CH. 28: SNOW WHITE IV

CLANK, CLUNK, THUD!

I jolt up from the bed and searched for the source of noise. I see Mad packing up a bag with metals, food, and other things in it. I relaxed and got off the bed. Folding the blanket up, I then walk up to Mad.

"Anything I can help with?" I ask. Even early in the morning, his still frowning like his mad at the world... get it?

"I've packed everything we'll need. Here." He drops what looked like a black long skirt, "---See of that fits. If it doesn't give it to me. I'll adjust it."

I just nodded at him in surprise. Running behind the closet for some coverage, I slip I to the skirt. It was a perfect fit. He even added some slits to the side, making it easier for me to move if need be.

"How did you make this so perfecly?" I asked casual, not expecting an answer.

"When you almost fell." He casually answers. Heat crept up my face. He was able to measure my waist size through that?!?

Dismissing his answer, I thanked him. I decided to make a simple breakfast before our journey. Cup of fruits, toast, and even bacon that I found yesterday while I was searching for food to eat.

He was outside at the smithy. Wiping his hands off soot, he walks into the kitchen. I stopped him in his tracks.

"Nope. Go wash your hands." I point at the sink with a bucket of clean water next to it. He grumbles and does as I say. We quickly ate our breakfast, and it was time to leave.

"Always stay close to me. Although the forest has been nice to you since you've arrived, the rest of the way won't be sunshine and butterflies." He locks the cottage, "There are a lot of dangerous creatures out there beside humans."

I look at him as if he wasn't human himself. I mean, he had a very big physic compared to most men, but I just thought he had a lot of milk as a child... and maybe a lot of protein.

"What?" He says incredulously, "This entire time, you thought I'm like you disgusting humans?" I'm slightly offended with his tone as the mention of humans.

"Huh!??! You have a problem with humans? I'm human! Are you not?" I poked his chest. We stare in a staring contest. Of course I won again.

"Grr... no. I'm a dwarf." He says, "It explains why you're not running away in fear or trying to kill me." He furrows his eyebrows and grumbles.

He walks a few paces ahead of me. I catch up next to him.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I truly did not know." It's true. I was expecting a short, muscular person with an angry face and a bushy beard. Not some smoking-hot beast of a man at six feet plus height. However, I did get the angry-looking part right, though.

Mad doesn't say anything and leads us to the back area of his house. There, he had a barn with a horse bigger than the ones I've seen. He climbs the animal with ease and extends his hand to me. Grabbing his hand, he pulls me up and sitted and nestles right in front of me.

"Hold on." He gruffly says. He snaps the reigns, and the giant horse moves to the direction he wants.

Throughout the day, I tried to make conversation with this dwarf.

"So... are all dwarves as big as you?" The forest was quiet. However, I can see curious eyes peeking at us as we pass by.

"No. I'm an exception. I'm half dwarf. My mother was human. I took after her more than my father. I just worked a lot as a blacksmit, which helped with my growth." As he explained, I could feel his chest vibrating against my back when he talked.

"Do you have some kind of grudge against humans by chance?" I ask nervously, but when he doesn't answer for another minute, did ai tilt my head back to look at him.

Deep red eyes locked into my black-brown ones as he stared into them with a blank look.

"I won't hurt you. I promise. Others... are debatable." He rumbles.

"Hahaha. I'll take that." I laugh. The rest of the day was comfortable. Mad and I would take from time to time. The sun was starting to set, and nothing bad had happened on our way. Mad informs me that we would be setting up camp in a cave that he frequently stops at.

"We're almost there." He mumbles. He snaps the reigns, making the horse go faster.

The cave comes to view. Halting in front of it, Mad slides off the horse and opens his arms to me.

"Jump."

So I did. Catching me by the waist, he lowers me down to the soft ground. My body that was aching and stiff throughout the ride was grateful at finally getting off the giant horse. We walk into the cave, with Mad at the front with a torch in hand.

"Stick close. I don't know what's been in here or who's in here. Best we stay on our toes." Walking behind him, we scout the cave.

Deeper inside, something growls at us.

"Grrrrr..." Mad and I stop. Red eyes glare at us from the darkness. Something steps into our light, and a large wolf is standing in our way, snarling.

"Get back." He strategically places himself between me and the wolf. I can hear soft whimpering behind the aggressive wolf. It wasn't trying to fight us. It's trying to protect something behind it.

"Mad, wait." I grab his arm, "Let me do something."

Honestly, I was hoping I could hide it, but I couldn't ignore it someone or something hurt... especially when their trying to protect their family. I walked past Mad, who was urging me to stop and stand back.

"It's fine." I stop him. I put my hand up to the wolf and lower myself than it. It continues to growl and snap its jaws at me.

"Hey, hey. I'm a friend." How exactly was I gonna show it that I could help? I grab a rock nearby and force the skin on my hand to break with it.

"What are you doing!?" Mad comes up next to me and snatches my hand.

"Just wait a minute." I snatch it back and show my bleeding palm to the wolf.

"I can heal your family." I look past the aggressive wolf and see another wolf with pups around it. I don't know how long it's been, but the blood was starting to dry up.

