"Is he alive?" a gentle voice questioned as she observed a human body covered in dirt and blood. If anything Aphena didn't expect to stumble upon a dead human in the middle of the forest on her first expedition into the great blood forest.
"Even if he isn't, he would soon be, considering he's lacking a hand," an old man in formal butler attire said.
The sharp winds carrying the smell of Mother Nature and blood brushed against the fair cheeks of Aphena. She was clad in a custom-made battle armor as she wielded a dagger, and her long sword was still in its sheath.
"Milady, I advise we be on our way. The smell of his blood will soon attract the wolves that occupy this territory."
Aphena furrowed her brows at the old man who had served her since she was little and asked, "You can't possibly be suggesting that we leave this young man to die?"
She stepped closer to the body and placed her finger underneath his nostrils. And after a moment she concluded, "he's still alive, although barely."
After that, she squatted and poked his cheeks a couple of times, and to her surprise, it elicited a response from him. The young man turned his head slightly and groaned.
She kept on poking until she finally got him to open his eyes.
_____
Kody had no idea where he was as he slept soundly on the cool floor. His mind drifted in a beautiful dreamscape filled with all sorts of food—existent and non-existent. At times like this, he just wanted to sleep forever, as the only thing for him in the waking realm was hunger and suffering.
He was relishing in the unreal world when he felt a poke on his cheek. But that wasn't nearly enough to bring him back to reality.
He shook his head hoping whatever was disturbing him would go away; it didn't. The demon kept on poking him until he could no longer sleep. He cursed inwardly at the fact that he would have to face reality once more.
With great reluctance, he opened his heavy eyelids and stared at the demon that wouldn't let him have peace.
His vision was blurry, but after blinking a few times, he could make out the person. And in that moment all the hate he felt for the demon—No, the angel that had woken him up vanished.
The last time he had seen a beautiful lady was almost a year ago at the underground facility. But even then, none of the women at that time could hold a candle to what was in front of him. Her pure white hair, tied in a ponytail, drooped over her shoulders and her blue eyes further complemented her spotless face.
He couldn't help but stare longer but just as he was admiring her, a sharp pain stung him, causing him to desperately clutch onto his stomach.
There was something wrong, though; for some reason, his left hand wasn't responding, as if it were paralyzed. He shifted his head and looked at his left hand, but there was nothing to look at.
His eyes widened, and then, "Ahhhhhh." He screamed, and kept on screaming when he realized he had no left hand.
The lady tried to get him to calm down as she said some words while motioning for him to relax. "Ezttn jotum veh hokkle hote," she said, but Kody couldn't understand a thing she was saying.
His throat soon got sore and he had to stop screaming. Still, his breath was frantic as he stared at where his hand should've been.
After a while, he finally calmed down and recalled the events that had brought him here.
He could recall his encounter with Rapture as clear as day. He had experienced many near-death encounters, but none of them left him with any permanent bruises.
I guess my luck finally ran out.
Observing his surroundings, he noted that he was surrounded by tall structures— No, those were trees, the trees he had only heard of in legends and fairytales.
They had long gone extinct on earth, only illustrations of them still existed. Which meant… he was no longer on earth. He had finally escaped.
He looked at the stump that was a remnant of his left hand.
Perhaps it was a worthwhile trade, he thought with a sigh.
Everything he had done for the past year had led up to this moment, after a million steps he had finally reached his goal but he found—
"Teshh keth bur tonne?" Kody turned to the girl who was pointing her dagger at him while speaking some gibberish he couldn't understand. He hadn't noticed this before, but she looked hardly older than him, perhaps even younger.
"Teshh keth but tonne, jon par?"
Kody gave her a confused look as he tried to understand what she was saying.
___
"Milady, I doubt he can understand you," Alto said, noticing Kody's expression. It was clearly one of a confused person.
"Yeah, I can tell."
She placed her dagger back into its sheath and said to Alto, "Get Rufus here now; he can finally put his telepatic abilities to use."
"As you wish, although I'd rather not leave you alone—"
"Alto, I'm not a little girl anymore. I can handle myself."
Alto stared at her for a moment before smiling. "As the lady commands." He gave her a bow, before heading to the camping spot where the rest of the crew was located.
"I'm no longer a kid. Why can't he get that? Why can't any of them get that?" Aphena grumbled to herself when he got out of view.
She let out a frustrated sigh, before leaning against a tree and staring into the inner parts of the forest.
"What are you looking at," she said to Kody when she noticed his eyes on her. He quickly shifted his eyes to the ground cowering under her gaze.
There was a silence between them as she waited for Alto's return. This area was a safe zone so she could lower her guard and relax, but the grumbling of Kody's stomach kept disturbing her.
Her eyes twitched as she pulled out a piece of dried meat from her dimensional ring and tossed it towards him.
___
They say love at first sight, but Kody didn't understand that until now. As he watched the piece of dried meat fly through the air he fell in love at that moment. As for whether it was with the meat or the lady he wasn't quite sure.
He stretched his right arm out and it fell into his hand.
It smelled better than anything he had had in his life; he had survived his whole life on infected, rotten, and tasteless food. This, however, was none of that.
When he took the first bite, he was once again reminded why he had walked every single day for the past year.
He was once again reminded of the beauty of life.
And in that instant, he made a decision—a decision that would stay with him throughout his life. As long as there was the slightest hope of eating good food at the end, he would never give up.
In less than four bites, the meat was gone; he could only look at the angel with a pleading gaze, hoping she would bless him some more.
She was chuckling, perhaps amused by how quickly Kody had gobbled up the food.
Taking out a few more pieces of meat, she threw them at him. Kody didn't let a single one get to the floor, he hopped up and down, catching them all with his mouth.
The angel laughed, amused by how similar he was to a dog, but Kody didn't mind that—not that he had any idea what a dog was. If it meant he could experience this side of life, he wouldn't mind being one.
After devouring all the pieces of meat, he realized that he was full. He was… satisfied.
This was an entirely new feeling that he had never experienced. He simply lay on the muddy ground, staring at the sky, obscured by a canopy of leaves.
It was all worth it.
He closed his eyes, letting his body and mind digest this.
After some time, he heard the footsteps of at least two people heading their way. He sat up, balancing his one-handed body.
It was the old man and he had brought company.