Walghvoghel
Warning: contains semi-graphic themes and possibly other offensive things. I don't have the time to review all of this massive brain dump
I woke to a strange place
in a wooden cabin,
busybodies moving back and forth
like a construction area, except
it's mostly the sounds of wood chopping
it smelt like wood burning,
and a faint aroma of barbecued meat
I remember nothing of how I got here
so I was a little disoriented
my head hurts as I try to remember more
I stood up and looked outside the window,
people of color were everywhere, moving about,
chopping trees, digging dirt, and hauling
mass of wood. There were a couple of large white bearded
mixed in, some doing labor, some barking orders.
I stared out of the window, still and frozen,
amazed at how unfamiliar this scenery is,
and how I have no recollection of where, how
or what.
Where is this? There's no way this is my neighbourhood,
nor my workplace. I live in a commercialized residence
with hardly any trees left, and I work at a
shady pharmaceutical company as lab assistant.
Wait, yes, I remember something now.
My head was pulsating with migraine so I sat down the
bed. Let me start over.
My name is Thomas, but everyone calls me Tom.
Several months ago, I was a part of the 1%
special group of human beings, that did nothing
all day but eat, sleep and browse the internet
the whole day. No not, even 1%, I was sure I was competetively
in the top ten most useless human being on Earth.
Aha, fuck my memories, of all the things to remember,
I remember what a failure I am, the things I just
want to forget.
I paced around the room to get my blood circulating,
a few steps in, I felt a bit better.
As much as I want not want to remember that,
it seems my memories are anchored on things
when my emotions were at height, sad, anger,
frustration, happiness maybe.
Being a failure was a core part of my identity
that if I were to lose all of my memories, I
still know who I am.
Or was, at least. Until my my body and health
fell apart and I was rushed to the emergency room.
I went into coma for days, waking up bedridden
alone in a room that smelt like sterilizing alchohol.
So waking up disoriented at least isn't something new for me.
But this place looked nothing like a hospital room.
I feel like I was in a really remote area, farther
away from the civilization. I see nothing that runs
on electricity.
I stopped pacing and stared out in the window again.
I'm not really much of a people person anyway, so
approaching a fellow human being is one of the
last resort actions I take. I'd probably ask
random turkey for information before I'd ask a
person. Gobble gobble gobble? Okay thanks.
No, but really, those people outside looks scary.
In times of indecisiveness, doing nothing
seems like a perfect action. I'll just
mumble to myself as I let the other parts of
my brain process the next move to take.
After I recovered my health, I was
discharged from the hospital. I immediately
relapsed back to my destructive habits
not long after. Perpetual job hunting
was soul crushing, rejections after rejections,
nothing was happening, I was hopeless.
It was no surprise that, to me at least,
that I do nothing useful. Why study or
learn a skill when no one gives a fuck anyway.
That's when it happened. Late at night,
as I walking to the convenience store
to resupply my food stocks, it happened.
Out of nowhere, a runaway truck going at
a billion miles per hour ran me over into
a pain lasagna, and that's it. Game over, start new game+.
Cheat mode on, I have a bricked health bar that doesn't
move a pixel, I make all the right decisions, all
the ladies want to self-fertilize themselves with me.
Right? That's what happened to me right?
Yeah, right. I wish. For a thousand years, I
lived in that fantasy. Everytime I went
outside, my heart was racing with excitement
from that delusion, half-expecting an Isekai
truck driver will come pick me up to the new life.
I watched millions of anime
with that plot like that and I was addicted to it,
against my will. It was the perfect escape fantasy
for me, a false hope that kept me living.
In a way, I was thankful for it. It kept me going,
until one day in a stroke of luck, I found a job.
The job requirements says that it required nothing
but a decently healthy body
and a functioning brain, but even then I felt
I was underqualified. To my suprise though,
they hired me without question. I became
a lab assitant, despite having no educational
background. The work
mostly includes basic clerical computer work,
and some basic programming to automate some
science work. The pay was decent, and I mostly
worked in a really messy laboratory in the company
of two eccentric coworkers, both of which mostly
are cooped up in their own world. It was
the perfect job for me.
And... what happens after is...
Great, I can't remember. I remembered a lot
though, can't go spilling all the plot
juice at once. I gotta go around and shit,
trigger flags and unlock new memories.
That how it works, maybe.
Walking sunbathed every day to work did wonders
to my mental health. Somehow, I got over
the whole Isekai fantasy. Which is to say,
I don't in anyway, believe that I actually got Isekai'd
for real. Although some plot elements are present,
one of the basic formula of an Isekai plot is that
the protagonist remembers their previous life.
For me though, I feel like I just have a bad case
of temporary amnesia from an unmoderated liquor intake.
Without realizing it, the color of the sun shade
has turned dull yellow. I spent a lot of time
musing. My guess is that the time should around
be 16:00.
The black and brown people outside are throwing
shovels and axes on the ground, wiping their
sweat and figurative blood off their faces.
They gather around the center and drank merrily
as they sat and chatter with relief.
Looks like the days of hard work is over for now.
Good job, everyone. Now someone please me
what the heck is going on.
⁂
I was about to fall asleep as I sat on the stool
by the window when I heard incoming wooden footsteps.
I went into full alerted, defence mode, mostly because
of general uneasiness around people. I then heard a knock,
later a large man comes walking in.
"Oh, you are finally awake I see, good, good", says the
full-on beard man wearing strange clothes. The accent
is unmistakably foreign.
"You really don't like ships, you puke all over and passed out.
Okay now?", asked the giant pirate. I think he looks like
a pirate. He must have dropped the fake eyepatch while
chopping woods.
I just nod my head, without moving anything else.
"Good, good. You start work tomorrow. Come now, food is ready.",
says the giant pirate. He went back outside, leaving the door open.
I took a moment to process everything he said. Work tomorrow, puke
on ship, food. I couldn't really think of anything else besides
food right now. The savory smell of grilled meat comes uninvited
through the door. If I really did puke my insides out,
then I'm pretty much an empty tank right now, without any fuel left.
Despite all the unknows still unresolved, my body commanded me
to go outside and eat. I'm starving, and my brain isn't working
anymore, so I had no choice but to go outside.
I stood up slowly and walked to the front door. I took a peak
to a crowd of sweaty people gorging on meat. I took slow, deliberate
steps out of the door. I looked around. I looked up in the sky.
I have no idea where I was.
The place looked like an old village, the houses where made
mostly from wood and stones. The village was surrounded by trees
and nothing else. An old lady called out to me as I craned my
neck back and forth doing remote exploration with my eyes.
I walked up to her, and she just smiled and handed me a freshly
grilled drumstick of maybe chicken. "Eat, eat" she says.
I gladly accepted her offer as my stomach wouldn't stop
growling like a wild animal. I sat down the tree stump
and started munching. I was at home and blended with everyone
else. Maybe it was just my hunger, but a bite out of the meat
was probably one of the most delicious thing I've tasted in
my whole life. I finished the whole leg in a single breath.
"Eat more" says the old lady as she handed me another, along
with a wooden mug with some funny liquid in it. I took a sip,
it was most definitely wine, or whatever these people call it.
Like the unidentified grilled meat, the maybe-wine was also
quite delicious. I gulp, I bite, I chew, I chug, I munched,
repeat ad infinitum. I sat in the stump in the most comfortable way,
with the atmostphere decorated by the dawning sun placed in the perfect
angle, making the this pirated-infested place a surreal experience.
I'm probably just dreaming. No, my dreams were behind me, and never
looked back. No outlandish ambitions anymore, I realized that I can live
a perfectly fulfilling life doing mundane work at a lab.
I wish it could've lasted longer, but then...
It was already getting dark, people are lighting up torches,
and lamps by the front doors. Going old school, huh?
These guys must be hard-core cosplayers. What's with the
funny clothes? Are they filming? Maybe I signed up
for a weird special interest group themed around
anime realism.
I emptied my mug with one last desperate sip, somehow
wishing for more, but the old lady is already cleaning up.
The giant pirate that spoke to me before emerged from
a cabin then clapped his hands twice. He spoke in
a foreign commanding voice, to which everyone without
delay stood up, picked up their tools and started working
again.
Must be one heck of a slave driver. What are they
working for anyway? What's the rush, there's always
tomorrow. I swear I told myself that a thousand
times before. It's mostly the colored guys are working
now, the white and the women went back to their
own homes. I was left in the corner, whiffing the
leftover vapor of the wine. The big pirate is
busy conversing with a bunch of other lesser big
pirates. It was tempting to go around and explore,
but it might cast suspicion or touble. The
only safe action to do now was to go back
By work, does he mean chopping woods too?
The heck, I'm in the middle of nowhere,
I don't remember anything, and now
I have to work overtime until midnight
chopping woods. I have a mildly
weak body anyway, I wouldn't be chopping
wood in a day, let alone in an hour.
I lifted my hands up and looked at my hands
to validate my excuses.
Aren't my hands a little too big?
And look at my arms, I'm rippped!?
I stood up in surprise, feeling
own my body like I had ants inside
my shirt. I must have looked like
an idiot because the pirate captain
called out to me and said "Hey,
what's wrong Yager? Get good sleep
now and prepare for tomorrow."
I saluted back and said "Aye, aye, sir",
although I don't think he heard me. I
did an about face and went inside
my cabin with a slight embarassment.
I don't even speak pirate, what if
that means something insulting to them.
I lazily dropped my back on the rather
firm bed, and stretched. What a day.
I sighed and closed my eyes.
I guess I just didn't remember it,
maybe I started going to gyms after work?
Working out wasn't really my thing,
I'm someone who slouches everyday
in front of the computer with a bad posture.
If I have seriously developed muscles anywhere,
it would be on my thumbs and fingers, if any.
Did I ever go to any gyms? As I try to remember,
I fell asleep until early morning.
⁂
I woke up from a dream that I was chasing
something in the forest. It wasn't notable
or anything, but it was quite an underwhelming
dream compared to the situation I'm in.
The sun has already risen, I should too.
My guess is that it should be around 7:00
in the morning. The familiar scent of
burning wood and leaves is in the air.
I looked out of the window to see that
the guys are already at it, chopping
woods right off the bat. They did
get some sleep right?
What about breakfast? I don't
smell any tasty stuff being cooked.
Did I oversleep? I could use some coffee
at least. I looked around me, I looked
at my clothes. It's all strange.
It's like I'm in the past.
Or the alternate world. Did I really...?
Three knocks and the pirate captain
comes barging in.
"Goodmorgen, yager. You ready? Good, let's go."
Wha? He goes off before I could even react.
I stood up and tried to catch up with
the pirate captain. He walks fast,
there's no room dilly dallies here,
chop wood, or chop yours. This
must be the ultimate pirate rule.
We walked across the village,
I just followed along without
questions asked, although I
have hundreds of them. I watched
the villagers go around do
their own village work. From
the size of it, this place must
have at least a population of
a hundred, that doesn't even include
the wood choppers.
When we finally got to the end part
of the village, I saw a clearing
into the woods. That must be
where I will be chopping wood,
80 hours a week then. But without pause,
the pirate captain went through inside
the clearing, right into the wilderness.
I followed along with no time
to make speculations of what to expect.
But didn't hate it. I've always wanted
to go on adventures. The mystery around
all of this is really exciting.
As we tore through the dirt path,
I heard all sorts of sounds from
the surroundings. Animals sounds
to put it vaguely, but animals
I have never encountered in my life.
Athough these parts where heavily
forested, there still enough sunlight
that goes through to see the surroundings.
I noticed the pirate captain now is
holding a sword, which he uses
to slice occasional branches out of the way,
or more probably to fend off potential predators.
I think we walked for about 10 minutes,
without a single word uttered,
until we arrived to another cabin.
This is area is now visibly has less
sunlight, and further up ahead
lies even more darkness.
The pirate captain knocked on the door three times
and barged in. Lamps were lit on the corners,
one guy sitting on the floor calibrating a bow of
some sort, and the other
guy appears to sharpening a sword.
"The new yager is here. You tell him
the plans. I be back in village,
look after slaughs."
The pirate boss then pat me on the shoulder
then left without further word.
Yager, slaughs, what? How do you spell that?
More importantly, where am I and
who are these guys? They look dangerous.
The guy polishing the sword, stood up
and greeted me.
"Yo, you finally got here huh? I heard
you drank the ocean while on sea voyage."
He laughs, then looked back at the other guy.
He gestures to him and said "This is Kaatje, and I'm Vanderbilt".
Of course, more difficult words to pronounce.
The other guy stood up, and turned around to face me.
Except, he's not a he, she's a girl.
And shoulder-length waves bouncily as she walked towards
me.
"Ka-katyuoue? Vandorbeel?"
"You can call me Kat."
"Everyone calls me Van"
"Nice to meet to you Cat, Van. I'm..."
I hesitated for a moment. These guys
are clearly not from where I live. But
they seem pretty fluent, unlike
the captain pirate.
What do they know about me? Why did the
pirate captain called me yager.
"I'm Tom".
"Tom? I thought your name was..."
"Never mind, not important. We'll stay
on guard until dawn, then we start moving.
The scout gave us report that several Walghvoghels
was spotted down south, near the creek. We
can't afford to lose track of this one.
you can relax for the mean time and keep
your head in top shape. Questions?"
I thought you'd never ask.
I have an whole encyclopedia
of questions and I don't where to
start asking. I scratched my head
hopelessly while looking at their
shoes.
"I'm sorry, I don't really remember
much when I got here, so... maybe
you can tell me a little bit
of everything?"
Cat shook her head, and then
went back to her bow calibration.
"Damn, I was afraid something
like this was going to happen.
You got drunk so bad that you
blews half of your brains out.
I heard you guys were the best
warriors, but the worst drinkers."
He paced around in contemplation.
"I think this can still work out.
We're not supposed to engage in combat
yet, just find out the enemy base."
Enemy? I don't like where this is going.
"So, what do you want to ask? Which part of
the plan? Infiltration? Recon?"
"Yes that, but first I want to know
where I am. Where is this place?
What are you people called? And uh,
what year is this?"
Van bursts out laughing, uncontrollably.
That's the first time I told a joke
and someone literally LMAO'd on
the brink of insanity. I'd be laughing
too if I wasn't I joking.
"Yo-you're kidding. Oh my God, you're
killing me." His laugh engine is
starting to slow down, but let out
a few revved suppresed giggles.
"Eh-heh-he... I'm serious though."
I said with a defeated smile.
"I know, I know. Sorry, didnt mean to
laugh that much. This is the first time
I heard something like this. Did you
accidentally drank the fuel, haha"
Van went into semi-serious mode.
He took a seat by the table with
a fading candle on top of it.
"Well, what are you standing like
a uncut timber for? Take a seat, this
is gonna be a long one."
I pulled the chair from the window side
and cozy up by the candle light.
Cabin story-stelling in the middle of
the forest. All I need now is some blanket
and some snackies and it would be perfect.
"What are you spacing around for? You looking
for something? Have you eaten yet?"
"No actually, I'm starving now that you mention it.
"Can't have that now, can we? A warrior always
have to be battle-ready mode."
"I'm on it." says Cat, after which she went outside.
Van stood up to and went to a section of the cabin
to what appears to be a makeshift kitchen.
He put out a kettle and started a small fire.
He took a bag of beans out. I think he's making
coffee? There's coffee here?
"This place, this whole big island, it's called Mauritius."
Maritius? Have I heard of that before?
"Maritius was only just recently discovered, and
we are around the south-east part of the island.
As you probably realized, this place doesn't have too much
people yet. It's mostly wildlife and vast unexplored
forest areas."
"What part of continent is this? Americas right?"
"No way, not continent, just an island.
And you're way off, we're eastwards of Madagascar.
Or Africa, if haven't heard of it."
East of Africa...!? It's official, I'm fucked.
Even worse, I'm not isekai'd into a magical
land like I was secretly hoping for. Forget
catgirls going nya nya on me, the best possible
outcome I could get is that I get out of here
alive, intact without a single feral beast clawing me
half-dead.
Van handed me a steaming hot cup of coffee and
sat back down on his seat across me. There's
coffee at least. I took a careful sip. This
is some good freshly brewed coffee. I savor
the aromatic steam as I closed my eyes.
⁂
I remember the last coffee I had was when I was
at the lab, around 18:00. I should be going
home by that time, but it was raining really hard.
I only walked to work, I have no cars, not even an umbrella.
I didn't mind though, the lab was my second home.
Standing by with a mug of coffee was part of the work routine.
One coworker already left for home, quite earlier than usual,
probably did a rain check ahead of time. The other equally
eccentric one was still in the lab. I don't think I
ever saw him go out. I was playing solitaire on my workstation,
when Bob, suddenly broke the rain-spattered silence with
an explosive interjection.
"WHAT!? This is impossible. That can't be, this is crazy."
I almost dropped the mug in hand. He continued to mumble
to himself incomprehensively while he rummages through
a mountain of printouts scattered on his desk.
It seems he discovered something serious, I thought.
But whatever it is, it likely beyond my level of
understanding. They are legit, science nerds, Bob
and the other one. Bred with academic pedigree right from
the very young age. I used to do well in school too,
until highschool where it went downhill from there.
I used to blame it on games and that I wasn't focused
enough. But that wasn't true.
I just hit my hard limit when it comes to
academic performance. In short, I'm too dumb for
classroom setting. Or life in general. I'm only good at
certain things, and even then, I'd rank around
below average if I'd compare myself against people
around the world.
As so it happens, the work I do is one of the few things
I'm good at, which unfortunately I just discovered too late.
I could've have nourished this skill earlier, maybe during
my formative years. Maybe, just maybe, I'd be one of the top
in this field. But of course, that's just making excuses.
In reality, I just suck. And that's okay too. I suck
and it doesn't matter. What matters in the end is that
I have hobbies to enjoy in my free time, or that I have escapisms
to indulge to on difficult times, or uninterrupted peaceful
solitude during slow times.
It was getting colder. The air conditioner is always running,
even during rainy days. I thought it was because the equipment
here are sensitive to heat, but really I think it's because
Bob just likes it cold here. Coffee does taste especially better
in the cold.
The rain wasn't going anywhere soon. It seems to be raining harder
than before. It could be a hurricane. I reckoned I'd be sleeping
under the desk for the night. I always wanted to do that. Yeah,
like those mad scientists, too committed in their research that
they neglect their basic needs. Like the mad scientist behind
me right now.
Bob has again transitioned into a state of delirium, making
occasional noises that would be indescipherable to the normal world.
Anyone who doesn't know Bob and sees him like this, would contact the
local authorities right away. I guess that's one reason
I never see him in the streets. In the first few days of my work,
I was also scared. But over time, I knew that Bob and the other one are a
harmless bunch.
That all said, I do think a consultation with a therapist or
psychiatrist would help them. Probably. Bob is a stereotypical
charicature of a mad scientist. Almost comical really, if it
wasn't unsettling at times. Tim, though, is a perfectly
functional human being, but equally capable. Outrovert, gets
along well with everyone, even with the suits,
even with people like me.
On the surface, at least. I've been around these guys to know
lurks deep inside. For the other one, outroversion is just
a shell to interface with the real world. The madness seeps
when the pressure sets in and emotional spectrums are messed up.
I'm not referring to Tim, the outrovert. When I say the other one,
I'm referring to the real mad scientist within.
