So, by sunrise I reached my village. I could have gone in there and come back, but one day's time one does not look for one's mother. I decided to hide from people's gaze for a while. Hiding in the distance on the plain, I began to watch. Everything was as before: the village slowly came to life and went about its routine. After watching for a while, I realized that they were doing fine, so I headed into the forest. The same forest I had been living in for two months. To avoid being seen, I took a wide detour around the path and only returned to it when I was far enough away from the village. Now with the cloak I was harder to recognize and see, but you could easily tell from my height that I was a child. The cloak was so big that it hung down to the floor.
After reaching the forest, I headed to my former place of residence - a small cozy corner by the river. The leaves that had been my bed had scattered during this time, but I quickly solved that problem. I lay down on my bed of fresh leaves and decided to sleep. After all, I hadn't slept in about a day and a half and was very tired; lack of sleep is bad for a young body.
I woke up in the middle of the night and immediately went to drink water from the river. After drinking, I realized that I was hungry. I had run out of supplies in my bag, so I decided to find food. But who would I find at night? There was nothing left but to go hunting. I hung my cloak and bag on a branch and went deep into the forest.
After walking for a while, I noticed a beast roaming in the distance. It was heading in my direction, and I thought of a plan. I climbed a tree and waited for it to appear. The beast kept walking in the same direction and was soon close. I froze, stopped breathing and didn't move a muscle, watching him intently. He slowly walked under me, and without wasting a second, I drew my dagger and leapt at him. Landing on the beast's back, I plunged the dagger into its side. With a sudden movement, it threw me off and I landed on the ground. Quickly standing up, I gripped the dagger tighter. I expected the beast to run, but I heard it growl and saw bright red eyes that searched me to the bone. Its huge teeth, with saliva rolling down them, signaled to me to strike or run.
I realized it was pointless to run - the beasts were faster than humans. The only way out was to fight. I prepared to attack, but suddenly he jumped at me. I managed to dodge, but fear gripped me. It was the first time I had met such a rebuff, and it scared me a lot. I instinctively climbed a tree, trying to get away from the beast. The beast growled loudly and tried to climb toward me.
He managed to get up, and I tried to hit him with my dagger, but missed and hit a tree. The beast almost bit my arm off, and I had to leave the dagger behind. Remembering my spear lying in another tree, I decided to reach it by jumping from branch to branch. The beast jumped after me, trying to bite me. Each jump was on the verge of life and death, but I made it to the spear. It tried to climb again, and I drove it off with the spear, accidentally hitting it in the eye. The beast roared in pain, and at that moment I threw the spear, then jumped down from the tree.
When I reached the tree where I'd left the dagger, I pulled it out and turned around. The beast's one scarlet eye was glaring at me. It lunged at me, and I climbed back up the tree. The beast stopped trying to get up, apparently afraid of getting another hit. I sat on the branch, and he growled below.
Suddenly the branch I was sitting on broke and I started to fall. Everything happened in slow motion. I was falling to the ground with the branch, and the beast was looking at me, anticipating revenge. I clutched the dagger tightly and as I fell, I plunged it into the beast's back. I struck blow after blow with the dagger, but the beast threw me back again. He was bleeding, and I had the upper hand.
When I was ready for another lunge, the beast suddenly turned and ran away. I didn't pursue him, though perhaps I should have. Maybe someday it would come back for revenge. Either way, this meant my victory. I am the true king of this forest. I decided to get food tomorrow, as I was quite tired. I took my spear and returned to my habitat. I lay down on a bed of leaves. Found many small wounds from the sharp branches and hard bark of the trees. Circulated energy before going to sleep and gingerly went to bed holding my dagger in my hands, fearing the beast would attack again.
...
I lived in the forest for about a week or more, and during that time I never met that terrible beast again, which was fortunate. The reason for my hiding in the forest was that I decided to wait until news of the miracle had spread through the villages. Since the miracle was repeated a second time at another village, the elders of the other villages might decide to plant fields as well. Then I could go to the villages and help them. I had already waited for a sufficient amount of time and decided to head out. I packed my things, put a few pieces of meat in my bag and went to fulfill my mission.
I left early in the morning and headed towards my village. It took me less than a day to reach it, so I decided to lurk away from the village, scouting around with my "inner vision". Nothing out of the ordinary was happening, the village was living its life. How I wish I could hear the conversations of the villagers from a distance, but unfortunately I didn't have that ability. Realizing that the village was fine, I went to the next one where I nurtured the fields.
When I got there in the middle of the night and was quite tired, I noticed that the fields were empty and the warehouses were full of food. My duty was done, which meant that many lives had been saved. Starving, I decided to steal some food. I knew it was bad, but without my help they wouldn't have any food at all. Stealing from the warehouses was not an option, for the vegetables were raw and I didn't know how to cook them. I climbed into one of the houses through a window, because there were no glass windows, only bars that could be opened easily with a hand.
Once inside, I walked cautiously, fearing that one of the wooden planks that made up the house would creak loudly. I started rummaging through chests, drawers, and sacks, but there was only raw fruit. I found a piece of bread on the table and immediately stashed it in my bag. As I continued to search the house, I could find nothing but raw fruit. I had to make do with what I had. After putting the fruit in my bag, I was about to leave the house when I felt that one of the people in the house had woken up. I tried to get out through the nearest window, but it was jammed and the latch wouldn't open.
The homeowner discovered me trying to pull the latch. He yelled:
- Who the hell are you!?
I ran to the open window, but the floorboards creaked under my feet. I could have originally gone to the open window, but for some stupid reason I decided to open the jammed one. The owner's screams sent me flying out the window, tumbling across the ground and running away. The screams woke up the whole house and some houses nearby. I raced away from the village with my heels blazing. I would have to be more careful next time.
When I reached the hill where I had hidden last time, I began to watch. The owner of the house was talking to other villagers who had woken up from the noise. I was afraid they would start searching, so I decided to walk to the next village. Finding a path, I followed it.
I wanted to sleep, but there was nothing but plains all around. I could not sleep in the middle of a field, for I would be easily spotted. I had to keep going. By sunrise I reached one of the villages. Strangely, all the villages I met were remarkably similar to each other. Life in the village was catching fire, and until it did, I needed to find a secluded spot. There were no hills here like in past villages, and there was nowhere to hide. Through my enhanced vision, I found an open window in the roof of one of the houses. It was most likely a closet, perhaps used by the villagers as a storehouse for provisions.
I carefully climbed up the wooden ledges to the window and successfully climbed inside. Inside, as expected, was a semblance of storage. I crept to one of the most crowded corners, moved some bags and crates and lay down behind them. In this way, I hid and fell asleep immediately.