Escaping The Village

[Howling Woods, 1 Hour Before Midnight, Danger Area]

'' Have you cheked if she is asleep?'' I ask towards Crow.

'' Yeah... So you are doing it, now?'' Crow replies, a little nervous about what is to come.

''Of course... Why else, do you think we came here?'' I answer in a determined voice. This part of the forest is known as the danger zone for an obvious reason, the king of this forest resides here. 'Great Tiger King' people in this village call it. But as all living beings, she also has a weakness.

'We have arrived at the entrance, here I go.' I walk slowly towards the depths of the lair while making sure I am not making any noise. My nerves are tightened to the limit as I am getting closer and closer towards the end of the lair. The lair gets more spacy as I reach the place I was looking for. In front of me a 12 meter beast soundly sleeping. I keep looking around since she is not the reason I came here. İt takes me a few minutes of looking around but I manage to find what I was searching. A tiger cub, small enough to fit in my arms sleeps at the other side of the room.

I hide behind a rock and whisper to Crow: '' Lure her out.'' Crow flys to the tigers head and wakes her up, much to the Tiger King's annoyance. Crow continues to annoy him by various methods such as throwing rocks or pecking his ears. Five minutes pass by as the Tiger King can't stand it anymore and chases Crow to the outside. When I see Tiger King is out of her lair, I pick up the cub and start running outside as fast as I can. 'I need to be quick she won't chase after Crow for that long.' The cub wakes up as he tries to bite and scratch me which I easily avoid as he is too little to hurt me. I take a deep breath when I arrive at the entrance of the lair. ' I succeeded.'

[Howling Woods, 45 Minutes Before Midnight,Restricted Area]

I ran for 15 minutes before I hear a furious voice that shakes the whole forest to it's core:

''ROOOOOAAARRR '' The voice echoes in the forest making it sound like the whole forest is howling, reminding it's inhabitants why this forest is named as such in the first place. 'She has realized, I need to be quick.' I take out a rope and knife. I tie the cub to a nearby tree and start cutting a part of his fur. I do this for a few minutes before I see Crow flying towards me:

''...İs it ready?'' he asks.

''Yeah, take this, and scatter it to the roads. You must lure her to the huts. It is all up to you now...'' I reply to him as he takes the fur and flies off. I just need to wait for Crow, now.

[Howling Woods, 25 Minutes Before Midnight, İnside The Biggest Hut]

Bernard is sitting in his bed with a lustful smile in his face, there is a girl lying beside him, naked. She is one of the girls that he 'invited' to his hut. Girl has tears falling from her cheeks, as Bernard carresses her face with his rusty hand. ''Ah... Don't cry now. It only hurts at the beginning... İf you are obedient, you will get to enjoy this as well~'' As his hands are about to explore some of her unexplored parts someone opens the door and interrupts him.

''B-Boss'' A pirate starts with a panicked voice.

''CAN'T YOU SEE I'M BUSY. You dumb shi-''

''Boss we are under attack.''

''What!? Who are they?''

''Boss it is a beast, İ-it is the Tiger King, it has started to go on a rampage for some reason. It has already killed 8 of our people and it won't stop.''

''The Tiger King!? What the hell is this beast doing at this part of the forest! İt is courting death! Call everyone here, don't wander around in small groups, we will kill this beast in one swoop!''

He walks out of the Hut while thinking 'What is wrong with today, it keeps getting worse and worse' not aware just how true his statement will come to be.

[Howling Woods, 10 Minutes Before Midnight, Restricted Area]

I run after crow with all my might. Crow is flying ahead to warn me, in case someone is still around here. 10 minutes ago pirates light off the signals that orders everyone to gather, that's why our path was clear until now. I force myself to run faster and faster as I know the end is near.

'' Stop! There are 2 pirates at front. We should go around them'' Crow warns me.

'' We don't have much time, we are going straith ahead.'' I tell him.

I walk silently for a few meters before I hear their voices:

'' This dawmn Bernmard... Why the hell is he summonning us at thiss hourr? F*ck him, I'm not goin' anywhere!'' One of them swears angrily.

''... You are right, of course.'' The other soothes him, clearly not taking him serious.

'2 men, and one of them is drunk. We should be able to handle them.' I look towards Crow signaling him with my eyes. He understands my meaning as he flies off to the opposite side dropping off a rock from a tree.

'' What was that?'' The other pirate reacts looking towards Crow.

'' Oh, it is just a bird, I am too tens-'' Bang! A shot to his head silences him.

'' Who's here!? Show yourself'' The drunk pirate screams with fright, seemingly awaken from his drunk state. Bang! Bang! Unfortunately for him 2 bullets to his chest is the only answers he gets.

''Good job, let's go.'' I tell Crow not at all affected from my first kills. I just feel a natural calmness as if everything is as it should be.

''... Are you sure you have not used a gun before?''

'' ... '' 'It is indeed strange that I am too good at this' I think as I run towards the end of this forest.

[Green Valley Village, 3 Hours Past Midnight]

'I arrived here at last' I think as I look at the entrance of this village. The village is nothing special but the marine branch is still a good distance away. I need to stop here to get a means of transport. I look towards the night watch of this village, they are guarding the village in case some bandits attack at night.

''... So you are just going to go there and ask for some kind of transport, at this hour?'' Crow asks me.

''No, it will take too much time, besides there is no guarantee they will believe me. You distract them while i sneak inside.''

Crow distracts them as I sneak inside. I look around and spot the stables. 'Why should I bother with these people when I can speak with the transport himself' I get inside and look towards the horses.

'' Let's make a deal, shall we?''

--- 5 Minutes Later---

'' Stop this thief!''

'' Get back here, you bastard!''

I ignore the voices coming behind me as I speed towards my destination.

[Outskirts of Rodos City, 2 Hours Before Sunrise, Marine Branch 12]

The first thing I hear as I arrive at the marine branch is the sounds of training. 'Who might be training at this early' I wonder as I stop the horse at the entrance of the base. I look towards the training barracks outside to see a pink haired girl around my age training, constantly punching to the wooden training dummies.

''Hey, you. Take me to the leader of this base.'' I talk to her managing to grab her attention. She looks at my dirty and tired appearance with a doubtful look before answering:

''... What do you want from father?'' She replies. 'Sigh, she thinks I am a beggar or something from my appearance.'

'' This is important, lead me to him or people will die... Can you take this responsibility?'' I ask with a cold tone. She flinches a bit before answering me:

''O-Okay Hina will show you the way... Just follow Hina, don't wander on your own.'' Answers Hina appearently, still a little doubtful of me. 'Why is she talking about herself in 3. person pov. Hina... Oh, I know her.' I don't actually 'know' her but I have seen as a grown marine in my dreams before. I follow her in silence as she leads the way. We walk for a few minutes before we both come to a stop. She knocks to a door and says:

''Father, there is a poor kid that wants to see you.'' she says. 'Damn this little girl, I am not a beggar.'

''... Come inside.'' I step inside as he introduces himself.

''I am the leader of this branch, Maynard. How can I help you?'' He asks with a friendly smile.

''I am Ethan from Hillcrest Village.'' I introduce myself and then start telling him about our village's situation in a hurried fashion. He frowns as I finish my explanation:

'' Around 100 people you said? That is a problem. I will gather everyone and we will march towards Hillcrest in 1 hour. You look tired, you stay here and have a res-''

''I will come as well.'' I cut him off and look at him in the eyes with a determined look.

''... I won't be able to dissuade you it seems. Sigh, fine then you can come along.'' He answers with a resigned tone.

'Wait for me bastards, I am coming for you.' I think while waiting for marines to gather.