the outpost that also blocked most light.

So—wait, wait wait—does that mean—

The very impossible yet hopeful thought was enough for me to slowly creak my eyes. Sure enough, I was met with the bright and glaring light of the sun instead of the cracked ceiling of the cage I've grown accustomed to.

Neither the floor nor the ceiling were the same. I was no longer in my cage. I was outside my cage. I… was outside my cage. I… I was… free…

I… I was actually free? No… no, don't overreact. They could've just dragged me out into the open. Maybe this is some sort of prank. A test… right? I—no, be real here Sean. These fuckers are not the type to do a prank. This is more akin to a punishment of some kind… but, then, what punishmen? And why?

…I doubt they would need any reason for a punishment… though I don't feel any spears pricking me right now. And I don't hear any commotions that would warrant me being punished, either. In fact… I don't hear anything at all besides the wind alone. It's… deathly quiet.

I slowly lifted an arm over my face, attempting to block the bright sunshine from my tired eyes. But my body froze immediately the moment I noticed the lack of iron chains around my wrists, revealing a ring of pale and cracked skin. With a start, I haphazardly got up off my back, quickly noting the extra mobility that I now had. But again the thought washed away instantly. My breath caught in my throat, and my eyes widened as I took in the view before me.

For as far as the eye can see, there was green and green alone. I was on top of a hill covered in lime-green grass, and surrounding the foot of the hill was an expansive forest. It… was large. Abnormally large. The canopy was like a ginormous blanket that shrouded everything beneath it. The tree' trunks were also of monstrous size, being bigger than anything I've ever seen both online or in person. And to top it all off, everything had that sense of wildness to it. It was as if I were in the Amazon, but scaled up to unnatural proportions.

However, even with all of that said, that was not where the spotlight of my attention shined. No, rather, it was the long straight road of absolute destruction that tore through the forest around me. It was a highway of flattened trees, tossed dirt and rocks, and above all else, the deep indents of colossal footprints.

I slowly gulped, staring blankly at the line of destroyed forestry that stretched beyond the horizon. My mind was, unsurprising, still an utter mess of thoughts, yet there was one thing I could clearly and consciously see. Those footprints belonged to nothing more than a giant… and yet they all led directly to where I laid on this hill.

For whatever reason why they led to me, I had not an inkling of an idea, but I wasn't stupid enough to not notice that fact. If anything, the footprints looked similar to that of a monkey, and… holy shit, are these King Kong's footprints? Ok ok, that was taking it too far. There's no living creature that has this foot size anywhere on Earth. If there was, it would've been recorded, hunted, and experimented on long ago…

…So, then, who're they from? A fleeting thought came to the forefront for my mind, distracting me from the question. I passively looked behind me—in the polar opposite direction of the destroyed forestry—and from my spot I saw that there was nothing more than a plethora of more grass and forest, unharmed or damaged. No footprints or anything… it all ended here, in this hill I was on.

Well… um, shit. I dunno what to think about this.

I… I guess that this is something I could think about later. But, more importantly… I should be fucking celebrating! I'm free! Like, hot damn, could this not have been any better of a miracle… however the fuck it happened!

For a moment, I wanted to shout for joy. I wanted to jump to my feet and dance around goofily just for the very fact that I—who has gone through shit worse than anyone I've known—was finally free from hell.

… But… I couldn't…

Not because I didn't want to—hell no, I already made that apparent. It's just… I didn't have the energy. I have to be realistic here. I am still the weak and damaged Sean Triton, even now if I am free. I couldn't so easily make all that suffrage go away…

And so…. I just decidedly stared off blankly at nothing in particular. Even with that cold hard fact, I still had a goofy grin on my face. Maybe I can't celebrate as much as I want for right now, but... I was free. Free!

… Free…

…

… man, what has happened to my life? Fucking months. Months have passed and I had to endure all of that. Hell, a year could've passed and I wouldn't even be surprised! And… and for what?! Even now I don't fucking know!

And… alright, no. I need to calm down. I have every damn right to feel as I am now, but I don't want to let it ruin this. It… it shouldn't matter. None of those details should matter. That hell that I went through? None of it should've happened in the first place. No one—not the man, nor… nor that mother—should've ever been through all that.

I… I have to come to those terms and leave it at that. I don't want to linger more on the pain… now that I have an alternative.

Sitting here in this grassy hill, the sun brightly shining above the vibrant blue cloudy skies, illuminating the art of nature... man, this is what I want to distract myself with. This was like paradise itself.

