CHAPTER ELEVEN: The Night

DAKU

It had been minutes since we got out of the water. Kana and I were soaking wet and we didn't have spare clothes with us. I tried my best not to shiver out of cold but it seemed like the wind wanted me to.

I glanced to my left where a trembling petite young girl was trying her best not to shiver too much. But just like me, she failed to contain it.

Asking her if she was cold would be futile. Even if I proceeded to ask her the question, she would just gonna deny the truth despite the evident trembling of her body.

But I had to break the silence. We'd been muted since we started walking into the forest with no idea of where to go. The hope of rejoining Kenshi and Miss Hanaka at the end of this journey was what kept us moving.

"Can you still walk?" I asked, breaking the quietness that surrounded us both. Kana, with her head down, shook her head as a sign of her response.

"If you feel tired, just tell me. I can carry you on my back," I offered but I received a response no more.

I probed no question at her and indulged myself with the scenery instead.

The forest we were in was unlike the one we escaped from. The thickness of the trees here didn't conceal any potential threat, instead, it was reassuring — a feeling that we could spend the night here without worrying about our safety.

"Mister Daku?" Kana suddenly called out to me and my first instinct was to kneel and look at her at eye level. Kana was so taken aback by my action that she almost looked scared.

"S—Sorry." I distanced myself from her and acted as if nothing happened. "What is it?"

Kana lowered her head down again and evaded my eyes. Then, he played with her fingers as if feeling unease about something but couldn't say something about it.

"I...uhm..." Kana started. "I want to pee."

I stared at her as I tried to process what she just said. In return, Kana stared at me too, probably waiting for my response. It took me a minute before I realized what she meant.

But then, a problem arose. How should I cater to her request? Should I just tell her or what?

"O—kay," was the only thing that came out of my mouth as I looked at the surroundings to look for a better spot for her to pee on.

Kana giggled, perplexing me. "You're funny, Mister Daku. This spot will do just to take a peak."

"I promise! I'll be just over there—"

"N—No," Kana pleaded. "Just stay close to me...please."

A smile curved my lips as I nodded in affirmation of Kana's plea. "Okay. I'll just close my eyes."

"And turn around, of course."

"And turn around," I reiterated as I turned my back against her. I waited for almost two minutes before Kana prompted me of her completion. "I'm done, Mister Daku. You can open your eyes now."

I unhinged both of my eyelids, revealing the same scenery before me. I looked at Kana who was now putting the finishing touches on herself.

"Shall we continue?"

"Hm!" Kana agreed and we started walking again.

***

"It's getting dark, Mister Daku," Kana notified which made me look up to see only bits of the sky.

Kana was right. The once-blue sky has now a darker shade of its color. The evident colder breeze told us that the night would be freezing cold.

"It will be risky if we continue. What do you say about spending the night here, Kana?"

"It's fine for me, Mister Daku, as long as you're here," Kana teased, fluttering the butterflies inside me.

"Okay, okay. Let's find a better space first then we can build a fire. I don't think this night will be easy."

Kana and I began searching for a spacious clearing that would fit us both and could give us a little bit of convenience. To be efficient, we collected firewood along the way. When we reached a spot perfect to sleep on, we started building a fire.

Since none of us knew fire magic we resorted to the conventional method of making one by using two dry sticks rubbed against one another. It was not easy since it was my first time doing it. This technique requires patience, energy, and power.

"You can do it, Mister Daku! I know you can!" Kana cheered while intensively watching me.

"Yes! I can do this!" I growled. My right hand was starting to hurt and large beads of sweat started to form on my forehead. "I can do this!"

"You're almost there, Mister Daku!"

Kana's tongue seemed gifted when smoke started to escape from the spot where the sticks were rubbed. The smell of fire and burnt wood caught my nose, making me more determined to finish what I started.

Using the last bit of energy and strength within me, I hasten the process making my arm hurt even more. The pain was almost at its peak but I never intended to stop not until a glowing and warm fire was burning before us.

"AHH!" I exclaimed. Embers of yellow flew from the burning portion of the wood, prompting me to grab the dried leaves Kana prepared earlier.

I blew and blew to keep the wood burning while sending sparks of flames onto the leaves. A single sparkfly landed on the leaves, spreading like a disease. It didn't take long for that single spark to transform into a nurturing fire.

"Yey! You did it, Mister Daku!" Kana celebrated, hopping up and down with her hands in the air.

I, on the other hand, just screamed my heart out with both of my hands reaching for the sky as well.

The fire somehow became our beacon of hope for the rest of the night here in the woods. I hoped its luminance and heat were enough for us to survive the dark hours.

