Chapter Three

Jay had never skinned or prepared an animal before, but he somehow managed to fumble his way through it while preserving much of the edible meat. It was a disgusting process, but necessary. When he finally finished, the sun had dipped below the horizon. Using the beast’s skin, he loaded the good meat, and a few of the larger bones, before he detached claws and longer, sharper teeth and wrapped it all up safely. Jay dragged what remained of the body a good distance in the opposite direction of his cave. Using the stream, he briefly cleansed his hands on his way back and picked up his bundle before making a rapid retreat to his hidden abode. Being outside at night, at least while in this forest, was probably his number one fear at the moment.

Before entering his cave for the first time, Jay grabbed as many fallen branches as he could carry with his current burden on the way back to the hole. As he slipped inside, the cool, moist air allowed him to relax slightly as the sounds of the night began off in the distance. Apparently the panther’s domain was well-known and others did not tread within it lightly. That would give Jay a few days buffer to prepare until the local wildlife realized it was gone.

Jay set about preparing his new home. The current dark was oppressive, so he immediately set about starting a fire with his previously acquired kindling. It took a lot longer than it should have, as his amateur hands skillfully squashed his attempts to create a small blaze in the dry wood. Several attempts later, a small glow sprang up and rapidly caught as a small fire sprang into existence. The dark was driven back and for the first time since entering the cave, he realized he was not entirely alone, as the shadows cast by the fire danced across the cave.

Huddled in the back corner, two small mounds of black fur peered frightfully at the unknown intruder, and for the first time he felt a small pang of regret before he quickly squashed the emotion. It was kill or be killed, and he was the victor this time. Jay moved slowly, so as not to frighten the little fur balls any more than necessary, as he reached out and pulled out a slab of meat. Using one of the claws, he sliced up the meat into several pieces before slowly approaching the little cubs. They were each about the height of a medium sized dog, reaching his thigh in height.

He placed the meat a short distance away before retreating back to his fire to cook a slice for himself. Was it messed up that he was attempting to feed the cubs pieces of their own mother? Absolutely, but he had nothing else to offer, and the fear in their equally ice blue eyes immediately caused him to discard any notion of killing them. He killed their mother out of necessity. Killing them would be unnecessary bloodshed and would leave a worse taste in his mouth than the realization of what he had already done. He wouldn’t regret his actions, but he didn’t have to like them either.

He stripped the bark of one of the branches before spearing some meat and slow roasting it over the fire. The smell of cooking meat permeated the air in the small cave and made his stomach growl repeatedly. Once it was thoroughly cooked and cooled, he dug in with relish. The meat itself was tough, but the nourishment his body craved made it seem like a prime cut of beef. After devouring another, he proceeded to cook the remaining meat to hopefully allow it to keep longer.

Jay glanced towards the cubs, still huddled at the back of the cave, but noticed the meat he had placed out for them had mysteriously vanished. He sighed before slicing up another slab of meat and approached the little ones again. They still cowered while he approached, but when he stopped a short distance away and held out the meat he spoke soothing tones and words, coaxing them with the food. It didn’t take long before hunger won out over reason and both crept towards him before snatching the meat and rapidly retreating to their corner.

He smiled slightly before retreating as well to his little fire. He was lucky, the cave had natural ventilation due to the slant of the ceiling, allowing for any smoke to leak out of the crevice. With that final worry out of the way, Jay lay down on the dirt and stone floor, enjoying the warmth of the fire as he slowly drifted to sleep.

He woke the next day to a small amount of light leaking in through the crevice and was surprised to find two lumps of black fur huddled next to him for warmth. He chuckled lightly before getting up and stoking the few remaining embers of his little fire and consumed another panther steak for breakfast. It was a few minutes later that two pairs of sleepy eyes looked around before realizing the unknown intruder was sitting right next to them. Both jumped and scurried away back to their corner, causing Jay to burst into laughter.

“Good morning to you too.” He chuckled to himself before setting out another two slabs of meat next to him for the little ones. Realizing he didn’t intend to harm them, they approached suspiciously once again before gobbling down their meal. Jay watched with an amused grin. From what he could tell, the slightly larger one was a boy while the other was a girl. It was the girl that first worked up the courage to approach him fully.

It had been two days since he had taken over the cave and had been working with the claws, teeth and bones he had scavenged. Jay was busy attempting to fasten the various sharp pieces together to form some kind of weapon when he was suddenly nudged from the side. He turned around to find bright blue doleful looking eyes staring at him and he sighed as he set aside his current project. He reached up and slowly began rubbing the young cub on her head, scratching lightly behind her ears.

“I’m sorry, love.” Was all he said as she laid down and lowered her head into his lap in defeat. The boy approached and nudged his sister lightly on the shoulder before laying his head down across his other leg. Jay leaned back against the wall, stroking and comforting the little ones he had orphaned.

