Chapter 4: A Clumsy Dog

"It's been hours and I'm still lost in this damn forest!"

"Just how big is this place?!?," I shouted in frustration.

I covered my mouth with my hands as soon as I stopped screaming. I realized that I should avoid doing something suspicious that might grab attention. Who knows what kind of creatures are lurking around here. I continued walking but this time, quieter and more careful. I'm small so it's not that hard to evade situations that might end up disastrous.

It's almost sundown and I believe I'm already kilometers away from the spot I've woken up in. I don't know what side of the forest this is, I don't have a compass or a map so the only way for me not to get lost is to memorize and familiarize myself with the places I've passed through.

It's getting darker and I'm actually already very exhausted, I haven't eaten anything yet and I'm really really starving right now so I gotta look for food.

"I mean I'm a cat, right? I must have known how to hunt a fish. I regret not doing it while I was still at the river."

I laughed at myself as I realized what I just said.

"Aah... who am I kidding. Me? Hunt for food? I barely even survived getting eaten alive!"

I continued walking in search of food. I was about to lose hope when I, fortunately, stumbled upon a fruit, Specifically berries.

"Oh, thank goodness! I get to be the one eating and not the one being eaten," I thought to myself whilst I jumped in joy and excitement.

I'm about to munch on these delicious-looking berries when I started to hesitate.

"Wait, wait, wait…"

"This forest isn't normal, surely everything here is either weird or unknown. W-what if these berries are poisonous? Or what if it makes me hallucinate? What if these berries explode inside me?!?"

"Or... or…"

The moment I hesitated, my stomach started grumbling.

"Aah...Damn it! I don't care anymore!"

I ate the berries without a care in the world. Fortunately, the berries were actually quite delicious.

"I'm just gonna think about the consequences of my actions and decisions later. If I wanna survive, the best option is to eat so that I'll be able to have the energy to travel again tomorrow."

I ate until I was full and burped in satisfaction.

"My first meal, and a decent one that is. I'm glad I decided to eat those berries, I better save some of it for tomorrow."

It's already dark and I know for sure that it's even more dangerous during this time. It's normally hard for anyone to see through the dark but not for me though, I can clearly see where I'm going. Benefits of being a cat, I guess. It's like I'm wearing a night vision. I've never worn one before but the Idea is the same.

"Ugh, why do I remember unimportant things but not remember who I am? Aah, forget it. It's not the time to think about it. For now, I gotta look for a place to sleep in."

I looked for a safe place to rest and sleep. I stopped for a moment because I saw a small hole beneath a tree, perfect for my small size and a perfect place to hide from creatures that might try to eat me so I decided to stay the night. I yawned as I positioned myself to sleep.

My body wanted to rest so badly from exhaustion. My eyes were heavy and my feet were numb but I couldn't get myself to sleep. I'm alone in my thoughts again…

"Why? Why can't I remember anything about myself? Who am I? What is my purpose? I... I don't know," I said to myself worriedly.

"Whatever, I just gotta survive tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that…"

"I might have almost died today but it's okay. I'm gonna find a way out of here and no matter what it takes, I'm going to find out who I am and why I'm here!" I thought to myself as I finally started to fall asleep.

...

Morning came. The sound of nature and light emanating from the sun woke me up. I stretched as I moved my body from the spot where I slept.

"Nyaaaaah! Aah, I had a nasty dream. I was about to be eaten by a lizard. What the hell was that?" I said as I rubbed my eyes with my paws.

As soon as I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a forest, I immediately realized that that wasn't a dream after all.

"Here we go again," I sighed in disappointment

I ate the berries I saved and moved on.

As I walked discreetly, I saw a lot of creatures much worse than the previous one.

"There was a giant snake, A scorpion with wings on its back, a gorilla with four arms wearing armor, a spider with very long and slender legs, a flying manta ray that shoots acid, a horde of insects with huge teeth that eats its prey in mere second and many many more."

"This forest is just filled with creepy creatures. I never even saw a normal-looking one. The worst part is that they all either hunt the smaller ones or just straight-up eat each other."

It's straight-up exhausting physically and mentally avoiding these monsters. I had to monitor my every step just to make sure none of them notices me. I decided to lay low for a while and rest my mind and body.

"Aah... The pressure is too much," I mumbled to myself as I sat on a rock to rest.

"I need some time off, I'm not gonna die from those monsters, I'm gonna die from a heart attack if I don't stop getting nervous all the time," I added.

I was muttering to myself when I suddenly heard someone humming in melody. I was intrigued so I followed the sound and was shocked by the sight of it. A flower with a smiling face is dancing and humming in unison with the bees around it. What I witnessed was straight out of a cartoon series. It was so unbelievable.

I saw a lot of weird and creepy creatures but it was the first time I saw something that looks normal. I mean this isn't normal but you get the point. I was so happy to the point that tears were about to shed.

"Finally, something actually exists that doesn't look at me as food," I sniffled as I wiped the tears from my eyes.

My purpose was to interact with it so I lowered my guard and approached it. Little did I know that what was about to happen is the worst possible scenario. I was about to get close when vines suddenly appeared out of the ground grabbing both my arms and legs leaving me unable to move.

"W-wait, what is this? I can't move!" I thought to myself while struggling.

I panicked as it was sudden and unexpected.

"I smell trouble," I gulped as the ground started to shake.

The flower's face instantly turned creepy and the bees started to melt mid-air. Beneath the flower, a muscular-looking frog with the proportions of a human popped out of the ground. Its eyes are glowing red, it's smiling with its thick lips and human teeth.

The flower's roots and the frog's nerves are connected signifying that the flower is parasitic and is controlling the frog. The flower acts as a lure to catch prey, and I'm one of those dumb prey that fell into its trap.

