His First Ocean of Trees
1382 Words
Lissana Mons
“s**t! Do you know where it is?!”
That i***t! He could have just told us! We would have come with him, isn’t it a little to dangerous to go back there by himself?
“I-I-I think I don’t know! He told me that he’d really come with to the outside but why is he…”
“Ah! s**t! Well, get your pack! We’re leaving!”
“Eh?! But what about Benan?!”
“We’re going to get him! Come on! Harol probably knows where Ben’s old settlement is but we have to hurry!”
“Ah, okay! Let’s go!”
If we hurry we might catch him, and help him when he’s in a pinch. Is this what Harol told me about? Benan finally facing his fears of…letting go of this place and the family that he’s lived with. But, he didn’t have to go alone,he could have a least told us and we wouldn’t be panicking about him otherwise…wait…is it alright if we panic?
“Harol! Good morning! Sorry but!---what do you have there? !”
“I heard that Benan wen’t ahead so I prepared a map for the both of you to follow. The place where he’s going… it’s supposed to be off-limits but I worry about him.”
“Yes! We don’t know where he’s going so it’s gotten us on edge.”
“Don’t worry yourselves too much, but I think it’s best if you follow him, just in case. Especially you, Goa. Do you understand?”
“I…yes leader…”
“Now, take this map and go, Benan isn’t weak but he’s in a vulnerable state right now.”
“Yes! Thank you, Harol! Thanks for everything!”
“Goodbye, leader, thank you!”
Alright! It’ll be fine, Goa can catch up to me at half my speed so it’ll be okay but…um…
“I can’t read this map! Goa! Where are we here?!”
“What?! Give me that Sana, I’ll lead!”
“O-okay! Here, take it!”
If it’s Goa he can do it, I just have to slow down a bit, but we’ll get there. Wait for us, Benan, we’re gonna give you a big whopping when we see you.
“There are four paths, Goa, which way?!”
“Just follow me and be quiet! And make sure we’re not being followed by beasts, encountering one would just waste our time! We have to get to where Ben is!”
“Oh! Yes of course you can count on me! Just focus on leading the way!”
I like this Goa, I hope this continues but he’s right! I have to prepare for when a beast shows up, these cave aren’t exactly helping with visibility but at this point we have to rely on picking up on their scents. Goa’s trying his best and it doesn’t seem like the settlement is nearby.
“Ah! Sana, something’s up ahead, please assist!”
“Yeah! I picked up on it!”
BOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSH!!!!!!
“Whoa! You didn’t have to destroy it like that! That’s such a waste of meat!”
“Hey! You’re the one that said that we shouldn’t waste time! Just focus on the way!”
“O-oh, Yes!”
This is good. This counts as training too! But I feel like the order should be reversed, Harol thinks Goa needs to somehow protect us, but that’s really improbable since we’re leagues stronger than him. An opportunity will surely present itself in time! I need to focus on protecting us and reaching Benan--- “Oooff!!!”
“Sana?! Are you okay?! Did you not see the wall of rubble?!”
“What?! I didn’t! So how did Benan get through?!”
“I’m not sure, he probably found a gap he could fit through, his body’s pretty flexible after all. ”
“Well, where is it?”
“I don’t know yet, let’s look, for loose rubble or big gaps.”
“Hmm, okay, think like Ben, where’d he pass through, if he was desperate to pass through, what would he do…”
“I found it! He climbed up and smashed the rubble at the upper left corner! Do you see it?”
“Yeah, I can’t believe you found it so fast. Let me give you a lift, you go out there first, I’ll catch up. If you encounter a beast you can’t fight wait for me, got it?”
“Alright, let’s go!”
“Hyup!….are you over?”
“Yeah! I’m gonna go ahead!”
“Okay! But don’t run too far, or I’ll lose your scent!”
“...”
“Ah, shit.”
It’ll be okay, Sana, you can fit through the hole. I just have to suck my guts in and hope that my boobs can fit through. s**t! Wait, I can just make another entrance for myself, I can’t risk getting stuck. I can break through the rubble, I just need to control my strength.
BOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSH!!!!!!
Phew, I feel like this won’t be the last time that I’ll punch my way out of things, and that felt like a little bit more than my 35%…must be my imagination. I have to catch up to the boy or I’ll have to go back to the settlement and ask for help.
I still have his scent! Okay, I just have to follow and catch up, I think we’re getting close. I remember seeing a river on the map and I hear water flowing. Benan also mentioned a river in his story, we’re almost there!
“Oh!”
That’s a big river! How these caves work really baffles me, it just seems like a regular river with beautiful tall reeds. So I have to cross, this? Well, if Goa can do it, I can too.
Somehow…it’s peaceful, it’s sorta just a river minding it’s own business, as if nothing bad ever happened in these waters…
Oh, I think I’m almost there, I can smell Benan now too and…blood!?
Shit! What's going on?!!
"Ben! Goa!" !!!!
"Sana watch out! There's a couple of them, Ben's passed out, but he's not injured."
"Hold on! I'm coming there now!---Aghhh!!!"
"Sana!"
Shit, I have to go get them but where did this beast come from!? I need to punch the s**t out of it, but this boar's giving me a hard time!
"Sana!!! T-there's!!"
Oh no! Another one's going after them! "Rahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!" I can make it.. I can! "Ahh! Where do they keep coming from? Goa! You have to protect the both of you! You can do it! It's the only way you'll survive out of here!"
"I..."
"Ughh, Goa..."
CRAAASH!!!!!
"BENAN!!!!GOA!!! s**t! s**t!"
No! No! No! They can't die not now! I don't want to go through this again! Luna, please!
"Huh?" Goa ....has golden scales around his body...is this is! I have to help destroy the beast first!
"RAAAHH!!! GOA! BEN! Are you guys okay?!"
"I..I have armor! Ben do you see this?! The beast couldn't even dent it with his claws!"
"Ughh, Goa, Sana. s**t, sorry. I didn't ...I didn't think things would end up like this. I just wanted to make sure that I can finally say goodbye."
"Well, you didn't have to go off on your own you i***t! But on the bright side, look at Goa! He's got scales! It's nothing I've ever seen a Were have before!"
"I think I'm an animal from another island! When I was protecting Ben, I finally remembered! My dad told me about stories of an armored creature from his homeland, something called a "Pangolin"."
"Oh! I've never heard of that animal before! That's great to hear,bro!"
"Congratulations on your development, Goa. Now we know what you need to improve on. I'm really proud of you, bro."
"Hehe..."
"Um, could I have a moment alone for a bit. I was interrupted from my final goodbyes..."
"Yeah, take all the time you need."
Benan cried for a long time in silence, Goa and I watched and protected Ben from being interrupted again, and when he was finally finished, we ventured on, finally reaching the outside world. For the first time in his life, Goa could see an ocean of trees as far as he could see.
- Writer
