Chapter 5 - The Road We Travel On
I never thought a forest could be so big. It feels endless.
It has already been a week since we left the house. Nothing but forest, mountains, more forest, again mountains. Oh look! A lake! But no people. Just the relentless green and the towering grey of stone.
I spend a lot of time doing mental math to keep from going insane from the repetition. We use about 30% of our power capacity all day (which is a 32-hour cycle here), cycling through speeds. We alternate between Red sprinting with me on his back and me running alongside him to keep my cardio up. We average around 25km/h for 20 hours of active travel. That means, theoretically, we can travel around an astounding 500km on a straight road.
However, reality is rarely straight. With the mountains, density of trees, and navigating around water bodies, our displacement is more around 380km per day. That means in these few weeks, we traveled around 2,660km. This is more than the width of most countries back on Earth, or half of the United States.
In 105 days (which is roughly 140 Earth days), we would have done a complete revolution around the Earth on foot (and wolf back). It reminds me of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days. That book always annoyed me slightly because the physics don't work that way. Phileas Fogg gained a day because he traveled East, crossing the dateline. But simply moving "around" doesn't change time; it changes your position relative to the sun. If you do the world revolution in one day, or exactly 24 hours at the equator, depending on the direction, you would be either in the previous or next meridian constantly.
The term "around the world" is also vague. If you are at the poles, you can walk a circle in ten seconds and claim you went around the world. Or will you turn from South to North? Time is not relative to the meridian anymore, but the solar positioning.
My brain hurts thinking about it, but it's better than staring at another pine tree.
By looking at the North Star and the polar star's angle at the same time every day, I could tell the size of the planet. The formula is: Distance walked over one degree of latitude x 360 = circumference of the planet.
The scary part? Right now, the angle has not changed even one degree! On Earth, traveling 2,660km would result in a change of roughly 23 degrees latitude. Here? Nothing. This planet is massive. It's a super-earth, or maybe just a flat plane extending into infinity. With this data, I can do a lot of triangulation on celestial bodies, but not if I can't even calculate the curvature because it's so slight.
After another two weeks, and a total of nearly 8,000km from home, Gary the bird scout sends a signal. He sees some traces of civilization.
For now, it's only markings on trees or foraging traces—broken branches, cleared berry bushes.
My heart starts beating so hard it hurts. Panic sets in. I can't go forth now. I retreat immediately and make a small camp, hidden in a dense thicket. I might not understand Gary fully yet, but Red does. It makes things easy.
I need a minute. I haven't seen a human face in six years. I need, at least, to make myself presentable and prepare a few lines of scenarios. What if they are hostile? What if they worship wolves? What if I forgot how to speak?
While I'm messing around fixing my gear, Gary went ahead to observe what kind of people we are dealing with.
Unfortunately, my inner monologue gets cut early. My damned "Hero Switch"—that part of my brain that hates bullies—freaks out when Gary shares his vision.
Through the bird's eyes, I see a man chasing a woman who is clutching a baby. The man looks to be in his 40s, with salt and pepper hair and a beard. He is wearing a nice leather armor, clearly processed better than tribal wear, and holding a damned steel sword.
I have no idea why this is happening. But fuck it... The child is innocent, and it's the first woman—cough, person—I've crossed paths with in this world and in this life.
There is no way I let that go, even if I can't trust her.
I signal Red with a look. He disappears into the undergrowth like smoke.
I follow, using the trees to boost my speed. By the time I get there, the chase is over.
The guy is dead, his throat and whole neck broken at a violently unnatural angle. Red is sitting in front of the trembling woman, looking majestic and terrifying.
(He never even saw it coming...)
Good job, Red. -
I toss him some special jerky from my pouch and pet his head. He wags his tail, contrasting sharply with the corpse at his feet.
Once I see the woman breathe a bit—she was holding it in sheer terror—I turn to her from the corner of my eye and wave, trying to look casual.
Hello there. What's up with the running thing? -
The woman tilts her head to the side, eyes wide, looking between me and the giant wolf.
"O/|+|z[][]^^" -
She speaks, but it sounds like a series of clicks, vowels, and guttural stops.
I almost cry right there. I forgot the most basic thing. I might not understand them.
("Shit... this is great. My Isekai dream shattered with the lack of a Language Translation application.")
Red chimes in. ("Seriously? That's your concern?")
("Hum... moving on.")
I point at the dead man's body, then put my palms up on each side of me and tilt my head a bit, mimicking a question.
She points at the baby, clutching it tighter.
