Chapter 10
I became frantic.
My companion was not in our territory.
Not even a trace of him could be found here. Everything was the same as the day we left in search of some fights.
Did he get lost after I left him in the middle of the forest???
He's not that good with directions, and often get lost if I'm not nearby.
Now, what do I do. On one hand, I need to protect the loot we gained or all the things we did for the past seven days would be for naught, that includes his disappearance. On the other hand, I need to go to look for him, he is already an essential part in my life, not just the food he makes, but also the company he provides.
Damn it!!! Let's just hope that nobody steals this thing, just to be sure I would hide it in the house. surely no other animal would dare to enter, right?????
Whatever happens I just need to search my companion right now.
Let's hope he left some kind of signal for me.
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It has been two days since I began searching for my companion. It was not a fruitful search. All I managed to find were traces made to be as if a beast was climbing further up the mountain.
They were faint, but I'm sure it was the work of my companion.
In the end he lost himself while trying to help me.
What a messed up and good way of offering help to someone.
Fuck, what an absurd situation.
The good thing is that he knows how to hide himself, so maybe, he would not be in a dangerous situation.
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I've been going around for another day, and definitely didn't expect to find him standing at the edge of a little cliff.
He was just there, looking at the void with empty eyes.
There was not even an ounce of emotion there. Nothing, it was empty and rigid.
Did he really go through something horrible?
Did he encounter something terrible during these last days?
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I could get out of that weird space.
The method to get out was to just lose consciousness, the same as the method to get in.
The problem was, I did not need to sleep or even rest a little.
You could go and do about anything that you wanted, for an unlimited amount of time, and you wouldn't even feel the least bit tired.
That was my doom, I was so concentrated in investigating about the runes that I forgot everything around me. Even the fact that I need to go back to my shared territory with the little fox.
In the end, it wasn't a good experience. I did learn a lot of runes, but I almost forgot everything about me.
I woke up in the same hole I was hiding. My whole body was tense and dehydrated. This means that I have been here for quite some time.
I started to stretch my body while trying to get accustomed to the numbness that comes with days of not doing anything, literally.
Then I just stared at the void. That bad and depressing mood came back. And with force.
I do not know how much time I stayed seeing the void, but by the time got out of that awful mood there was a little fox curled up in my neck. Like it was trying to comfort me.
It was a good to comfort me, but the damage was done, and it would take some time to forget that abyssal loneliness.
I just stroked her fur to let her know I appreciated her actions.
Let's try to get back towards our territory and see what happens next.
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We made it back thanks to the help of the little fox.
While we were near our house, the little fox instantly went inside.
And in the next second she was beside me with the spherical box. It seems that this thing was a gift for me.
This brought to me smile, albeit a little one that was too ugly to show.
The little fox looked at me worriedly.
-Hey, it is not that I don't want it. Just that the price for getting it was too much. -
It was also my stupidity and carelessness that made it too big of a burden.
-And I am still half broken right now. -
Then everything came crashing me down and I broke sobbing right there. In front of our house and with a panicking little fox.
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I spend the next one week trying to get myself into shape once again. Physically and mentally. With an emphasis in my mental health.
The first few days I refused some kind of help from the little fox, and I even started thinking that I was already getting past the darkest moment of my life.
But my reality came crashing down three days after getting back, I started to get panic attacks and the little fox often came to help me. There were times where I would just stand still without doing anything, those time the little fox was the one panicking. As I understand it seemed to the little fox that I was losing myself in the void, my face was without expressions and my eyes were hollow.
Starting from that point I never leave the little fox side, maybe it's the other way around, but the little fox is now the one taking care of me in every manner, except for the meals I still have to do them myself as the little fox requested it strongly. She even let me use her as a pillow when she has the humor and only after a meal.
It was a fulfilling and wholesome time. This made my bond with the little fox even stronger than ever. If before she just let me pet her, now I can even hug her, and she accepts it gladly. Sometimes the little fox comes to my side just for me to stroke her. It seems like a kind of reward she gets after a day of taking care of both of us, but for me it is also that relaxes and gives me peace.