Cleo, Duk, and the monkey were done with their preparation—finally. The number of things he did to convince the monkey to go with him to the forest tired him. It seemed the monkey was indeed scared to go back to the forest, as it refused to go no matter how much he pulled it. However, with a carrot and stick method, he managed to convince it—barely. He knew his action was perhaps wrong, but this was the only solution he could think of for the monkey’s problem.
He stared at the sea of trees—spear in hand—while Duk held his leg and the monkey on his shoulder. With a breathing exercise, they went inside, determined to achieve their goals, and returned in one piece. He left the bag in the shelter, as he only needed to scout for now. Fast maneuverability was what he required, so if a situation where they had to escape arose, they could run with all they had.
When they arrived at the sweet potato farm, they didn’t stop and continued their way in the remaining direction he had yet to explore—west. Nothing much changed, just different kinds of plants and trees. Even though he wanted to observe the plants, he had goals that he must achieve; thus, he would forget about them for now and put all his focus on familiarizing himself with the surroundings.
While traveling, he couldn’t help but notice Duk picking all kinds of plants and eating them. He repeated this so many times that even the monkey copied him.
"Why are you eating leaves and tree bark? Are you hungry?" He asked, as he was worried Duk might get a stomach ache.
"Didn’t I already tell you? One of my goals is to expand the seeds I can create, so I need to eat all kinds of plants," Duk explained.
"Ahh, but how will you know if you've already eaten the same plant before? I know they don’t look the same, but seeing a bunch of them is still confusing."
"You don’t have to worry about that because I will instantly know if I have eaten a plant before. The moment I eat a plant, I will know all the information about it. So, if I see a plant I don’t know, it means I've never eaten one before."
"Wow, I didn’t know you could do something like that! So, it means if you eat a plant with healing properties, you will know it?" He excitedly inquired. With the help of Duk, he could find all kinds of things! "Wait, what will happen if the plant is poisonous? Isn’t that a little dangerous?"
"Yes, I will know everything about the plant I ate," Duk proudly said. "You don’t have to worry about me being poisoned, as I believe there’s no plant that can poison me in this world."
"I guess that makes sense, considering your ability is related to eating."
After saying that, he glanced at the monkey on his right shoulder, who was still eating leaves, unconcerned.
"Hey, stop eating! You don’t even get anything with that."
The monkey stared at him with confusion while its mouth was filled with all kinds of leaves. He didn’t know if he should laugh or be concerned.
An hour later, they arrived in an open field. It was wide and empty; only green grass could be seen. He could compare the size of the open field to that of a football field—perhaps even wider. The blowing wind was fresh and relaxing, very different from the beach, where it was fishy and sticky.
He didn’t know the island was this big—was he even on an island? No, he could remember that before the plane crashed, they were still in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, far from any mainland; thus, it was impossible that he was on a mainland—the only possibility was an island.
As they strolled across the field, he couldn’t help but relax due to the grassy smell, the warm sun, the beautiful scenery, and the gentle touch of wind. He lay on the grass, seeing this as the perfect time to rest, while Duk and the monkey ran around, like two kids playing with each other. To enjoy the moment even further, he closed his eyes, inhaling the natural scent of mother nature.
Soon, someone tagged his clothes, waking him up from his leisure.
"Wake up! The beast is here!" Duk warned.
At first, he didn't understand what was going on, but when Duk’s words sank into him, he sat up in a hurry. A few meters away was the black panther, creeping its way towards them. The monkey screeched and bared its fangs while it jumped around in fear.
His current situation was confusing. A moment ago, he was enjoying the piece, and suddenly he was thrown into this messy situation. Did he fall asleep without knowing it? He had no time to think, as every second counts. Grabbing the spear beside him, he stood and pointed it at the black panther. Thankfully, it was cautious; probably it was its first time seeing a human.
He wasn’t prepared for this. His mission was to scout first and then make plans. How was he supposed to escape this predicament? Regardless of whether he was scared or not, he had no plan of dying here.
