Inky black painted the night sky full, the glimmering stars trying to fight futilely against the invading darkness. Amidst it all shone the golden moon, its radiance cast down caringly, giving all those who sought vision, light. And it immensely helped Yuuya.

He rushed through the forest, bounding up and down, the entire scene a blur to his eyes as he passed through it. Trunks and barks of various kinds surrounded him, trapping him in their leafy embrace. Once he would have been curious, as these, observing in the faint golden light, seemed to be different from the ones he had seen near his wooden cabin. But now, he had no time. Now, he had to run.

His heart pounded against his chest, the rhythmic and accelerated thumping the only sound in his head. His blood roared fiercely as he pushed himself to his limits. He had to get out of the forest soon, very soon. What would Miras do once she found out about his escape? Perhaps drag him back? Perhaps she would support him to get where he wanted to? He did not want to find out, for the former possibility scared him more. If he were to get caught this time, he could say goodbye to ever escaping. The relaxed nature with Miras frightened him. He loved it, yet he feared it would eventually dampen his desire to find Shizuka. He did not want to indulge himself. The constant exercise, the feeling of his muscles burning with flames of pain, had helped him immensely, to keep that desire burning. And today, he would feed that desire of his.

He struggled to keep balance occasionally, his pace slightly slowed by the object in his hands. With two hands he clasped the pitcher together, the thick liquid within sloshing around like tidal waves. When he had schemed during his ‘sleep’, he had encountered a problem that threatened to crush him before all else. Money. He had none, and he was sure that Miras wouldn’t have stowed any money within the cabin for him to use. He did not dare ask Miras for even a tiny detail about the world beyond for fear of alerting her, much less asking her for money that he would have to use within a forest. And so he had come to the easiest conclusion. Use what he had. And the only things he had were his tunic, his pants and the bowl. The bowl full of the bitter concoction. Perhaps it would be extremely common-place in the outside world, but he was willing to bet that somebody would be in need of it and would pay him for it. It was his only chance. He had feared that the water in it may dilute the concoction, but then Miras had descended for him, almost as if she were encouraging his escape. The pitcher had been empty that day.

The lid of the pitcher he kept pressed against its mouth, his caution considerably slowing him down. He had debated repeatedly about bringing it as it would only slow him down, much less him having only adjusted with having half of his sight. But he had decided that if the need were to come, he would lose it, instead to preserve his life.

Yuuya bounded through the dark forest, only the chirping noises of insects accompanying him. The occasional noise or chirp would make him jump. His hairs were on end as his eyes darted around, wary. This place still gave him nightmares, nightmares of all the pain he had suffered.

The forest closed in around him, and he jumped over thick roots that pushed out of the ground, dodging colored vines that swung in the air before him, dancing enticingly. He was frightened of touching anything that seemed even remotely out of the ordinary. Of course, he did not know what the standards for ‘ordinary’ were here. As such, he simply avoided everything.

The forest would occasionally thin out, allowing moonlight to firmly illuminate his path. Sweat gleamed golden as it poured off him, and his muscles seem to slightly feel strain. But he had only started; the path was still long before him. He took a deep breath, rushing forward with renewed vigor. He looked around, cautious for any enemies that might attack him.

And then his eyes widened.

There, beyond the groves of trees, the golden radiance clearly illuminated a majestic tree. It rose above the canopy, rearing its crown high majestically. Its leaves danced in the faint wind, and its trunk stood strong and tall. All the trees of the forest seemed to give it a wide berth, as several meters around the tree was barren, only tumbled mud around it. Even the forest acknowledged it as its master.

But he had recognized the tree.

For what else could it be, but the notorious Taotie?

Uttering a startled cry, Yuuya rushed away from the lone tree, his body co-operating completely with his mind. Screaming filled his head as his body jerked away irregularly, terrified by this fiend. His legs were starting to freeze up, and his vision seemed to be clouding. Not stopping to recover himself, Yuuya continued to rush away, his locked legs slowing him down considerably. His eyes had widened, pupils dancing around, horrified. He had to get away from this black star, quick.

And the earth shook.

A terrifying wave rushed by the ground, pushing him away effortlessly. His newfound strength and improved body could do little to defend against this, immediately pushing him to the ground. His teeth clattered against each other as his body went cold. A fire burned in his belly, making his blood boil – not with courage, but absolute terror.

The entire forest stilled as the wave passed by, as leaves shook violently before freezing up. Even the wind had stilled as the air solidified. It was before him, locking down, preventing him from approaching the lone tree even if he wanted to. The grass shivered and rocks trembled. The entire forest would prefer to not be subject to the Taotie’s wrath.

Yuuya scrambled to his feet, struggling to keep himself steady. His pitcher was inches from being dropped as he could barely keep his arms steady. He had understood what it had meant. It was warning him to not approach again. Smiling wryly as he recalled his insults against this ancient beast, Yuuya sped away, heading with faster speed to the edge of the forest.

It had only been a few more meters before a dark shape crashed into his side.