These labmates of mine, I know for sure they won't hesitate
to cross ethical and moral bounderies for science. That is to say,
Bobby and Timothy pose a general danger to humanity. But individually,
as a coworker, as a person you meet in person, they
are harmless.
They are harmless. The mad scientist behind me is harmless.
I am safe, there is nothing to worry about. The rain will
go away soon. I'm definitely not panicking, and the lights
definitely won't conveniently go out for some reason.
And the light flickers.
I looked behind me. Where's bob?
⁂
I heard the cabin door open, Cat enters with skewered
meat slices in her hand. She prepares them on the small
round table in front of me.
"Dig in" she says as she pulls another
chair next to me. The three of us ate in silence for
a while.
It doesn't really help if I try to forcibly remember
the chain of events that lead me here. I just remember
without trying. It's either my memories need trigger from
my surroundings, or just that I just need to wait
for my memories to come back on their on own. In any case,
I just hope I remember everything in time, because
I don't know what I'm getting into.
"Maritius. What are we doing here? Who was that big guy
that brought me here? Why is everyone chopping wood?"
"You really don't remember anything, huh? Not even
the leader that hired you for this mission?"
"Dirk's the name. He's the one leading the whole
venture." says Cat who seems to be fixated on the
melting candle.
"Right. The big guy who hired you, the same
guy that hired me and Kaatje."
He stood up and stretched, then paced around.
"The big boss didn't really tell us, but
it's not hard to guess what they are up to.
To claim the lands, to colonize and expand."
Van looked out of the window.
"Most importantly, we need to fortify the defence.
We'll be needing lots of wood for that."
I've been playing around with the empty mug
as I collect my thoughts. I'm waiting for
Van to say what we're defending against,
but it looks like I have to explicitly
ask. Maybe the answer is obvious?
East of Africa. Some island I've never heard of.
"Are we having a war with the native tribes?"
"God no, though it'd be a lot easier if
it was just that."
Cat got up and poured coffee on my mug.
She offered some to Van, but he declined.
She then went back on the floor and
started skinning arrow shafts.
"We're after the Walghvoghels. But it's
not a war, it's more of a hunt, seek and destroy.
Kaatje and I hunt for a living, we've been hunting
for all life. We've taken down the largest
and smallest critters you could think of.
But these dodaars are unlike anything."
"Dodaars?"
"Yeah, those damn dodaars. Dirk calls
them that a lot."
Agreed, dodars is easier to say.
Wahlgoblins, wallbaghels,
wallabiesgels, I can't even vocalize
them in my head. I've already emptied
my mug again, playing with it again idly.
"So dodarrs are... what? Gorillas?
Lions? Crocodiles?"
Van stood away from the window and sat
back down. He took out a piece of paper
from a bag and placed it on the table.
"Walghvoghels"
No way. I've seen this before.
It's that funny-looking big, dumb bird.
I snortled, louder than I should have.
"It's a DODO bird!!" I triumphantly declare
my knowledge. I held the dodo picture
with a big dumb smile on my face.
"You remember now? And it's not dodo,
it's dodaars. do-da-a-rs."
"No, I just..."
I cut off my own words. Dodo birds?
These things have been extinct for
hundred of years now. Or so I've heard.
These dumb birds actually managed to
survive, that's good news, especially
for birdologists, or what you call them.
These guys aren't illegaly hunting those
poor fellows, are they?
"So by hunt, you mean catch them alive
right? For conservation and science stuffs?"
"What? You should really stay away from any drink, seriously,
I've been hearing nothing but crazies from you."
"What? We're killing them?! They are just oversized
chickens, they're harmless, and rare!"
Van was visibly getting mad. He slammed his
hands on the table and stood up.
"We're done. You should lie down and
rest. We'll have to abort for today if you
keep acting like that. We still have a whole
afternoon to wait. Get some sleep."
Van stood up and opened the front door.
"If you still insist, and have questions,
you can talk to Kaatje here, but I have
to warn you, she's scary when angry."
The door closed, and he disappeared outside.
⁂
Although it's not the time for such
thoughts, I get all giddy as I now
am alone with Cat. I took at peek
at her as she busied herself with
the arrow crafting. She does look
pretty cute when I look closer.
She look European or sort.
She stopped and looked at me.
"You can ask me anything" she says.
Anything? My degenerate weeb mind
was all over the place, but I took
control, heeding Van's advice about
her fury.
"Are we really killing the dodo−
the do-daa-rs?"
"Hunt them, kill them, exterminate
every single last one of them."
Gulp. Van wasn't kidding.
"Don't let the cute dumb look fool you.
These beasts already took down dozens
of Dirk's men. My friend was one of them."
What the Walghvofuck? Are we speaking of
the same dodo bird. That dodo bird?
Aside from being a slow fat-ass,
that big dumb looking bird that was
too stupid to even try to run away from
any predators. Isn't that why they
went extinct easily? That dodo bird?
Cat noticed my disoriented look, so she
went back to her work. Wait, maybe
dodo birds did went extinct, and this
is an entirely different species.
That's why they call it dodaars.
Because it's a dodo, only with −rrs
because it growls? What if they
never went extinct in the first place,
then later evolved to apex predators?
Cat is really moe-moe when she's not
speaking. I don't want to get to
her bad side, so I pondered carefully
what to ask next. Does asking more
question help though? Now I have more
questions than when I first woke up
to this puzzle forest.
Times like this that inaction is the
best action. A moment of strategic
idleness to avoid needless resource
consumption. In other words, I will just
cozy here and cherish the peaceful moment,
in the lone company of Cat making
sounds of timber being shaved precisely
to a deadly, efficient projectile.
I half-mumbled and hummed inaudibly to myself.
Dodo, dodo, dudu, dodoo.
Dududu dooo.
I think I need a toilet break.
A high-meat diet is really heavy
on my stomach.
Dodo, dodo, dudu, dodoo.
Dododo..? That's when I remembered something.
Back at the labs, the other one was studying
about dodo birds.
⁂
We take certain things for granted, we wouldn't
realize it until it's gone. Comfort and convinience
of modern civilization. Clean water, decent food,
endless entertainment, safe shelter from post-extinct
predatory birds. And arguably the most important,
a functional sewage system so we busy people of modern
age never have to worry about the process of taking
a dump.
I looked around to address my current issue.
It is no surprise since my awakening that I
have not once seen anything that will accomodate
my bowely discomforts. I'm in a remote island,
eastwards of Africa, thousands of miles away from
recent technological advances.
"I'm going back to the village to.."
What's polite term to excuse myself?
"If you're going to take a dump,
there are thick bushes outside. It's
easy to get lost around here, and not
safe to go alone."
Right away, my lady.
I nodded to her, and without delay I head
outside. Van was nowhere to be seen. I
scan the surroundings for the area of
deployment. Any bush will do really,
indiscriminately I picked the one closest.
I carried out the process as quickly and
as efficient as possible, utilize all the
available resources at hand to get the job
done. Leaves and dirt should do.
In less than a minute I'm back in front
of the cabin door. I stretched fully and
get a feel of the surroundings. It's noticably
colder here compared back at the village.
There really wasn't much to see except for
the possibly decades old trees and plants
everywhere. The place was densely populated
with towering trees, it's hard to see beyond
several meters ahead.
If what Van and Cat says is true, then it's
not safe to stand out here in the open unarmed.
It's still hard to believe that such a dumb
looking bird could pose such a threat, but
I'm not taking any chances. Besides, I don't
hate being alone with Cat.
I went back inside.
Cat is now busy testing the bowstrings.
Questions can come later, I need to sort
my mind first.
I see a bookshelf by
the window that I didn't notice before. I
took a random one back to my seat.
I crack the book open in the middle,
only to see gibberish words. What
language is this? Oh well, at least
it has pretty drawings in it.
I browsed the book without much thought.
I flipped the pages, one after the other.
Then finally I got to a page with a large
sketch of the dumb bird.
"Walghvoghel" says at the bottom of the page.
The sketch of the dodo bird is really done
well, precise and detailed up to the fine
grains of the feather.
It's really just a dodo bird no matter how
I look at it. No evolutionary changes, no
sharp teeth, no razor claws. The wings
are still useless as ever.
Once again, I started to doubt this whole
operation. Could they be mistaking it for
something else? Did they actually see
the dodos attack?
I flipped the pages more. It's was a lot
of words, none of which I can understand,
even a little. What's strange is the texture
of the pages. The paper used seems really
different from the usual ones found in books.
I used to pick up random books back at the lab
too. Like this one, I could not understand anything
even if it's written in English. But unlike the books
back at the lab, this book has a very unmodern
feeling to it. Dated? Archaic? Medieval even?
Or how did Tim describe the period of dodo birds.
Colonial? Why was he studying dodos again?
I stared blankly at the wall of gibberish.
⁂
"Bob? Bobby man? You there?"
I whistled, still no response. I slowly
got up. I walked to his messy desk,
I hear something. I looked under
the desk to find a snoring mad scientist.
Bob's just sleeping. He actually
does everytime. I don't know why
I'm too anxious. This heavy rain at night
is making me paranoid.
I went back to my workstation.
I should've just left earlier, at most I'd get
my clothes wet. But now, it's really late,
everyone else has gone home, the light rain
turned into a raging thunderstorm. Even
with a borrowed car, it's still would
be risky to go out now.
I resigned the thought of going home
for the night, I went out of the lab,
into the empty dimly lit hall, looking
for a functioning vending machine. They
have these contraptions on every other corner,
but quite a lot of them are broken.
People frequently pounding on them
didn't really help.
I found a working one past the bathroom,
where I did my messy business quickly.
I got a cup of coffee and a can of
pork and beans. It's more than enough
for a dinner. I took a quick peek at
the empty lounge to see if anyone is
there, I would say there's noone in
there, but who knows, maybe a ghastly
apparition is a floating around. I'm
not going to stick around longer to
find out, so I took my meal back
to the lab.
I took a quick peek at Bob to see
if he's fine slumbering on the cold
floor. His thick lab coat doubles as
a blanket. Plus, there's a heater installed
under each desk in the lab. There's a rule
in this lab that anyone is free to do
anything, provided it doesn't impinge
on other's agency. With that rule,
Tim and Bob does a lot unconvetional
things in the lab. Not immoral or bad,
just plain weird.
I've spent enough time in the lab
to adapt to my surroundings and expand
the premises of what I consider the norm.
Even, I took advantage of this rule
to explore my creative tendencies.
Of course, this is just a long-winded
way of explaining what I'm planning
to do for the rest of the night.
I took my laptop under my desk, along
with my hot and cold meal. I also put
on one of the lab coats. To simply put,
I'm camping under my desk. There's enough
space to stretch out fully and sleep comfortably.
I can use some of the books with some cloth
over them as a pillow.
I might even go far as to say that this is more
homely than my bed back at my apartment.
It gives me a sense of safety under the fortified
desk, and the temperature was evenly balanced
between cold and warm. The loud thunders and
the wailing winds didn't bother me one bit.
I spent the remaining midnight slouched
in front of my laptop, unproductively
watching random videos as I chomp on
the porked beans.
I fell asleep with some nature documentary
playing low-volume in the background.
⁂
I woke up to people murmuring in the background.
I slept in a bad position so my neck sored a bit.
I emerged from the desk tent, greeted by Tim
as I stretched out my arms.
"Morning Tommy. Finally devoting your
life to science, I see." commenting on
the fact that I slept under the desk
while wearing a lab coat.
"Hrmmm mornin" I mumbled back to Tim.
I head to bathroom firstly to clean up.
When I got back, Tim and Bob were having
some sort of heated argument. They do
that sometimes though, and they don't
resort to yelling or fighting even if
they end up in the polar sides of the argument.
I wouldn't able to understand any of it
though even as I listen closely. Them
talking though makes a nice addition
to the ambient noises in the lab.
It was already past 9:00 so I started work
still half-awake. It's for the most part,
just clerical work that can be done
without putting much mental effort.
I save my creativity for my hobbies
on my free time, and for the occasional
programming work that needs to be done.
The whole day at the lab went by
quick and unremarkable.
If I were to log something
at a journal, I'd write something like:
typey keys, eat munchies, sippy kohii,
and more typey keys.
Although camping was fun under the desk,
I need to do something back at home, so
I prepared to clock out early today.
But on my way out, Tim interjected my
departure.
"Wait Tom. How would you like be
the pioneer of the future science."
Pioneer?
It sounded less of a question or recommendation,
and more of announcement of what's about to happen.
Bob stood beside him, with an unpaintable
expression on his face. Like a smirk,
but more twisted. Looks like they managed
to settle their differences, and compromised
for a solution, and decided to work together.
Good for them. Maybe not so good for me.
"I'll think about it" then I left.
It seems to be a trap position where
it sounds good, but was actually going to cause
me a lot of trouble, even considering the best case scenario.
But at the same time, I was morbidly curious.
I never said it at loud, but I always wanted
more hands-on participation in whatever the heck
they were doing. It looked fun and important
at the same time, more importantly fun.
It might also be the once in a lifetime
chance to finally redeem myself as a proud member of
human beings that contribute
back to society. I would pull myself from
the dark recesses of humanity where I once
spent most days obsessing over questionable
japanese eroge from diverse media sources,
and place myself amongst grown up men
and see them as equals. If I play my cards rights,
then I could climb the ranks higher, to a point where
people wouldn't hesitate to stab anyone in the
back and eliminate anyone who gets in the
way, if it means maintaining or improving their
status. Why would I dare try to comingle with
such deplorable ass kissers? Why of course
to play fire with the hellspawns,
they'd try their very best to bring me down,
and down I will, for I will not resist
and lose everything. I will be back to
where I belong, on the lowest cesspit
of society, back to routinely jerking my immaculate dongs
to any japan made artworks. Only this time,
I will have no regrets, and have every reason
to blame it on the fuckers that pushed me
off the social ladders. I will be basking
in my own degeneracy, just the way I like it.
Pardon, this rambling's of a madman is uncalled for.
These freaks in labsuits must be getting into my head.
In actuality, I've never gotten far enough in life
to have first-hand encounter with backstabbing social
predators. They, of course, exist on all class levels, but
the worse ones are at further up the social hierarchy.
They could though prey upon the degenerates if any of
these losers show potential to overthrow their status.
But I don't have potential, and I've always been at the very bottom
of the food chain. Still, the peril lies ahead, and I should venture
carefully if ever I consider trekking into this human wildlife.
Which isn't to say every successful person is a backstabbing
social predator. Those with remarkable skills and talent
can get very far in life without building an empire of sycophants.
Tim and Bob are good examples. A bit off the knockers, but are
pretty doing well in life. Here I was hoping some of their
talent and wisdom would somehow rub off on me, yet so far
I'm only inheriting their madness.
// I think I can just cut this last three paragraphs.
// It's probably a little edgy, but at the same time
// it's really in-character with the protagonist,
// someone who failed go get into workforce,
// so he held some degree of contempt
// against these those multinational corporations,
// where he mostly applied for and rejected.
// This deep-seated hateful rant isn't
// isn't necessarily a commentary on the current
// work conditions, but an unfounded rant from
// someone who failed to thrive in any social environments.
// That all said, I somehow can see such piece of
// commentary might offend certain demographics if
// ever I throw this whole trash story in the the wild.
// I stopped thinking about what other people think,
// people who would go out of their way
// to be offended at anything, and retaliate against a strawman
// they sewed up from their imaginations.
// It's shouldn't be a problem, but it's something
// to keep in mind.
Walking does get my mind wandering.
I stopped and sat at the roadside bench located
half-way between my home and the lab.
It's not like I'm all winded out from walking,
I thought this was a nice place to hang out and chill.
I took some snacks as I ponder what Tim meant by the offer.
There's I good chance I'll just be used as a lab rat.
Still, it's not a bad deal if it somehow ends up making
leaps in technological advances. Okay, maybe not leaps,
just a small step, like a low-cost high nutrition food
sources, or maybe cure for depression without ill side effects.
Even then, a small step like that is way off my capabilities,
even if I work all my life towards that goal.
You could say I was fated to be a labrat.
My destiny, my one chance to contribute to humanity,
after which then I will spend my remaining life
as useless a sack of meat, guiltfree and satisfied.
Are these my own words? Or am I just regurgitating what
those lunatics have been saying to me?
Whatever. I got up and continued walking. Fine, I'll
be the rat. Turn me into a zombie frankenstein, bring it on.
⁂
I dozed off I bit, I woke with my face flat on the table surface.
Cat was no longer sitting on the floor, and I was alone in the cabin.
I thought they left me alone, but then I saw Cat standing by the window
outside. She seems to be talking to someone, could be Van.
I rubbed my eyes closed, not sure how long I slept but I
feel like a timber just fell on my head. I still haven't remembered
everything, but now I could roughly guess what happened to me.
Maybe.
The two madmen, Tim and Bob, shipped me over to the east of Africa,
probably against my will, to hunt for these oversized chickens
because it was found out that these birds are immortal beings
and they are the secrets of life and universe.
Okay, I made that one up.
Being shipped in the middle of nowhere makes no sense. But it's something
those two would definitely plan and do.
As for my missing memories, maybe I did overdrink while travelling
on the ship, or knocked my head while a turbulent wave passed over.
In any case, I think it's clear what I need to do.
I'm here in the name of science. I am the warrior of truth,
to fight against the beast that represents the limitations of current
human understanding. I will, with the saber of science,
bring forth to a future where all beings on earth, bipeds or quadpeds,
will comfortably live a life of weebness with maximum
efficiency.
This is it, this my calling. I have my goals, no more hesitations,
charge on ahead to victory. Step forward. Do what must be done.
...
To hunt big dumb oversized chickens...? In the remote wilderness?
Where's all the cool science gadgets to make my life easier!?
At least give me a solar-powered ipad to play games!?!?
I couldn't flip the the table in front of me upside down
because it was impossibly heavy. The more I remember
about those two madfreaks, Bob and the other one, the more
I hate them.
I returned the useless book back on the shelf. I paced around
the room to calm myself down. I don't think I need to remember
more to help my situation. What's done is done, I'm already here.
There's is no escaping from it. Just go along with the mission,
whatever it is.
Primary mission: do not die
Secondary mission: follow orders that doesn't kill me
Easier said than done. When things get's really bad, I
can always just dig a hole covered with bushes, and cower
inside it until nature does natural selection. Cat and Van seems to
be good people, and sorry for the disappointment, but
I'm the wrong person for the job. Hey, that's an
excuse I can make. "You got the wrong guy, I remember
now, the guy you are looking for fell on the sea."
Or something.
A nostalgic pang came to me. It's something I've done a lot
before. Make excuses. Give up before even trying. Fail
and disappoint everyone. Finally, wallow up misery. And
the cycle continues.
It is said people can only make a new turn
when the path diverges before them. They can't change
their mind halfway through to go back and pick another one.
At the same time, new paths don't just appear conveniently
out of nowhere. People have just to keep going until
a new decisive turning point appears.
With this admittedly cliché metaphor in place, before
me is a path that branches into two: one that goes
straight on ahead, where I be me and do what I've always
do. That path is clear and predictable, with no seemingly
apparent dangers that waits ahead. Also, it's dull
and boring compared to the second one. The second one
branches out far into the unknown. That path that
leads straight into the den of deranged chickens
that preys on hairless monkeys. In the very core
of this den lies a treasure box that houses
the future of science.