I slumped onto my back, embracing the comfy grass. A subtle thought crossed my mind that I hadn't touched grass in ages, and it made me chuckle for the first time since this all began. I decided to begin idly watching the clouds, resurfacing the child within me and imagining the different shapes I could make out.

A cat? Nah, a dog. Ooo, a plane! Wait…, the fuck? A plane?! Oh… no, it's a white bird. Haha, fuck, that had me there for a second. I wonder if I can make an SOS sign for any planes…

…huh, a dragon…

…

…nah, just another bird… I think I'm hallucinating. Whatever.

I continued to cloud watch for some time afterwards. I just wanted to take the moment and feel it all. Freedom becomes such a sweet taste when you've lacked it, and I'm now experiencing that in a literal sense. And so I sat there silently, listening to the distant bird chirping and the rustling of leaves from the constant soothing breeze. Underneath me, I felt the small movements of bugs attempting to escape from my weight, my tail silently squirming around to find a comfortable position. I didn't know when I had started, but when my vision went blurry, I noticed that I began to cry.

I cried silently on this hill, letting the salty tears flow freely down my dirty cheeks and trail to my ears.

…I was free. I was so fucking free…

Eventually, I calmed myself, and my senses came back. Both my unbearable stench and aching joints thoroughly and roughly reminded me that I was beyond the term of unkempt. With an annoyed sigh, I reluctantly got right back up off my sorry ass and stared around, scratching my cheek. Now that I was free… I needed to get myself together. And that meant I needed to get cleaned first. I also need to get a meal… if I can. Finding my way back home can wait later.

Problem was, I had not the slightest clue where I was—not since the start, I haven't. I wasn't well versed in my plants or whatever term was used for that, so I couldn't use the nearby vegetation as my source of information about, like, which environment I was in. Maybe a rainforest? The trees looked too tall to be anything northern from my recollection…

… whatever. Where I am specifically shouldn't be a huge concern. If anything, my current main goal is to just survive. And that starts with getting my bearings together.

Looking around the hill, I eventually picked a random direction that was away from the large footprints. I may have not an inkling of an idea of what, when, who, where, or why… but I can make the assumption that whichever giant helped me to escape had taken me in the direction away from that outpost.

…

Haha, repeating that sentence sounds stupid as fuck… but I'm not going to try questioning it any further. For now, I should continue what the giant started and go even further away. Those bastards might track me down with this big trail.

The thought of being tracked down gave me the energy to stand up. But just before I began my careful trek down the hill, I became awfully aware of another glaring fact. Not only had I lost my wrist shackles, but I had also lost my neck and ankle ones as well. And to top it off, I was also no longer in my brown slave gown. I had nothing more than my birthday suit on at the moment.

I blinked down at my nude form before chuckling to myself. At least that would explain the extra breeziness. In any case, I could care less. I've endured all that dehumanizing torture, the least of my worries now is modesty.

Fortunately, the tree canopies did not shroud out all the sunlight, but it was still relatively dim walking through the rainforest. Not scarily dim, but dim enough that I needed to be cautious. While I should be cautious in the first place, right now… I'm just not feeling that sense of insecurity. In fact, this very scenario feels… very familiar, for some reason.

In any case, it was very damp around here, to the point where mud puddles were just about every corner I walked. It sort of indicated the climate of the region. I'm probably somewhere close to the equator, so that sort of solidified my thought on this being the Amazon. Or maybe in Congo. But that's just me bullshiting, so I'd take that with a bucket of salt. Nonetheless, the vegetation was annoying, with some places I just didn't even bother trying to go through, less I wanted to see whatever mystery floor crawler my feet would step on. I'm already having to stomach the sensation of wet and chunky mud on my feet… fucking disgusting…

Eventually, after some time wandering aimlessly, I heard the tell tale signs of flowing water. Somehow, and I'm not gonna ask how because I was not complaining about it. Eagerly, I made haste towards the noise. While doing so, I occasionally saw common forest critters I could recognize, ranging from squirrels, deer, and… giant butterflies. Quite literally giant butterflies, in fact. About the size of a fucking dog, for comparison. I wisely ignored and avoided them.

The trees abruptly began to become scarce, making way for a wide and grassy clearing. There was a lot of overgrown grass, and the dirt was unfortunately still mushy, but pushing through them I quickly found the stream at the heart of the area. Hell yeah.

It was more of a small river than a stream, now that I see it. With a staircase of small waterfalls that went west and disappeared into the depths of the forest, it kinda reminded me of those types of river paintings you'd see in a hospital lobby or retirement center. Pretty aesthetic, if you ask me.

