Preventing the sun's rays from hurting her eyes, Auva watched as Naevius was dragged up in the sky by a massive bird. That… wasn't on her bingo card of things that could've happened in the night. Of course, saving him was the first thing she tried to accomplish; it was a shame, though she failed in that regard.
Her legs this time didn't tremble, and in a quick motion, she was running towards them in the sky. Higher and higher they would fly, making it much more difficult for Auva to follow, yet she didn't stop. As she reached the deepest parts of the forest, her search would become worse and worse as time passed by, and eventually she lost sight of Naevius.
Auva leaned against a tree, her eyes slightly closed as her mind focused on clearing useless thoughts and only engaging with the important ones.
"I'm so fucking useless…" The truth was nasty, but she couldn't fight against it.
If she hadn't fucking missed that thrown, both her and Naevius would've been fine, or maybe had a chance to fight back.
And it was not like she didn't trust him, she really did… but, a prey that can create infinite meat? Yeah, it wasn't good for him.
Comparable with a knife cutting meat, her clouded mind was cut by a scream. Absolutely wasn't human; she knew what a human scream sounded like. Not only that, but it carried a sense of pain, really grotesque pain.
"Maybe!" A smile emerged on her face; her legs didn't wait for orders from the brain, making her immediately run towards the scream
Swiftly crossing through the twigs and bushes, she vaulted and slipped through fallen trees. Nothing inside that forest had the will or strength to stop her. Also, unanimated objects weren't the only thing trying to get a piece of Auva.
She had encountered a few animals on the way; some were innocent rabbits, others not so friendly.
Thought, no one was as strong as the wolves. A few scary faces were enough to send them all running.
Removing all of those nasty little pests, her race to her destination was pretty chill. After all, the scream was fairly close to her previous position; of course, it wasn't something good, but any signal of Naevius was good enough for her.
The sunlight slowly rose, a clear signal that the forest was coming to an end — or beginning, revolving around someone's point of view.
Finally reaching her destination, Auva saw an amazing crater, probably the size of a small coastal village. Right in the middle of it, a bird a few meters bigger than the one that kidnapped Naevius had fallen.
"This place is amazing… wow."
"Right? I hav…" Not wasting a single second, Auva used her elbow in the direction of the voice. "HEY, CALM DOWN!"
She turned around while stepping behind.
"Who are you?" Taking into account that she missed just because she was caught off guard, that young man rapidly spurted everything out. "Tell me before I kill you."
It wasn't a lie, not a single little bit of a lie.
"Kanta. I'm Kanta… h-holy shit." He was clearly out of breath, his entire body sweating like a pig. "Look, sorry. I-I"
Auva gave Kanta a quick scan. He had a sheathed sword on his hip; his shirt and pants were all ragged and cut, as if he had been living away from civilization for a long time now. Moreover, even carrying a sword, his expression didn't match that of a killer.
Actually, he seemed like someone noble, rich. A skin not too dark but not too bright, his hair was dark brown, braided up and falling just a little bit from his shoulders. And of course, even with his scared expression, he was indeed pretty handsome.
"Auva. You can call me Auva." Telling him her name wasn't a sign of trust; instead, it was a sign of manners and respect. "Why are you here?"
Her voice came out sharp and confident.
Well, she was confident only on the outside; she had never fought against a swordsman before.
"L-Look, Miss Auva." She nodded with her head.
"Just Auva."
"Oh. So, Auva. I heard screams for help… and came to check. That's all, I swear."
Still holding her guard up, she nodded in the direction of his sword.
"I still don't trust you. Throw it to me." He gave two steps back.
"Look, I don't want to be… hm… untrustworthy, but I can't give you my sword."
Slowly, his hand was reaching for the cable of his sword. Auva then gave stop steps ahead.
"P-Please, I don't want to hurt you, miss."
"Shit."
Fear too came to Auva as she saw a familiar figure diving towards the wounded bird. It was the same one that had kidnapped Naevius. Maybe husband and wife? Seeing how much care they seem to have for each other.
And like pieces of a puzzle, a thought snapped inside her mind, something scary. For a moment, she ran towards the boy at a speed not even she knew she had. Kanta pulled his sword out, but he wasn't fast enough to strike her.
The girl leaped in his direction, as her arms wrapped around his body. They fell right on top of some bushes.
She quickly put her hand against his mouth, and her index finger did a simple and clear signal to him, "Stay quiet."
Right on time, a scream filled with anger filled the skies, launching itself up. The smaller bird looked in that crater, scanning for any sign of her husband's killer.
Auva made sure to stay as far from the sunlight as she could.
Glancing through the crater, the bird couldn't find anyone, or at least not a single hint.
She then flew towards a tree, resting on top of it.
Tears formed in her eyes and slid down her face.
And unfortunately for both of the smaller and weaker humans, she was exactly on top of their tree.