I didn't use my skim but waited for my auto-healing to help my palm. Or else I'd have to wait for [HEALING OF AN ANGEL]'s cool down to finish before I could use it again. I just don't know how long the wolf could last if I waited for five minutes.

I wipe the blood away to reveal a healed palm. To this, the wolf stops it growling and is replaced with whimpers.

"Don't worry, I can help your family." I slowly move closer to them. The wolf softly growls and allows me to come closer. I leaned down to see the female wolf breathing heavily as the blood around her was beginning to dry.

"You've held out for so long. You did great." I stroke the mother wolf, "HEALING OF AN ANGEL."

Soft light covers the mother wolf and pup. I had also healed the father wolf, who may have been exhausted from protecting his family. The mother wolf's low dimmed eyes, shone bright and stared into mine.

She then lunges at me.

"Marianne!"

I can hear Mad shouting for me. The female wolf pins me to the ground... and starts to lick my face.

"Hahaha! S-stop! That tickles!" I giggle as she keeps licking me.

"Awrrooo!" The male wolf howls and rushes in to lick me too. He wasn't the one ones. The pups see this and bombard me with wet kisses, too.

"Woah, woah! I know you're happy, but can I stand up now-- Ah! My toes!" One of the pups locked my toes tickling me. I still did not have proper shoes.

"Hey. Get off her." Mad steps in, making the wolves jump away from me. He pulls me off the ground. A scowl evident on his face.

"Don't ever do that again." He growls, "What if they attacked you? Huh?"

"But they didn't. Don't be grumpy. " I cross my arms.

"Ugh. Don't say that." He suddenly seeths.

"SAY what? That you're grumpy?" I challenge.

"Yes! I don't like hearing my old man's name." He ruffles his hair.

"Huh?" Wait... is his dad..."Your dad's name is Grumpy?" I gasp.

"Yeah, stop saying his name already. Imma grab our stuff to camp. You sit here and don't do anything stupid." He stomps out of the cave.

I sit on the cold ground with the mother wolf and the four pups. The father wolf had disappeared a few minutes ago. I watch Mad with the wolves unpacking the load and setting up camp. He was striking flint stones on the firepit he had made when he looks over to me.

"I'm still here. I can help, you know." I pet the four pups while I talk to him. Mad doesn't say a word and continues to hit the flints together. A spark, a crackle, and the fire roars fo life.

"In a bit, I'll go hunting." He throws some sticks into the firepit, "You stay here. There is a knife on the right side of the backpack. Grab it if you hear anything. I will announce myself when I come back."

He walks over to me and places the canvas backpack in front of me.

"I'll be back." He frowns just before turning away to the exit. As soon as he was out of sight, grumble to the mother wolf next to me.

"Why does he have to babysit me? So moody." I play with the pups and squish their faces, "Aww... I should name you guys."

The big and oldest of the pups will be called dude. The second one seems to be always barking at her three siblings, so her name will be Sass. The third pup is always running around, so his name is Max, and the last of the four will be Snooze since his always sleeping.

PING.

[THE FOUR WOLF PUPS ACCEPT THE NAMES YOU HAVE GIVEN THEM. THEY WILL NOW BE CALLED BY THEIR GIVEN NAME.]

PING.

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[AS THE FIRST ONE TO NAME CREATURES IN THE BEDTIME STORY CHALLENGE, YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE FOLLOWING TITLE: MOTHER NATURE.]

TITLE - [MOTHER NATURE]: As someone recognized by the animals and nature itself, your affinity for the elements and creatures increases.

[THE TITLE- MOTHER NATURE - Allows the title bearer to control the following elements to a certain degree as long as you max out the proficiency.]

[AVAILABLE ELEMENTS: FIRE, WATER, EART AND AIR.]

Below it are a few more slots with a lock on it. I press on them, and a description box pops up: LOCKED UNTIL MASTERY OF 4 ELEMENTS IS COMPLETED.

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I was still reading the title's details when I heard something being dragged into the cave. Since I did not hear Mad's voice, I stick my hand into the backpack's left side pocket.

"Huh!?!" I didn't feel the knife, he told me about. Before I can react, the mother wolf barks at our guest.

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CHARACTER PROFILE: Marianne Primrose

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Name: Marianne Primrose LVL: [ 6]

Title: MOTHER NATURE

Height: 168cm

Age: 24

Occupation: DEVOTEE - NOVICE

[Hidden: FALLEN ANGEL (Angel/Demon)]

STR: 60 +[100]

SPE: 61 + [100]

STA: 63 + [100]

DEF: 60 + [100] [+50]

INT: 62+ [100]

LUCK: 66+ [101]

MANA: 60+ [100]

Unallocated Stat Pts: 13

Coins: 500,000

SKILLS: [UNFORTUNATE'S BLESSING LV.3] [HEALING ON AN ANGEL LV.3] [DEMON'S POSSESSION LV.2] [MORNING PRAYER LV.1]

PASSIVE SKILLS: [AUTO-HEALING LV.2]

EQUIPMENT: [ COUPLE'S STORAGE RING (F)] [COUPLE'S MATCHING ARMOR OUTFIT (F), DEF +50]

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