Normally, I'd call myself crazy−no crazier if I'd
chose the second one. But there's nothing normal
about this situation. I've too deviated too far
from the normal route. The first path could just be an illusion,
it either leads to a dead-end, and just connects
to the second path anways.
With my sound reasoning established,
if I can call it that, I head towards the door,
set out, not as the cowardly lab assistant,
but as the reborned hunter, the Yager.
⁂
"Yo, Cat. I'm ready."
Tree leaves shook from the above, then
a person jumped about two meters from
the above down right in front of me. It
was Van.
"Great! Just in time. It's still a bit early,
but we can move now while we discuss the plan."
Van went inside, rummaged through a pile of
what sounded like steel, and got back
with three sheated swords. He handed me one,
and held onto the other two. Cat stood firmly and focused,
as fully-equipped archer. Her eyes were vigilantly
monitoring surrounding areas. Van carries a bag
over his shoulder.
// What kind of sword? It doesn't matter I guess.
"Okay, let's go."
Obviously, I have no idea where we are going,
so I will just trail behind them, with Van in
the lead. And of course, we where going straight
to the path that leads further deep in the forest.
In addition to the pre-night time, it got dark really fast
because of thicker foliage blocking any outside light.
I was going to ask if they were going to put out
the torches soon because I'm close to groping
my way around.
But no, these guys are the pro, they know
what they are doing. If it's grope in the dark,
then it will be grope in the dark.
Or not. I don't have night-vision eyes like these
two. And my God, they move fast, in this darkness
no less. I'm going to get left behind at this rate.
I'm not taking advantage of the situation or anything,
but I reached out and held Cat's hand while I could
still see, and pulled her to stop.
"Wait" I whispered as I felt the warmth of her hands.
I took a breather as I crouched in the darkness. Van
noticed, and we all three regroup beside a towering
tree, in the middle of darkness. It was eerily too
quiet. There were sounds of insects occasionally, not
as frequent as I would expect in this jungle.
"What's up?" asks Vans in a low voice.
"It's too dark, what else." I protested, also in a low voice.
"Of course it's dark, what do you expect? Sun bathing
in the beach?"
Funny man. I hereby bequeath the title, "Van the sarcastic".
"No, I mean, I can't see anything."
"Why? Did you injure your eyes?"
Huh? I couldn't quite see his face, but I think he's
actually serious. Van might not be sharpest tool to
have around. That is to say, he's not very bright, is he?
Or miscommunication?
"Tom means his eyes aren't well-adapted to darkness,
unlike us." explained Cat, in a soft-whisper.
"Why didn't you say sooner? You could have gotten lost.
But we can't light any torches right here, we'd be
sitting ducks if we do that."
Van started to move on ahead.
"You can stay close to Kaatje, but move fast,
it's dangerous to stop and move slowly here."
"Affirmative" I said as I clutched Cat's hand tighter.
And so we started moving again, quite faster this time.
Contrary to the facts at hand, I think this is quite
a romantic scene. Sure, the scenery could use some
atmospheric lighting, and we might be pacing a little
too fast to slowly appreciate the bonding more, and
that in a short notice we could get ravaged by
random feral beasts. But those are trivial details
compared to the fact that we share warmth with our
quivering hands.
I distract myself with these thoughts because I,
who wimply held the sheated sword, am very scared
right now. Quite scared, scared out of my wits.
That is, until I held her hand. I'd even convince
right now that this is love I'm feeling right now,
just to drive and push all the negative thoughts
away. If it's not enough, I could let my libido
take over, just so I don't get overtaken by
paralyzing fear. But there's no need for that,
because in midst of this darkness, it's enough
to know that she's there for me.
We kept on moving. We covered quite a distance,
it's like there no end to it. I gave up relying
on my eyes and just closed them. Instead I
fully relied on my hearing, plus my sense
of balance with the assitance of Cat's hand.
And surpisingly, I could "see" a lot of my
surroundings with my eyes closed. Despite
moving fast across these uneven path,
I have yet stumbled and tripped over.
My sense of hearing heightened with nothing
else to rely on.
Then I heard it. In the distance ahead,
I could hear a steady stream of water flowing.
It gets steadily louder as we move closer.
"We're almost there" says Van in a normal voice.
I started to calm down and relaxed my tensed
muscles. I opened my eyes again, it was less
darker than before, looking above, I could
somehow see the moonlight shining through.
I think we may be nearing the end of the
forest.
I could see and find my way again.
I don't think Cat realized this yet
since she still clutched my hand tightly,
even if I tried to let go. Not wanting
to break the pace, I held onto her a little
a more.
Finally, we came out of the forest clearing.
A river flows gracefully under the moonlight,
and another endless forest continues on ahead on
the other side of the river. To our left,
there's was a waterfall that disturbs
the peaceful silence within the vicinity.
"Come on" says Van as headed towards the waterfall.
I felt the soreness and fatigue of my leg
muscles as soon as we halted. I wanted
to take a break a bit, but Cat dragged me on
as she still clutched my now sweating palms.
Romantic feels is gone, my hand is now quite numb
to feel anything. I think she held on to it
a little too strong for too long.
With the noise coming from the unending falling
streams of water, it was hard to get a sense
of the surroundings. Even our own footsteps are
now inaudible.
"In here" instructed Van, as he walked past
the flowing water, behind there was a spacious
cave inside, enough to accomodate a dozen people.
We followed along inside. Cat broke the bonding,
releasing my quivering hands. My legs
collapsed on the floor as I sat down.
"Phew. That was close. Nothing attacked us this time.
We lost one of our own while exploring before."
exclaimed Van, throwing the equipment on the corner of the cave.
So my fears weren't unfounded. I instinctively felt
that my life was in mortal danger while in
that unending void of darkness.
"Of course, our mistake was that we were too loud
and Barend was holding a torch. It was unfortunate,
but we learned the hard lesson."
Cat started preparing campfire as Van walked around inspecting
every corner of the cave. I just sat there,
watching both of them do their thing. My hand were
still tingly, I moved my fingers as if I was typing
in the air. There were already residual coals here
even before arrived, which means they have already
camped here before.
Cat gathered the leftover firewood from the previous
campnight. She then swiftly rubbed two pairs of sticks
together until enough heat was generated to start
fire. Smoke started billowing. I was afraid we'd suffocate
here, but there was enough draft to cause the smoke to
redirect outwards the cave.
The campfire was just I needed, I was starting to
feel the chill from our wet clothes. Both Cat
and Van started taking off their shirt, almost
in unison. Cat then took off her pants too, leaving
her with a bra and very short skirt-like dress. Did they
forget that I'm here too?
"What are you spacing out again for? Take off your
shirt, you'll get cold." barked out Van.
I took off my shirt then too, feeling a bit ashamed
in front of them. But these two appears to have grown
in the wilderness, nakedness is nothing but a part
of nature. I'm not used to any of this, is what
I'm saying. We sat around the campfire, forming
a triangle-like arrangement.
"Hold on, I think I can catch some fishes from here"
Van then stood up, took out what appears to be
a fishing net from the bag, sat near the
falling water, then cast the net out on the water.
Can you even catch fish that way?
Van now sat without any motion, like he was
meditating, except with fish net in his hands.
Well, he's the pro-hunter, who am I to question
to their ways of hunting.
I returned my gaze back to the campfire.
Although it's sufficiently warm, it's still
uncomfortable wearing soaked pants.
I'd take it off too, but it's kind of embarassing.
More than that, I have a hardened shaft
down here. It's not my fault, I have a gorgeous,
half-naked woman in front me. She makes no
effort to censor her privates, or even shield herself
from my prying gaze. It's not like I can see everything,
but damn I can just see enough that it's worse.
It's maddening, I won't be able to rest calmly
for the rest of the night if I leave it like this.
There's are more several unused firewood
beside Cat. She took one of blocks and started
carving. She shifted her legs into a more
daring, provocative position.
*redacted*
In one smooth movement, I stood up and jump-ran
through the water, landing on the flowing river.
"Hey!" cried out Van.
The water was cold, but it felt soothing,
cleansing, like my impure thoughts was being
purified and washed away. The moonlight
baptized me with a renewed life.
I got up feeling slightly less guilty,
and swam back inside the cave.
This is probably why I stick to hentai,
to detach the feelings of guilt from
the act of objectifying women's body
as mere erotic materials. That, or I'm just
a weeb. Or so I thought.
I smelt something nice as I entered the cave.
I see skewered fishes over the campire.
"You're really a crazy one, are you" Van joked.
"To think you'd suddenly go out for a swim"
out of nowhere. Good thing we don't have
drinks here or we'd all be in trouble.
If that happens, even the dodaars will be in danger."
I sat back to previous seat and rewarmed
myself again. Now sure what kind of face
I'm making, I laughing internally, sort of.
What's more funny is that he actually caught
some fishes, a bunch of large ones too.
As dumb as Van might seem sometimes, he's
got real hunting skills for sure.
"Anyways, I think we got here a little too early,
an hour maybe. Gregor will be here shortly,
he'll brief us on for our next move."
Van ended his statement with making a sighing
sound as he stretched out his arms.
"We're not going to sleep?" I asked.
"I told you before, get some rest and your body
in top shape. This is no time to be sleeping."
Oh shit. Spanking the meat was like the worst
action to take. I mean, what was I thinking?
I feel really tired now, I want to sleep
for 10 hours, like I usually do.
Reborned yager my ass.
I really need to get myself together.
I stole one quick and guilty look at Cat
one more time before banishing myself
from this realm for good. By banish,
I mean cowering my face behind my hands.
With that swift glance, I noticed how
Cat now seems more self-conscious.
She now covers her legs and has
put her shirt back on.
I might be just thinking this, but I think
she likes Van. Or more possibly, maybe
she noticed what I was doing with my
twerking hands while I fixed my gaze at her?
I felt my face flush with blood, hot
with shame and remorse. I should seriously
banish myself from this realm. I closed
my eyes. I should just run outside
and let myself be bait for the dodoors,
so we could just get all this over with and
go back home.
I heard a soft whisper call out to me.
"Tom"
I opened my eyes to see Cat handing me
my share of meal for the night: a lightly
burnt fish.
"Thanks, Cat" I'm not worthy of such kindness
but thanks.
"What's wrong Tom? You're a bit red. Don't
go having a fever now, I'm seriously to get
mad."
Shut up, I said to Van in my head.
"I'm fine, I'm just hungry." as I said
as I took a bite. This burnt fish is unexpectedly
flavourful, did they add salt?
Sharing a meal with Cat and Van is
something I could get used to. Then again,
it's more like I enjoy having a meal in
scenic places. I'm still not sure
what their relationship is though. But it's
best not to pry on personal matters.
I've still plenty of other questions
to ask before I even dare to intrude
their private matters.
This might be the best and last chance
to ask questions now, before the other
guy joins the party.
On second thought, asking potentially
dumb question might piss Van here again.
I don't want to spoil the perfectly good
meal. Plus, he might get mad enough
that he might actually convince Cat
to just abandon me here in the forest.
I've just known this guys only for a while,
I don't know what they are thinking,
or what they would do.
Appearances can be deceiving.
"So Tom, got any questions?"
Going for the offensive huh?
I've got questions, but I'd rather
ask Cat.
"No, not really" I chomped a mouthful.
"Okay, if you say so. I don't know every
bit of details anyway, Gregor will explain
everything."
I'm stuffed. I badly want to sleep right now.
"Hey, can I take a nap, just for a bit?"
"Hmm, well okay, sure. We still got about an
hour to wait at most. You can rest too, Cat.
I'll be on watch."
I lay flat on my back. The cave floor has
slightly smooth rocky surface. It's only slightly cold,
but should still sleep on my side. I fell
asleep as soon as I closed my eyes.
⁂
I woke up abruptly, thinking I overslept. But
I sat up to see Cat still blissfully sleep
by the warm fire. I don't think I sleep
that long, I didn't have any dreams.
I yawned. Van was nowhere to be seen.
He might be outside, waiting for the other
guy. I stared blankly at the campfire.
It doesn't look like I have any new memories.
I can't recall what happened after I
was on my way home. I'll remember
in due time, I'm fine being clueless
too, it's more exciting having all this
mystery around me.
I got up and washed my face with the
falling water. It was cold enough
to wake me up. I picked up my shirt,
and to my surprise and it was already dry.
I put it on and sat back by the fire.
Wait, I'd get wet again anyway once
I leave the cave. Where is Van?
Should I wake up Cat? No,
I'd rather not get close to her.
Don't look at her too.
Should I just go back to sleep?
With the noise coming from the waterfall,
it's hard to know what's going on outside.
I got up again and tried to peek
sideways from the waterfall. I can actually
avoid getting all wet if I go out on the side.
Not sure what I should do. Go out and find
Van? Or just stay with Cat and wait?
I should just wake Cat and ask her.
I walked away from the waterfall
and kneeled in front of her. As I
about to tap her cheeks, Van appeared
out of nowhere and said
"Oh, you're awake. Good, I found Gregor.
He found a good scouting spot for our
next operations."
I looked back at Cat, who was now
sitting up, wide awake, and staring
right at me. Without words. You
got it wrong, I wasn't doing anything
weird.
She got up first.
"Come on, Tom" she took my hand
and dragged me like the blind wimp
I was before.
As we got out of the waterfall cave,
I followed the river with my gaze
how far it flows ahead. The
quarter moon shone brightly upon
the forested place, but I still couldn't
really see far ahead.
"This way" Van leading the way.
Cat held my again, and pulled
me gently forwards. I can see just
fine, Cat, it's not that dark
anymore. I want it to say it out loud, I
really do. At the same time, I
love walking close to her, I love
how I secretly cherish these fleeting
moments with our hands clasped tightly
together. How I wished these rivers
flowed eternally ahead, that we
too would for eternities walk together
by the moonlit riverside,
under the beaming celestial heavens,
our hearts beat unending as we step
to take on the lurking unknowns.
Alas, it was an eternity that faded
too soon.
Van stopped walking, and pointed upwards
to a tree taller than the rest. An artificial
ladder was made on its thick trunk.
"Up here" Van lead upwards the tree.
Cat released my hand.
"Up here, Tom" she went on ahead.
I looked up and see them take
the ladders.
I waited for a while.
I watched the lonely river still flowing.
I looked up again, and see them
reached the top.
I started to climb too, as I
muttered to myself,
Cat, you forgot to put your pants
back on.
⁂
In itself, an underwear is nothing
but a piece of cloth, the same kind
used to wipe stains, or the kind
that protects from environmental
sub-hazards. In itself, it has
no significance, like a stone
that lay purposeless on the side.
It is in the sophisticated minds that
give meaning to these empty fabrics.
To see what lies beyond
is an undeniable signs of intelligence.
To appreciate the imperfect state of
our universe is what separates us
from the beasts that tear without
thought.
From the mortal grounds where I stand,
I marvel undeservingly at the holy
grail that ascends the heaven.
Yes, yes, I saw a pantsu in full
rear-view, I get
another stiff shaft, and now I'm
mumbling to myself for reasons
or another. I'm going to literally
beat this useless dangling
piece of meatstick if it keeps
inconveniencing me at every other
waypoint, just to keep to it
protuding without my command.
Years and years of relieving
myself with indecent online materials
when I am faced with anxiety
or difficulty, now I lose
control of the impulse to
effuse the latent force.
A once a master of his own body
is now a slave to his cravings.
The shaft has been reduced to
insignifance as I chant
self-loathing unto my being.
It worked but not always.
Just in time, I finally catched
up to Van and Cat as I reached
the tree top.
I see Cat and Van was staring
far out in the distance down
below, along the riverside.
I took a breather, then a
fully bearded man with
an imposing stance greeted me.
"Greetings, you must be Tom"
He was a head taller than me,
he looked down at me as if
to establish the pecking order.
"H-hello"
Unlike Van, who's a bit of a happy-going fellow,
This guy's asserts dominance just
by mere existence. There was
an implied agreement that from
here on I'll be following his
orders, or there will be far-reaching
consequences.
"I'm Gregor. Nice to meet you, Tom"
"At your command, Sir!" I saluted back.
He roared and laughed. He repeatedly pat me
on the back, still lauging.
"You're right Vanderbilt, this guy's
funny and interesting."
See, I'm nothing but a joke.
"Okay, now everyone's here, let's
start with the business. You stay
on watch, Cat."
The tree top was like a natural
treehouse, except without walls.
There were lots of branches that
serves as natual guard rails to
keep us from accidentally falling.
The floors were a bit bumpy though,
but spacious enough for the big guy
and the three of us.
We huddle gather around the center for
the mission briefing.
"As expected, dodaars were
seen again crossing across the rivers
yesterday. There were clear predictable
patterns to their movements, it's
safe to assume at this point that
they will be doing the same again
once the morning shines."
"Here's how they go: early in the morning
the dodaars travel in packs, one
after another, moving towards a single direction.
In the dawn of morning, they'll be heading
in the blind forest, where you guys just
came from."
"They won't be seen or heard again until
the sunset, before the day turns night. Again,
they'll be moving in the same pattern and formation."
"Question's so far?"
I tried to absorb all this in my head.
It's was hard to imagine these giant chickens
marching across the rivers with order.
"How may dodaars are we talking about?"
"Lots. Lots and lots of them. I'd
estimate around a thousand, no,
twice at least that."
That's crazy. We'll never go hungry again.
No wonder children in Africa are starving,
their meals went on hiking. But seriously,
this is hard to imagine. I'm not going
to believe any of this until I see it
with my own eyes.
"In the first few days they were first spotted,
there only one or two packs moving. Around
ten of them. But as the days go on, more
and more travel across."
"I can't give exact numbers, but it should
be easy to notice that there are far fewer
dodaars coming back to their base."
Van found a turn to speak.
"This is way off our estimate.
With this much dodaars, this won't be
just a hunt anymore, is it? We'll
need a army now?"
Come on, Van, we're talking about birds.
Even if there are millions of them,
in the end they are still birds.
"Not quite. It still too early to
go full-force attack against them.
We still don't know what the dodaars
are doing, and they haven't done any
attacks since. We started bringing in
more men though, in preparation for
the worse. It's up to the boss
to decide when we go full attack."
"Discard the old plan.
We can't hunt them
anymore by normal means,
since they started to move
in larger groups now. We'll be walking
towards death if we do that. So..."
"We burn the whole forest down
while they are all in the middle of it?"
Van asked.
"No, That's still counts as offensive.
We don't want all of them dead yet, and it's
not clear if that would even work.
The dodaars afterall are way more
intelligent and way more faster than
we initially believed."
"Which brings us to our new mission:
You three will find and infiltrate
their nests and extract any information,
however related, that you can."
"You're not coming?" Van wondered.
"No, I'm not really fit for that.
I'm not as agile as you guys. Plus,
I'll be standing by to keep guard,
and to assist the other incoming yagers,
who will be trailing the dodaar battalion.
Besides, the fewer the people, the less
chance of detection."
"Okay, makes sense" Van agreed.
Does it? The whole plan sounds
reasonable, but the part I
can't still get over with is that
we're talking about flightless
chickens here.
"So? When do we start? Should we
start moving now?"
"Not yet. We will wait for the large
wave to march across the river first.
