Dangerous Situation

More than an hour had passed, and there was still no sign of Mori. Desperation and frustration were clearly visible on Uncle's wrinkled face as time passed by.

Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours... still we weren't able to locate Mori in the forest.

"Uncle, I think we should separate out and find Mori. It will be faster, and I will try my best to stay away from any danger, but in case I do fall for one, I will immediately call for you."

"But-"

"No buts, Uncle Asukai!"

My face was all serious as I looked into his eyes and could see worry reflected in his. But more than worry, those eyes contained fear, and longing for her grand daughter. How could I not help out this guy when he saved me from certain death a few hours ago.

Anyways, it's not necessary that I will face danger only... or is it?

Seeing him not speaking... or rather not having any words to speak, I gave him a slight nod and went into left side of the forest.

"Thank You, John!"

I could hear a murmur behind me, but did not turn back and continued ahead.

"Man! Just how big is this forest?"

After parting from Uncle Asukai, I have been searching for Mori for half an hour, but to no avail.

My brain said that it's all over... a 5 year kid, in this dangerous forest did not have any chance of survival. But on the other side, my heart could not bear the pain and suffering Uncle Asukai would go through if that was the case.

That's why, I was praying in my heart to keep the girl safe and sound, till one of us rescue her.

"AH!!"

Dammit... That's a female voice... Gotta run.

Running as fast as I possibly could, I came across a small river.

It was beautiful and the water was crystal clear. But I did not have the opportunity enjoy it's view.

Because there a small girl with scratches on her body, lying near a bush. A fox was standing in front of him, seemingly guarding her from the giant bear in front. The fox had server injuries to the point that it could die at any moment, and seeing it stand and face the bear was already a surprise for me.

I stopped only when I got close enough to the girl, and surprisingly the fox only glared at me for a second, before continuing to defend us against the beast. Taking a closer look, I could see her amateur figure having a resemblance with the beautiful lady whom I saw at Uncle's house, making the identity of the girl clear enough for me.

It was Mori... and though I could see visible scars on her body, but luckily there were no deep wounds... at least not visible to me at the moment.

The bear slashed his right hand across... to which the fox simply tried to dodge her way, getting slightly grazed on her already injured body.

'Even though Mori is injured, but she is doing good... but this fox, I don't get why she's trying to help, but I am more than glad she is.'

I looked around for any possible escape route, but that damn river cut off the escape route.

'I guess I have to join the battle and survive till help arrives... Anyways, here I go.'

Pulling out my iron sword from it's sheath, I stood in line with the fox which looked at me with a slight relief visible in her weary eyes. I wondered if I am hallucinating by communicating with animals, but quickly put it beside my mind as the bear charged over.

I got into the position as I placed the sword upwards and my left foot forwards. As soon as the bear came into my striking distance, I leaped forwards and swung my sword at full force.

But how could a person taking up sword for the first time get it perfect? I missed the timing, and catching up to it, the bear defended itself with its right hand, getting it badly bruised in the process.

Shrieking out loud, I could see her red eyes, glaring at me in extreme anger and rage. Well, it was the first strike that I could see only it's body, and going by his expression, he did not like it one bit.

He pounded his arm over me... and though I was not struck with fear and could move around easily, but the speed of the bear this time, did not give me any chance to dodge.

With his hand covering my vision and certain of my death, I closed my eyes, wanting to die with peace... But before I could feel my head exploding, a strong push throwing my body out of line with the hit.

Opening my eyes, I saw the fox looking at me with a smile on her face. But my eyes widened in shock... not because of the help that she gave, but because her face was the only the thing I could see. The rest of her body was blown into smithereens. She took the powerful hit and sidelined her body for mine... why? I did not even know her, just why did she save me?

"Please save Mori, she is... she... is..."

A faint feminine voice sounded in my ears, and I needed no help to identify that this was the voice of the fox. Not feeling any surprise at how a fox was able to speak, I got up and nodded at the smiling face with tears oozing out of my eyes, wanting to tell her that I will at any cost.

With resentment and wrath combined, I could feel something inside of me breaking... something powerful was flowing inside my chest. Powerful... was the only feeling I could describe at that moment as a black colored layer enveloped the sword.

I charged ahead at the bear... fully enraged and sad at the sacrifice of the fox, and wanting to show her, how much I wanted to fulfill her dying words. I lost track of what my speed or strength was... and the only thing I saw was the surprise in his red eyes, as I landed a blow on his hand which attacked the fox.

*SPLASH*

The sword passed through his stiff muscles as easily as slicing a hot knife on butter. The extra force unbalancing me and I tripped down on the ground.

"Awooo..."

The bear howled and wailed while blood gushed out of his sliced arm. He gave a strong cry and turned towards me with immense hatred and unbelief... and why not, even I was surprised at how I managed to pull that off.

I roared in delight and gave the bear another shot with my sword. The bear still seemed to be shocked silly and seeing me come forwards for another swing, his body stiffened up giving me the needed time to land him another hit.

*CLANG*

This time though, there was hardly any impact as the sword in my hand recoiled on hitting the bear's body and flew out of my grasp from the sheer impace.

Both the bear and I looked at each other in surprise and wondered what were we doing. Unluckily the bear seemed to be awakened from the trance and gave a loud cry and landed his left arm on my chest, blowing me into a nearby tree.

I could feel several of my bones crack and many making certain jerks and twist inside my body. Blood started filling up my mouth, some of which made its way from my ears and eyes...

"Looks like I will certainly die this time,' was my final thought as the bear charged straight at me, and out of all the moments that I could have found... it was right then, that I lost my consciousness.