New Additions

The sun rose and filled the land with its grace and warmth once more. I found my way back to my little two foundation house and placed the entire thing in my inventory before pulling up the map of the island, which Emily was so kind as to give me. I was currently in the top right of the map, in a place known as the "Highlands."

I felt like it would be the safest place to build a little house away from everything, I just needed to find a source of fresh water someplace hidden and relatively safe. The two kids had fallen asleep on my shoulders, and had woke up right after I stored the thatch house. "Ah, and here I thought you two would never wake up. Sleep good?"

The boy immediately went wide-eyed and hid behind his sister, who had a small smile on her dirty face. The girl nodded her head slightly and muttered "Freya..." I raised my brow slightly and crouched down before saying "Is that your name? It sounds really nice, and it suits you." Freya's smile became wider as she nodded her head and glanced back at her brother, who was still hiding behind her.

"This is Sage...Our parents were both guards for our Tribe, and...and, we don't know where they went..." Both of their eyes began to get watery as Freya tried to talk about their parents, but I quickly placed my hand over their heads and said "Don't worry, I'm sure they didn't leave you. They must have had a reason. Trust me, no parent would abandon their children..."

I wasn't even convinced by my own words, as my parents abandoned me when they realized that I didn't want to take over the family business, leaving me homeless and starving. I just needed to give these kids hope, so that they wouldn't turn out to be who I once was so long ago. "All right then, do you two feel like you can put your trust in me? I promise to try and provide you two with everything you will need, however, the journey may be a tough one. It's up to you to decide."

They both hesitated for a few second before Sage was the one to speak up to my surprise. "I...I want to stay with you, mister...! I feel like you're really kind, and can protect my sister!" A warm smile spread across my face as I shook my head and thought 'Ironic. The sister protects her brother, and the brother wants to protect his sister. All right, I see what I can do to help the little guy.'

"Well, that settles it then! From now on, I'll be in your care. My name is Ash Yuragi, and it's a pleasure meeting you, Freya, Sage." After my short introduction, I immediately began to scour my map in hopes of finding a temporary place to build, at least for a little bit until I can find the perfect spot. I found what looked to be a decent spot at the very top right of the Highlands.

I told the kids where I was planning to go and they agreed immediately before walking by my side. Along the way we picked berried and such to snack on during our journey, and I was able to make something very beneficial to our survival. "Ta-da! Look at this! Now I can hunt safely!" I held my newest item up in the air, and Sage cocked his head to the side before saying "It's...a bow?"

I nodded my head and pulled an arrow from my inventory before testing the drawstring and finding it perfect. With a large smile, Freya jumped up on me with stars in her eyes as she tried to grab the bow, saying "That's so cool! Let me use it, let me use it!!" I hesitated before ultimately sighing and handing the bow over to her.

Freya took the bow with the arrow and trot a few feet away before taking aim and firing toward a random tree, which was about 10m away, hitting it dead on despite its rather slim frame. I whistled in amazement and walked over before plopping my hand on her head and asking "Damn, where did you learn to do that? You'll have to teach me how to use a bow someday."

Freya had a content expression on her face as she rubbed her head against my hand. Sage hurriedly ran over and gripped my side tightly as he muttered "Freya has always been a natural prodigy with the bow..." I pat Sage's head as well before saying "Well, I guess I'll have to learn a thing or two from her." Sage's eyes began to droop as he began to slowly fall asleep.

I chuckled and picked the tired boy up before looking to Freya and saying "Come on, the faster we get there, the faster we can get some proper rest." Freya nodded her head and began to walk at my side once more with a bright smile on her face. It was meaningless, however, for I could tell that her smile could be brighter. 'She's trying hard to be strong for her brother, even though she's in the same state of mind as him...'

I heard a muffled scream in my head before Emily yelled 'Hurry up and find me a body to inhabit so I can give that adorable little gem a hug!!!' I felt my vision blur and my head began to ring after having Emily turn into a banshee, but I was able to ask 'You can do that? Inhabit a different body, I mean.' Emily let out a loud "Hmph" before saying 'I have no idea, but you better make it work or else!'

I let out a nervous chuckle and Freya glanced back with a curious gaze before shrugging and continuing to skip next to me. I continued to think of ways to create things to make life easier and, as these thoughts drifted around in my head, blueprints began to form in my crafting tab for the item I was focusing on. Granted, I had to know exactly how it was made in order to get the blueprint, but it was exciting nevertheless.

