Chapter 4 - The invitation

Although he was merely a child, he knew full well that the ordinary human couldn't do such a thing, especially not to a creature as monstrous as the one that was just slain by Eli.

Naturally, questions began to make their way into the child's brain. Questions like,

"Who is this man?", "Why is he so strong", "Is he a good person?"

The child's curiosity took over and he began to ask such questions to Eli one after another, barely pausing to even take a breath.

Although patient, Eli quickly patted the child on the head to get him to stop the rapid-fire questions. While smiling, he told the child,

"It's not safe here anymore, please head back home."

That fish managed to avoid prior detection by Eli purely based on the distraction caused by the child, however, such occurrences are rare. Eli knew full well that it was indeed safe, he simply took the easy way out to avoid the child's interrogation.

The child noticed Eli's poor attempt of dodging the questions, however, he was still greatly grateful to the man's deed. He responded by saying,

"Alright, mister! My name's Jacob. Why don't you come home with me? It's five minutes away and I'm sure my mom and dad would love to reward you for saving my life!"

Eli took his hands off the child's head and began to consider the request. This was the first time he has interacted with anybody since he came here, and he didn't necessarily dislike it. He felt quite good about saving a young child from certain death. The reason he hasn't spoken to anybody or interacted was simply because he wasn't exactly sure how to go about doing that. It was all so foreign to him, so he simply avoided it. Finally, he made his choice and said,

" Hello Jacob, you can call me Eli. I will have to decline. I'm sorry."

There was one simple reason for his response. Eli, thus far, had managed to keep his identity and strength a secret, keeping any organizations or governmental entities that would be interested away from him. This had saved Eli a great deal of headaches and frustration. And, that, to him, trumped any joy that he would get out of interactions with this world's inhabitants.

Jacob, instead of frowning or protesting the decision, displayed a slight smile and responded by saying,

"Thank you for saving me, Eli. I will be going home, than."

The child then began running back home.

With a deep sigh, Eli sat back down and threw the fishing line back into the water, resuming his usual activity.

However, something told him that simply due to this one seemingly minor interaction, his world will never quite be the same again.