***ROSE***
I sat and stared frightfully at the thing that was staring at me. The little brown spirit wolf that has been following me since passing the ruins of Gija is now staring at me.
"Dude, I don't know why you are following me, but this is starting to get creepy." Not to mention that it's like I am in a real-life horror movie!
The little brown wolf shifted on its feet and wagged its tail excitedly when I spoke to it and started barking.
I let out a little cry of fear when it kept barking at me. I didn't even do anything! "Please go away." I cried and moved farther back into the shell bed. "I don't wanna play with you!" I said.
As if it understood me, it started to whimper and its ears folded in sadly. Looking at it, I kind of started to feel bad. I mean, it is cute, but creepy at the same time. I don't even know how it keeps following me no matter where I go or even when I am inside a cave with the only exit is to swim to the bottom. Oh, wait. Hang on....how did that wolf get in here?
I turned my head to the little wolf again and gave it a curious look. "Hey," I started. "How did you get here?" I asked, which I think I'm starting to think that I'm crazy for even talking to it. But hey, I think it can understand me because the moment I addressed it, it perked up and looked happy.
It started barking at me again and turned around and kept jumping before looking back again. "Um.....you want me to....follow you?" I asked uncertainty, feeling weirded out for even talking to it. The wolf barked at me and headed deeper into the cave. It stopped midway and turned around to see if I was following.
"Okay." Gently, I got up from the shell bed and lifted the skirt of my dress, which was heavy from all the water it absorbed, and slowly made my way to the shore. I was barefooted and the cave's ground was partially submerged in water and making it a bit slippery. By the time that I got to the dry part of the ground, I looked up at the wolf to see it regarding me curiously.
"Um....now what?" I asked.
The wolf looked back into the deeper part of the cave before looking back at me and barked once. "That way?" I guessed and pointed towards the direction ahead of it. The wolf barked happily and walked at a quick pace deeper in the cave. I scratched my head in thought as I debated on whether I should go in and follow the wolf or stay here and wait for real help.
Then again, I really am not the type of girl who likes to be rescued all the time. I'm a girl with a big pride in my head and there is no way in heck that I allow myself to be rescued again if I have any say in it. Besides, I have this gut feeling that whatever the wolf was doing was all to help me. I don't even think it has the intention of harming me in the first place. It just creeps me out with all its stalking. I don't know why but somehow I feel safe with it.
Having those thoughts in mind I started to follow the wolf. The rocks on the ground hurt my bare feet. Some of them were jagged and pointed out that I have to walk at a slower pace to not hurt myself - accident-prone girl here.
The wolf was generous enough to wait for me every step as I tried to follow it was careful and as quickly as I can - though I would say that those two words don't really go together. We went deeper and deeper and I noticed that the cave walls seemed to soften the farther we went until it looked like the corners were now made of soil.
The wolf finally stopped and stood in front of a little rabbit hole on the side of the cave wall. It barked happily and kept looking at me and back at the hole.
"Is that how you got here?" I asked and raised an eyebrow as I studied the rabbit hole that was too little to fit me, but just enough to squeeze the little wolf in.
The wolf jumped happily and I took that as a confirmation. Suddenly, it pawed at the hole and looked at me expectantly, in which I figured it was a way for it to tell me to get in. "Er...I don't think I fit in there." I said, which made the wolf tilt its head to the side in confusion. I sighed and made a hand gesture. "That," I pointed at the rabbit hole. "It’s too small for me." I made a small circle with my hand before pointing to myself; hoping that the wolf would finally understand.
The wolf seemed to finally understand what I was saying since it started to go to the hole and dug its paws to the ground and started digging. The sight of the little wolf digging was very cute yet it also got me worried that it would tire itself. I was just about to ask it to stop, but the little furball got talents in digging that it had gone deeper into the hole, which was now growing thanks to the wolf, and was gone before I knew it. Piles of dirt and soil gathered near the end of the hole as the wolf continued to dig. I was kind of tempted to bend down and take a sneak peek at the wolf's progress but I was afraid that I would get hit in the face with flying dirt.
I don't know how long it took for the wolf to dog, but soon the furball came crawling out of the now bigger hole and was now shaking the dirt off its fur. It looked up at me once again and looked happy with its tongue lolled to the side of its mouth as it wagged its tail.
Looking at its happy wolf face I decided to try out and fit myself into that hole that the wolf re-sized for me so as not to waste its effort. "Well here goes nothing." I sighed and bent down and started crawling into the hole.
As embarrassing as it sounds, my hips got stuck in the entrance as I tried to pull myself forward. "Ah, crap," I muttered and tried to push myself up but to no avail. I was stuck! The wolf didn't make the hole big enough!
Speaking of which, the wolf started barking behind me and I felt it sniff my butt. "Hey hey hey!! Get your nose away or I might fart on you. I'm not even kidding!" I warned. "And thanks. Really. The hole that you made got me - ow!!" I screamed and jerked myself forward when I felt something sharp poking my butt.
I growled in annoyance and attempted to turn to glare at the wolf. "You little furball! You just clawed me!!"
The wolf made a series of noises as if it was whining or something and then it started nudging its head to me as it urged me forward. "Alright alright. I'm going. Sheesh!" I said and moved forward and soon realized that I wasn't stuck anymore. I guess the reason that the wolf clawed me earlier was to make me move and unstuck myself from the mouth of the hole. "Wiseguy," I said and continued to crawl farther into the hole.
I have to admit that it was gross crawling in a hole of soil because dirt tends to get stuck on you. Especially when your dress is wet - I don't even want to tell you guys how disgusting it is right now. I noticed that the hole was curving slightly upward making it a bit harder for me to move forward, but soon enough, I was out and breathing fresh air again.
"FREEDOM!!!" I screamed and threw my fist up in victory as I crawled my way out of the hole and slumped down on the grassy patch of the ground and breathed in hard. I closed my eyes for a second to rest when I felt soft fur brushing my face. I opened them once again and saw the wolf's face hovering over mine. Since I was too tired to freak out, I only stared at it.
"What?" I said.
The wolf drew its head back and wagged its tail cheerfully at me.
I rolled my eyes and let out a groan. I got up and into a sitting position as I looked around me. I was back in the forest just a few meters from the lake, which is just to my right. As much as I hate to go back there again I have to. I have to go out there, grab my bota bags, get Cloud, and run before Hira comes back from...
OH MY GOSH!! Nate and Ace!!!
I remember that mermaid sneaky copied my face and went after them! She better not do anything embarrassing in front of them or else! And she better have not harmed them or else...she'll be a grilled half-fish when I am done with her!
Gathering up my skirt, I got up and ran towards the lake. I didn't look back to know that the little brown wolf was following me as I emerged from the forest and into the open area where the lake is. As I got there, I expected a war of some sort. That Hira would be torturing Nate and Ace until I come into the rescue and be the hero of the day.
Well, I should have known better. What was happening in front of me was way beyond my imagination. In the middle of the lake was Nate trying to drown himself and save himself at the same time. Weirdo. He must be in some kind of spell or something.
Then my eyes darted towards the two figures by the edge of the lake where Ace crouched down and was pushing Hira's head underwater. By the looks of it, Hira looks like she was drowning judging by the way that bubbles emerge from the water and the way that her hands tried to claw Ace.
Wait.....Hira drowning? Isn't she a mermaid? Mermaids do breathe underwater, right? Is the world coming to an end?
I stood there stupefied at the sight in front of me. What the heck is going on here? Do I still get to play hero or what?