Resolve

Kelly looked at me as tears welled up in her eyes. "Jimmy, I-I don't blame you for this. I blame those worthless, piece of shit Hunters! We took you in and this last month me and Alex have never been happier.... We loved having you here Jimmy. I haven't seen Alex that happy in a long time... Baby I promise I don't hate or blame you...." She sniffled again as she came up to give me a hug. By this time I realized that I was crying myself as I felt the tears roll down my cheek. 

I wiped them away and stepped back from Kelly. "I can't leave Kelly. This world is where I belong, I vowed to get stronger and now, now I have another reason to get stronger. If the HQ is after me because I have this relic, then I will get so strong that they will have to send the world to pry it from me! I loved being here with you guys too. I woke up everyday filled to the brim with happiness because you and Alex gave me a chance. So the least I can do is return that favor and give those bastards who took your husband away one hell of a tough time!"

Kelly looked at me with shock. "No Jimmy you can't! They only just left minutes before you came back, if they knew that you had stayed on this side they would hunt you down every step of your life you can't stay here!" She grabbed me by my shoulders and squeezed enough that it hurt but I didn't let it effect me. 

"I'm sorry Kelly... I promised Alex, you, Hector, everyone I cherished that I would become strong. This is my chance, with this cube here I gained an opportunity that no matter what I can't pass up. I'll help you with Alex, but after that I'll leave into the woods." I stared into her eyes with determination that I hope would get through to her. Thankfully after a moment she sighed deeply before nodding her head.

"I understand Jimmy, Alex was like that too when we first discovered the Kweh. He just wouldn't take no for an answer.... Haaaaaa, Ok just help me bury him and I'll get you straightened out and send a message to Hector and Jasmine after you leave."

"Thank you kelly."

....

A couple days have passed since then after we buried Alex and I left Kelly... I felt bad doing that but if me being there put her in danger then the choice of what to do was obvious. She was amazing enough that she gave me some food for the road aswell as enough food to last Rhonda for a couple weeks as we set out on our new life. I realized shortly after everything calmed down that I no longer had that awesome gun Hannah gave me.... But thinking about it that made sense, She was a technomancer and I just chalked it up to she took it from me without me knowing it because I didn't want to think of the alternative.... 

BUT!!! I learned a couple more things that I could plant so that was good. Kelly gave me some jerky and a container of water so ofcourse I tried to plant them. The jerky was a bit weird because it wouldn't grow, but I was able to grow the feed that was for Rhonda so atleast she had a stable supply.

[Cutter wolf(Jerky)

[Plantability: No]

[Can only plant raw materials]

[Gyshal greens]

[Plantability: Yes]

[Potential Grown Items: Gyshal Greens: 95%, Gregarious Worm: 5%]

I was happy that the feed had the potential to grow other things but what was odd was the water container. It didn't grow anything but instead the ground spit the container back out, empty, and the crops around it had a decreased grow time. So like the feathers, instead of 30 minutes It was 15. For the one other lucky time I got another core for stats it lowered it down to 45 minutes. After that one grew I was able to get an increase in my STR by 1. It wasn't much but hey a free increase isn't something I'm gonna complain about.

Main thing I needed to definitely find was a way to get water in here. That was first on the list even if I had to just get a barrel and fill it up with a stream or hell any water source whatsoever. Just the fact that watering could reduce the grow time was an awesome discovery! If I was able to find an item with water creation or something like that would be super sweet but I highly doubt I was going to get that lucky so soon after such an life changing find like the Cube.

After finishing with some planting I left the dimension just as the morning light was starting to shine through the trees. Me and Rhonda started walking along a game trail that we had found that was used often enough that it cut a swathe through the otherwise dense brush and trees that were around us. A few hours ago I decided that maybe continuing to walk along a road might not be such a good idea and so we started walking through the woods. It was such a different experience to be in this forest compared to the forests of Earth, Yea ofcourse you could hear the usual insect noises and the chirping of some kind of birds, but the overall feeling that a person would get when they stopped and just admired the pure nature around them was monumentally more powerful on this planet. It felt like the very breeze that brushed along my skin was alive as my eyes started to take in the vibrant colors around me. 

The deep brown of the trees that were topped with leaves that looked almost like pure Jade in the parts without sun shining through but in others they looked like a dazzling Emerald as it seemed to shine. I took in a deep breath and could smell the earth around me, the dew of the morning catching the sunlight and looked like diamonds as they covered the bushes around us. I was getting lost in the moment as I admired the beauty of the nature around me, until a rustle in a nearby bush caused me to remember exactly where I was and what had been in these woods just days ago.

"Kweh." Rhonda chirped as she braced herself in case she needed to swiftly take action. I brushed her side before pulling out an axe in one hand and my butchering knife in the other. After a few seconds nothing happened but I could still feel like something was watching us, so I put away my knife and bent down slowly to pick up a small rock near my foot. I gripped the handle of the axe and with a small inhale I tossed the rock into the bush while raising my axe above my head ready to swing down!

What came out was a bit different than what I expected.... I mean it was a wolf, per se.... But what really came out was a pup. I could tell it was a Cutter Wolf because it had that same blade-like claw in the middle of its paws, It looked at me and Rhonda aggressively which was super cute because it acted like it was the biggest thing in the world and was yapping and trying to bark at us. Rhonda didn't give a shit about the cuteness and was already about to throw a kick to smash the little guy when I quickly jumped out and grabbed the little guy and pulled him away. 