("Damn... I'm a good actor.")
Red sniffs the air deeply. ("Tsk... I smell a bunch of females and seven males nearby. The females smell of fear and urine. The males smell of sweat and blood.")
("Okay, you're better than me at intel...")
("So, we don't help?") - Red asks.
("No.")
("Hein?") -
("Listen to my enlightenment.")
("Please...") - Red sighs mentally.
If Red could cry, he would. Sam's obnoxious tone comes from his solitude and is a defense mechanism. A joke to hide the anxiety.
("It's my pleasure. You see, Red, there is more to it than meets the eye. We are far from home. Let's not act in a hurry. I'm sure they can hold on a bit longer.")
("Now, this baby... male or female?")
("Male?") - Red guesses.
("See, this is a human factor. They are either kidnapping the women or killing the boys to end bloodlines. If that is the case, there must be an organization behind this. Now, this dead man did not know how to use his inner power; he died too easily. We need to assess their strengths. Eight armed men can subdue 40 people because of superior weapons and armor/fear tactics. But if you and I can entice the people to join the fight... I doubt it though. Fear is a powerful shackle.")
I pace a little.
("That is not all. Once they are rescued, we become responsible for them and the retaliation. With an eight-man subduing squad, you can expect 40 to 100 men to come on the first wave of reinforcements. This is no joke!")
My analysis is cut short by the woman shoving her baby onto me.
I refuse, stepping back and sparing no profanities, since she can't understand English anyway.
"Look lady... I'm NOT taking your baby! Just stay put, right here, and don't move. I am not a babysitter!"
She looks desperate, tears streaming down her dirty face.
("Eerrrr. So I guess we're going to save a bunch of ladies :D...")
("You just wanted to give the order, didn't you?") - Red deadpans.
("NO!.... No. I want you to know that we are entering a world of hurt. You only know me. I'm someone that you can turn your back to, and I yours. But out there, humans WILL betray each other, meaning us. You can't always blame them either; survival makes people do ugly things. You need to know the truth from fallacy. That is how you watch my back.")
I look Red in the eyes.
("Suspect the mother wanting to save her child and forgive her for using you. But don't be afraid to kill the men who are a threat to children or innocents. And be ready to get stabbed in the back by the very people you try to save. You can let me worry about the big picture, but be wary and aware of others at all times. Don't leave my side for too long.")
That is a bit much to process for Red. We both sit down, meditate, and chat mentally for a bit to align our energies. From the woman's perspective, we just look at each other, eyes closed for a minute, while she is restless and terrified.
Until we both snap into action, synchronized.
While running, we already have a plan laid out with the help of Gary's aerial view.
("Master. The people from the world you come from, were they all like this?") -
("No. A lot were stupid, so we forgive them. But the others were truly bad. I'm sure worse than here in this world. But, it could become it... Besides, that world was on the verge of destruction. There is no comparison. It could be fun to see what it looks like later. I'm sure lots of years passed by.")
We approach the camp. We split up.
We take one out each, stealthily retreat, and regroup.
I spot a guard leaning against a tree. I take one of my red-alloy spearheads—just the head, used as a throwing dagger—and launch it. It takes him in the neck, silencing him. The momentum carries the heavy metal through him and embeds itself in a second man standing behind him.
The wounded man shouts. Stealth is broken.
Red was hiding in the bushes. As they rush toward the noise, I throw a few shurikens. The red metal stars spin with terrifying velocity, catching a guy in the throat, wounding him fatally. The rest are avoided or deflected with a few scratches on their armor.
(Damn, it's too slow. They were just surprised, not incompetent.)
Only three left.
(This brings back memories...)
One of them is wounded from the shuriken grazing his shoulder.
I take my staff. I drop my heavy training pack to the ground with a heavy thud. I take a breath.
("Red, you finish the wounded guy, then just distract one of them. On your mark!")
Once they run past Red's hiding spot, he almost glides forward soundlessly. I distract them by shouting and begin to advance. I am calm, despite my loud display.
All they can hear is a wet crunch behind them. The one in the back is dead, maul by a shadow.
This made things super easy. Once they turned and saw Red—a wolf the size of a small horse with blood-red fur—one literally shat in his pants. The smell hit me instantly. The other screamed like a little girl.
I close the distance. My staff, heavy and infused with power, swings. I finish them off fast with a blunt hit to the head. The skulls cave in. The fight is over in seconds.
The smell is horrible. Poor Red.
("Don't laugh...") -
("Now what to do with them?")
