The morning sun was beginning to peak over the horizon when the young man awoke. His body caked in blood and dirt from his fight with the beast the night before.Standing up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he inspected his body in the dim morning light. To his surprise his body wasn"t as sore as it was the day before. The gash on his shoulder and various cuts and bruises all over his body still hurt but he was no longer bleeding so he found some solace in that.
"I need to find my spear… and that beast, maybe i can eat the overgrown dog. That"s what it gets for mess-" His thoughts were interrupted by the sight of two purple flames gazing at him from within the darkness.
"GRRR"
The young man"s heart began pounding like his own personal war drum. He cautiously walked backwards but with each step he took, the purple flames moved a step closer. Panicked, he attempted to turn and flee but he still didn"t have full control over his body. His foot slipped on the moist rocky sh.o.r.e sending him tumbling on his back.
The purple eyes didn"t cease their pursuit, growing closer and closer. Terrified, the young man curled up into a ball and held his arms in front of his face.
"Wait… WAIT!" He yelled with all his might in a desperate attempt to either scare it away or reason with the beast. The young man peeked between his scrawny arms to behold the snarling beasts purple flames peering at him languidly. He was still alive!
He looked at the beast with a confused expression before cautiously standing up. He shunned what would happen if he looked away from the beast even for a moment. The beast stood frozen only a short distance away, it"s purple flames seemed to be gazing into his very soul.
Now that he had a moment to collect his thoughts, it looked different compared to the one he had fought yesterday. This beast had glowing purple eyes that made it seem like it had a wild fire within its skull. It had odd black smoke coming off it as if its fur was kindling ready to burst into flames.
He took a step back and the beast followed as if it was the young mans mirror.
"It"s not attacking? Does it want something?" Confused about his current situation he spoke aloud.
"Do you.. Do you want something from me?" The beast remained unmoving and silent as if it were a statue forever gazing into him.
"Can you understand me?"
"GRRR" The beast replied causing the young mans face to take on an even more confused expression. He was still unsure if the beast could truly understand him or if it simply didn"t like his voice and growled in response.
"If you can understand me… sit." The beast growled once more before begrudgingly sitting on its hind legs as if this act was beneath the n.o.ble beast.
"...Ro..roll over." The young man said wide eyed and dumbfounded.
"AWOOOO!" The beast seemed enraged that it was being treated like a common house pet and howled angrily while rolling over against its will. He watched the beast and fought a chuckle at it"s indignation before asking.
"Were you the one who attacked me last night?"
"GRRR"
"Are you just gonna follow me around now? I mean... I don"t mind the company as long as this isn"t some elaborate ploy to eat me... You"re not planning to eat me right?" He asked with suspicion.
"GRRRRR"
"That snarl was suspiciously longer than the others..." The young man hesitantly took a step back.
"GRRR"
"Much better. Hmm... If you"re planning on following me around we should probably give you a name. How about... Bork!" The young man asked with a laugh.
"AWOOOOOOOO!" The beast howled with all its might nearly knocking the young man down. Apparently it didn"t appreciate his masterful sense of humor.
"Alright, alright. I"m kidding. You don"t need to get so worked up about it. You"re lucky i don"t name you Little Kitten for trying to eat me last night."
"AWOOOOOOOOOOO!" Once again the beasts howl nearly knocked the young man down.
"I"m kidding! Relax! Hmm... How about Rorik? You look like a Rorik. It sounds strong and powerful like Rorik The Mighty or Rorik The Conqueror."
"GRRR" The creature took a proud pose as if showing off its grandeur.
"Rorik it is! Now then Rorik, do you happen to know where any people like me are? While i do enjoy a good snarl or two in conversation, i would really like to figure out who i am and what i"m doing in the middle of a forest." The young man spoke enthusiastically while picking up his spear.
He felt grateful to have someone to talk to despite his flippant att.i.tude. Even if the aforementioned someone was a giant wolf with horns that only growled and howled at him.
"GRRR"
"Good Rorik, take me to them. Let"s be off." He commanded, motioning Rorik to lead the way.
They walked for half the day upstream when the young mans hunger began to worsen. He was already skinny to begin with and now he hadn"t eaten in at least two days leaving him noticeably weak.
When they came to a small clearing the young man saw a bush covered in bright red berries. He rushed over grabbing a handful but before he could shove the scrumptious looking berries in his mouth, Rorik howled.
"AWOOOOOOOO!"
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Knowing from their past conversation that howls generally meant no, he gazed longingly at the delicious looking berries in his hands. As if they were a lover who was soon to part he nearly shed a tear as he dropped them and looked to Rorik.
"Ahem... Rorik my dear brother, mightiest of all the horned wolves, would you be so kind as to find this humble and gracious younger brother some food?" The young man pleaded with the eyes of a puppy before bowing deeply.
"Hmph…" Rorik muttered before completely ignoring him and lying beneath a nearby tree.
"Di.. Did you just "hmph" at me?!" The young man stared at the beast with his jaw agape.
"You d.a.m.ned overgrown dog! This is payback for me making you roll over isn"t it?!? I"m starving here, can"t you see?! Look! All bones!" The young man raged lifting up his s.h.i.+rt and showing his scrawny chest to the beast.
"Argh! I may not know much, but i"m d.a.m.ned sure that the only reason you"re alive is because of that purple ball of light that came out of ME! I wonder what will happen to you if you do nothing and i die of starvation!" Roriks ears popped up once he finished speaking but he remained unmoved by the impa.s.sioned speech.
"Go and get me something i can eat before i drop dead dammit!" The young man ordered.
"AWOOOOOOOO!" Rorik quickly got up howling in anger before running off into the forest alone.
"RORIK! Stupid, ungrateful, d.a.m.ned DOG!" He yelled while kicking the dirt but the giant wolf was already long gone.
The hunger pains were only made worse by the throbbing soreness of his body. The young man sat up against a nearby tree and closed his eyes to rest. The sounds of wind pa.s.sing through trees and the running water of the nearby river slowly lulled him in to a deep sleep.
When he awoke it was already late in the night, the full moon being the only source of illumination in the pitch black forest. The young man"s body was stiff from sleeping in an awkward position against the hard tree. Just one more source of pain added to the long list of pain his body had been experiencing since he woke up in that gra.s.sy field.
The flames of Roriks purple eyes were nowhere to be found. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness before grabbing his spear and heading over to the river for some water. He sat on a moss covered boulder watching the moon s.h.i.+mmer and dance on the surface of the river while he attempted to recollect his memories.
The moon slowly faded from the water"s surface and before he realized it, the sun was peeking through the horizon.
"d.a.m.n it... I"m not going to remember anything like this. It"s a waste of time trying to remember something i don"t even know I"ve forgotten." He decided, leaving the river behind and heading back to the clearing with the red berries.
"Once i find other people... They"ll know who i am. They have to..."
As he came to the edge of the clearing he spotted a white light floating through the dark forest on across from him. His tired mind was unable to make the connection that the bright light was heading straight for him until it had already entered the clearing in front of him.
"NO! Dammit, not again!" He screamed turning to flee from the tiny white star but it flew at him as if it were a vengeful spirit. He had barely made it two steps before the tiny white star plunged into his back giving him the soothing sensation he experienced last time but to a far lesser degree.
He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes in antic.i.p.ation for the pain that came next, but nothing came.
"Huh?"