Without much to wait for, I bent down to the side of the river. The water looked clear enough, the sun's light making it look sparkly. There was a very faint cloudiness, but it was so faint one would've missed it. I had no doubt it was just due to the movement of the water, anyways. If there was anything bad like bacteria or a virus… I'll deal with that later. Somehow.

Cupping my hands, I went to get a handful of that crystal clear water… but I paused. My eyes then windened, having noticed my reflection for the first time since this whole thing all started.

I stared for a long… long time, taking in each and every detail of my… no, this body. It was the body of a stranger, one that was completely different from what I knew was my body.

What I saw before me was a young boy… maybe in his teens. His eyes, irises specifically, were onyx black, and he had moderate eyebrows of similar color. The face looked young, that was for sure, but… I can tell that the trials and tribulations I've experienced for months now have made this body's face look different from what it used to be.

What surprised me even more, however, was the toned physique. Even though this body was essentially at the border of skins and bones, there was still some defined muscle. His hair, however… made me frown. It looked… too cliche for some reason. Very… anime-like, very mainstream. Something like that shouldn't be one of my worries right now, but I just couldn't help it. I quickly ran one of my hands through the onyx-black spiky hair and ruffled it into a disheveled look…

…yeah, much better.

Sighing, I refocused and dipped my hands into the river, feeling the cool current of water wash my fingers. So… I was no longer in my body, huh? However it happened is beyond me… and I doubt I'll be able to get it back any time soon. I don't even know where I am in the first place. The questions kept piling up. I allowed them to mingle in my head as I took in handfuls of the cool and refreshing water.

As I drank the water, I lifted my chin and let the cool content drizzle down my throat. I felt the coldness spread across my chest, and my stomach gurgled as precious water was finally reintroduced in my body…

… I then immediately stopped drinking, my eyes shot open like saucer plates.

Holy shit, I stayed months without water…? How the fuck did I manage that?

I quickly shook off my stupor in self-pity, putting my hands to the side and decidedly dunking my entire face into the river. I drank straight from the source, taking in large gulps to fill up my poorly cared body. I didn't even care if there was some disease, small fish, or whatever in the water anymore. I need to take care of something I've been forced to neglect for a lethally long time now. Like, what the fuck… was it even possible to endure that long without water? Definitely, had I been in my original body, I might've died within the first week. This was one hell of a sturdy body I now own…

After filling myself to the point I physically couldn't take anymore, I lifted myself up and flopped back onto the tall grass, using it as a natural thin bed over the wet soil. I sighed, resting my head on my hands and closing my eyes. I felt like a deer's foal, basking in the warmth of the sun and hidden by the tall grass from everything else. Despite my filth… I was comfortable.

Yeah… comfort…

As time passed, I dozed in and out of sleep, listening to the sounds of the river. The sun's light gradually waned, indicating that it had passed over and was heading for dusk in no time. But I didn't bother to get up. No, I continued to lazily half-sleep, not even caring if some jaguar or other predator came across me. Whatever happened, I bet it would be much better than what those bastards did to me.

Unfortunately, the urge to pee was what stirred me up. It seems my body was making thorough use of the water, something that was definitely pleasing to know. Cracking my eyes open with a yawn, I blinked up towards the orange-colored skies. It… was beautiful. Like something right out of a painting… It's been a feature about this place that I've noticed many times already. It all just felt unreal…

As I admired the beauty of nature, I quietly noticed a blue firefly slowly hovering at my peripheral. With an amused smile, I silently watched as the firefly hovered over me, not caring if there was technically no such thing as a blue firefly in existence. It was probably some radioactive mutation or something…

…I should really start embracing the oddities of my situation. It'll definitely help me from going insane.

My smile slowly fell, however, as I noticed that the firefly's classic flickering light was not happening. Like, at all. It was just a constant steady stream of blue glowing light, and just as steady did it hover in place. It almost looked unnatural, in fact… as if it was purposeful staying in that one spot.

I narrowed my eyes, slightly lifting up my head to get a better view of the weird insect. Hopefully, this thing wasn't actually emitting some radiation into me... the chances were probably there. Maybe this really was a different species of firefly. But even then, wouldn't it kill the insect if it keeps this light on constantly? I don't think even an angler fish would keep its light on for this long… however those two correlate.

