Unveiled
(I understand what the elder meant by its appearance.)
Joel stared intently at the childlike face and catlike eyes, and contrasted it with rest of Simon's now exposed bizarre bestial frame.
(He's the one that will bring great change? He has shown his capacity to be considered one of the intelligent race along with us humans. His face even looks like one of ours, disregarding the strange darkness of it. Even the brown skinned people of the west do not have such a deep color of skin...)
Samuel's deep eyes seemed to glimmer as he looked at Simon.
(Truly a being built for combat and survival. A powerful physical body that also possesses tools to interact with his environment. The ears atop his head reminiscent of a wolf's; dexterous paws, closer to that of hands in terms of accurate movements; a disarming face, due to its childlike nature; and a compact body overall. The elder considered him a 'key'. To what extent? I do not wish to bring harm to an innocent after all, even considering the fact that he isn't human; human's live peacefully with other intelligent races, so what's one more?)
Annie's eyes seemed unfocused even while they were faced Simon's direction.
(Huh? Why did no one tell me he wasn't human? He looks like a dog or cat or something, with a cute face like my little brother. Ah, slit eyes, like a cat! I don't think I've seen something like him in the books I've read. Hm... I wanna pet him. Those ears are cute... I wonder if he'll let me?)
Due to being at a middle schooler's age, Annie is very flexible and erratic in thoughts, despite her book smarts.
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(Everyone seems to be taking things well. I don't like how that kid's eyes look though...)
These thoughts were present in Simon's mind as he was busy stuffing his face. It seemed that despite the presumably rudimentary seasoning, the meat and vegetables were much richer in taste then he would've expected; probably a combination of his new taste buds in addition to the different style of monster meat and vegetable growths. There was something resembling a mutton like taste, as well as a hint of beef. The redness of the meat stood out, as well its intense flavor.
"Hey, what's this meat I'm eating? It's really good!" Simon exclaimed.
Joel glanced at him. "It's direwolf meat."
...Oh.
As the meal starts to wind down, Samuel, clears his throat to speak.
"You kids need to sleep; it's quite late, as you can probably tell from outside. Simon, you can sleep in the room next to Annie's. If you need anything, wake her up and ask her. I'll be going back to my place, and Joel will be in his room down the hall. We will meet with the elder early tomorrow."
And right after he says this, he leaves.
Joel turns to Simon and Annie nods.
"He's right, kids need to sleep early to grow big and strong, ya know."
Simon doesn't even bother trying to say he's not a kid; it's not like he remembers exactly what age he was anyway.
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As Simon lays in the surprisingly comfortable bed with its soft (yet unknown to him what it actually is) fabric, he can't help but think back to the events over the day, and how quickly things to seem be moving.
(Am I truly here in this form for some reason? And will this 'elder' really be someone aiming to help me? There is really too little I know. But if there's one thing I know for sure... It's that I'm really tired.)
His eyes close, and he quickly falls into a state of slumber.
And when his eyes open again, a primeval jungle lies around him.
Before he can bring to mind his bewilderment, a voice seems to echo in his head;
(A test of will and combat prowess!)
...A what?
As this question appears in his head, some manner of beast appears within the tree-less circle from what Simon believes to be from beyond the jungle trees.
(If I'm correct, isn't that a giant bear? Maybe... some sort of direbear, just like the direwolves before? What exactly is going on!?)
And with no time to acclimate himself, the beast growls, and rushes toward him aiming to kill!