Fate couldn’t say anything, his mind had gone blank in horror at the state of the one thing that might have been able to save him from his crippling fear. It was as if he had reached for a rope while plummeting to his death, and the world had decided to cut the end holding it, in half…

He suddenly grasped the neck of the bottle and squeezed it tightly, crushing it and allowing glass shards to spill out onto the surrounding bark and to enter his hand! Fate then lifted the bottle, pouring the remaining potion into his mouth without a care...

-P-please...please, please, please!!!

The green liquid filled his throat, sending a familiar mix of bubbling and stinging sensations, though it wasn’t as powerful as the first time, throughout his body, while an apple-ish taste danced on his tongue. He could feel that fatigue in his body fading away as the effect of the potion spread, allowing him to move without worry of pain, once again.

Truly, this potion was a miraculous little microcosm of this fantasy world, able to fill those who indulged in it with such energy. 

However, despite his body now being filled with energy, Fate’s expression looked grim. He looked down to his hands, clenching and unclenching them, watching as blood leaked from the wounds caused by the split glass, as his eyes lifelessly tracked their movements…

-W-why…? Why…?! No, no, no, no!!! This….h-has to be a mist-take...I c-can still feel my...f-f-fear!!!

Indeed, though his fatigue had left him, thanks to the potion, his overwhelming sense of fear still lingered. It was unknown if he had somehow drank the potion incorrectly, or if one had to drink half of the entire bottle for the effect to become active, or if he had to wait for it.

[Crash!!!]

Fate felt his entire body quake in fright, his heart pounded rapidly in his chest as if it wanted to escape, and felt his blood grow cold…

Another tree had met its end at the end of the boar’s menacing tusks...would this tree, and himself meet theirs soon?

-No, no, no, no...J-just g-go away…! Dammit, how the f-f***...did I mess up?!! W-wait...I was...unc-conscious after that c-crash...d-don’t tell me…!!!

Fate’s mind had already pounced at the possibility, no matter how absurd it seemed, that a certain elderly servant had been involved in this, and began to scream curses to him in his mind...

-Motherf***er!!! W-why...why the f*** d-do...you hate me s-so...much!?! What-t...h-how do I...deserve this sh*t?!!

[Boom!!!]

[Craacckk!]

Fate felt the tree beneath him begin to shake and he nearly lost his balance. He trembled in fear, his every breath seeming to freeze as it exited his mouth…

-N-no...no...no…

[Boom!!!]

[Craacckk!!]

Through the sounds of wood snapping, the canopy shedding its leaves in droves, and the tree’s quaking continued, Fate slowly pulled himself across the branches, weakly holding onto the branches as he made his was to the gap between the branches, with every second growing to resemble an eternity in his eyes…

Soon, Fate was fearfully overlooking the horror that he had hoped would simply pass him by, as he watched the monstrous boar repeatedly ram its body into the thick trunk of the tree, creating deep holes as it furiously pierced the wood! 

Fate had the urge to pull back, to retreat into the canopy of the tree and hope that the larger size, at least compared to the somewhat thinner variety that the boar had been tearing apart before, of the tree would somehow dissuade it from continuing its assault. However, just as he was about to stumble backwards…

[Snap!]

His foot had accidentally pushed down on a smaller branch, and he had unknowingly been putting weight on it, which now had caused it to snap, sending it falling through the air until it met the boar’s head, causing it to stumble slightly!

-Oh...s-sh*t!!!

The further enraged boar soon had craned its fat neck upwards, its crimson eyes locking with Fate’s…

[Roar!!!]

With it’s battlecry and fury unleashed, the furious beast hastened the rate at which it bashed the tree, dashing around its base while stabbing it with its tusks!

[Boom!!!][Boom!!!][Boom!!!][Boom!!!][Boom!!!]

[Crrraaaaaaacccccckkkk!!!]

Fate could feel the tree begin to lose out against its aggressor, as the surface beneath his feet began to wobble! He no longer had time to waste, that was, if he wanted to continue living.