Raising his spear over his head, he made himself look bigger and generated a war cry as loud as he could, hoping to scare the panther. His body shook, his throat dried, and his voice cracked. Fear ran throughout his body. Nevertheless, he didn’t stop, even for a second, afraid that the black panther would see his bluff. He had no idea if his actions would have a positive outcome or if they were provoking the big cat instead. But his instinct told him to do this, and he had no better idea.
The black panther halted its advance and seemed more cautious towards them. This could be a good sign, and it meant what he was doing was working. Due to this, he became more convinced and intensified his shouting.
The black panther roared back, scaring him and making him fall to his bottom. The moment he stopped his war cry, the panther didn’t waste the opportunity and dashed towards them. The monkey succumbed to its fear and hid behind him, together with Duk. In his panic, he took a few tries before he could grab the spear and stand up. But by the time he succeeded, the Panther was already four steps away from him.
He had no time to consider what was the best action to take; he just closed his eyes in fear and instinctively thrust the spear.
He waited for some kind of impact, but it never came. Did he manage to hurt it? Opening his eyes, he saw the black panther cowering in fear. He didn’t know what caused this reaction, but definitely not him. One thing he noticed was a shadow blanketing him. That should be impossible, as it was still in the middle of the day and there were no trees in the area. So, what could possibly be the cause of this darkness—that even the panther was scared to come near it?
His heart thumped loudly as he could feel something breathing on the back of his neck. He was afraid to turn around, but his curiosity bested him. He should turn his head. He wanted to turn his head. He must turn his head!
With a slow motion, he looked back, wanting to see the creature behind him. His eyes widened, and he froze from where he stood the moment he saw the one responsible. It wasn’t an animal he was familiar with. No, in fact, it wasn’t an animal at all!
It was a giant monster, covered in entangled roots and vines. It was seven feet tall and had a massive body that could crush him if he got buried under it. He wanted to run, but his feet refused to move.
As he stared at the creature, he noticed it slowly opened its mouth, inside nothing but darkness. When the tree monster opened its mouth wide enough, it roared so loudly that Cleo clutched his ears involuntarily, protecting them from bursting.
The black panther escaped with its tail between its legs.
His shaking feet finally gave in and crumbled to the ground. Was he going to die here? Was it a mistake to go into the forest? He didn’t want to die here; he must return to his family no matter what. He was sure Nikka was waiting for him to come back, and he didn’t want to disappoint her.
With his shaking hand, he grasped the spear once again and pointed it at the tree monster. He must fight to survive, even if there was no chance of winning; he must at least try. As long as there was a chance of him surviving, even if it was a minuscule percentage, he would take it.
The monster looked away from the running panther and looked at him. His heart beat even faster, and it might explode if it kept at that rate. He pushed his body from the ground, making it slide away from the giant, but the monster followed him with its slowed steps.
"D-don’t come any closer!" He threatened.
The monster stopped and tilted its head.
He shouted out of fear and had no expectation for it to work, but the tree monster listened and didn’t take another step. This confused him; why would a monster listen to him? While staring at it, it kind of reminded him of someone, especially its tilting head.
However, before he could find the answer, the tree giant’s body shook. This woke him up, putting his guard up again. But instead of attacking, the monster fell on the grass, and its body dried at a rapid pace. He stared at the decreasing body of the monster with a complicated look. The only thing he could think of doing something like this was—Duk!
Now that he thought about it, he forgot about Duk and the monkey. Searching the area, only grass and open air surrounded him, Duk and the monkey were nowhere to be seen! He swiftly stood, afraid of what had happened to his two companions. However, no matter how much he looked around, he couldn’t find them! Did the beast manage to take them away? That was impossible, as he clearly saw everything that happened. The only explanation was…
He turned his head quickly to the point of almost breaking his neck. The place where the monster fell was full of dried leaves, roots, and vines. And in the middle of them, he saw what he was looking for.
"Duk!"