You start moving as soon as the
the dusts have settled. With that,
you guys still have several hours
to stand by."
Yes please, sleep. My sleep-deprived
brain can't keep up anymore of this.
I doubt ten
hours of sleep would help me
make any sense of this, but
still, sleep is good itself.
Looking around, is it safe to sleep up here?
I sat in the corner, resting my back
against a sturdy pile of branches.
"I saw some berries on the way here.
I'll go them before the bats do." says Van
as he descends the wooden ladder.
Van's a real trooper, I don't think I've
ever seen him sit for more than five minutes.
"How is it going Kaatje, seen anything unusual?"
Gregor asked he placed his arms around Cat's shoulder.
He got so close to her to the point her privatures
are in contact with him.
He did so smoothly and naturally no one would
find it strange."
It was that point that I was sure
that I hate this Gregor guy.
Cat shook her head. "All clear, Greg"
Then I saw Cat gave him a smile,
a slight one. It kind of hard to interpret,
but a smile is a smile.
She never gave me one. Actually,
I did get one, but it was just my pure imagination.
I sat awkwardly as I watched the two
get closer.
"Hey, Tom. You go and help Van.
I'm sure there are a bunch of berries.
Tom can't hold all of them on his own.
And oh, catch lots of fishes while your
at it. Feel free to take your time."
Gregor said all of this with a big
twisted smile. I know where this is going.
"Wait, Tom" Cat says softly as I stood
up. I froze on the spot, Cat seems to be pleading
me to stay. What do I do?
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Gregor
said in a louder voice. He was clearly
getting annoyed. My intincts were right.
This guy's the leader, in ways more than
one.
"Nothing, sir" I said as I descended the ladders.
I stopped for a second to peek at them.
I saw Gregor's hand then reach into the sacred
grounds. I faintly heard Cat making suppressed noises.
I know where this is going. I should
have seen where this is going. The
holy grail has long been claimed,
and it's always the strongest one
to be holding it. A precious treasure
will always be guarded closely.
She's mine, the son of bitch
made that very clear right at
the beginning.
I continued descending, both
in mind and body.
As I reached the bottom, I
gripped my hands tightly. It felt
empty, the same hands
that fleetingly felt joy and warmth.
I felt like I'm missing something.
The sword, I left it back at the cave.
No wonder it felt empty.
I trudged along the riverside,
against the eternal flow of meaningless
tide. Why do I feel terrible? Why
should I? I literally just met her.
My feelings are purely circumstancial,
it bears no weight. It's just
a short-term emotional outburst,
it happens time to time due to
prolonged state of not giving
a damn about anything.
Time and time again, it has shown
that I can't trust anyone. Not Cat,
not Van, not especially that cumstain.
I bare and open up to them, exposing
every bit of vulnerabilities and wounds,
only for them the cut deeper when I
least expected it. Of course I would
flunk school, I have a learning
disability. I just never learn.
The lesson that human beings are
a scourge of this earth, I never
learn.
I picked up my sword and got
out of the cave without thought.
I continued walking back.
I should just cut that bastard.
⁂
I walk and walked, on the
other side of the river,
away from where Cat and Gregcuck
have the time of their life.
not caring if my other half of my leg
is submerged on the river.
All bark, that's what I'm doing.
I can make twisted angry
faces, but I can never bite.
I never fought back, and
there's no reason to. I'm
like just a dirt on the ground,
people would unknowingly kick
and step on it.
Whatever. It matters nothing
in the end. Right, I forgot
what I was even here for. No,
not for science bullshit, I'm
just here to have fun and adventures.
Forget what really happened,
Forget how I got here,
forget the life before me,
this is my life now. The
isekai that I have been
dreaming of.
Except it's Africa. And
I have no special ability to
speak of. All I have is this
dumb sword that I don't even
know how to use, despite having
played billions of games with sword.
Unsheated the sword, the blade
shone the reflected moonlight.
Cool, so this is a sword.
It's the real thing. It's
heavier that I thought it would
be. Swordfights in games and anime
makes it look like they were
weilding feathers.
Just for the heck of it,
I started swinging the sword
in the air, against the imaginary
monsters. I imitated kendo stance,
which I know nothing about,
making swift clumsy strikes
as I step forward. Then abruptly,
I shifted stance like a samurai,
striking the pitiful tree
on my left. With my feet
firmly on the ground, I
did a horseback-riding stance,
then attack with a sword
thrust straight to the trunk.
I managed to pierce
half of the sword inside
the the tree.
Crap, this thing is dangerous.
It's too sharp. I felt the
exhaustion as I catch my breath.
My arms sored a bit. It was
fun though, I came to my senses
as I pulled the sword out of
the trunk. I sheathed the cool
sword, then I heard a voice
call to me.
"Hey, over here" Van called
out to me, not far from where
I went full chuuni. I walk
towards the pro-hunter.
"You are never out of surprises,
huh. Shadow sparring at this time?
Anyway, get a look of these"
He pulled out a bagful of berries
from the bushes.
"I hit a goldmine. It's rare
to find this many on one spot."
I took a handful and started chomping
on them. Too sweet.
"Master Gregor asked you to catch
a thousand fishes." I said, half-jokingly
of course. There's no way he can catch
a thousand fishes, right?
"I see, that's Gregor alright, always
starving like a bear."
Don't worry, he's having a full-course
meal right now. Those cherries aren't
hardly desserts.
"Alrighty then, you can hold on to
these berries, while I fish."
And off the pro-hunter go. I
I guess they don't sell ADHD medications
on this island, Van badly needs one,
it seems.
Great, now I have to babysit a bagful
of berries. What am I, a raccoon.
In spite of my whining, I sat by
the riverside, enjoying the berries,
one by one, I chuck them on my mouth
and spit out the seeds on the water.
On the other side of the river, I
look up at the tree tower, where
Cat and Gregor work towards
a brighter future. I don't
want to imagine it, I don't
need to. My head on it's own
just replayed some shitty
porn I watched before, but
with their faces swapped in.
It'll take all night to finish
all the berries. I can't eat
anymore though, I'm starting
to get stomache ache. I washed
my face on the flowing river,
taking a drink while I was it.
I thought of taking a nap again.
I'm not sure what time is it,
probably around 3:00 in the morning.
It's a welcome experience though,
I never thought there'd be a point
in my life I'd sit by the moonlit riverside
past midnight snacking on berries.
It was a hard to imagine, considering
I've been mostly cooped up inside.
I'll just close my eyes for a bit,
just for bit. I shouldn't sleep here,
it's dangerous. But it was a homely
feeling, the eternal river
gushing on my side was a
lullaby to my ears.
⁂
I woke up, the sun starting to
rise. Where am I? It appears
that I feel asleep beside the river.
I picked up my sword and the bag
of berries, and slowly got up.
I looked around, Van couldn't
be seen anywhere fishing. I
think it's safe to go back
up the tree tower now. Surely,
Cat and Gregor have finished
their honeymoon already. Heck,
I'd be impressed if they lasted
an hour. That's already too
long, even for a porn movie.
As it happens, I heard I gawking
sound. A chicken maybe? I turned
around and looked behind me.
The Walghvowhat, a dodadars stared right at me.
I had a death stare with the giant
chicken. We both stared at each other
in the eyes, paused and soundless.
What do I do? Attack it? Chase it off?
It made chicken-like sounds again.
If only Cat was here, she could take it
out with an arrow.
It made another sound again, only
this time, it sounded recognizable.
"Korrum wod mi" croaked the chicken.
What? I-is it trying to speak?!
"Farrrow mi. Korrum wod mii"
It's struggling to pronounce it,
but there's no mistaking it. It's
trying to speak.
"Follow me, come with me?"
I said back.
Dodaars, understanding what
I've said, nodded back to me.
No, no, no. This can't be real.
I'm hearing things. I doubted
my sanity. The berries, the
berries were poisonous, and
I'm hallucinating.
Ominousuly the dodaars spoke again.
"Korrum norw. Dors norw turaaym."
Come now. There's no time.
I had a very bad feeling about this.
I looked back up the tree tower.
Why should I follow that Gregscum's
orders? Why should I get along
with everyone? I hesitated.
I'd still feel bad for Cat though,
I feel like I'm misunderstanding something.
Thinking about it more, it's
more like Gregor was forcing
himself on her.
The dodaars made regular chicken
sounds while it awaits.
At any rate, it wouldn't change
anything if I go AWOL. Cat
and Van can still carry out
the plans, and Gregor can
still go fuck himself.
I'm just paperweight that
they have been dragging all
along. I may find out more
by going with this dumb chicken.
Normally, I'd be more cautious
and less risk-taking, but
the bitterness, anger and frustration
last night still runs fresh
in my blood. I just want to
do anything right now, anything
except go back up there.
The isekai fantasy starts here,
the real adventure begins,
all I have to do is follow
this humongous turkey.
But I could die.
But maybe I won't.
The dice of my previous life
was rigged, this time it's
all in my favor. It has to be.
"Okay, my friend. Show me the way."
The dodaars promptly made one last
chicken sound before turning around
and headed into the forest.
⁂
The morning light now shines
brightly over the tree tops,
the rays beam through the
leafy shades, lighting our pathways
towards the destiny. A new journey
awaits with me and my newfound
friend.
By friend, I refer to the gigantic chicken
that leads my way. It's not a chicken,
of course, but there's no law prohibiting
me to make my own designations. I will
call it chicken because it looks like a
chicken, smells like a chicken and
sort of sounds like a chicken. Most importantly,
I like chickens. No, I love chickens.
Chickens are one of the only things in world
that man can openly and proudly declare
his love to. I will take on a barehand fist fight
on any semantic police who tries to correct
me and take away my freedom.
My friend here is a giant chicken, and
that's final.
That all said, this is still a one-sided
relationship. I have yet received an answer
if we can be friends. That's actually
because I have not yet asked. But
maybe I don't have to. Just like
friendship happen between dogs and man
without formalities, I can too
be friends with chickens without question.
It'd be rude to just keep calling my friend
chicken. So from here on, I'll call him Ken,
short for Kentucky Fried−No, Kentucky Friend Chicken.
"Nice to meet you, Ken"
Ken made chicken sounds as he turned his
around to look at me without stopping.
Is that a yes, or a what?
No matter, carry on. We kept walking
at normal pace. Unlike the dark blind forest
that was on the other side river, the
one where me, Cat and Van crossed at night,
this forest is less dense. The trees
were still just as tall, but there were
more spaces between each trees. It
was easy to see the way around, and further
ahead if any predator approaches.
Speaking of Cat, I wonder what are they
doing right now. If I recall the plan correctly,
they would wait for the chicken parade to
cross through the river, after which
Cat and Van would start going on the
other side of the river, to the dodaar base.
That means
there's still a chance I could meet Cat,
if things go right. If only Cat was with
me when I woke up, then I'd be morning
bright sunshine hand-holding with my dear
Cat, away from that bastard. Or not.
Of course not.
Don't be fooled, women act nice to everyone.
It doesn't mean anything. If she'd have
a choice to pick between me and that gregshit,
of course she'd pick not me. To pick someone
like me
is to forfeit the game called life, no one wants
to be on the losing side. A women who
picks me would have to accept the
difficulties and challenges that will
come along the way. Cat, or anyone really,
would prefer someone stronger, with
leadership, someone who can take anything
and make things happen.
I don't need anyone. Ken my pal here
is all I need. Are we there yet? The longer
we walk, the more I hate myself.
Ken spoke chicken as if to agree with me.
Actually, Ken was calling my attention
for something. As we kept on walking,
I started to gradually hear noises
from the distance ahead. Louder as it
gets, I see the chicken parade marching
to my left ahead.
It's true, it's actually real. Chickens
marching in a semi-aligned formations.
As Ken and chicken parade walk
past each other, Ken made a warcy
chicken sound, to which the parade
leaders replied with a warcry too.
I guess that means, goodluck or something.
This is beyond amazing though. We have
been walking for a while, but the
chiken parade is still going. How
many are there? Billions I bet.
Okay, maybe not billions. I'm
not good with head counting.
Maybe 2000? Like Van said. Or
was it the other guy that said that.
At any rate, it was true all along.
Even I wanted to believe it,
it was hard to so. But my
own eyes and ears confirms it,
the chickens are marching in formations,
towards the river.
Like Ken, the otherkens probably
can somehow speak too. Which means,
they are intelligent, way more
intelligent than how history
has protrayed them. They are no
slowpokes too.
The marching noise gradually
quieted down as the last
batch of chickens marched past
us. Ken made one last chicken sound.
Yeah, bye friends.
There's one thing that Van and
others got wrong though. They
are not violent or dangerous.
Thousands walked past me, none
of them threatened me. So this
probably means they have mistaken
the chickens for something else?
Who attacked the village then?
All this walking is making me
hungry. Seeing a thousand chickens
definitely has nothing to do with it.
I looked at Ken's back. I wonder
if I can take a ride. Ken spoke
chicken. I can? Don't mind if I do.
Ken spoke chicken again.
Wait, I see something ahead. It
appears to be a village. Could
it be the natives?
⁂
We finally entered the village,
but Ken kept on walking, making
chicken sounds as I try to stop
for break. I followed along,
looking around as I walk.
There lots of otherkens here,
but where's the people? I
see otherkens running around,
some playing a game like tag,
others were huddled, making sounds.
The houses are made of wood and stones,
but look a bit different from
the ones I would normally call
a house. Ken made a chicken sound,
he's already way ahead, I
was getting left behind with
my curiosity.
But we walk more still. At this
point, I'm pretty sure that
this isn't just a village. This
is a whole town. No, a whole
civilization?!
Where's the people? Don't tell
me only the chickens live here.
There's no way they built all this.
Being able to speak a couple of
words is one thing, but building
a civilization is a whole another level.
Then I remembered about them being
dangerous. The chickens invading
and colonizing seems more plausible,
but still hard to believe nonetheless.
Where is Ken taking me anyway?
I catch up with Ken and asked slowly
"Where−are−going?"
Ken made chicken sounds, then after
some struggling managed to say
"Kiingr"
King? I suspend my belief, or
lack thereof, for I don't know
what to expect anymore. I want
a new game, this isn't the Isekai
I wanted. Give me more Catgirls, no
Gregore, give abilities besides
whining to myself. Come on, Jesus
of Africa, I know you can hear me.
New game, new game. Or let me access
the game settings. I said I love chickens,
but not this much love. This is too much
love. What's the point of being isekai'd
if my life now is more worse than before.
I could have gone on East Africa on my own,
but with solar-powered laptop and some
modern infastruture to live a comfy
weeb life. I regret just staying cooped
up in my room, being useless the
most possible way. Give me my life back,
I'll travel around the world, meet
people like Cat and Van, and have
great time together.
I looked up ahead as Ken spoke chicken
again. A stone castle, of course.
What else did I expect? Can't have
a king without a castle, can we?
Did I really get isekai'd and got
transported to a parallel universe?
My brain is overloaded with information,
I stopped paying attention to details.
All I know is I entered the castle,
and walked up until I got to the throneroom.
⁂
I rehearse my lines as I prepare for
the royal audience with the King.
Disregarding what the nature of
their loyal subjects and followers,
a King is still a king. Allow me
to undo my peasants ways and show
proper etiquette for the ruler
of this domain.
Ken halted and bowed before the throne.
I am humbled to be in your presence, my liege.
I slightly bowed my head, with my one head
held up to my chest. I don't know if that's
proper etiquette, but I'd like to believe
that's a universal sign of respect, big
chickens included.
I look up the throne. It was a big, fat
brown chicken standing awkwardly on a
stone chair. It had a bunch of leaves
on its head that served as its crown.
I wanted to slap someone. I wanted to
keel over that table in the distance.
I wanted to thwack Ken in the back of
his head. I laughed so hard inside
I think I suffered from mutiple organ
failure.
Stop, please you're killing me.
I looked at my shoes, I closed my eyes,
using my secret techique to mediate
on the spot and calm my nerves.
Dodaars, they truly are dangerous creatures.
They are powerful beings that can take
down fully grown men without doing
anything. I understand now Van,
I really do.
I look up at the King again.
Finally giving in, I snortled
the same way Van showed me the
dodo drawing.
Ken made chicken sounds.
Sorry, Ken. Let's start over.
I stepped forward with the all
dignity I have left, if I have
any to begin with.
What do I say?
"Greetings, your majesty. My name is Thomas."
I said without stuttering. Ironically, I
make less mistakes when I
don't take things seriously.
"Greetings, Jager" the dodaar king said.
His speech was almost flawless, almost
human. I've seen parrots and ravens
speak, but the dodaars before me
spoke with wit and manners, albeit
a little slower.
I was then at lost for words,
unable to articulate my reason
or confusion. I had the impression
that the dodaar was 3 standard deviations
smarter than me. Moreso because I felt
really dumb for not taking it seriously.
"H-hello there" I stuttered
"They call me, my name is Walghvoghel.
My feathered kins are called griffeendt, but
your people more commonly refer to us as dodaars."
"Waf−walgovvouel is a name?"
"Yes, that is my name. Only I go by
that name. But if it's too difficult,
you can call me anyway you want."
After a brief thinking, I said
"Can I call you Kenchi then?"
Get it? Ken-chi is backwards chi-cken.
Yeah, I hate myself.
"You are as funny as I heard, Jager.
Understood, you can call me Kenchi."
Kenchi either got my joke, or
can read my mind.
"You may have lots of questions,
but they can wait. There is someone
who wants to see you."
Oh no, more suspense, more exposition.
I can't keep up with the lore, my head
will burst. Are they going to make
me meet another chicken in a throne?
Pardon, but that won't work
the second time. Your chance
to assinate me has already failed.
Kenchi and Kent spoke to each other
in chicken language. I'm renaming
Ken to Kent to make less things
confusing for me. I have to think
of another Ken− name for the next one.
Kennedy, Kenson, Ken...ken? Tough luck
for the otherkens, I don't know
a lot of names starting with Ken. Oh
wait, Kenneth, but I can't use that
one. I already know too many people who
has that name. It never feels right
to see a colleague that has the same
name as my pets. My pet got that
name first, I'm sure.
"Krruum" said Kent as he face me,
trying to help me sort my priorities.
Kent proceeded to the door far on the right.
I followed Kent, fortifying myself
against any unexpected punchlines
that comes in the way.
I enter a ghastly looking room,
gray walls undecorated, with translucent
curtains floating like spectral limbs from
the opened windows. In the
bed lay a sickly person,
greeting me with a series of
dry painful coughs. She's dying,
I thought to myself.
Oh god. What now?
⁂
The woman in bed looked like
she's around
in the late forties, although
her drastic condition might
be prematurely aging her looks.
I've seen women of my age though,
so I'm certain she's 10 years older
than me at least.
An unoccupied stool sits near the
bed, where doctors would be
sitting if this place handed out
medical degrees. Without presuming
what the scope of the dodarian's
medical knowledge is, I think this
is stool is for me, for me alone,
for this trying moment.
I took a seat and just stared at
her. Kent courteously left the room.
The woman opened her eyes and looked
at me.
"Rutger, it's really you" coughed
the sickly woman.
"Do you know me?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I know
my own nephew. My body may
have fallen, but my mind is
still very much alive."
"I'm sorry, I don't know you.
