He then turned his attention towards a bag. A black bag. The material the bag was made of wasn't really clear from first glance. Maybe it was leather, polyester, or some other type of fiber. The same applied to the strap that allowed it to hang onto that tree branch. The same with its zipper that could've been made of a copper alloy or pure silver or any other type of metal. Heck, it might've even been made of plastic.
He wasn't sure as to how that got there. No one could be. Sure, it would be natural to assume that someone had placed it there already. Though, that shouldn't have been possible in this hell where all you could find were strange plant species and human-hungry monsters.
So maybe no one placed it. But it wouldn't make sense for it to appear out of nowhere. It seemed suspicious.
Maybe it was actually a predatory monster that could disguise itself as a bag in order to lure humans.
Yohan: ... Wait...
As Yohan squinted his eyes, he focused his sights on the bag. The placement of that bag was suspicious. And considering his experience in this hell, nothing out of the ordinary was out of the ordinary. Though, if that bag really was a monster in disguise, then that would beg the question of whether or not there were other humans in this hell to trap with this before.
Nonetheless, he reached for that bag and yanked it away from the trees' possession, with it now in his possession.
And right as he held his bags, he immediately pressed it against his chest as if to embrace it. It was quite weird treatment to give towards a random object.
Unless it were a valued item to him.
*****
After all, he recalled the time before he entered this place known as hell. The time when he had been running for his life, avoiding every ditch and tree in his way, and ending it with his halted movement.
And then the came the moment that shaped everything. The moment where before he could even react or see it, he had been slammed off his balance by a force. Whether it was living or non-living, that battering ram of a force had been what sent him to this hellhole.
But there was more to it than him falling down. As he dug through his memories, there were more frames added to the reeling film.
There was the moment when he was moving through the forest expanse without any pause. However, he seemed to be slowed down by the bag adorned to his back and the bag wrapped around his waist.
Despite the risk that carried of him being caught up to, he continued to keep those bags on his personage.
Yohan: Huh— Hrk!?
And back to the pivot of this event, he could pick up on more of the details from the past.
Like when the bags in his possession were detached from him through a mere impact.
And so, he saw the bags fall, along with his own pitiful soul.
And so did—
*****
Yohan: Woo— cough— hoo!
How lucky was he? Right around his most pitiful of times, aid had come from above for him to use. Though, whether or not it was any use depended on what was inside. But he didn't care.
He was just happy to see his bag. Even if it's been less a day, he had to have missed—
Yohan: —Aaaa~h, my prized possession! How long I've longed. My aid in my toughest times. We've finally met. Like in that pitch black cave. Or with that tiger from before. Or with that darn lilac. Or those savages in the rainforests. Or that tomb that was crumbling. Or those pesky mosquitoes. Or those pirates. I'm so grateful that you've come to help me.
... Weird. He didn't care about whether his noise would put him in danger. But then again, compared to the corpse he'd been taking on a walk, this behavior was much more normal.
He then proceeded to put it around his waist.
Yohan: Hrk! Wait... Here... Argh! Dammit!
Or at least he tried to.
The unique thing about this bag was that it was harnessed like a belt, with two clasps instead of a strap that could easily cause the bag to fall off his waist. He had managed to unlock the clasp, which was the first step to putting it on. However, putting it on was going to be a nightmare.
Yohan: Hk! That damn wolf!
His irritation wasn't directed towards that corpse that lied right next to him but rather towards a different wolf. The one who got away from him, along with that huge monster that took it from him.
After all, if he had two arms to begin with, then putting on the clasp around his waist would've been a cinch.
Yohan: Fucking canines... glad they're dead.
He uttered this under his breath as he frantically tried to put the bag on him with his one hand. However, the bag would always swing to one side whenever he tried to grab onto one of the clasps, and holding onto the bag clearly did nothing either.
Yohan: Dammit... this is taking forever.
The idiot, too concerned about being reunited with his prized possession, wasn't thinking straight until he remembered something odd.
Yohan: Wait... how did this thing come off in the first place?