I look at the gathered women. There are about fifteen of them, huddled together. Some tremble violently, while others look calmer, perhaps resigned to their fate.
("Gary, go get the one with the baby so she knows it's safe.")
("I know! Eat the old and keep the young.") - Red says mentally.
("Ewww... What the... Ho! Hey, you're getting good at jokes. Nice one!")
Bark - (Although I'm not joking, but what he doesn't know doesn't hurt.)
("Eww... are you salivating? ...Don't say anything, I don't want to know. It's fine, as long as you eat the bad guys.")
Again, our thought process is disturbed by a woman. XD. This time an old one, screaming at me, terrorizing the others. She seems to think I am a demon or a new captor.
("Is that what you were talking about? The betrayal?") -
("Mm.... No... She is just stupid and scared, so forgive her. Just put your paw on her and hold her down so she shuts up.")
Of course, it's much worse than it sounds. The huge wolf, with his head almost bigger than her abdomen, his jaw dripping with fresh blood, standing over her. His golden eyes frowning a little. She can't move a finger from fear. She faints.
Lucky for her, the baby-woman comes back running and pleads for whatever shit I don't care about. I just point at the blood on my body and make a washing gesture.
The baby-woman barks a few orders to the others. The dynamic changes instantly. They realize we aren't killing them.
One of them comes and takes me to some kind of shitty hut at the edge of their camp. The door is only a woven flap. At least they know how to weave grass and stuff pretty well. There's just enough room for both me and Red, plus a bit of walking room. There is a bed and decorations made from different colored grasses.
A few kids come and bring food. Nuts, berries, and fruits. No meat. They also leave an empty wooden tub.
(Predictable.)
Once they all retreat, a skinny teen comes in with buckets of hot water. She obviously has a hard time carrying them; she's struggling to not spill it. So I go to help her. She must be around my age, but scrawny and dirty.
Once I get a good look at her face, my heart skips a beat.
She is so beautiful. Obviously, there are signs of malnutrition—hollow cheeks, pale lips—but even skinny as this, I can't look away. She has long blond hair, down to her hips, though it's matted with dirt. Her eyebrows and lashes are golden as well. She has beautiful round emerald eyes, a delicate small nose, and creamy white skin, paler than the others. You'd wonder if she is from here, but her body looks very weak. Maybe it's a mutation, or a disease. I didn't see her earlier. Maybe she was hiding. No point guessing.
Sigh -
This reminds me of my old body and childhood. Being the weak one. My lust dies down instantly, replaced by a bit of a clenched heart and fist. Though, from what I see here, being "ugly" due to sickness might have been her saving grace from the bandits.
I'm pondering if I'm just an idiot, but she smells like freshly cut grass and cucumbers to me, even through the dirt. She must have been secluded and underfed.
She works on filling the bath and preparing rags. I assume this is the service for the "savior." I just remove all my stuff while Red sits by the door, guarding.
Cloak off. Gloves, boots, shirt. Then finally the pants.
And!
She probably thought I was a girl because I have long hair and no beard. Because the moment the pants drop, she panics—and not in a good way. She looks scared for her life. She turns to leave, scrambling for the door, but I grab her wrist gently.
Red blocks the door with a low growl, just doing his job, but it terrifies her more. Now she is trembling like a leaf.
I tell her in a low, soft voice.
Shhsht. Don't worry, I won't hurt you. -
I pull her gently and sit her on the bed.
Not good... she panics more. She thinks I'm going to assault her.
Oups? -
This is going to be tough. I just put my pants back on quickly. I sit down on the floor, crossing my legs, trying to look as non-threatening as a guy covered in bandit blood can look. I start trying to communicate.
I point at myself.
I'm Sam. -
I point at the wolf.
This is Red. -
Then point at her and wait.
She stares at me, breathing hard. Finally, she whispers.
T... Tenka. -
Good! Tenka. Don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you. -
After coaxing her a bit and cleaning myself up (modestly this time), I put on a green robe they brought me earlier. The same style as Tenka... I do look like a woman a bit... :'( Just no breasts and hips.
I point at the ground next to me.
"Sit."
She hesitates. Red demonstrates by sitting instantly.
(Better to teach her English. Then she can translate for the others. Hehehe... It's dark out. Let's get to work.)
I already have stuff to write in my pack that I picked up on the way—charcoal and dried skins. For now, I explain to her using drawings and gestures that the men we killed were just a squad, and that more men will come. We need to leave as soon as we can.
It's going to be a long night of Pictionary