I lost all of my memories.
I don't remember anything,
not even myself."
It's of course a half-truth.
I remember who I am, who goes by
the name Thomas,
but I don't remember who Rutger is.
"Mercy on us oh lord. It's true,
you lost yourself."
She started a coughing fit. I
reached for the glass of water
from the bedside table and handed
it to her.
"Thank you, Rutger. I'm fine.
The griffeendts gave me reports
about someone looking like you.
But the way they described you
sounded like an entirely different
person."
"What reports?"
"The griffeendt scouts all area,
on every corner of this island,
gives report back to me and Walg.
There's this one particular report
that made me smile. The one report
that you were seen romantically
hand-holding with a woman, in
the dead of the night in the
the moon river side. You had
the happiest dumb look on your
face, to quote directly from
the report."
Now I'm the one with the coughing
fit. Who's' the traitor that sold
me out? Was it you Kent? It was
you wasn't it? I knew I couldn't
trust you. Your on the special menu
tonight Kent. You hear me.
"Are you alright Rutger? Here
have a glass of water."
"No I'm fine."
"Okay, if you say so. As I was
saying, the Rutger I know was
really shy when it comes to girls.
He'd either freeze up or run away
like a headless chicken."
No wonder I'm in Rutger's body.
We where practically formed from
the same cowardly mould. There's
probably a compatibility issue
if I was just randomly spawned
on different person.
I bet ole Rutger here is into dodo
furry materials.
"That all aside, I'm really glad
you safe, and made it back in the
island. Did you travel here
with the lovely woman?"
I coughed.
"About that, aunt−"
"My name is Sofia. But you
call me Tante. It means aunt
in dutch."
"Dutch? You're dutch?"
"Yes, I'm dutch. And you're
also dutch too, but only
half. You grew up in
America, so you can't speak
dutch."
I see, that explains why
we can have English conversations.
"Ta−tante, I have a lot questions.
A lot of this doesn't make sense.
I don't know why I am here, or
why are you here. Why are there
so many chi−dodaars here? Where
are all the people? Most importantly,
why can the dodaars speak like
human beings?"
"Oh my, not holding back on
the crippled old lady, are we?"
"No, sorry I−"
"No, no. It's fine. It's important
that you know these things. I don't
have much time left." she coughed.
"Let's see, where do I start"
⁂
Kent tapped on the door with his
enourmous beak, walking in
with a basket of apples.
As soon as he placed the basket
on the bedside table, I lightly
jabbed his midsection, and he
retaliated back with a light
peck on my shoulder. Kent
retreated outside the room
with a lots of chicken sounds.
Kent took one confused peek
at me before completely
disappearing out of the scene.
Tante laughed and coughed.
"I see you have already made
some friends here."
Former-friend to be precise.
I'm just joking of course.
Well, half-joking.
We both grab an apple and
took a bite. The apple
must a local variant, the
taste was different from what
I what used to. It wasn't bad,
a bit on the sour side, but
it makes up for the mild sweetness.
"Where do I start?"
She took a sip from the glass cup.
I want to avoid putting too much
strain on her, I should get
right to the point. I could
probably ask the rest from
Kenchi.
"Tante, first and foremost, I
want to know why and how the dodaars
can speak."
"Ah, right to the root of it all.
You see Rutgar, why you are
here, and why I am here, is
because the griffeendts can speak.
Everything happening around here,
the dutch, the hunters,
all of it is happening,
because, on one fateful day,
Walghvoghel spoke his very first word."
⁂
I closed the door behind me as I
left Sofie's room. Kent led
me to another empty room, where
I will for the mean time rest.
Not paying attention to anything
else, I sat on the bed, then lied
down. I recollected everything Sofie
has told me, and tried to piece the
remaining puzzles.
It was ten years ago the Dutches
first discovered Mauritius. It
wasn't long after that they
encountered these large wingless
birds. To their surprise, the
birds didn't attack or run.
They were docile and friendly
creatures that enjoyed the
company of the hairless apes.
Not surprisingly, people took
advantage of this, and started
hunting them, or rather, collecting
them, for their own gains. Eating
the wingless birds would one
of the natural reasons for
hunting them. Selling their
meat was also an option. But
since the dodaars were docile
and didn't run away, the
Dutches started selling
and exporting the dodaars alive.
Aside from being a temporary
food source, there wasn't much
reason to buy live dodaars
except for adopting them as novelty pets.
They were hard to breed, so
domesticating the dodaars for
farm use wasn't an option.
The business of selling dodaars as
pets didn't quite go well though.
Not a lot of people wanted
a weird chicken as a pet,
and they were also quite expensive.
They were funny to look at,
and that's it. They didn't
really didn't do much except to look stupid.
Also, due to lack
of sufficient literature on how
to care for the dodaars, many died
due to neglect or improper diet.
In the end, due to scarce demand,
dodaars remained an exotic commodity,
where they can be sometimes seen
in the market corner standing
awkwardly, making chicken-like
noises occassionally to passer-bys.
In one of fated afternoon, a joyful
unmarried woman was happily skipping
and hopping along the market road,
browsing and searching, nothing
in particular, just anything that
intrigues her. Her name was
Sofie, a 40 year old woman,
who spent 2 decades
of her life studying nature.
She didn't study nature in
the strict classroom sense.
Rather, Sofie just observed,
sketched and wrote informal
observerations on her diary.
It was just a mere hobby for her,
but she got to a point she
amassed quite a compendium
of knowledge. She had her own
library of works back in her
own little house. And there
was room for more.
She stopped hopping, in midside
road, curious where the source
of birdlike noise she just heard.
She took a step in direction of the
mysterious sound everytime she
heard it again.
One last gawk and she found
herself face to face with the
odd bird. Buy me, take me home,
said the big chicken, maybe.
That what's his face looked like
at least.
Sofie's eyes widened with glee.
You could say it was the first
time ever she fell in love in her
again in years,
she thought. She
bought it without second thought,
as soon as she finished pestering
the owner for all the details
she could get.
That early evening she had
a new family member. Her
long time dog barked and jumped
happily as she opened
the front door of her home.
Walghvoghel, as Sofie named her,
stepped inside and gladly
accepted his welcome as
he made chickenlike sounds.
From then on, Walg became
part of Sofie's eccentric life.
Everywhere she go, rain or shine,
Walg was there with him. She
made sure Walg had a proper
diet, taking notes of what
he didn't like, and what
made him ill. Walg then
was like a son to Sofie.
She'd hug the big chicken
on her sleep and kiss him
goodnight.
Years later, she came to be known as
the weird lady with a big chicken
on her hometown.
If the story ended there, it
only would have been just a heartwarming
tale about unusual love between
two unlikely subjects. But Sofie's
story went on, to a more complicated
development that she didn't expect.
In the half a decade of care and love,
Sofie didn't neglect her hobby of
studying nature. Except she focused
all her attention to Walg.
She sketched all sides and angles
of the large chicken. She wrote
down all observations she can make.
In that time, she wrote about a dozen
books documentating everything
about Walg and dodaars.
One of the most noteworthy observation
she made was that, contrary to their
looks, dodaars were smart. Very smart
in fact, way smarter than his dog.
She noticed how Walg understood
the nuances of their interaction.
In their extensive bonding,
Walg learned to behave and act
almost like a human being, if
not for the bodily limitations.
Astonished at this finding, Sofie
went further and started speaking
to Walg, like how she would speak
to a child, to her child. Walg
didn't understand though, of course
he wouldn't, he's just a bird. But
Sofie didn't care, she just kept speaking
to Walg because she like speaking to him.
Sometimes he appears to understand,
and would just quack back at her.
But for the most part, Walg was
just a listener, and Sofie appreciated
the company alone. It became
a routine for her to speak her mind
to Walg, everything she thought of,
and Walg would just either stare
back or would just make chickenlike
sounds.
To the outside observer, Sofie
was living a lonely life. People
see her openly speaking to a bird,
they thought she has gone mad
from living a miserable
unmarried life. But to her,
she has never been happier.
This went on for about a year,
until one day, in the living room,
Walg stood by the window while
Sofie sketched her. He wasn't just
motionless because Sofie was
drawing her. Although his body
was there, his mind and and soul
were miles away from the limits
of his gaze. He fixed his gaze
out of the window, into a place
from where his feathers fluttered
the first time.
Sofie then put away his drawing
as she noticed Walg's absent mind.
"What's wrong Walg? Want to go outside?"
"Nothing, I just remembered something."
This big, wingless bird responded. He
said it like it was the most natural
thing to do.
Sofie was left speechless, his mouth
wide agape. Her mind scattered about,
making sense of what just happened.
She picked them back up and recomposed
her self.
"D-did you say something, my Walg dear?"
Walg didn't say anything. He noticed
how startled and confused she was.
He understood perfectly that no
animals should have the ability to speak.
In the days he walked beside Sofie,
he observed closely his surroundings,
every living and non-living things
that moved. No one else spoke like
these clothed, hairless creatures.
He understood this and so he refrained
from speaking, even long after
learning how to understand and speak
human. Walg didn't need to be taught,
he picked up the language on his own,
like how babies do, except he learns
faster and with more precision.
Walg was reluctant. He considered the
consequences of revealing his sentience.
His smaller, winged kins were mere sophitsticated
automata with fixed functions. They have
have consciousness, but only to a certain
extent. Their awareness can not go beyond
boundaries of their the biological limitations.
Humans have consciousness, or rather, have more
consciousness?
Walghvoghel stared out of the window again.
He didn't acquire consciousness, he has
self-awareness as long as he can remember.
His family and fellows at Mauritius weren't
any different from him too. His ancestors
have long acquired consciousness since
their last significant evolutionary divergence.
But unlike humans, his kind have primitive language.
They were capable of highly abstract thought, but have
no means of expressing them, of communicating them.
Also, their means of leveraging tools were greatly
limited to their beaks and feets. There was
no evolutionary pressure for them to develop
more complex modes of communications. Their
life was complete with comfort and satisfcation
in Mauritius.
Years, when Walg was still younger, he was naive
and dumb, greeting every hairless monkey he
saw at the island. The older ones knew the dangers,
and avoided humans at all cost. He didn't regret
this decision to come with the humans, but
he longs to see his birthplace again.
On his own, he has little or no chance of going
back. But with Sofie, he has an almost guranteed
success. The problem then is to let Sofie
know what he's thinking.
Walg turned his head around and looked at
Sofie again. She was still there, looking
back at him. It's too late to turn back
now, Sofie needs to know.
"So..." Walg started.
"So...?" Sofie repeated.
"Sofie, I need to tell you something."
Sofie's eyes grew in porportion, to her
immeasurable disbelief. But instead of being scared,
she started jumping merrily around.
"You can speak, you can speak, oh
my god." she exclaimed and laughed.
"This is amazing, am I dreaming? I
have gone mad, haven't I? I knew
something was wrong with me."
"Calm down Sofie. You are not dreaming
and you're not crazy. I'm speaking
for real."
"Right, right, right. Sorry, I
think I need to lie down."
She sat down, and took several
deep breaths. In the back of her
mind, she still somehow think she
blew a couple of fuses in the head.
She pinched herself again, in various
places.
"Listen, Sofie, you're not going mad.
It's all true, I can speak and understand
you."
"Oh wow, really? But how can you only speak
now, what about all this time we've been together?"
Walg took his time, and slowly explained
everything. Sofie sat in silence, trying
to absorb all what Walg said. It was
world shattering, it's like everything
she knew was wrong. The rest of day
went by, slightly absent minded.
Of course, she kept speaking with Walg
all the while, but the way she spoke
became more stiff and formal, like
she was now speaking to a stranger,
not like the friend or family she knew.
A week had passed since. She started to
open up to Walg again, accepting the
twisted reality as it is. In time,
she spoke more naturally again, saying
every bit of her thought process to
Walg, who for the most part, just
listened, like always. About a month
later, they were back to once they were,
the three of them, enjoying the company
of each other.
The more Walf spoke,
the more Sofie was convinced that Walg
was smarter than her, maybe way more
than she can imagine. Sofie thought
it was a waste that Walg would just
spend time with her. She thought
Walg could realize his full potential
if he could hang out with the right people,
people who knew better, people
who knows what to do in case
a non-human sentient creature
emerges out of nowhere.
More than that, Sofie wanted
more people to know about Walg,
what a funny and wonderful bird
he is. Surely kids and everyone
would love to meet Walghvoghel, the
magical speaking bird. She would need
to find a way to get to
Mauritius island anyway. If
she could find the right people,
then things would a lot easier.
To find people, the easiest way
is to draw people in.
Thus, Sofie concluded, that
people must know about Walg.
She defied Walg's warning about
not telling anyone about him.
She couldn't quite understand
his reasoning, and just assumed
instead that Walg was just
shy around people.
After some lengthy back and forth
arguing with Walg, Sofie finally
convinced Walg to meet with the
one her former colleague, a philosopher
of nature. By similar process,
the philosopher would through
stages of doubt and madness,
but in the end accepted the
state of reality. From there on,
word slowly have spread, from
the colleagues of the philosopher,
to friends, to family. It came
to a point until the rumor
of a talking bird finally reached
the ears of ignorant street
paupers.
Sofie was regularly visited
by a curious bunch, in increarsing
volume each day. Walg became
a metaphorical crowd drawing panda,
attending to an witless audience
who would go crazy even at the utterance
of household words. Was I wrong
about them? Do human really have
higher-consciousness? Sofie,
on the other hand, had a big smile
on her face seeing how people
adored her Walg.
It was a happy ending after all,
thought Walg. He was just overthinking
it, it appears to be.
⁂
After the initial hype died down,
self proclaimed philosophers and experts
from neighbouring towns started visiting,
and requested consultation with the
sentient bird.
Not everyone was delighted to
learn about the existence of Walghvoghel.
The subset of the population that
Walg was afraid about. It was
the people that adhered strictly
to the encoded dogmatic words that
dictated what they should believe.
It was the Church of Welzijn,
a recently established group
that aims to prosper the well-being
of mankind.
It didn't take much effort
for the Welzijn to convince
people that Walghvoghel was a
reincarnated devil. Of course, the
Church's real reason is that a talking
bird contradicts their very teachings,
the belief that human beings
are the children of god, and animals
exists only to serve man alone.
The people who held a more rational
point of view also supported this propaganda
against the devil,
albeit for an entirely different motive.
The existence sentient bird would threaten
the profitability of poultry farming.
They believe that people would entirely
stop eating birds and chickens.
It would come to a point that people
would altogether stop eating any meat.
It would kill the whole industry within
a year. Society could potentially
collapse.
Another faction of philosophers
has a different concern.
They theorized that extremists would then take
the conclusion further and argue
that every life on earth has consciousness,
dogs, grasses, worms, sky and the earth.
An entirely new religion or philosophy
would be established and will dominate worldwide.
It greatly tip the balance of power and influence,
resulting to more possible wars and destabilization.
Different groups and factions, all implicitly
and unanimously agreed that the speaking bird
is a devil incarnate and must be destroyed,
and must be banished from the future history,
from people's mind and memory. The real
devil was Sofie, the crazy woman, who spread
lies for fame and fortune.
With the support of the Church and various
concered groups, the government
promptly took action to eliminate the threat.
Propaganda and misinformation was spread throughout.
It was then mandated that every bird that resembled
the speaking bird must be killed without question.
Hired assassins, in the guise of yet another
visiting philosophers, visited Sofie's home
one early morning. They knocked, intruded without
invitation, only to find an empty house with
no one around.
⁂
Hang on, I'm the protagonist here. Where's
my airtime? All that story development,
what's in it for me? Where do I fit in?
Those questions popped in my head as
Aunt Sofie incessantly loredumped with her
slice of life story, starring Kenchi
the magical speaking chicken.
As a matter of fact, I do played
a role. Or not me, Rutger did.
During that time, I was enlisted
as one of the military dogs. In one
briefing, I overheard about a lone,
crazy woman named Sofie who
was about to be eliminated. There
wasn't a lot of people who fit
that profile, so I was sure that
they were referring to my Aunt Sofie.
Late at night, I warned Sofie about
her impending doom, and accompanied
her to escape along with the bird.
That night was their only chance
to escape, the following morning
she'd either be dead, or have
no chance getting away since
the military will immediately
deploy checkpoints all over
the place. She stole a boat
by the port, and floated away.
She didn't know what happened to
me afterwards that. She could
not get to Mauritius on that
boat alone though, she would
need to a ship for that. She
didn't really explain much
in detail how she got to
Mauritius, but I guess that
wasn't really important.
She was looking really tired
too after speaking that much,
so I had to leave her to rest.
Hopefully I'm being a reliable
narrator here, I'm doing my best
to retell everything what Aunt Sofie
told me. Things are more or less
clear now, but there's
a lot of things that I still
don't understand.
For one, how come suddenly
people could just agree that
that dumb looking bird needs
to die just because it started
speaking? Sure, there would
unforeseen implications, but
is it really that a big deal?
There some degree of absurdity
to it, the image of humans
and big chickens coexisting
together, big chickens
going to work,
big chickens going to school
alongside children, big chickens
teaching the children,
big chickens
participating on polictical
discourse on national television,
big chickens putting people out
of work...?
Okay, I admit there might
be complications. It's not
actually hard to see that
sooner or later, otherkens
start demanding and fighting
for their rights. From oppressed
minority, to world leaders.
Big chickens dominating the world.
Soon there will be interspecies-wars,
and at that point, we have already lost.
I concede then. Dismissing the consequences
as mere unforeseen implications is short-sighted.
I'm not in the position to question the authority
for taking immediate actions, but I also think
that mass extermination is too extreme.
Perhaps a middle-ground solution, like
controlling their habitat and putting
them under strict observation. They dont't have
to kill Kenchi, he's more human than
a human, as Aunt Sofie says.
Putting that aside, the next question
is then: what am I doing here?
What I, Rutger of the military ranks,
am doing here working with the hunters?
What exactly was I hired for? Did I
pretend to be a hunter so I could
find Sofie if she's alright? That
seems possible.
But there's one more thing: it
doesn't look like Cat, Van or
even that Gregscum knows the
true nature of dodaars. They only
described dodaars as intelligent
and dangerous. They wouldn't
omit a vital information that
dodaars are equal or exceeds
human intellect. They don't
know that they speak, and
can devise plans that could
wipe every invader in this island.
What this all means is that
they weren't told any of this.
Hunters were just hired to hunt
chickens as a covert operation
to make them all extinct.
I see, it makes sense now.
Why they are needlessly chopping
trees way more than needed?
To incur ecological
destruction, to destroy their
natural habitat. The
wood choppers were part of the
grander scheme. No one is
told anything of the real plan.
The plan after all, is to wipe
everything in existence, both
in physical and mental space.
No one must know, no one must remember.
The dodo birds will then be a small footprint
in history, the following generations
will be told of a story of a wingless
bird that went extinct because
they were dumb animals that were
too stupid to ran away from predators.
History. It's the history I'm told.
I'm reliving history. Thomas of
the modern times, Thomas who secluded
himself inside because technology
advanced enough to deter the need
to go outside. I, Thomas the lab
assitant, got transported back
to the past, around the year 1600.
⁂
I didn't get to ask Aunt Sofie
for more information, but I
did managed to ask some important
details. A confirmation that
doesn't really inspire me more.
