“Maybe I should dance,” I whispered.

“I can play music for you using my mouth,” Bea joins.

I looked at her while smirking. Bea jokes sometimes and you wouldn’t know if she’s being serious or not unless you get to know the real her.

‘With her mouth? Like beat-boxing?’

I tried to imagine her doing just that and I could not help but laugh. Hilarious!

Just then, a small whimper caught my ear so I immediately shut up. I strained to hear the noise again, confirming if it is really a whimper or I was hallucinating.

“Do you hear that?”

Bea became alert as well and tried to find whatever I was hearing.. There was a yelp for the second time so I stood up and studied the surroundings. It doesn’t sound far, maybe behind the bushes.

I looked in the direction of where the three had gone to and back to the other side.

‘Should I check?’

Bea was now frowning either as the yelping continued. It sounds like a small animal being hurt.

‘But I can’t just go and check either. This is a forest full of monsters, I might just be getting baited.’

The whimper went on for a while. The sound is hitting me straight in the feels, and I could not sit still anymore.

‘Ah whatever, I’ll just peek and run if it is some doppelganger shiet.’

“I’ll go look, you stay here,” –then grabbed my bow and arrow at the side– “If I yell, or I run back here, it means we are in danger,” I added as I met her dark eyes.

Moreover, if it really is a monster, then we aren’t safe here in the clearing as well. So I either go and check for myself, or we wait till that monster pops out and kills us in a blink.

“I’ll go with you,” Bea uttered and tried to stand up.

I raised a hand to stop her, “No, the others might return any moment. If they don’t see us, they would think something bad happened.”

She was hesitant, so I smiled warmly at her and pats her head. I have been doing it to Kai and Lost, and now it’s already become a habit.

“I’ll be back soon, I promise,” and made my way to the bushes.

“Be safe, Nadia,” Bea calls out.

As I got through it, the whimpers I heard got clearer and louder. There was a small glade just a few steps forward and I couldn’t see the source of those yelps. So I stopped walking and concentrated.

A sound was coming from a bush nearby so I tiptoed there and readied my bow just in case.

‘Maybe I should have practiced the sword too, it’s better for melee attacks.’

Slowly, my feet traipsed to the bushes while my eyes focused on that spot. I parted it using my bow and saw a small hunched figure of a furry animal.

‘What is that?’

“A… fox?”

The fox, upon noticing that there was another creature aside from it, crouched down. Its black ears folded back in a sign of fear and whimpered as it looked up to me with frightened eyes.

“Oh my… how… cute.”

The little black fox, maybe an infant, backs away when I bent down to look at it. Its black tail swished in front in an attempt to cover itself. I thought for a moment before rummaging the pouch at my side and pulled out a cookie.

I don’t know if foxes can eat this type of thing but I have nothing to offer aside from that, anyway.

“Here… here…” I cajoled, trying to calm it down.

From the looks of it, this little thing might have gotten separated from its mother. It was so small and looked cute as hell.

The fox stares at me for a while, and to my outstretched hand, then back to me. I was softly smiling at it, trying to appear harmless.

The little fox then slowly steps forward, occasionally glancing at me as if seeing what I was going to do.

“Come… I won’t hurt you, I promise.”

After a few more seconds, the little fox reached my hand with a cookie in it, then licked my finger. It did not take an interest in the cookie but nuzzled my hand instead.

‘Welp, they don’t eat cookies then.’

“Aww…”

Oh my gooosh, it’s nuzzling my hand and licking it. It’s probably doing it to test if I taste good or not, but oh myyyy, it’s so cuuute!

I carefully brought it up and held it in my arms. With the sunlight illuminating it, I could finally see its real appearance.

Its fur gleamed in the light, in a mixture of black and blue, looking silky and shiny. The fur around its neck was dark blue though, and it looks like it was wearing a blue shawl. Its eyes, which were gazing at me, were blue-grey in color.

Too beautiful and looked so out of this world. I have never seen a fox in this color, to be honest.

“Did you get lost? Where’s your mother?”

I am talking to it like it would answer me. If it did, I would surely freak out.

The fox slowly blinked at me, and my heart instantly melted.

‘I want it! I will bring it back home with me!’

The longer I stare at it, the stronger my desire to take it home gets. It doesn’t look like it has a companion anyway, and leaving a baby fox here in this dangerous forest would make my conscience scream at me.

“You want to go with me, right? I know you would…”

My fingers brushed its silky fur, which brought a rush of serotonin to me. Ah, furry creatures are really the best.

If I have one weakness, that would be furry animals. I like dogs, cats, and every animal that has soft furs. I get crazy and would always want to pet them so bad. This is why I am not fit to go to zoos, because I would literally break in and pet them.

‘I need to get back now. Bea might be getting worried already…’

I did not notice how many minutes had passed because I got distracted.

As I was to go, I felt the ground shake beneath my boots.

“An earthquake?” I whispered and steadied myself.

The fox in my arms suddenly shrank away and buried itself even more. Its ears folding back as it whimpered pathetically.

“What’s wrong?”

Just then, a loud grunting sound reverberated around the forest. And the rumbling went on, that I could literally feel the ground trembling.

“What in the world–”

I looked around and saw a big black boar racing in my direction.