GRRRRRRR! The little pup growled at me before it bit down with all the force it could muster and broke the skin on my arm and drew blood. Rhonda squawked in anger but I looked at her and sent a mental order for her to stop. She didn't like it but she stepped back while still keeping an eye on the puppy in my arms. I was gritting my teeth at the pain but the little guy wasn't eating me, it only bit down like a warning and just didn't expect me to keep holding him. Usually I would have already dropped the thing but Something felt off about the little guy, I didn't expect something that was big enough to bite my arm... To be this light. 

It let go of me and started to squirm in my arms but after a few seconds it just gave up... "Are you hungry little guy?" I asked it before I reached and pulled out one of the last pieces of jerky. I had been saving these for the very last until my hunger got to be too much but after being able to see the ribs on the pup I didn't care about my hunger, Hell If it came down to it I'd eat some of Rhonda's greens, It wouldn't taste good whatsoever but for now hunger sounded like a better option if I had to go off of just the smell...

"Here eat up buddy, I don't mind." I placed the pup down on the ground and slowly placed the jerky down in front of it to show it that I wasn't meaning it harm. After a series of looking back and forth between me and jerky, it finally lashed out at the jerky and started to tear it apart before gobbling it all down. I ripped off a bit of my shirt to wrap around my arm to help stop the bleeding as I took in more of its appearance now that I wasn't on alert and had the time.

It's fur was definitely not healthy looking as I noticed some bald spots across it's black fur covered body aswell as a couple claw like scars across one of it's legs. It didn't look terrible so maybe a fight with another pup? I couldn't imagine an adult leaving it with alive if it went as far as to scratch it deep enough to leave a scar. Looking at it's head I noticed a small notch cut into both of its ears that reminded me of what a pig at a farm would have to indicate the litter and which one of the litter it was..... I couldn't remember everything about it as I only remember having taken a field trip waaaay back in the day to a pig farm and the farmer showing us something like it. Wasn't it something like the right ear how many were in a litter, and then the left showed which one that particular pig was in the litter? 

AH dammit that's gonna bug me, where is a computer when ya need one. But either way if this was anything like what I thought it was..... Does that mean this little guy was somehow able to escape a farm? But I hadn't heard of anyone raising Cutter Wolves the whole time I was with Alex and Kelly. Hell I don't think anyone had been brave enough to raise them... But then again Alex and Kelly along with Kevin, were brave enough to tame and raise up Kwehs, so I guess there a possibility. 

If it escaped and managed to survive this long then I couldn't imagine just leaving it here to die or perhaps be found by the ones it escaped from and be taken back. I brought out another piece of jerky and held it out for the pup to take, this time I kept it in my hand and slowly reached out towards it hoping that I could pet it and show it some affection. I didn't know the ins and outs of taming but I've encountered some dogs before and just did what I did then since it worked out back then, I didn't know how well it would work with a wolf pup though. 

It sniffed the air but it was keeping a close eye on me as it slowly inched forward towards the jerky, It didn't want to get close to me but the smell of the food was just too much for it's stomach to resist. Eventually it gave in and latched onto the food and I reached out with my hand to softly pet it. At first it stiffened up instantly but as I kept petting, slowly it loosened up and continued to chew on the jerky, this time it took longer and enjoyed the food instead of wolfing it all down as fast as possible now that it knew I wasn't a threat to it.

"That's it.... Boy, I don't mean any harm. If you're still hungry I think I got a couple more pieces for you." I stroked it's fur and said as soothingly as possible, I didn't make any sudden moves and stayed calm, even after it would growl a couple times when I got to close to its head while petting. After it was done with that piece it turned around and looked up at me with misty grey eyes that held such a clearity that I was almost startled, I expected them to be glossy as the the poor thing was almost done for but after a quick meal those eyes almost burned with life. 

"Do you want more?" I asked and without skipping a beat it barked at me and if I wasn't imagining things I would say I saw it nod it's head. "Haha, well here ya go." I pulled out another piece but this time I ripped it in half before handing one of the halves to it. It looked up at me in confusion and barked again. "Hahaha you had 2 whole pieces and with this it should be enough for a little bit. We don't want you to get sick from overeating after being hungry for so long do we? I promise I won't let you starve, but we do have to go find some more food ok? Do you know where some water is?" 

It looked at me with some confusion since I didn't have anything to help get the point across so I left it be and got up and prepared to head out. The pup stayed where it was as I walked a couple steps, I couldn't tell if it was going to come with me or not so I stopped and knelt down and held my hand out. "Would you like to come with us? I promise you won't ever go hungry again. Granted for the moment you might not enjoy what else we have to eat, but I promise you won't ever feel like this again." I chuckled but amazingly it took a few nervous steps towards me and I could see the gears working in it's head as it tried to figure out whether to follow me or if it would be better to take off.

I waited a seconds longer but no more as it started to jog up to me and licked my hand and barked. "Yay! Hear that Rhonda, we just got a new member!" I picked the pup up and held him as I gave him a few pets. "Now we just gotta figure out a name for you little guy, Hmmmm..... You have grey eyes, but black fur..... You're a Cutter wolf that is supposed to have an affinity for wind magic so maybe something like Midnight?"

The pup shook his head and barked. "No huh? Ok, ummmm I guess Spot?"

RUFF 

"Tempest?"

RUFF

"Shadow?"

........Ruff Ruff

"You like Shadow?" he nodded and barked at me again and gave my hand a lick. "Hell yea! Shadow it is. Now just to make this official little buddy." I placed a finger on it's forehead and concentrated on forming a connection just like I did with Rhonda. At first Shadow didn't know what was happening and was on guard but as the connection started and he could feel that it wasn't anything dangerous he calmed down and let the process complete.

[New Tame aquired: Shadow[Rank D Cutter wolf]