I asked her about this world,
what year and what amazing
creatures are there? I asked
do you have magic in this world?
All she said was no. She repeated
it several times. No.
"What happened to you, Rutgar?
Magic? What nonsense are you talking
about? Do you need help Rutgar?"
It was mildly insulting to hear
that from someone who spent years.
talking to an unresponsive chicken.
I wasn't able to ask any questions
after that as she felt really tired
and needed to rest.
She didn't need me to tell what year
is this. I roughly know about dodo
bird's timeline by asking Tim during
his break. The clothing, the houses,
it's all in trend with the colonial period.
I didn't remember the island's name though,
but now I'm sure it's called Mauritius.
Which brings me to the most important
point: is this isekai? Can I really
call this isekai? No, not even close.
This is a regular time travelling
story. This is like the regular world,
only worse. What do people even do
in this times? Nothing. I'll be bored
out of my mind soon enough. At
least this isn't the world war era.
But why though? Isekai or not,
why I did I get sent to the past?
I know, maybe, just maybe, Bob
and the other one managed to build
a time machine, and I was the
very first human being to try their
latest invention. Of course,
being the mad scientist they are,
something was bound to go wrong.
So, instead of sending me to
the future where every problems
in the world is solved, I
was sent to the past instead,
as a side-punishment for my
useless self.
Great, first talking chickens,
now time machines? What's next?
Oh I know, please please let
there be Catgirls. I mean, come on,
time machines and talking chickens
are nothing compared to catgirls.
Catgirls are pretty mundane all
crazy things considered. Fuck
historical inaccuries. History books
are a lie, just like the fat history
teachers that gave me an F are a lie.
Absense of proof is not proof of absense.
History failed to tell the tales of
talking chickens. Who's to say
there never was catgirls? Just to
be precise, in case Jesus of Africa
is eavesdropping, Catgirls are moemoe
girls in cute dress and have cat ears
that matches their hair color. The
ears doesn't strictly have to be
cat ears though.
I'm losing it.
I'm not totally a lost cause yet though.
There's still hope. If I got here by
time machine, there's chance that
I can get out of here by time machine too.
Any time now, Bob and Time will appear
out of nowhere and drag me back to
present time.
That settles it then.
I'll I have to do is to avoid dying
at all cost. Forget this crazy hunting
mission. I'm going back home...
Then it occured to me.
No, I can't go back at my Sofie's home,
not anywhere.
I undertand now why would
be a military dog like me would be
hired as a hunter. Rutger's real
goal is likely to eliminate Kenshi,
the one who's leading the dodaars.
There's no way out.
I went AWOL as an undercover
hunter. The military will hand
me my ass back, in pieces,
buried across the island.
It's likely Rutger was
one of the few people who
knows the true confidentiality
of this mission. They won't
let me live. Mission fail,
mission success, they will
dispose of me either ways
when it's over. I'm fucked.
That won't happen though.
Aside from the time machine,
I can still get out of this alive
by serving under Kenchi's rule.
I have no choice but betray
humanity and side with otherkens.
They will protect me, and
I will assist them to victory.
To a future where mankind
may cease to exist.
⁂
I couldn't sleep, or even take
a slight break. Not because it
was still mid-morning, but due
to sheer amount of details
to process. Normally, I just
try to sleep this one out
and let my subconsious mind
untangle the maze. But the
longer I wait it out, the
less possible actions to take.
I decided to just walk around the
castle. Looking closer, I notice
that the castle is actually
more of a refurbished ruins. There
are moulds growing everywhere,
some walls have collapsed. I
believe the castle dates back
to the medieval period? Wait,
why is there a castle here in
the first place? I thought
no one lives here before it
was discovered?
I saw some pair of otherkens
marching. They appear to be
on guard duty. They made
chicken sounds I they pass
me by. I saluted back with
their language, I sounded
more like a duck. The castle
may be medieval or some sort,
but I think it will hold just
fine against most types of
assault. What I'm worried about
is whether the otherkens can
actually fight in any way.
If anything, they look like
they'd even lose to a rooster
on a 1v1 battle. They are big,
but not big enough against humans.
Then I remember once again
about Van and Cat's warning
about the dodaars having taken
a dozen of full grown men.
I will just have to believe in that
anecdote, the otherkens may
indeed have the means of fighting back.
I got to the main hallway of the
castle. I should have a talk
with Kenchi for the next moves,
but before that I need to decide
what should I do with Van and Cat.
If I abandon them, there's a good
chance they'll die. Even if I
only knew them for a short time,
they were good people, and we
shared meals together. The
thought of them dying because
of me will inflict guilt upon
me. More than that, they may
serve as valuable allies in this
conflict between apes and bird.
It's not like I just want to
see Cat again while making
a series of convoluted excuses.
They are just regular hunters
after all, they unknowingly
got involved into this mess,
so there's no reason they'd
maintain loyalty on the opposing
side.
With that all in mind, I decided
to head back out at the river,
on the tree tower. There's
a good chance I might come across
them on the way. Heck, they might
already be lurking behind the bushes
near the castle. I exited the castle
and traced my way back at the town
entrace. I heard chicken sounds
calling out to me right before
I could walk.
It was Kent, I think?
"Hey Kent. I'll be heading
back to the river to get my friends
back. I can convince them to join us."
Maybe-kent made chicken sounds.
"Forrow, I frow yuu"
"You'll come with me? Alright,
I see no problem with that."
And so we marched back to the
town entrace, and then took
the same previous route to
the river. Pretty sure this
is Kent. I don't know, I just
know it's Kent.
We were almost back at the river
when Kent made alarmed chicken
sounds. I heed the caution and
crouched behind the tree.
"What's wrong Kent?"
But before he could speak,
an arrow pierced cleanly
through Kent's head, right
in between the eye. Kent
collapsed on the ground,
dark colored red oozes
on the ground.
"No!" I cried.
"Who's there? Show yourselves
cowards" I challenged the
assailants.
"Tom! It's us"
Then a figure emerged behind
the bush corner. It was Van.
"Good thing you're safe.
I knew you were taken hostage."
No, you got that wrong. My eyes
searched for Cat, I'm sure
she's the one who took that
shot.
"Where's Cat?"
"I'm here, Tom" says Cat, she
jumped down from the tree
above.
We regrouped together,
staring at the dodo bird
on the ground. Why did
this happen? I didn't expect
this to happen.
"These dodaars went down easier
than I expected. I thought
they'd be tougher than that."
says Van.
It was probably because Kent
was thinking you guys were not
hostile. I told Kent you guys
are my friends.
"Cat, Van, you got it wrong.
This is not−"
A loud screeched startled us.
Kent rose from the dead,
with arrow still between his eyes,
without warning he attacked
Van. His movements resembled
to a Taekwondo jin, Kent
did a three-hit bullet kick
on Van's body, and a final
roundhouse on the head.
It happened so fast Van
had no time to react.
Van was now on the ground,
unconcious.
Cat immediately fired a shot
right after Van collapsed.
She aimed for the head again,
but missed. Kent moved at
an inhuman speed, he strafed
side to side while closing the
distance to attack. Cat fired
several shots, but all were
a miss. Kent was now in the
striking range after the
last shot. He landed a kick
on Cat's arm, causing her
the drop the bow. She cried
in pain. I stepped in time
before Kent could deliver
a fatal blow.
"Stop!" I stood in front
of Cat, with my hands wrapped
around her.
"That's enough, Kent. They
didn't mean to attack."
Kent still focused his killer
predator eyes on Cat,
something I never thought I
would see from the these docile
looking birds.
Kent is actually one of the larger
dodaars. The dodaars in the town
village are the shorter and
fatter ones. Kent and most of the
otherkens in the castle are
taller and slimmer.
This explains why I have
a hard time viewing them
as anything as other than preys.
When I think of dodo bird, I
think of the shorter and fatter ones,
the ones typically portrayed in history.
Looking at Kent closer here though,
it's clear that his build is entirely
different.
I guess this is anologous to ants
having worker ants and the soldier
ants? Or maybe male dodaars are
just the larger variants, and
the smaller, chubbier ones are
the females. Even humans have
fat chubby ones, and the large
figher ones.
In any case, dodaars are definitely
not to be underestimated. Then again,
it's actually me who's making fun
of the big chickens. No, there's
no contradiction. Dodaars are the
soldier dodos, and the otherkens are
the lesser chickens. I still get
to keep them calling chickens without
disparaging their combat skills.
Kent finally stood down, shifting
to his regular dorky stance.
He made several chicken sounds,
it means something but I don't
know.
I turned around and faced Cat.
She looks hurt. I gave her a
bear hug. She didn't resist,
but only occured to me after
the fact that maybe hugging
isn't quite the right gesture?
She smelt nice and felt
really soft though, especially
on her private areas.
Shit, I'm letting my primal
brains takeover me again.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, my arm just hurts a bit"
Her left arm looks a bit red,
but it doesn't seem swollen
or anything. I think Van needs
more immediate medical attention.
He's unconsious, which really can't
be a good sign. I tapped him
in the cheeks.
"Hey, Van, you alright?"
He blinked several times.
"Huh? Where am I? What happened?"
He tried to get up, but I
stopped him, and just let
him sit for a while. He slowly
shook his head and looked around.
"You got knocked out by a chicken."
He tensed up as soon as he remembered.
"No, no, it's alright, he's not an
enemy. Relax."
Van gave the Kent a threatening look.
"Do you mind explaining Tom? You
can start by explaining why is
that bird still alive."
"I really don't know too. But
I can assure you he's not our
enemy."
I considered asking Kent, but
he's not that proficient yet
with speaking. I stepped
closer and inspected his
bloody head. I touched
the arrow and yanked it a
bit. Kent cried out in pain.
"Sorry." I apologized to the
chicken.
"I can explain everything later.
We should head into the town."
"Town? What town?"
"Just come on"
I internally played the dragon
quest music in my head, that
one long music when a new party
member joins. Or is it
final fantasy I'm humming right now.
"What are you spacing out for?" says Van
and his rude interruptions.
"Nothing. Let's go"
And so marched back to the town,
with Kent the arrowhead in the lead.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't
starting to enjoy the unexpected
turn of events.
It was starting to feel like an
actual adventure.
Van had the same reactions as
I did when I first entered the
chicken town, only he was more
louder and agitated. Even Cat
looks excited and confused at
the same time. I refrained
attending any of their questions
and insist Cat and Van to keep
walking, only because Kent wouldn't
stop walking either.
When we finally got to the Castle,
Van's mind was further blown,
and now he was louder than before.
Cat was silent, but I can tell
she's internally blown as well.
Without pause, we headed directly
to throneroom. Except Kenchi
was not there standing awkwardly
at the royal seat. Kenchi was nowhere
to be seen, so an Otherken approached
Kent, they made chicken sounds at
each other.
The otherken faced us and said "Ryuu Wayrrt"
"You wait" I translate it for Cat and Van.
Then Kent proceeded to walk to the room
on the left.
"D-did that dodaar just spoke right now?
Or did I hit my head too hard." says Van,
who now seems to be undergoing various
crisis right now. I didn't say anything.
We entered a room, larger than the one I
rested on, and had several beds in it.
"Looks like the boss is out somewhere.
You should rest for now, especially
you Van."
Van lied down the bed without a word.
He had his hand on his head, probably
feeling the bump somewhere.
If anything though, it's Kent that
should be lying on the bed or
wherever they sleep. How do
they sleep, now that I think about it.
More importantly, how is he still
alive? No bird or anything with
brains should be alive after a
headshot like that. The arrowhead
is sticking out on the back of his
head, so there's no way that was
just a blunt.
I sat on the bed while I hopelessly try
to work out an answer. I gave up
and instead watched Cat. She
sat in the other bed next to me.
She's examining her left arm,
trying to gauge the possible
damage she received. I think
she's alright though, it doesn't
look sprained or swollen. As if
Cat heard my thought, she put down her
arm and looked at me instead.
She's now looking directly at
my eyes, which admittedly made
me nervous. I could only look
for several seconds before I
looked away. By away, I mean
downwards, where now my eyes
locked on her thighs and slit of
grail
that exists in between.
At this point, I'm convinced
that I'm either iredeemable
pervert, or that Cat is
seductively attractive that
is impossible to ignore.
I couldn't look away, I
was hopeless.
I was about to lose myself,
when a chicken tapped
on the door, made chicken
sounds intrusively,
instantly killing the mood.
I saw Cat abruptly closed her legs
together, put her hands
on her thighs, and she looked
away blushing. I wanted
to punch the chicken, but
I couldn't immediately
just get up for unmentionable
reasons.
It was Kent again, I think.
He held a basket of fruits, and
handed it to Cat. He made
chicken sounds as he left
the room. Cat handed me
a green, roundish fruit.
"Here you go, Tom".
"Thanks" as I took a bite.
I believe these things are
called mangoes, although
I thought mangoes were a
bit more oval in shape. Must
be another local variety.
Cat left the basket sit
on her lap, covering
what must be covered.
She ate the apple in silence
as she look outside the
window.
The perverse desire is more
or less gone now, so I
lay down the bed as I
finish the mango with
the last bite.
"What are you guys eating?"
Van says, who seems to have
been completely left out.
Cat threw an apple to Van,
to which I heard a slapping
catch sound. Van got the
crunchy one.
"So Tom, you planning on
telling us what's going on?"
⁂
There wasn't much left to tell
Cat and Van, in addition to
what they have already seen here.
I considered if I
should omit some details that
they shouldn't know for their
own safety, but they will likely
learn those things on their own
even if they remain on the opposing
side, as the hunters that
were hired by the military.
Besides, lying or hiding
crucial information would only
wound the trust between us.
I can trust them, and they
could trust me.
So we gathered around, sitting
on the bed, with me re-telling
everything what Aunt Sofie told
me. Some parts were hard to
understand, even for me as
someone who was somewhat educated
with rigours of modern wisdom,
but I did my best to explain
it to them in my own words.
Add to that what Rutger leaked
from the military confidentials,
there's a lot details that may
have been inaccurate I'm sure.
"What chickens? What are you talking about?
They look nothing like chickens." Van
openly rebutted me at one point.
It was about the least important part,
but I call certainly see where he's coming from.
As much I like to prove him wrong, I
continued narrating anyway. At
least Cat got a bit of laughter from it.
I'm certain that Cat shares my vision,
and that they look everything like chickens.
I was pretty much fixated on Cat
on the whole time while I was narrating,
I tried my best to look at her in
the eyes, yet my eyes occasionally
diverted to the forbidden regions.
Van held the fruit basket, making
louds of crunching sounds while
eating most of it.
I snatched the remaining guava from
the fruit basket as I concluded my
briefing. Their faces were all
screwed over, overall not satisifed
with the explanation. Anyways, I
did my best to tell them everything
I know. But I should just tell
them a high-level summary just
to be sure we're on the same page.
"So... this means we save the big chickens
because it's not fair that we
kill of them just because they can speak?"
Cat says, trying her best to
make sense of it. It's close to
what I was about to say.
Van finally broke his silence,
as if getting the general gist of it.
"What? That's not right! Don't
call them chickens. D-o-d-a-a-r-s.
They are dodaars, not chickens."
Looks like Van might be a bit difficult
to recruit.
"Grilled chickens are my favorite,
I've eating them as long as I can remember.
It just feels wrong, it's like all
this time I've been commiting crimes
against humanity."
Point taken, Van. Very good, salient point.
I've been humorously calling them chicken,
but it does seem insensitive to joke
about it in hindsight. Similarities
are merely superficial, dodaars are
on another level of consciousness.
"You're right, Van. It's not right
to call them chickens." But I'm
not going down without a fight.
I'm after all an ex-soldier Yager,
whatever that means.
"We call them otherkens instead" I said,
offering a decent compromise.
"Udderkens? They do look like cows,
I guess...? Okay, Udderkens it is. I
don't like cows very much anyway."
I have the sinking suspicion that
we are having a tiny little bit
of misunderstanding here, but
I feel like I will permanently
unable to recover my dignity
if I press on.
"So we're all clear then?
We will be fighting with
the otherkens. We can't
go back because they will
kill us too, sooner or later."
Cat nodded back to me. Van,
on the other hand, still
seems to be reluctant.
He was shaking his leg,
and scratching his head.
"What about the others?
They will get killed too.
Gregor is my buddy, I can
convince him and the
rest of the hunters to join us."
This will complicate a lot
of the plans. I didn't bother
including the others because,
for one, I don't know them.
They won't care about me,
just as I won't care about
them. As much as I want
to save all of them, it's
not possible without compromising
our own safety. The more
people included, the more
chance of betrayal and
other unaccounted events.
Most importantly, I don't
like Greg. I hate him.
I don't know what his relationship
with Cat, but I don't care,
I just hate him regardless.
I don't trust him, he'll likely
take command over everything,
with no room for disgreements.
"I don't think that's a good
idea."
"It's fine, trust me. I can
do it." Van stood up and paced
around.
"It's dangerous. We could get
killed."
"Don't worry. I'll just go alone,
and come back with everyone, I
promise."
And that's that. Van has already
set his mind. I'm not really
in charge here, so I can't
just go around ordering people
what they can't do. I looked
at Cat, trying to get clues
from her if that's alright
with her. She just looked
back at me without any response.
"I'm been wondering about this
for a while now, but what
relationship do you guys have?
Siblings?"
"Siblings? Yeah, well, kind of.
Maybe cousins. I don't know."
Said Van.
"You don't know?"
"Our village burned down when
we were kids. A lot of people
have died, children were orphaned.
We don't know who were our parents."
Cat says.
"It doesn't matter though. We're
siblings no matter what. I treat
her like my very own little sister."
Van says, as he leaned on Cat's
shoulder.
"I know what you are thinking.
It's fine, you can leer with
Cat all you want." Van says
suggestively, lifting her
skirt a little bit for me
to peek.
"Vanderbilt!" says Cat both
angrily and ashamedly.
"Don't let Gregor catch you
though, he's gonna mincemeat
you like a dodaars."
Son of a Kvetch. This Vandodoor
knows everything from the start.
I stood up and made excuses
to do something. I left the room
and subconsiously walked somewhere
else. I don't know if I should
be ashamed for being an obvious creep, or
angry at the thought of that Gregscum
spooning my dear Cat.
I don't care one bit if the otherkens
kick the living daylights out of
that gregshit. I bet all my life savings
that Greg can't win against Kent
one on one.
Speaking of which, where's Kent?
How is he still alive again?
I searched around, looking
for an otherken with an arrow
on its head. I peered room by
room, until I got to Sofie's
room. I took a peek just in
case, and I saw Kenchi
standing on the stool
next to Sofie.
⁂
Walghvoghel stood in contemplative
silence as he stared blankly
at Solfie. There was no words,
Aunt Sofie was not moving,
not a single breath. I have
no memory of Sofie as her
newphew, I'm not supposed
to feel anything, I don't
know her. But why do I feel
like shit? The way she
told me about her life,
how she lived her life in
isolation from others, maybe
that somehow made me feel
connected, and that connection
is now pulling my soul
to the remorsing void. She
deserved a better life, she's
still young, she could have
years more of a bountiful life.
Yet, she's no longer with us.