Unsurprisingly, none of my internal assumptions were anywhere close to the truth. The moment I looked closer, my body froze immediately. I took in the details of the glowing insect… no, creature. By squinting slightly, I could see what appeared to be a small hovering humanoid. Like, humanoid as in human legs, human arms… human everything. What stopped it from being a complete human was the fact that its entire body was glowing the same constant neon blue, with not an inkling of any other color present. Oh, and yeah, the fact that it was also fucking small too.

And… wow, it was also wearing clothes! It wore what I could only describe as a furry winter dress. The dress went from the neck all the way down to the thigh. The shoes were like that of a ballerina, the only description I could give. It was wearing a capelet or shawl over said dress and, of course, there were the two fluttering butterfly wings on its back.

And why do I say "of course" as if I were expecting that? Well, at the rate, I'm beyond sure I'm looking at Tinker Belle. Or a copy of her… whatever, man, this is fucking insane…

I stared blankly, frozen cautiously but also in awe. Aside from my fairy assumption, I genuinely had no fucking idea what this creature could be. Was it a spirit? I couldn't even doubt that now with everything that has happened. At the very least, I think it's a girl... looked feminine enough. I hope she isn't here for my blood or soul or anything from me…

Her pupil-less eyes stared back at me with a strangely happy smile on her face. There was a moment of silence between the two of us before the humanoid began to flutter with a silent twinkling sound. Like something close to wind chimes but… softer… yeah, I might as well call her Tinker Belle at this point, no questions.

She raised one of her tiny arms and then waved at me rapidly with an even wider smile, showing teeth that had just a slightly brighter tint of baby blue. I didn't even know how to properly respond to her hello, so it took me a moment before I gave a small wave back as well. I, uh, I think I smiled… it probably looked creepy though.

She didn't seem to care about that as she began to finally move from her idle hover, fluttering around in an almost childish manner. All the while, she continued to make twinkling sounds; in fact, there were even small sparkles trailing after her.

Just… man, this is so weird, but honestly mesmerizing at the same time. I just continued to watch her dance, making colorful blue circles around me with her sparkle trails. They sparkled like bubbles under a kaleidoscope, mixing well with the forest's night shades. The scene was straight out of a Disney film, befitting a small creature I'm considering to be a relative of Tinkerbell.

The more I saw her move, the more I realized that she was real. It made me aware that I wasn't just hallucinating, but was looking at a living and breathing fairy. The sounds, movements, and even the lights emitting from her that illuminated my face were all real. It's… it's simply amazing, and that's just it..

" Holy shit…" I sighed to myself, rubbing my face in exas— "GAH?!"

I shouted out in anguish as I felt a sudden sharp pain in my eyes. Greatly regretting my actions, I haphazardly crawled over to the river to wash the mud that got into my eyes. As I did so, I passively heard the twinkling sounds stopping, but I was more distracted from washing out the dirt that was messing with my vision. When I finally managed to get the dirt out—fortunately having not felt anything wiggle within it—I saw the fairy hovering right beside me.

I squinted my sore-ish eyes—something I've noticed that I'll have to keep doing in order to see her properly—and saw that she was tilting her head in confusion, her smile gone.

… So, she looked to be cognitive, too. Well, I should've already expected that already if she waved at me, but still… her concern began to make me feel self-conscious.

I gave her an awkward smile paired with a thumbs up, since I had no idea how else to explain my momentary stupidity. At least her smile came back. We just went still for a moment, staring at each other. I once again couldn't help but realize the surrealism of the situation, but then nature quickly reminded me that I still needed to take a piss. And so awkwardly, I stood up and made way due west from where I had initially come from, towards the flow of the river. Nature was still calling, and I was glad to respond to it.

It's weird how clingy this fairy was.

Now, I'm not implying it in that sort of way, but it's still odd. Not once had this fairy left my side since I first saw her. She followed me even when I reentered the forest to take a leak in the bush, though I to be honest I really wasn't bothered by her staring. It was like your pet seeing you pick your nose; it's not like they can judge you or anything…. I hope. Yeah… hopefully she wouldn't.

On the side note, I was feeling mildly jealous. A weird feeling right now in my situation, but I just couldn't help it. Why? Well… um, in comparison to my previous body, this one was… uh, how should I say this… packing? Um, yeah, packing. Like… really packing. And this body looks to be pretty young-looking too, so… it probably even has time to grow more. And that… I don't know why I'm even talking about this. It's just a small thing peeving me off right now.