"L-let go of me," I yelled as I struggle for my life.

I was trying to think of a way out but it was hopeless.

"Oh right! The bad luck thing!" I remembered.

I tried to ease and focus my mind. Maybe having a clear mind was the way for it to work. I waited and waited but nothing happened.

"Aaaah! Why isn't it working?" I shouted as tears started falling down my eyes and sweat started appearing on my forehead.

The frog suddenly started laughing. Vines popped out of the ground again and forcefully opened my mouth. I screamed in fear as the frog's tongue is slowly closing in and was about to enter my mouth.

"I think this monster is trying to take over my body! What do I do? what do I do?"

"I… I'm out of options. To be honest, I never had the option to begin with."

"But no! No no no no… I don't want my life to end like this! Anything but this! I won't let my life fall! Especially to this perverted-looking bastard!"

My will to live on resonated with my body. Light gathered in front of my mouth, forming a ball of energy.

As the light stabilized, a beam was cast directly at the frog. It was so powerful that its top body was incinerated including the flower that was controlling it. Not only the frog but also the trees behind it was turned into ashes.

"W-what just happened? Did I just do that?" I thought as the vines that were holding me started to loosen.

I was so confused but also glad that something came in clutch again, saving my life twice.

"Ha-ha, ha-ha…"

"I-I'm alive, again," I muttered to myself while panting.

"That was amazing, I didn't know I could do that. It kinda drained my energy though, I'm this exhausted already."

I tried to catch my breath while processing everything that just happened.

"Why is it that every time I'm in trouble something new just pops out of nowhere?" I asked myself while being bothered by the fact that I almost died again.

"Aah, who is to blame but me? I don't know anything about my identity and I never bothered to even know. Maybe I should give time to know this body better."

After I rested, I moved to a wider place to try and discover the things my body can and can't do.

"let's see…"

"I have this thing where it helps me get out of sticky situations. Like bad luck strikes those that try to hurt me. It's not just a coincidence, I'm pretty sure of it. I remember an old belief where they say that black cats bring bad luck, maybe that's the reason why. I don't know if it just naturally happens when I'm in trouble or if it needs to follow a certain rule but it didn't activate this time. I don't know why but let's just leave it to that."

"For now, I'm just gonna call it black cat's curse. A banger name"

"Next is that I can clearly see in the dark and hear things from far away. that's given because I'm a cat so it's only natural that I have those things. The most shocking one was the thing I did just now! I can shoot laser beams out of my mouth, though it takes seconds before it's cast. It's so powerful but it drains my energy so I'll only use it when I'm in a pinch. Wait, How do I use it again? Do I just open my mouth? Or just imagine it? Aah forget it, I might lose consciousness again if I use it."

"Now that I'm familiar with the things I know I can do, what other things can I do?" I added.

I thought of cool ideas that might prove useful in my survival.

"Maybe I could fly?" I asked myself as I looked at a cliff near me.

"Hell Nah! I'm not jumping in there."

I moved on with the next idea.

"Oh! What if I can move things with my mind?"

I stared at a rock and pointed my hand for minutes and nothing happened.

"What a waste of time," I muttered with a disappointed look on my face.

I tried a lot of things and nothing worked.

*Sigh*

"Maybe forcing it out is not a good idea."

Thinking and moving so much made me hungry. My energy also ran out after using the energy beam. I need to replenish my strength.

"I wish I saved some of the berries earlier," I sighed as I regretted my decision of eating it all.

I resumed my journey but this time I'm more confident because I know I have the ability to protect myself. I still moved carefully though, for I don't have the strength to fight back for now.

"Priorities first. I need to find food, and water if I'm lucky enough."

I continued the path I was following before. I don't know where it leads but I observed that it's the path with fewer monsters in it. It took me hours but finally, I can smell food and it smells really good. I think it's fish, I don't know if it's the fact that I'm a cat but I really really want it.

The smell was coming from behind the bushes so I followed it. I tried to peak first just to make sure that it was safe. My eyes started to shimmer and drool started to fall for I was right, the food I was smelling was fish.

I was so excited and starving that I was about to rush and dig in but I stopped for a moment because I saw a rope around the food.

It was a trap, but Instead of being cautious, I was underwhelmed.

"If it were a mindless creature then they would've fallen for it, but the thing is, no creature would ever fall for it. I mean the things that live here are giant monsters! what would a puny little rope do?!? Oh well, never mind the small details. I'm hungry so I'm just gonna grab the food and leave."

I rushed in to get the food without setting out the trap. I was about to leave with the food when the bushes nearby started to rustle. There was someone behind it. I got scared for a moment but noticed some ears popping out of the bush. The ears look like they belong to a dog.

The thing behind the bush jumped out. It was a man and a beast at the same time. His face looks like your typical loud and dumb protagonist. He has an ear and a tail of a dog. His hair's color is orange. His teeth are as sharp as a shark's and his height is small for a man but he has a pretty built body.

He pointed at me with a frustrated look on his face.

"You! Give me back my bait!" He shouted.

I didn't reply to him for I was holding the fish in my mouth, but now that I realized it, it was the first time someone actually communicated with me. It made me so happy.

"Finally! Someone who understands me!" I told myself as hope started to glimmer on my face.

"Maybe he can help me get out of this place," I added.

I was about to answer him when he suddenly rushed towards me. I thought I could reason out with this guy but he's just gonna blindly attack me without hearing my side. I actually panicked for a bit but I didn't feel threatened at all. I was about to dodge when he suddenly slipped on a small rock and rolled over behind me. I didn't even need my power of bad luck. This guy is just naturally born a clumsy dog.