After that, the three of them were nigh inseparable. The two cubs followed Jay around everywhere he went. Whether it was fetching water (which they thoroughly enjoyed both splashing and drinking), scouting the surrounding area or hunting at night, the cubs, which he had named Kara and Bane, stuck to his heels no matter what. Kara was immensely sweet and playful, always ready to jump into action but was also incredibly clever. Bane struck Jay as more of the strong, silent type. He held himself as Jay imagined a king might, which had inspired his name. Bane, King of the Dark Forest and his playful, yet equally dangerous sister, Kara.

The meat he had initially acquired had quickly run out after the first few days of feeding all three of them, and he had begun braving the night to bring in more. Much of the night wildlife were predators that stalked and hunted each other. It was a strange ecosystem, where only the strong survived, but all the beasts quickly learned that, while the big panther was no longer around, a new apex predator had taken her place, as Jay and his companions terrorized the night. The three worked well together, one creating ambushes and distractions for their unfortunate victims while the other two would take deadly advantage. It was a team combination that mixed in Jay’s human mind for tactics and the cubs’ natural strengths.

Time passed in this way, scouting a few hours a day by picking a random direction and walking through the morning, then hunting at night. Both cubs had grown in size. Bane was nearly as tall as Jay now, while Kara had reached his chin in height. Both were rapidly growing from the steady influx of food.

It was almost three months since he had stumbled into this world when he came across a well-worn dirt road, almost two full days away from his cave, which cut through the center of the forest. In his surprise, he nearly cheered in delight, but quickly subdued the urge. A dirt road suggested either far country living, or less advanced civilization as Jay had originally hypothesized. Considering the size of the forest and the amount of dangerous creatures that inhabited it, Jay continued to assume less advanced civilization, as anyone with guns would have cleared this place out long ago.

Weeks of survival in the forest had tempered his mind and body. What was once a moderately in shape, pasty human, was now a tanned and well-honed weapon. Jay moved through the trees and underbrush like a ghost, the black fur of the mother panther he draped around his body blending him even further into the shadows of the trees as he skirted along the roads edge. He followed it for an additional several hours before dawn began creeping into the wood and he was forced to turn around. He no longer feared the night in these woods, but if he planned to continue farther, he would need to bring provisions. Kara and Bane had also stopped following him on his scouting trips during the day, as they preferred to sleep during the early morning when he typically left.

It took him most of the remaining day of skirting beasts and territories as he made his way back to the cave. They were not as aggressive during daylight hours, but it never paid to be careless. He finally had a lead on civilization and planned to follow it as soon as he could. He had managed to create various articles of rudimentary clothing and equipment from his night time hunts. Primarily, he needed his water flasks and the bag of dried food he had stored away. The moccasins, fur pants and his panther cloak, as he called it, were all already on him, as well as his favorite bone spear and hand claws he had created. His original clothing had quickly been damaged beyond use, and instead used as bandages, fire kindling and weapon parts.

He entered his home just as light was leaving the forest to find both Kara and Bane sitting at attention, waiting for him. Jay smiled at his companions. They had worried about him since he hadn’t returned in quite some time.

“Sorry guys. I found something really interesting.” Jay said with a grin as he scratched both behind the ears.

Kara nudged him lightly in the chest with her nose, causing him to grin again, while Bane simply looked on with what Jay imagined was an amused look. Both beasts were immensely intelligent, and he didn’t doubt for a second they understood what he said. It always made him wonder how he had managed to live through his encounter with their mother. Over the previous months, both had learned at a remarkable pace, and their ability to understand and follow Jay’s instructions were a large part of the reason for their survival. Jay shook his head. Had mother panther been influenced by a human mind, there was no doubt he would not be alive today.

Discarding morose thoughts, Jay settled his mind. After he took a nap, they would leave this place, maybe forever. He gathered up his supplies and prepared his equipment before he lay down among a bed of furs. Both black beasts curled up around him as they drifted to sleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shira had watched her little human grow strong after defeating the Drenz. Daphenious had been kind enough to inform her of the event after the fact, much to her horror, and she had watched him zealously since. Having watched the fight herself later, she had a brief moment of uncertainty. By all accounts, he should be dead, yet here he was, surviving and excelling in what was likely the most dangerous natural environment on the continent of Val’Drask. She had noted he had called it the Dark Forest in jest, however that was exactly what it had been named. Only the brave, foolish, or both, journeyed off the regularly patrolled roads into the depths of the forest.

Her uncertainty was caused by his strength of will and ability to adapt. She knew he was mentally strong, albeit unmotivated, from her years of watching him in his old world, but this far exceeded anything she had anticipated. If he continued to grow in this way, what would he become?