I'm not a religious person,
I hate how religion evolved
to a rhetorical device that controls my
thoughts. But that doesn't
mean I'm an atheist. For one,
a lot of atheist I know aren't
very bright, people who
proudly denounces the existence
of god for the sake of superficially
increasing their would-be
intelligence. They act like
they have everything figured
it out, they built these
walls around their imaginative
capacity that establish
what's possible. These
kind of atheists worship
science as their new religion,
in actuality something they
equally know nothing about.
I know such people exists,
because I was one of them.
But being an atheist does
nothing for me.
If I had the choice,
why would I believe in
a reality devoid of meaning.
Live then let die, then what.
Just skip to the ending,
why are you still here.
No, at the risk of being
called delusional, I'd
rather believe there's
more to it, that there's
still something beyond
that we don't understand.
Mankind has gone a long way,
but we have by no means
figured everything out.
We don't know how life
works, how the universe works.
There's still a lot of
space for believing in
divine beings that oversee us.
Maybe, if mankind got to a point
where we could make general
artificial intelligence, I
could reconsider my position,
maybe.
But at this moment, I'm going
to believe. Sofie is in better place
now, she's happy and smiling,
she has no regrets. Those
she left behind will carry on,
making sure that her deeds will
not lay waste.
I don't know how long I stood
there, but Walghvoghel started
moving. He looked behind, and
saw me.
"Oh, it's you, Rutger. Come sit."
Kenchi jumped down on the floor.
"No, it's alright. I shouldn't
be here."
"I see. I don't claim to understand how
humans feel, so you are free to
act how you feel."
Kenchi walked towards me.
"Sofie died just now. But right
before she slept, she told me
to explain everything to you.
So let us be on the way."
"Wait, don't you feel sad?"
"Sad? Sofie sometimes say that
word when she looks at the
garden, on the part where a stone
pillar stood. I don't know if I'm sad,
but some parts of my body are
hurting right now."
He didn't need to say more.
I let him pass through the door
and see him head to the throneroom.
I slowly closed the door behind me.
Farewell Sofie, may we someday
meet again.
⁂
I went back to the room where
Van and Cat was staying. Cat
was lying on the bed, but
Van was nowhere to be seen.
It wasn't unsual for him to
missing somewhere, but in
this case, he may actually
have already left to get Gregor and
the others. I went to Cat,
and see her resting beautiful face.
She was asleep. I stood beside
her for a while, just watching
her. I shouldn't disturb Cat,
just let her rest for now.
I'll tell later them what Kenchi
told me.
I quietly left the room, and
headed back to the throneroom.
Kenchi stood on the thone,
with Kent the arrowhead on
the side. Kent spoke otherken,
to me or to Kenchi.
"Well then, let's get started.
I don't know how much Sofie has
told you, so why don't you start
with the questions, Rutger."
What else do I need to know?
My mind isn't really here right now,
I'd rather just not do anything
at the moment. Now, I have no hobbies
to escape to when I'm feeling down.
I should just go back to bed
next to Cat. What should I ask?
"What's this place? A castle?"
"Castle? I don't know. We just
moved here."
"And all the houses outside?"
"Same. They were here before.
We just found them and gathered
all the griffeendts here."
That's strange, I thought no
humans lived here before.
"But you did see people live here?"
"None, ever. But one of the elder
griffeendts may know something."
"You never asked?"
"I haven't yet, there just too
much other things to do first
when me and Sofie got back here."
Kenchi spoke otherken to Kent,
and Kent left the room afterwards.
"I asked him to find the elder.
Do you have any other questions?"
I thought of just exploring
the whole place and maybe find
books or journals lying around.
But that can wait for later.
"Where are the other dodaars
going? Why are they crossing the river?"
"We are taking refuge to a safer place."
"Isn't this place safe enough?"
"Not safe enough. It's easy to find,
and we could easy be outnumbered
and be surrounded here."
"There's not a lot of hunters though.
You can just take them all out."
"No, but human population easily
exceeds our numbers. Once the
soldiers are prepared, they will
attack this place and leave nothing
alive."
"But this place is still safer than
anywhere else. Where can you escape to?"
"There is a place. It's hard to find,
has rich foliage and easy to escape
from humans just in case."
"On the dark forest?"
"Past and beyond that dark forest."
The plan makes sense, sort of,
I wonder what kind of place is that
though.
"But don't birds have difficulty
seeing in the dark, moreso than
humans?"
"We don't need to see that path,
the scouts has memoried the route.
And we can use our sense of smell
if needed."
"Okay, but how did you find that
route in the first place"
Kenchi made otherken sounds,
maybe that was a laughing sound.
"Inquisitive, aren't we? We have
scouts everywhere, they explore
every corner of the island.
If it's too dark, they will
smell their way through."
"But I heard from my friends that
the forest is dangerous."
"Dangerous? For us griffeendts,
the only danger here are the humans.
We used to walk the whole island without
getting a single scratch."
"That's odd, what's attacking
the hunters then?"
"Don't know, it could be the
insect eaters."
"I-insect eaters? What's that?"
"Humans like you, but nothing like you."
"Meaning?"
"They have different color, and
don't like the sun. And they like
to chase people, it seems."
I tried to think of what animal
is that. Monkeys perhaps? I
know a bit of history about
this island. It was one time
called the island of the
monkeys. Or gorillas?
"So the insect-eaters don't attack you?
At all?"
"No. They don't attack anything actually,
except maybe you people.
They've been here long before
us as far as I can tell."
"You have seen one yourself?"
"Yes, when I was younger. The
younger griffeendts likes to
play with the insect-eaters."
We'll if what Kenchi tells me is
true, then this insect-eater at
least smart enough not to attack
indiscriminately. If we are on
the otherken's side, then it
might be safe to bet that
we aren't going to be attacked
too. Hopefully.
They wouldn' be worried about
getting attacked anyway.
Don't otherkens have 10 lives
or something?
"Actually, there's one question
I've been wanting to ask now."
"I'm all ears"
"How is Kent is still alive?"
"Kent?"
"I mean, the doddaar here with
an arrow on its head."
Both kens in the room spoke
otherkens.
"Interesting names you give
us, Rutger. As for your question,
no, I don't think this is enough to
kill us. Humans don't die from
getting hit in the arm, do they?"
"No, but we die when we get a
direct hit in the head. Most
animals with brains do."
"Oh, I see. I understand what
you are saying now. I believe
Sofie has told me the answer
before. One time, when a griffeendt
fell ill and died, Sofie politely
asked if she could study the remains.
You humans are certainly weird
creatures."
"And? What did she find?"
"We griffeendts have two brains.
One in the head, and another in
the body, around somewhere
the heart."
"What? Seriously? That's, that's
crazy and awesome! Fucking amazing!"
That explains it, that explains
a lot of things. I also feel cheated.
Sometimes, I think half of my brains
doesn't even work right, yet look
at these double-brained chickens.
No wonder can speak and learn like
humans. Judging how fat these birds
are, I'm guessing their body-brain
size aren't trivial either, maybe
as large or larger than humans.
There's also one other thing
that I feel cheated about. It
bothers me how this seemingly
fantasy isekai land are actually
bounded by laws of nature and
physics, just like everything else.
Things that seem abnormal at first
actually has a perfectly valid
explanation. There's no magic
here. These otherkens can talk
not just because, but there's a
logical explanation why they can
talk. My point being, if I'm
here, then there must be a
perfectly logical explanation.
Then again, why am I Rutger?
If I traveled here by time machine,
why would I be someone else?
Is it just mere coincidence that
I look exactly like Rutger?
"No more questions, Rutger?"
"What about me, and the other
hunters I brought here? There
may be more that will come here.
Will you just let join like that?"
"I see no problem with that. As
long as it doesn't outnumber us,
we will be fine. We can fight too,
you know."
"But there's a chance they burn everything,
bomb this place into oblivion. The only
safe escape is out of this island."
"They wouldn't do that yet, not in the
current time at least. Sophie mentioned
once the political climate, they wouldn't
spend carelessly spend that much resource
when a possible war is impending."
"But still..."
"No worries, Rutger. Forest fires
are almost non-existent here. Rainfall
are frequent, even in summer. The soils
are never dry. Even if a fire do break out,
we can take some action to put it out.
For now, our best action is to take refuge,
and be on the defensive."
I'm not entirely convinced, but it appears
that Kenchi at least thoroughly considered
the factors at play. I will just have
to go with it. What do else do I need
to know? I still have lots to ask actually,
but...
"Can you speak to other birds?"
"No, in the same way you can't speak
to monkeys. But I believe humans can
learn how to speak griffeendt, it's after all a
simpler and more primitive language.
Sofie managed to learn a bit."
Interesting. I'm not good with language
learning though. Even british english
is hard enough.
I heard steps from behind. It was
Kent the arrowhead. Kent the arrowhead
is a mouthful. I think I call him
Kentaro now.
Kentaro walked up to Kenchi and
spoke to each other.
"Kent said he found the elder,
but the elder doesn't want to
walk. So instead, we go to her."
"Are you sure you want to leave
your castle just like that? Don't
you have to overlook the kingdom
in some way"
"No need, griffeendt have always
been autonomous creatures.
They do what they need to do without
being told. I'm more of a herder
than a king actually, but Sofie
insisted that I'm a king."
Kenchi jumped off the throne,
and marched towards the exit.
Kentaro and I followed along.
On the way out, I saw Cat
standing by the doorway. I
waved at her and she followed
along.
The four of us walked along by the
delipitated brick road.
I told Cat everything
I learned so far. Like me, she
was quite surprised about the
otherkens having two brains.
She didn't really pay much
attention to the other things I said.
She walks a bit too close to me
though, not that I'm complaining
but I might get weird ideas again.
Kenchi stopped in front of a house.
It less of a house actually, and more
of a wooden square-ish igloo. It's a
weird house now that I have a closer
look at it. I couldn't tell if it's
by design, or that was part of the
aging process.
There was no door, a discolored
cloth just hangs over the entrance.
Kenchi walked through, and
we followed inside.
⁂
I don't have a better description
for the elder, except it looked
old and tired. It does look like
a witch without a crazy hat. The
elder sat on stack of hay on the
ground. There were no seats, but
I was tired from all the standing
and walking, so I just sat on the
floor. Cat sat next to me, close
enough that our elbows touch.
Kentaro stayed out outside.
Kenchi then started speaking
to the elder, they exchange
incomprehensible otherken words.
Seeing them talk was amusing.
It's like they are just making
noises without any semblance
of intelligent communication.
The elder spoke slower though.
I don't really understand anything,
so I let my focus wander around.
Since Cat sat real close to me,
I could actually smell her.
She does have a distinct smell,
not foul or anything, just
something distinct. Do people
of this time smell like this?
I guess they don't have soap
in this era? I kind of like
the smell, without knowing
what it is. It's like enticing
me. Could this smell coming
from ...
"The elder said that this place
was abandoned even she was young.
But she did see a few colored humans
live here once, but they left."
"Colored humans? Like black people?"
"No, like the insect-eaters."
"I thought they don't like going
under the sun?"
"I'm just merely restating
what is told. I don't claim irrefutable truth."
Now I'm really curious about these so called
insect-eaters.
"Well, Rutger? Do you want to know more?
About the insect-eaters?"
Curiousity aside, what do we get from
following this lead? Aren't there
more import things to attend to at
this moment? Wait, they may actually
be of help to us.
"You say insect-eaters used to play with
you and the younger dodaars. Are they
sentient, like us? Can they help us?"
"Maybe, and maybe. Sorry Rutger, I
really don't know much. I am pretty
much still a baby when it comes to
language proficiency. It hasn't
really occured to me to speak to
others until recently."
"No, it's fine. I guess we could
still try to approach these insect-eaters.
Even if they can't help, we might learn
something useful."
"It's decided then. Tomorrow, Rutger
and his girlfriend will visit the
insect-eaters first thing in the morning."
"No, Cat is not my... Wait, just the two of us?
What about you?"
Kenchi spoke otherken as he headed for the door.
The elder replied back without inaudible.
"It's decided then. Tomorrow, Rutger
and his wife, along with Kent, will visit the
insect-eaters first thing in the morning."
Kenchi was already outside before he could
finish his sentence.
"You..." then I heard Cat giggling a bit.
Well, I guess it's alright. Cat isn't
the least offended by it. It was a joke
after all.
I made duck noises to give reverence
to the elder before stepping out.
We got out and walked back to the castle.
"What are you going to do tomorrow then?
How many kens are still here?"
"Tomorrow will be the last batch of
griffeendts to move. We will march
first thing in the morning."
"The hunters could be preparing an
an ambush though. I'm not really expecting Van
to convince the rest to join us."
"No worries, Rutger. There may be less of us
left here, but we will still stay on guard
none the lesser. We also have scouts that
will report in advance if there's danger
ahead. We have the upper hand, if anything."
"Okay, but what about us? Are you really
just let going to let us go to the insecters?
Kentaro is strong, but maybe you should add
a couple more otherkens to my party."
"Kentaro? Oh, Kent the arrow. Fun names
you have for us, Rutger. Yes, Kentaro will be
more than enough. His main purpose is actually
to guide you there and back to us. Insect-eaters
won't harm you."
"How would you know? Van and Cat told me how
they were attacked in the blind forest before."
"But you weren't attacked when you last
went through the forest, right?"
"Yeah, but Van said that's because they
used a torch and were very loud, which
gave away their location."
"That's were you are wrong, Rutger.
Insect-easters mostly live in the dark,
meaning they can see in the dark.
The insect-eaters know your precise
location the moment you stepped in that
forest, noise or light won't make
a difference."
I didn't say anything back.
Kenchi made a good point.
Insecters could have killed
all of us back then, but
they didn't. So it's not
like they are raging gorillas
or anything that will destroy
anyone without reason. If
they will attack, it has to
be for a specific reason, but
what?
"Wait, does that mean the
new homebase you chose was
because of the protection
insect-eaters give?"
"Very perceptive, Rutger. Yes, it
is one of the reasons. Without them,
I will probably choose a different plan,
like maybe just staying here."
I was going to say, that won't
guarantee that insecters won't
attack us if we approach them.
I was going to say that, but
Kenchi may already have thought
of that as well. I will just
trust Kenchi's judgment on this one.
We finally got to the castle entrance,
and went inside to the throneroom,
where once again Kenchi stood awkwardly
on the stone chair.
"We don't have much around here,
but feel free to be at home, Rutger."
"Okay, can I look around and see if I can
find anything?"
"You have my permission."
⁂
I spent most of the afternoon
going places, from room to room,
searching every corner of the
castle for something. Anything,
books, journals, paintings, or
maybe some magical ring that
will give my unfair advantage
for the rest of the conflicts
I encounter. Heck, where's
my time machine. Is it
in the basement? No, there's
nothing, not even a basement.
In the end, I found nothing
of interest. At most, all
I found was weird looking
tools that I have no idea
how they are used. They
are rusted too. I could
do a more thorough check
by looking for a secret
entrace, but I wouldn't
count on it. I'm getting
tired, and Cat was getting
bored. I appreciated her
company, but I told her
to hunt for food instead.
She gladly obliged, and
head out without delay.
This castle is very unrpgish,
at least let me open even a
single treasure chest.
I filed this complaint
to the chicken standing
awkwardly on the throne.
"You find anything, Rutger?"
"None. This place is a dump.
I couldn't find a chest to open."
"Cat wouldn't let you?"
"Wouldn't let me what?"
"Let you open her chest."
You. What have this chicken
been learning all this time.
From the angle where I
stand, it kind of looks like
Kenchi is smirking at me,
but bird don't have expressive
facial structures, do they?
Joke or not, I wouldn't be
a man if I didn't want
to open her precious chest.
But that chest if locked,
and I have to first defeat
the big boss before I
could even lay a single
finger on it.
Kenchi made chicken sounds.
Laugh all you want, bastard,
I spent the good of my life
feasting on chicken breasts and thighs,
and I bet you have none of it.
You spent your youth in isolation,
moaning about the unfairness of life,
blaming everyone but your own.
Your idea of socializing is
passing time with your dearest human,
like a certain loser with his loyal dog.
Screw that, am I insulting Kenchi or myself?
"What do you plan with Sofie?"
"At dawn, she becomes one with the tree,
the way she wished to.
Will you attend her final departure?"
"No... I mean, I will watch from distance."
"Very well."
I could ask what happened to her, but I respect
their decision not to disclose the cause. If
they don't tell, I won't ask. I could guess,
yet I'd rather not think about it.
I left the throneroom, then back on the room
where the three of us stayed. Van wasn't
still back, and Cat wasn't anywhere too.
But I whiff a familiar scent, a predawn
smoked meat in the air. I saw Cat outside
the window, she was barbecuing these two little
chicken-sized birds.
I exited the room through the window, and
joined Cat on the campfire.
Cat was sitting on a moderately mossy log that
has seen several fullmoons, and I sat at
the other end of the log.
"Tom, you don't suppose this is a dodaar, do you?"
says Cat as she moved closer to me.
I stared cluelessly at the lifeless skinned bird that
burned slowly under a calm fire. It was too late,
I could not recognize it anything but a delicious
meal. All birds are chicken, if you put enough
heat and seasoning on it. There's no use bemusing
over trivialities. What's important is that we
end the day with a satisfying meal, and leave
our mundane problems for the next day.
"No, can't be, it's too small and−"
It could be a baby otherken, the voice in my
head rebutted me.
"and, and the beak's shape is different. Yeah,
I'm sure that's just regular bird."
Yep, a regular bird with no consciousness or
soul that will haunt me from the coexistent dimension.
"Thank goodness, I thought I killed our friends."
Cat let out a sigh of relief and smiled.
I don't think Kenchi would hold it against
us though, accidents happen, Kentaro didn't
mind getting an arrow to the head. As long
as we don't habitually do the same mistakes,
it won't bother them. Although, I guess
we should say sorry at least, even if not
for them, then at least for our own conscience.
Speak of the chicken, I see Kentaro
marching towards us from the distance.
He was holding a basket in his beak again.
It was as expected, filled with fruit varieties.
Kentaro handed the basket to Cat, after which
sat on the patch of dirt near me, but a bit
further away from the fire.
The three of us spent the campfired sunset,
in the midst of an abandoned civilization
where otherkens roam around busily, playing
or just plain running around. I threw an apple
to Kentaro, he catched it midair with its
enormous beak, then crushed it effortlessly
in a single bite. We dined together like
real adventurers in a RPG game. Or isekai.
The day ended without Van coming back.
⁂
Early morning, I woke up to Cat's soft voice.
I opened my eyes to see her standing on the
bedside, looking at me.
"The dodaars are moving, Tom."
It took me a while to process what that meant.
I'd get up now, but I have the hardest morning
wood right now. It didn't do any help that
I spent chopping it at least twice last night,
so I could rest peacefully for the night.
My eyes wandered and scanned Cat thoroughly
as she was slightly bent over me.
"You alright Tom?"
"Yeah, j-just give me a minute."
*redacted*
I woke up in the middle night. I was
having a dream, and I woke up right
before the best part where I claim
the holy grail. I felt all
sticky underneath, I looked around
to see a dark, barely lit room,
with Cat on the other bed, sleeping
peacefully on her side. I'll just
wash myself tomorrow. I closed
my eyes and fell asleep shortly
afterwards.
⁂
I woke up for real this time,
early morning to a busy
ambient noise. I could whiff
the smell of burning coals,
smoke coming through
the window from the outside.