Maybe I should be happy now, though, since this is technically my body now. Still such a weird thing to realize, but… I guess I'm digging it. I just wonder what happened to the original owner… no. Nope. No no no. I'm just going to ignore that for now. For the sake of my own sanity…

It got really dark by the time I was done, but the fairy's light was enough to light my path. In fact, it looked like she was doing it intentionally. I glanced at her with squinted eyes, seeing her floating form next to my shoulder with one hand raised in front of her, which pretty much confirmed my suspicions.

" Thanks," I decidedly said my thanks openly, since she was going out of her way to do something for me she technically didn't have to do. The fairy glanced over at me and beamed with a smile, the light growing stronger just slightly, enough that I had to temporarily squint and look elsewhere.

As me and my newfound small companion trailed the riverside back to the clearing, I had one thing in mind. Food. I had water, but didn't have food. And I unfortunately didn't find any food on my trip through the forest. Meat was out of question—I don't even know how to start a fire. As for fruits, they're no doubt all the way up in the canopy. I've yet to try and climb up to see, though.

Reaching back to the clearing near the river, I looked up, seeing the brilliant night sky with thousands of stars. It was the same scene I looked up at the other night before falling asleep, albeit the moon not being present. It's probably being hidden by the trees right now.

With a sigh, I flopped onto the indent in the grass that was shaped exactly like my body. As I did so, my stomach timely grumbled, yearning for solid nourishment. I held my stomach in an attempt to ease the ache, but it barely did anything. I couldn't remove my frown, nor resist lamenting aloud. "Man… I'm hungry."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the fairy started making twinkling sounds, which were a lot louder than what I heard before. I looked up to her with squinted eyes, seeing that she was pointing in a particular direction with an eager expression. I stared at her for a moment before looking at where she was pointing at. Nothing.

Did she see something? I wasn't paying attention. I also didn't really hear anything either.

…Hm… I doubt it's anything bad like a predator. Or the grim reaper, in that matter. She looked awfully eager for something like that… and right after I said—

My face lit up as I realized what she was now doing. She was directing me somewhere, and most likely towards a food source.

I sat up and pointed in the same direction for confirmation. " Food?"

She nodded even more, extending her arms out in a "yip yip hurray!" type motion… hah, adorable.

So, food was apparently on the other side of the river. Good thing it was an easy jump over, so there should be no problem getting over there. The only remaining drawback was whether to trust the fairy or not…

… Awww, I just noticed she has dimples. I didn't even see that until now…

… Ok, I could trust her. I don't see why I can't.

Shaking up my body, I stood up and loosened and warmed myself up by running in place. There wasn't any pain at all with this exertion of energy, which was a really good sign. It showed that, even with my lack of nutrients, my new body was resilient enough to keep going. And it looked like my injuries healed themselves. The scars, of course, were very present, but healed. Pushing that thought aside I used my prebuilt momentum to run and leap over the entire river. It wasn't some grandiose sort of achievement, so there's no point in over exemplifying it.

I managed to land a few extra steps ahead of my initially assumed landing spot. Not bad. I looked back to the blue fairy, who smoothly cruised over the river before circling around my head. After a while of doing that—perhaps she enjoyed it, I dunno—she finally floated in front of me and took the lead into the forest.

I followed without question. I had my doubts on where exactly she was taking me, but from her reaction after I asked for food, she was probably taking me to a pretty good food source. Maybe a fruit tree, a field of wheat, or a bee hive… well, those last two are probably unusable for me, but the idea is there.

" So… is there a lot of food around here?" I asked casually, gazing at the blue reflectiveness of the leaves and plants we passed. The fairy stopped flying, looking back at me and giving an eager nod. The confirmation sure did put a smile on my belly.

" Nice… but, is it poisonous?" I continued. While I probably wasn't in a spot to be picky, it's always smart to be cautious of what you eat. My question didn't get the expected reaction, however. She did what I could only describe as curling her brows. It's weird when she doesn't have any pupils to see… but, I wasn't oblivious to the sort of repulsed look she was giving me.

… did I say something wrong? All I asked was whether the food was poisonous or not. Maybe… maybe I shouldn't have asked that? Maybe not… especially if she's so eagerly bringing me to said food. It probably looks like I'm doubting her, then… which I'm not, really… fuck, gotta clear that up.

" Uh… sorry, nevermind," I apologized quickly, rubbing the back of my neck. While I may not be sure about whether or not I said something wrong, I'd rather not lose something as lucky as a local guide. And a friendly one to boot. " I was, uh, joking. Yeah… joking… I know, my humor sucks, but bear with me."