He had already retreated back into the shadows of the tree, looking for a spot he could land on where the boar wouldn’t be able to meet him. His heart thumped in his chest as he desperately scanned the floor of the forest, but he felt his stomach continue to sink. 

-Sh*t...sh*t, sh*t, sh*t!!! T-there’s not a p-place to land where it-t won’t…!

[Boom!!!][Boom!!!][Boom!!!]

[Crrrrraaaaaccccckkkk!!!]

The shaking of the tree continued to grow worse, and Fate’s balance became more and more unsteady. However, right when Fate had almost lost his last shred of hope...

『H...op...t..ree!!!』

The ghostly, distorted voice of his doppelganger rang out from the ring, the almost nonexistent glow suddenly increasing in brightness as a guiding light, similar to a miniscule shooting star, shot out towards a nearby tree!

Fate felt his heart beat even faster, with every beat stinging his chest as they pushed against his skin. He looked at the tree that the ring had indicated, judging the distance and examining its branches, fearful of what might happen should he fall…

-N-not...gonna...end-d up an easter egg!!!

[Boom!!!][Boom!!!][Boom!!!][Boom!!!]

[Crrrraaaaaccccckkk!!!]

The boar, meanwhile, was taking its time to stab through every empty space in the tree’s base, almost as if to let its prey’s fears build to their limit, savoring Fate’s dread while continuing to pound at the tree!

With the tree nearly on its last legs and beginning to tip backwards, Fate began his fearful sprint to its branches! He dashed forward, arms extended, reaching the edge of the branches within a few short breaths, just as the tree began to topple!

『JUMP!!!』

His copy’s voice shot clearly through his mind, as he felt his feet push off from the branches of the tree, sending him gliding through the air! He felt the wind blow across his face, time slow to a crawl around him, gravity pushing down on his body, and the stinging from his chest seem to cease for a moment…

Fate: “Aaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!”

Fate screamed as the world resumed moving its natural speed, the wind rushing past his ears as his body began to fall, just as he had reached the branches of the next tree! He panickedly grasped them, halting his fall and leaving him struggling to pull himself up as he hung from the branches…

[Crash!!!]

Behind him, the sound of the falling tree resounded, and he soon turned, only to watch the canopy that had sheltered him collide with the ground! 

[Sqquueeaall!!!~]

The boar’s squeals of delight at having felled the tree, and of its presumed success in trapping Fate echoed throughout the forest as Fate hauled himself into the branches of his newest perch. Having escaped his death, once again, Fate trembled uncontrollably as he looked at the ground, imagining the gruesome seen that might have played out if he had been caught, but trembled even more when he thought about the jump he had made.

『Now. Find water...』

Fate dug the ring out of his pocket was about to fearfully debate with his somewhat unwilling ally, but given its track record, he decided that listening to it might be worth it. 

-W-why do I…?

『It found you. It found me. It isn’t being fooled. Run across the trees. Slow it down. Find water.』

He was confused by the ring’s suddenly robotic way of speaking, and was further confused by its instructions. 

-We...find water and then what…?

The glow in the ring suddenly grew stronger, and, again, a thin burst of light shot out towards another tree.

『You. Will. Find out. How it found us.』

-H-hey! W-what am I supposed to look for?!! Hey!

The ring's light settled down to a barely visible glow, seemingly leaving Fate in the dark on what his doppelganger's plan was to help him deal with the boar. Although reluctant to relive the experience of jumping from tree to tree, so soon after he'd just done it, Fate didn't have any idea on how to deal with his enemy on his own, and so, could only attempt to follow the path that the being in the ring had somehow set for him.

He began slowly making his way through the branches, slowly fading from view as he cautiously moved along the edge of the tree...

A short while later, the boar, who had been combing through the wreckage of the tree, trudged out and locked its crimson eyes on the spot where Fate had just been a moment ago, its glare sharpening as it looked the somewhat damaged branches...

[Grunt...]

...

Dunno when the next post will be today, but stay tuned! Also, the vote was conflicted between easter joke and no easter joke, so I just put in a minor one.