That's when he brought his mind back to the moment he fell. Even though he had worn two bags, neither of them were with him when he woke up in this... hell. And he clearly remembered the moment the bags joined him in falling down. But he was confused as to why that happened. Maybe his bag fell out of his pants¿
Yohan: ¿ ...Sigh...
Yohan decided to give up and simply put the bag around his shoulder right after he locked the clasps together. His right shoulder, okay?
Yohan: Wait...
Somehow, Yohan had an idea. Or he was just so shocked that he dropped the bag on the ground.
No, he put his foot on it, so he must've been frustrated.
No, he actually just placed his feet within the loop of the bags straps. And then... then... he lifted the bag up¿
Yohan: Come on...
Actually, he was doing something else. It was something akin to putting on shorts or pants using your one hand. He did so by bringing the bag up his legs, passing by the gash on his knees. And up above his crotch, where traces of urine still remained. All the way up until his waist, where it managed to remain on him.
That was... actually, it's a good idea. Yohan really likes to think outside the box. Admirable.
Yohan: Yahoo! Now, let's check inside!
Without hesitation, Yohan immediately jerked at the zipper and pulled on it all the way through. Then, he thrusted his hand into the bag to check through the contents.
Rifling right through it, he found a few peculiar items.
A sewing kit with a huge spool of thread.
A lighter and two weird iron sticks¿
A small but not measly length of string.
A few packs of bubblegum¿
And... a granola bar!
Yohan: Wait... fuck yeah!!!
As soon as he could, he sank his teeth into the wrapping of the granola bar.
Yohan: Hk... gah!
He was quite violent with that wrapper. It almost looked like he was a predator biting the head off of prey. So it was to no one suprises that he would erase that granola bars existence through all his... I mean, through his teeth.
Yohan: Yummm... that was good!
For that moment, Yohan really seemed to be carefree. Ignorant of whether or not something would come. Ignorant of that foul-smelling corpse. Not even skeptical to the value of those items in his bag.
Would he even continue to survive like this? He lost his arm and even lost a lot of blood. Along with his—
Yohan: Ouch, that hurt... well, as long I got to eat... wait...
Yohan then began rifling through his bag once more. He went as far as to empty his bag while looking for it.
Yohan: Ahh shit. I ate the last one.
Grumble.
And he was in for a whole lot of worry because of it.
That's when the realization hit him that he didn't have any food. Neither did he have anything to drink since he arrived. No, even long before he ended up in this hell.
Murder. Blood loss. A fall from a height.
The possible ways he could've died. Though he had fortunately managed to skirt those fates. However, he had starvation to worry about?
'What's next? Lilac again?' thought Yohan as he proceeded to place each and every one of his items back in the bag.
Yohan: Now I'll have to scavenge for food in god-knows-where, but that'll be close to impossible. There wasn't any nearby vegetation back then with those pests. There wasn't any sign of a nearby water source either, aside from the huge trees. And if there's not much vegetation, then that means that all these monsters are just human-hungry carnivores, and I can't risk that. So food is also off the table. Searching for food isn't likely to work out, but it seems like the only viable option... ooooo~r...
As an image popped into his head once again, so did a new idea.
Yohan: I couuu~ld just look for that.
It seemed like an outrageous idea, but it was necessary.
And so, he picked up the wolf corpse once again, letting go of his grasp on his beloved bag, and set forth.
Rustle rustle
His footsteps were so loud because he kept stomping the ground in search of... whatever it was. How lackadaisical of him. As a matter of fact, he was being too happy.
Rustle rustle
He fell down into this hell unwillingly and almost got killed by four monsters, no... three pests and a monster. He only survived because another monster pitied his weakness.
Nothing about his situation was worth smiling about.
From the moment he fell down, everything turned to absolute shit.
Rustle Rustle
Yohan: Wait...
Rustle Rustle
He had already halted his footsteps when he said that.
Rustle Rustle RUSTLE!
Immediately, he rolled to the side, caring not for if his contents were damaged. After all, he was too preoccupied with another thought to worry about anything more trivial than his very life.
Come to think of it, he wasn't the only one that fell down, was he?