She gave me an exasperated look followed by more twinkling sounds, though they were spaced out with different tunes. Was that her way of talking? I mean, she hasn't responded to me verbally yet. Maybe she couldn't speak? Or maybe she's the intentionally quiet type…

…well, if she could speak, then maybe… maybe I could start asking questions…

… Nah. I'd rather not vent out of nowhere. I'd rather not scare her off like that.

After a moment of silent walking, I decided to cautiously voice my curiosity. " So… can you talk? Like me right now?"

She did a so-so expression, then went on to make more twinkling noises. I… that was a weird response. So that's probably how she only talked? Maybe it's her native language? I mean, she is a fairy, and from what I recollect fairies are pretty civilized. I wonder if her friends are the same, then. Hell, I wonder if I can meet them or something. Getting to any nearby civilization would be my best bet on figuring out shit. And now that I think about it… that's probably where she's taking me. Nice.

" …I see," I nodded in understanding. I decided not to ask anything further. If my predictions are true… then I can get my answers very soon. " Well, alright, miss bluey, you keep leading the way."

I'd expected some sort of eager nod with that happy smile of hers—which she's been doing a lot since I've met her—but instead she actually pouted. Why? Even I got stumped.

The fairy crossed her arms, shaking her head in an almost disappointed expression before flying around in the air, leaving strokes of blue light behind. I stared on like a pure dumbass until I quickly realized that she was, in fact, writing something.

"... I, uh, can't read that," I said, staring blankly at the glowing text. And I'm not surprised I can't. This was some mythically rare and previously fictional species I'm talking to, so it's obvious she'd have a written language different from mine.

She gave me an almost defeated look before waving her hands in the air, dispatching the floating text. She gained a confident look before writing in the air once again, this time drawing caricatures of different images. The first illustration looked like a crescent moon… or banana. She probably meant the former. Then she drew what I could describe as a longsword, and then finally a cow bell.

" …Moon sword bell?" I said. I had no idea what she was trying to tell me, but it's already been pretty clear now that we had a language barrier up. Well, more like one-sided communication, but still a let down. She's technically the first kind and non-deadly person I've taken to for some time now… one that wasn't looking at me or treating me like I was mere filth.

She seemingly gave up after I voiced my thoughts on the image. She dispatched them while shaking her head. I kinda felt bad now, but it's not like I could do anything to change it. In any case, she continued onwards, lighting the path before me as we trekked through the dark forest. Had she not been around, I probably wouldn't have gone in the forest at night like this. I'm starting to see how valuable she is now… oh shit, nevermind. Now that makes me sound like those damn bastards. No no, I'm not going to be like that. She can leave me if she wants, yup. It's her choice, her decisions…

… I'm really messed up right now.

We traveled through the forest for a few minutes before she stopped in front of a specific bush. Hovering above it, she shined her blue light down on the bush, revealing different patches of berry fruits. Under the blue hue, I couldn't really make out the natural coloration or other features of the berries, but that really didn't matter to me.

I glanced over to her and she nodded with a reassuring smile and a short twinkle. I sighed to myself, reaching out for a bundle of these mystery berries. " Thanks a bunch, miss bluey."

I didn't really have much thought as I tossed them in my mouth without hesitation. Once I sunk my teeth on the thin flesh, my mouth was flooded with the most bitter juice I've ever drank. I felt my face scrunch up as my tongue began to water like crazy from the sourness. Damn, this… this was second to lemons. Probably even worse!

…Eh, fuck it. It made no difference to me. I continued to devour the entire bush despite the sour flavor, leaving not a single berry left. My stomach really didn't care about that; it was more so relishing the meal that I hadn't had for a long time. Once I finished eating, I was left with a satisfied smile and a tongue numbed from the sourness.

Glancing up, I noticed that the fairy was staring at me with wide eyes. I guess I wasn't supposed to eat so much…

…well, at least my stomach wasn't complaining anymore.

Hey, thanks for reading the second chapter! I know, it's slow progress, but I felt like this slow pace was necessary. I mean, Sean did come out of month's worth of captivity. It would be odd if he just started his adventure so fast, at least in my view.

I hope you liked the new character. Her name hasn't been introduced but I can reassure you next chapter will cover that. Next chapter will also be sort of a slow as well but I am not going to drag this out so long so trust me.

Currently not much has happened in terms of world building. Sean still is clueless of where he is, but from the last two chapters he knows he's in a rainforest of some kind, which I can confirm is true.

In any case, that's enough from me. I will prepare next chapter soon. Thank you!