He coughed, spitting saliva as the mass crashed into him. He had not seen it coming at all, as it had struck him from his blind side. He rolled on the ground, pitcher flying out of his hands. It clattered against the ground, spilling the concoction all over the ground. Yuuya rolled himself to a stop, panting as he pushed himself up. The sudden shock had disturbed his body, and it had taken its toll on him. He was not injured as grievously as he would have been. He grinned through clenched teeth, staring at the hulking beast.

“Well, well well,” he said with a grin. “You seem to be new at the job. Didn’t your Papa wolf tell you how it had failed to kill me the last time?”

The Dreadwolf stood before him, revealing sharp teeth as it growled at Yuuya. Its yellow eyes glinted with malevolent hate. With sharp claws it treaded the soft ground, shrinking away from Yuuya. Its thick black tail swished around, perhaps deciding what it would do. It was smaller than the Dreadwolf that had attacked him, probably a teenager in wolf terms.

And so it attacked.

Yuuya’s face hardened as the hulking mass charged at him, jaws opening wide as it prepared to tear off meat from him. Clenching his jaw, he dove to the side, narrowly missing its attack. Without ado he scrambled forward, grabbing a rock in his hand. He turned back, roaring as he threw the fist sized rocks at the Dreadwolf’s head.

Muffled tong’s echoed out as the tiny rocks struck at the Dreadwolf’s powerful skull. It turned toward him, swishing its tail about as it slowly circled around him. He had thrown it with all his strength, yet at best he could only cause a few lumps to appear, at best. He crouched, maintaining an eye-to-eye with the beast. It would send out occasional growls, wanting to terrify him into submission. His face remained impassive as he stared back at him.

This time, he moved.

Yelling a garbled war-cry, he rushed toward the wolf, shoulders lowered and arms bent forward. The wolf started, shortly recovering its composure. Eagerly it moved, thick forelimb whipping out, its claw coming for a clean swipe.

Right before they met, Yuuya ground to a stop, the force sending his feet digging in to the ground. With his toes he gripped onto the mud, bringing his acceleration to a stop. The Dreadwolf was stunned, frozen in its oncoming attack. Yuuya began moving diagonally, toward the claw of the wolf. Relaxing, it continued its frenzied attack, claw coming to where Yuuya’s shoulder would be.

With a powerful thump Yuuya planted his other leg forward, bringing himself to a stop. The Dreadwolf was caught in its attack, unable to retrieve itself. With an earnest shout that startled even him, he dove in the other way, to the wolf’s unprotected side.

With all the strength he could muster he crashed into the thick matte of fur, fingers digging through them, into hard skin beneath it. With a roar he pushed it away, making the beast yelp. He ripped his hands off, pulling off fur from the beast. It flew through the air, eyes wide with fear as it was astounded by the puny human’s strength. On two hind legs, it was already quite unbalanced. It rolled away, heavy body crashing against the ground. With a short howl it jumped onto its feet, staring at Yuuya warily. On its side were two spots without fur, revealing dark violet skin that rose with undulations.

“Go!” Yuuya shouted, waving his arms about wildly above his head. The wind picked up the fur, further enhancing his display. “Go away! I will kill you! Run!” He tried to make himself sound as menacing as he could, and thankfully, it worked. The wolf uttered two short growls of unhappiness before it turned away and left. It dove into the bushes, its movement revealed to Yuuya, bushes shaking as it passed by.

He panted, sweat beading on his forehead. Looking ahead, he did not relax, his arms still raised above his head. Until the beast had completely disappeared from his sight, he did not dare look away. What if it changed its mind? When convinced that the little Dreadwolf had left, his shoulders finally slumped down. With weary eyes he looked on at the damaged ground, processing what just happened.

And then he burst out laughing.

He, Yuuya Nakajima, a human from Earth, had made a Dreadwolf, a fantasy beast, run away. He laughed uproariously, pride and joy mixing itself inside him. Chuckling, he got to his feet. His laughter faded as he looked back, his joy now replaced by regret.

The pitcher lay on the ground, its content dying the grass violet. The pitcher itself had broken into tiny shards, with no hope for repair. Yuuya looked away, his gut wrenching as he remembered Miras’s care. What he was doing… It was betraying her, wasn’t it? No, she had imprisoned him. He had only escaped from his own imprisonment.

Futilely trying to convince himself, Yuuya began running forward. This was no time to think. All of this, he had to channel in to running. Before the sun rose, he had to be out of the forest, heading to Ars, hopefully. He had no resource for money anymore, but Yuuya still tried to remain upbeat. Perhaps he could sell his tunic for some chump change.

Minutes passed like hours as he continued to run through the forest. The sky showed no signs of lightening, although the moon moved, surreptitiously at that. The golden gem danced across the sky as night turned to day, and its path was one of the few things he had to observe, other than the numerous trees that surrounded him.

The forest had returned to slumber once night came by, no more attacks coming toward him after. Perhaps the Dreadwolf itself had been a stray, finding itself lucky at having seen Yuuya. The only creatures active now were the Gigants that had kidnapped him when he had arrived. They roamed the forest, their numbers numerous. They avoided him, as did he them. They searched the forest thoroughly, occasionally dragging back carcasses or remnants of it that they found, presumably back to their nest. Yuuya grinned as he remembered how they had mistaken him for dead meat. Well, he was dead meat at that time-

His breath caught in his chest as he crashed through an invisible screen.