Back to the cave and away again.

With his first hunt complete John started the trek back to the cave with his kill.

As he walked he made sure to hang the rabbit by its legs on a stick so he could drain the blood. He had read that if you didn't drain the blood from what you hunt soon after killing it it would cause the meat to taste bad. The same source also said that the meat would go bad faster if the blood wasn't drained so it was a necessary action.

The trek back to the cave was easier because he was now heading down stream instead of up. He used the crater as a land mark and the rest of the walk went quickly.

As he got near the cave he could see smoke coming from its direction. When he finally got in sight of the cave he could see a fire in front of the cave roughly four feet wide and the flames came up to about a foot so almost to his knee.

Liz was next to the fire and was using a thick stick to stoke it. She added a few more sticks and even some brush to keep the fire going. She noticed him as he got within 20 feet of her. He hadn't been trying to hide himself and with it still being only a little after midday it was sunny outside.

She gave him an appraising look and though she had furrowed her brow a bit at the sight of the blood on his shorts she still gave him a smile at the sight of the rabbit. That changed immediately when she saw the six arms on its back though.

"John what kind of monstrosity did you hunt?"

"I have no idea actually. I was hoping you would know what this thing was but looks like that hope was false. By the way it looked even more horrible when it was alive because of the three heads."

"Three heads? Well besides the extra arms it doesn't seem to be all that different from a normal rabbit. Wonder what caused it to become like that. Can I examine it a little when I'm preparing it for later?"

"I'd like that. I really don't want my first my first piece of meat in this world to be some kind of cancerous anomaly."

"Thanks. Could you go find some more wood for the fire? Eva is also looking for more in the hills down stream from the crater you made.

"How long has she been gone for?"

"Only about 20 minutes. You should still be able to find her easily."

"OK. See you later."

John walked back towards the river and went down stream from the crater. He walked for only a few minutes when he heard a small humming from within the woods. He followed the sound and found a stack of sticks. Eva wasn't far and he could see her head bobbing as she picked up sticks with a small smile on her face. She was currently in her Oni form. She hadn't noticed him at all.

With a mischievous glint in his eyes, John willed himself to be as hard to see as possible. Like during his hunt his figure disappeared from sight with only a ripple in the air to tell where he was.

He slowly walked towards Eva. Step by step he got closer. She hummed as she picked up another stick. He opened his arms and with a quick motion grabbed her shoulders.

"BOO!"

"HYAAA!" Eva jumped but was kept grounded by John's hands. He couldn't hold back from laughing as she dropped her sticks.

"Hahaha.. Ho. Now that's how you scare someone!"

"J-John. You! You scared me half to death!" She wiggled out of his grip and started beating his chest. He didn't let it show but her seemingly weak hits felt like he was taking bricks to his chest at least in their weight. He had experience with that feeling but that didn't mater now because despite the strikes hurting a bit they didn't do much damage. He puffed his chest and said.

"You'll have to try harder than that."

"Rrr. I'll work harder from now on."

"Ok Ok. Lets get these sticks back to Liz. You won't believe what I managed to hunt."

John picked up Eva's pile of sticks and started walking back to the cave. Eva followed behind after picking up some more sticks. As they walked she started to ask about him.

"So John, where are you and Liz traveling to?"

"We don't really have a set destination yet. We

want to get to the nearest town to start with."

"Really? I noticed it a bit but, how are you and

Liz related? I don't even know what race she is

but since she can talk she must be from a

sentient one."

"Our situation is a bit special so I won't

answer that but I will tell you that all we want

is to gain power. That's our goal for now."

After that they walked in silence with Eva having a thoughtful look.