I pulled up the map once more and noticed that we were actually very close to our destination. A vast forest came into view to my right, while a large lighthouse emerged from the front. Countless mountains rolled about in the distance behind the forest, but the lighthouse was what caught my attention the most. A few odd creatures were below the cliff we stood on, but none of them looked particularly dangerous.

Just looking at a dinosaur made me shudder in fear.

"All right, let's check that lighthouse out first and, if it doesn't have anything worth while, we'll find a better spot to stay, ok?" Freya nodded her head and jumped on my back with a small laugh as her tiny arms wrapped around my shoulders. I found a pathway leading down to the bottom of the cliff, and I began a very painful journey, especially for my feet.

'I really should've made shoes before this, but there's no use in complaining since I can do it right now...' I quickly crafted a pair of makeshift sandals with some spare wood and fibers before fitting them onto my feet with a wide smile. The journey was much, MUCH more bearable now that I had some footwear on.

As I was walking down the trail, I encountered tons of animals that you'd find back on Earth, like lizards and snakes, which was weird because I always thought that, in a dinosaur sense, they would be much bigger. We neared the bottom of the trail and Sage had finally woke up with sleepy eyes. Sage and Freya began to talk to each other to cure their boredom as I continued to get closer and closer to the lighthouse in the distance.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake as cries from the various brontosaurus' surrounding the area erupted into the air. They were stampeding. I caught a glimpse of a blazing red eye behind the wave of brontos and a deafening roar filled my ears. 'Damnit!' I silently yelled as I began to run as fast as I could toward the lighthouse, which wasn't much father ahead.

The footsteps got closer and closer as the cries of a dying bronto resounded through my body. I glanced back to see the horrifying sight of a massive beast sinking its large teeth into the bronto's neck, spraying blood everywhere as it ripped the poor creature's flesh. The beast looked up and the sun reflected off of the blood dripping from its hulking frame.

It had two tiny arms, two strong, muscled back legs, a long, scaly tail, and a massive head filled with bananas sized teeth. Its fiery red eyes locked onto me and fear set into my heart as memories of that damned dinosaur eating me alive had resurfaced into my mind. I gulped down my hesitation and ran even faster as the Tyrannosaurus Rex roared from behind me.

'Faster...Faster...Faster...FASTER!!' I barely made it through the lighthouses front entrance as the T-Rex chomped down and barely clipped my pants. I ran up the spiral stairs as the entire building shook from the beast's furious roars. Freya and Sage were clinging to me even tighter than before, and I thought about how lucky Freya was that I thought about taking her off of my back and holding her in front of me.

She would've died if I hadn't.

The stairs seemed to go on forever, but I had all the time in the world since I was going to wait for that damned T-Rex to leave anyways. I made it to the top and saw much more than what I originally expected. There were many rooms that were in an almost perfect condition. There were even candles and torches spread around the floor below the top, making it much easier to navigate around during the night.

There were multiple bedrooms, as well as a much larger room that had a desk and multiple bookshelves full of notes about the various creatures on the island. The perfect place for me. I set Freya and Sage down on a bed so they could get some rest, but they immediately hopped down and clung to my legs. I guess their fear hasn't completely faded away yet.

I shrugged before picking them up and saying "All right then, you two can be my little helpers while I gather as much information as I can. Oh, you can also supply me with the information you had gathered about the Highlands, if you don't mind." They both nodded their heads and clung to me like their life depended on it.

They really were starting to grow on me.

I made my way over to the office room and set them down before moving over to the leftmost bookshelf on the back wall. There were about seven of them lining the backwall, and they were all filled with journals and books about the island. I grabbed three journals at random and got Freya and Sage to grab two random books before I sat down in the surprisingly comfortable wooden chair at the desk.

They jumped up into my lap and leaned over the desk with excitement visible in their eyes as I opened up the first journal. '...what kind of luck do I have to have to get this one...' I thought as the picture of a perfectly drawn Wyvern filled my eyes. The first journal I opened was one about the various species of Wyverns, a lesser Dragon specimen, and things like their diet, mating intervals, as well as their sleep schedule, surprisingly enough.

The journal also said that one could steal an egg and raise the hatchling to be completely loyal, however, to do so you would need Wyvern milk from a female Wyvern, something I was not willing to go the lengths for. The sun set relatively quickly and I closed the journal before patting Freay and Sage's heads.

"Well, it's time to go to bed you two. it's getting late."