"We got the fire, next the food," I mumbled and was about to ask Kana to stay while I went and found something to eat for dinner but I remembered how she pleaded for me to stay.

I was pretty sure Kana would say the same thing especially now — dark and scary. It would be hard for me as well to leave her here, alone and vulnerable. What if something attacks her? What if she got scared and ran off somewhere?

But if I were to stay and ignore the fact that we needed food, we'd starve to death. The rations we brought were in my backpack and dropped it when we got attacked.

"Mister Daku," Kana called out, catching my attention. Kana had this determined and brave look on here as she looked at me. "I'm fine here. You can go search for food. I promise to stay here!"

Those words bewildered me out of nowhere. She was way different from the Kana earlier — the one who asked for me to stay close because she was scared. The Kana now was unidentifiable.

"Ar—Are you sure?"

Kana nodded vigorously, an indication of her dedication.

"Okay, fine. But at least have this," I said and handed out to her the dagger Kenshi gave. She looked at it and received it with pure confusion. "If something happens while I'm gone, use this to defend yourself but, if and only if, you have nowhere to run. But as much as possible, run if you can. Understood?"

Kana's confused face transformed back to a determined one while she gripped the dagger tightly. The addition of her nod convinced me that I could leave her alone in the meantime.

Kana sat with her back against a tree wide enough to conceal her entire body from any prying eyes behind her. Although it wouldn't keep her hidden from all directions, at least her back was secured. I hoped so.

"I'll be back before you know it," I reassured Kana to which she responded with a nod. We both knew it was a lie because the chances of finding food in this unfamiliar forest were close to zero.

Hesitant, I trudged away from where Kana was and started looking for wood. Although the chances were low, I still had to try.

I only had a torch with me, enough to illuminate a small radius within me. The pitch-black darkness that surrounded me made my torch ineffective. The thought of something might launch at me from it, scared the shit out of me.

"Let's get this done so we can go back to Kana," I mumbled, hastening my steps.

I went from trees to trees and bushes to bushes in the hopes of finding fruits or berries but just like the trees, it was unfruitful.

"This is hopeless," I commented as I dropped my head in defeat. I looked at my feet surrounded by Gangka leaves. "Huh? Gangka leaves?"

Gangka trees were one of the rarest trees ever recorded. At least one tree was found in each kingdom. This tree could grow several feet taller than ordinary trees and overwhelm other trees smaller than it.

But it was not the rarity that excited me but the ecosystem that grew under it. I'd mentioned that Gangka trees could grow so big that they could create a shade enough for fungi to grow. And fungi, I meant mushrooms.

I quickly searched for the said tree by following the leaves. The thicker the leaves, the closer I was to the tree.

Alas, the infamous Gangka tree was right before me. Its trunk was so wide that the light from my torch couldn't reach both of its ends.

I approached closer to the tree and bent down to have a closer look at its roots. And there they were, the Takematsu mushrooms.

"It's been a while since I last ate this," I said as I picked several of them.

I'd already picked six of them when a rustling noise from a nearby bush stopped me from my task. I pointed the torch at the source of the noise only to find a medium-sized bush of berries.

The fear I felt earlier from the noise was turned into happiness upon seeing Gangka Berries. These berries only grew near Gangka trees thus the name.

I was about to approach the said berries when the bush itself jiggled and resonated a noise. This stopped me in my way and triggered a fighting stance from me.

The noise persisted and did so my fear of whatever caused this commotion. I stared at it, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever it was. But every second passed, my fear intensified.

Parts of me wanted to flee but there were also parts of me who wanted to figure out the identity behind the noise. Would it be a foe or a friend? This intriguing question was eager to be answered.

Even though I was prepared for the future, the sudden emergence of a creature from the bush dumbfounded me, throwing me off balance.

But what surprised me was the fact that the creature was an innocent doe. But something was wrong with her. She was limping as she walked toward the nearest berry that fell from the bush during the ruckus.

A huge cut was evident on her left hind leg where blood dripped from it. She wanted to use the injured feet to distribute her weight evenly only to retract it immediately might be due to pain.

I watched it gnaw the berry in her mouth while she kept herself steady despite the pain. I could tell she was out of energy as her feet trembled by the weight of her body.

And in just a blink of an eye, the doe collapsed, gasping for air. The vigorous elevation and depression of his body implied that she was at her wit's end. She probably had the wound for a while and lost too much blood.

I pity her.

And then our eyes met and at that moment, although unspoken, her soul behind her eyes pleaded to heal her.