I was alone in the room,
but I could see Cat on the outside,
like yesterday,
attending to the meal we
shall share together.
Van was still not present
anywhere. I could see
Kentaro sitting on the
mossy log beside Cat.
I got up, but first I had
to do was check up on Kenchi.
He wasn't on the throneroom,
nor anyone else. I checked
the rooms one by one, until
I got to Sofie's room, where
Kenchi sat lonely on the
stool. The bed was empty.
"Good morning, Rutger."
I looked at Walghvoghel.
"I just finished breaktfast." says
Kenchi as he jumped off the stool.
"I wasn't ruminating, the concept
of mourning is still foreign for me."
I didn't say anything.
"Though I could somehow understand
Sofie now, how it feels to be left
behind."
I looked at the opened window, the
translucent curtains hang still,
the unoccupied bed,
the empty stool,
the undecorated walls,
the life here was moved on,
we shall too,
to another place where we can
look back and remember.
Kenchi was already outside the room.
"What's wrong Rutger? Cat ate your tongue?"
Kenchi made chicken sounds.
"Funny bird, it's cat got your tongue" I
said. Although Cat eating my tongue has
a tinge of eroticism in it. Maybe that
was part of the joke? No, a talking
chicken couldn't possibly know such
things.
"I'll begin gathering everyone. You
stand by for the mean time, and get
everything ready."
Kenchi made chicken sounds as he
headed outside the castle along
with the two guarding otherkens.
I head back into my room, and out
of the window to rejoin with my
party.
I sat on the other end of the log,
with Kentaro in the middle.
"Here you go, Tom" Cat says as
she handed me skewered slices
of meat. I took a bite, it wasn't
bird meat this time.
"What's this?"
"Possum"
It wasn't bad. It was like pig meat,
or a bit like goat. It could use
some spices though. I ate the rest
of it anyway without complaints.
"How was it?"
"It was fine, I like chicken better though."
"Me too" she says as she ate her share.
The three of us finished breakfast,
sat idly while we wait.
"Where's Van?"
Cat shook her head and said
"Nothing. He hasn't shown up
since yesterday."
"What do we do? Wait for him?" I asked.
"He might be waiting at the river."
Could be. I hope he's just waiting,
and not waiting for action.
Kentaro turned around and jumped
off the log. He made chicken sounds
in response to the chicken sounds
that can be heard in the distance.
"Mrove, weer shud goor"
Cat and I stood up and followed
Kentaro. I never left the sword
on my side, this time I have
the feeling I'll need it.
⁂
We got to the town entrance,
and the packs of otherken were
already moving in formations of
ten or more. Kenchi
stood still as he watches
his otherkens march ahead.
"I was told that your friends
are waiting by the waterfalls."
says Kenchi.
"What now? I have a bad feeling
about this."
"We proceed as planned, Rutger.
I believe they are specifically
waiting for you, not the griffeendts."
How so? I guess it makes sense.
If they really plan on joining,
they would have been here already.
"I think negotations have failed.
Cat and I should avoid them,
take another route, and meet up
with you on the dark forest."
"Do you have a special someone to return
to, Rutger?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Rutger, meeting with your friends
would the best action to take right now."
"What? I'm pretty sure they are planning
on killing us."
"Tom, what about Vanderbilt. He could
be in trouble." Cat says.
"Rest assured, Rutger. They won't kill
you, at least not at this moment."
Kentaro made chicken sounds.
"I must go ahead now. Stay safe Rutger,
Cat. Think twice before taking a step forward."
Kenchi then marches on ahead.
I've already thought about this more twenty times,
and I still believe meeting with the "friends"
is a bad idea. But I have to admit I feel
like I missed to consider some things at hand.
Kenchi has the broader picture of what's
happening, I will just trust him.
Kentaro is with us too, so it's not
a definite losing situation.
"Come on, Tom. Van is waiting."
I nodded to Cat, and we marched on ahead.
Kentaro was behind us, a bit further
behind than usual. The marching otherkens
walked fast, they were already way ahead.
We took the usual route as before.
When we finally got to the river,
there was no one around, not even
by the waterfalls. Kenchi and
the otherkens have already entered
the dark forest. It was quiet, aside
from the flowing river.
I looked up the tree tower and
saw someone standing at the top.
Is it Van? No, it looks more
like Gregor.
"Let's go up the tree tower" I said
as we emerged out of the forest and
into the river.
Without time to react, people suddenly
jumped out of nowhere and surrounded us.
Swords pointed at our throats.
"Welcome back, Tom"
It was Gregor.
"Come here, Kaatje."
Cat hesitated for a bit, then
walked to Gregors side.
"I missed you, Kaat" Gregor said as
he thrusted his tongue inside
Cat's mouth, his one arm wrapped
around her, and the other one
held the sword that pointed at me.
"What are you doing Gregor? I thought
we would just talk this through."
Van says as moved closer to us.
Gregor released Cat from his sticky
fingers. Cat fell on the ground,
sitting awkwardly, avoiding eye
contact with me.
"Just playing it safe, Van. Standard
procedures. Tom made contact with the
enemies. We need to make sure he's
not hostile."
"Tom, the boss wants to see you." Gregor
says as he gestured up to the tree tower.
The men holding the swords sheated
their swords in unison and made way
for me. The look nothing like hunters,
or pirates.
"Boss? You mean Dirk?"
"Go, don't make the big guy waiting.
Don't do anything reckless."
I started walking slowly. Where's
Kentaro? I was afraid to turn around
and look, so I just kept on walking
while I stared at Cat. She just
sat there, staring at nothing.
I climbed the tree without delay,
expecting for the worst.
⁂
I steadily climbed up the tree,
taking the time to plan ahead
what I could do to get out of this
situation. If the boss is alone up
there, then they underestimate me too much.
I could take him out if things
get unfavorable. Not kill him though,
just deliver a hit that will
put us in the advantage.
When I finally reached the top,
a large man perched casually
at the thicker branches. It
wasn't Dirk. A dangerous
looking woman stood at the other
end of the corner, watching
my every move.
The boss was about as tall
as Gregor, maybe slightly shorter.
Similar to Gregor,
the boss has a commanding presence,
he wore a clean and kempt uniform,
but has the demeanor of a gang member.
He stood away from the branches
and walked closer to me.
"What's wrong Rutger? You
forgot how to pay respect
to your superiors?"
What do I do, salute? I
feel like if I make the
wrong move, I will lose
an arm, for the very least.
"No matter" boss says as
he walked back.
"You are ordered to act
like a hunter, and be one
of the hunters after all."
In the this restricted space,
he started pacing back and forth.
"You are doing well, maybe too
well. Act like the hunter, but
I believe you are forgetting
your part."
I didn't say anything. I can't
say anything, can I? I don't
remember anything. I only
guess things so far.
"Tell me, Rutger. Have you
forgotten? Have you lost track
of why you are here?"
"N-no sir."
"Good. That's good. Because
your wife and son won't be
very happy if you do."
He stopped walking.
"Your family is in good health.
They have everything they need,
good food, a mansion, education,
and every pleasures imaginable."
"And all of that can go away in
an instant. In the blink of an
eye, everything would be gone.
No, they won't even have the streets
to sleep on. They will spend
of what's remaining in their body
and mind in the deepest part of the
dungeon. They wouldn't even able
to take their own life, if they
wanted, their freedom are chained
and locked away. Their spirit and
mind will disintegrate to pieces, long
before their hearts stop beating."
"All because you got carried away
playing your hunter games with
your little birdies."
Fuck. I knew there was something wrong.
I thought it was strange Rutger
will be here. There was a catch,
a big one.
Why didn't I think of
this before? I had no choice all along,
it was a checkmate right at the beginning.
"Well, Rutger? Or are you okay with that?
Because you find another woman to play with?"
"No sir. No sir, I have not forgotten.
Everything is going with the plan."
"Oho? How so? Tell me, Rutger how
is joining the fat arse
birds part of the plan?
Because to me, it sounds like
you are staging a rebellion."
"Sofie is already dead. I just
need to gain Walghvoghel's full
trust, and gather them all in
one place. Walghvoghel trusts
me like how he trusts Sofie.
I'm just setting up the
big stage for the final act."
Bossman roared a laughter.
"Clever scheming bastard.
You son of a bitch. You
devil incarnate."
Bossman pats me on the shoulder.
"Good to hear, Rutger. I expect
good news from you. Don't worry,
once this is all over, you will be back
with your family, and not have
to worry about money and food
forever."
"Yes sir"
With one final pat, boss
gestured to the dangerous
looking woman.
"Come Nelleke, we're leaving"
I moved out of the way as they descend
the ladder. The boss went down
first as the Nelleke watches
over me.
We both stared at each other
in the eyes. She was actually
kind of gorgeous. Not as
gorgeous as Cat, but definitely
a looker as well.
I step away further because
it seems she was too cautious
of me. She then proceeded
to go down.
⁂
I watched them both reach
the river grounds. I see
the boss talk to Gregor,
then he left with
the other men who appears
to be actually soldiers.
They didn't head into
the dark forest though.
They walked on ahead,
following the river flow.
It was just Cat, Van and
Gregor that was left. I then see
them climbing up the tree tower.
I sat down on the corner.
Truth be told, I don't know
anything about my wife
or son. I don't remember
them, I don't feel
anything particular for them,
except as a fellow human being.
They will be just among
the casualities of this war.
I feel bad for everyone
involved, but no special
feelings for my supposed
son and wife. Who's to
say that they are not
already dead?
This is after all, a
clean and sweep operation.
Leave no memories behind.
Only very few will get
to live, the rest who
knows about this will
disappear one way or another.
Since they already suspected
me of betrayal, they likely
have already taken precautionary
steps. They will kill
my supposed Wife and son
regardless,
so they might as well do
now or later.
The talk we just had now
was just a psychological
attack, in an attempt to
control me back, or turn me
into a weakness of the opposing side
that can be exploited later on.
They have already planned other
means of ensuring success.
I'm just a mere time bomb
that they hope to at least
incur some damage on the
opportune moments.
But that's where got it
wrong. I'm not Rutger of
the military pigs. I am
Thomas of lower class.
It won't deter me, the opposite
in fact. I'm now only more
determined to destroy, now
that I now I'm fighting against
the actual hellspawns.
I have
no way of saving my
would-be family, unless
I defeat the whole dutch army.
In conclusion, my plan
doesn't change on bit.
I will continue to side with
the Kenchi and otherkens,
and protect Cat with my life.
It would be nice if in the
aftermath my family would be saved,
but that is not my goal.
The only problem for now
is Gregor.
⁂
I tried looking for Kentaro,
but I wasn't able to find
him from this height. But
I'm sure he's safe, and just
lurking out behind the trees.
The boss never knew his existence.
Cat got to the top first,
I managed to get a quick peek
of the holy grail as she climbed
up. She didn't look at me though,
it's like I didn't even exist.
She stood on the other side of the
corner, and looked out on the river.
Van and Gregor followed shortly after
her. The hunter party is once again
complete. I wasn't really in the mood
for celebratory music in my head.
Not especially with Gregfuck in here.
"Hey, Tom" says Van. He threw his bag
beside me. I got up though, and
stood near Cat.
"Now we are all here again, let's
begin with the briefing. But first
things first"
Gregor cut off his words and faced me.
"I'm sorry for doubting you Tom. I really
thought you sided with the enemies.
I'm sorry."
That was really unexpected. Never
in this lifetime I thought I would
hear those kind of words from Gregor.
Maybe I misjudged his character?
"No, it's nothing. No need for
apologies."
"No, but we should. You acted on your own,
and after Van told me everything, I was
sure you betrayed us."
"But the Boss told us just now the real
reason. The dodaars got your beloved family,
your wife and only son. The evil dodaars
held them captive, they will be killed
unless you join their side." explained
Gregor.
"Yeah, Tom, you should've just told us.
We could have worked together and plan
something. Greg here always comes up
with a plan. We're in this together.
Right?" says Van.
What just happened. Just like that,
the tables have turned.
"No, I mean"
I hesitated. Telling them outright
that it's lie seems like an obvious
thing to do, but is it really?
"It's alright Tom. You can trust us"
Van added.
Cat walked away from me, and hugged
Gregor tightly. She finally looked at
me, but with the eyes of the hunter.
"Why didn't you tell us you had a family,
Tom? All this time you had a wife and yet−" Cat
says with a coarse voice.
"Come on, Kaatje, don't be too hard on Tom.
He's the victim here." says Van.
"No, it's not, I mean" I struggled to
say what I'm thinking.
My vision blurred, my eyes felt like it
was bleeding, I wiped it off, it was
just water.
Gregor moved forward, and pat me
on the shoulders.
"Don't hold it back Tom. Real men
don't hide their tears."
This is the worst. My face feels hot,
I have snot that keeps dripping out out
my nose, and my eyes just transformed
into a goddamn waterfall. I don't want
to be seen like this. I rushed down
the ladders and fleed away from the scene.
"Where are you going Tom?" asked Van.
None of your business, Vandodoor.
I dipped my face in the river water.
Are you stupid?
Why are you getting emotional?
Seriously, relax.
I dipped and washed my face several times,
until my eyes sored. My snot stopped
dripping now.
I sat on the river side, looking at
the forest where Kentaro might be hiding.
The boss got me real good. He's cunning,
I underestimated him, he striked
me right at my weakest point.
I can't tell them that it's a lie,
because it's not a totally lie. It's the
half-truth, and that makes it harder
to call it a mere lie. And it doesn't
matter if it's half-true or half-lie,
it doesn't matter who said it.
The smallest lie would breed into
an eventual distrust and more lies.
Given the choice, Gregor would definitely
belive the boss more. Van already
suspected me once, and would only
distrust me more if I call the Boss
a liar. And for Cat... I'm not
sure why, but Cat clearly hates me now.
The contorted contempt I saw on her face,
it was the first time in my life I
saw someone show that face to me.
It was seething with hate, it was
telling me to go away and die.
Did the boss told her another lie?
I stood up and watched the eternal
rival flow. With one wrong move,
I could lose all my friends.
It's not clear if there's a winning move,
but calling the Boss a liar
would be the final losing move.
I have to just go with the lies for now.
The otherkens took my family as
a hostage, and forced me to join their side.
Then what? I could somehow tell
what's Gregor is planning already.
I should go up there and stop
him before he makes up his mind.
I look up, I see them descending the ladders.
⁂
"So what's the plan Tom?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Boss said you already have the plans,
he said we should just follow your orders
and support you."
"Wait, does that mean I'm the leader now?
Are you guys okay with that?"
Gregor shrugged and said "Yeah, you
could say that. But only for the main
mission. I still call the shots for
the other things."
Okay, I'm not sure if being the leader
is a good thing. Do I even have a plan?
What were we planning to do in the first place.
Then I remembered about the insect-eaters.
"Alright then. Our first mission then is
to head into the dark forest."
"What!? We'll die."
"No, we will not. Trust me." I said
with confidence. If I'm going to
play with the lie, then I might
as well fake my confidence.
I made chicken sounds.
Kentaro comes running out of the forest.
Heh, it actually worked. I heard Kenchi
make that sound several times before.
I didn't think he would actually understand it.
Gregor took Van's sword, and unsheated it.
"Stay back" Gregor went into defensive position,
and made several warning jabs at Kentaro.
I held my hands up to Gregor.
"Wait, he's with us." I said as I
pet Kentaro's head.
Kentaro made chicken sounds.
"Seriously now?"
"Yes, seriously. He's part of the
next plan. With him, we can safely
cross the dark forest."
"Wait" says Van, a bit confused.
"This is the first time I'm hearing this.
What exactly are you planning, Tom?"
"Don't worry about it. Let's go"
What am I planning exactly again?
I don't know, I just want to see
the insect-eaters. It probably
won't help us, but I don't care.
I need to sort my mind out,
seeing some exotic monkeys is
a nice diversion.
Kentaro, lead the way.
⁂
I pat Kentaro's, and he made chicken sounds.
Kenchi should have told him what we
are here for. Kentaro understood,
and started walking into the dark forest.
"Come on"
"Are you sure about this?"
"The king dodaars told me, insect-eaters
won't attack us"
"Insect-what?"
"I will explain while we walk, just
come one"
They finally give in and followed
inside the dark forest. Even during
day time, it quickly got dark after
a few steps in.
"Van, light the torch."
"Tom, are you sure you are not
just trying to get us killed."
I might as well be. Look at Cat
holding hands together. Not with
me though, she held hands with Gregor.
And not just some babysit hand-holding
too, I mean the passionate criss-cross
hand-holding. What sweet a couple
they make. A romantic date, right
in this shithole. We might as well
all be killed, I'd go straight
to hell, Cat and Gregor are already
in heaven anyway.
"Yes, please. No, I meant, it's
fine."
I explained everything as we walked.
It was for the most part just a theory
though. We will test that theory
with our own life. This is what it means
to be an adventurer.
We walk and walked. It wasn't tiring
or anything, we just walked at regular
pace, not in any rush. For me, it
was cathartic. I held the torch
and stayed close to Kentaro. Van
was behind me, and the lovely couple
behind him.
I underestimated the scale of this forest.
We've been walking for God knows how long.
It's been an hour at least. Or five times
that. I lost track of the time.
"How long are we going to keep walking?" Van finally asked
I pat Kentaro on the back.
"Break, we stop" I said to Kentaro
"Furrow" said Kentaro, after which
he made a slight detour. We followed
him to an spacious area that was
suitable for camping.
Kentaro stopped and made chicken sounds.
"Okay, we camp here."
As usual, Cat was in charge of the camp
fire. She picked a bunch of sticks and
twigs and started a fire without much effort.
There were lots of dry leaves on the ground too.
Van scouted the surrounding area, checking the
all the corners, and climbing the trees.
Gregor just sat down, clearly winded from
walking. I sat down too, but away from him
and Cat. My legs felt really heavy right
after sitting.
"Well, it looks like you are right, Tom.
No one attacked us" says Gregor.
"Yeah" I don't know if I was glad or disappointed.
Van got back and brought some weird looking fruits.
"What's that?" I asked.
"I dunno, but it tastes great."
Wha? Whatever, what doesn't kill makes
me stronger, as the saying goes. I took
a bite out of the maybe deadly fruit,
and it was delicious, for the lack of better
word.
"This is great, Van. Get some more"
"You got it Boss" and off he go.
You hear that Gregoogoor? I'm giving
orders now. Quick, go fuck yourself.
Just kidding, I can't hate Gregor now
as much I used to. I hate myself more
than anything. Why did Cat suddenly
acted real cold towards me though.
Van got back with a bagful of these
weird fruits. We ate and had a good
time. I probably ate most of the fruit.
If the weird fruit turned out bad,
I'd be the first one to go.
It wasn't really a campfire without
stories. Van did much of the talking,
he told stories about their hunts in
the old days.
Gregor occasionally lauged while
he hugged Cat close. I tried to listen,
but my mind wasn't really paying attention.
I savored the atmosphere, and listened
closely for possible incoming monkeys.
One thing I felt after eating the fruit
was that I felt really relaxed and sleepy.
Perhaps the fruit had natural sedatives
in it. I temporarily rested my back on
the pile of dried leaves, I fell into
a deep sleep not a minute after.