The chirping of birds and other animals' sounds woke Raymond up on the tree branch he was clinging to. He flipped open his eyes, alarmed.
He remembered watching the creatures who had made it their priority to eat him, throughout the long night. But when did he fall asleep?
He glanced down, and to his relief, the unpleasant creatures were gone. They must hunt only in the evening. Pain ravaged his body - from the injuries he'd sustained from his fall the previous night.
Slowly, Raymond climbed down while at the same time keeping watch in case the shakases proved to be too tricky. He landed hard on the ground and winced as his whole body ached.
He looked around once more, making sure he was safe, before going in the direction he was heading the previous night. The woods are too thick, with grasses a little above his ankles.
There wasn't a trail to go on, only thick brushes and crawling plants that showered down countless tiny vines from both small and large trees.
Raymond spotted a large tree ahead, with several ripe tangerines hanging. His stomach grumbled at the sight. Hastily, he sprinted toward the tree and plucked as many as his height could reach.
After eating to his fill, he resumed moving, occasionally stopping to listen to the sounds around him–squirrel squeaks, bird chirps, insects buzzing, and rustling of leaves against the chilling breeze.
And he dared not call Mason and Nana's name for fear of alerting more enemies, who would mostly see him as breakfast.
When he was sure nothing moved–at least at that moment–he continued walking, hacking off thick brushes with a stick he had picked up beside the tangerine tree earlier.
After walking for about an hour but saw no trace of life, sadness overwhelmed him and he collapsed on the ground.
"I should've listened to Mason when he told me not to follow him," he said regretfully. "I hope he's safe. Nana, too; I hope she's with her brother."
He sat upright, his brows furrowed. "Why am I separated from them anyway?"
He recollected jumping into the swimming pool. Mason began swimming deep down, and suddenly, there was a bright light, and then he vanished into the light. Nana too, she was right beside him, but she too had disappeared. And…
"The swimming pool, it suddenly became larger and deeper," Raymond recollected. "Aren't I supposed to be in Africa or whatever that slut called it? Did she deceive us?"
"Urhh, this is driving me crazy. What the hell is this place then?"
Raymond shifted on the grass as he felt a dull pain on his buttocks. He glanced and saw a long knife on the ground. It was covered in dirt but free of rust.
He grabbed it and held it aloft. The knife was at least 5 inches long, pointed tip, and sharp on both edges–not just a knife as he'd expected–it was more a weapon!
A faint sound came. Raymond listened. A river!
Listening again, he followed the direction of the sound. After walking less than half a mile, hacking off thick brushes with his newfound knife, he finally arrived at an open area of land overseeing a small and slow-flowing river.
He took a deep breath of the cool undiluted air produced by the water, and he let it out with a deep sigh of relief. Raymond scanned his surroundings to be sure he was not on full display to lurking enemies.
Double sure he was safe, he quickly descended the elevated ground to the shore. He drank from the river and washed his dirty hair. He was about to strip himself off of his clothes when he heard heavy footsteps.
Raymond was unsure where the footsteps were coming from, but his instinct told him to hide. Revealing himself to unknown entities without confirming what or who they are would be a bad decision, which would likely cost him his life.
Pouring on his speed and trying to be as stealthy as possible, he dashed into the woods. That would at least give him some cover regardless of where the footsteps are coming from. It was far better than being out in the open.
However, the deeper he went, the louder the footsteps seemed to get. At some point, he thought he'd already been discovered. Nonetheless, he kept running.
Soon, he no longer heard the footsteps, and everything suddenly went quiet. Ominously quiet.
Raymond stopped to catch his breath. Beneath and around him was a murky and slippery ground, with long vines–or roots–entangled. One would trip and fall if not extra-careful.
Raymond raised his legs slowly so as not to slip as he made his way out of the slimy area. He was a step away from the grassland at the edge of the quagmire when the sound returned.
"Don't let it go!"
"Kill it! I'll kill y'all if it escapes!"
Fear gripped Raymond's heart as he turned to see a wild boar running toward him, chased by about ten half-naked men. The boar ran past him, and so did the men, as though they didn't notice him.
That was a close call, so he thought until he saw another man walking toward him. He was bald, with traces of gray hair on his dark beard.
His well-defined muscles are marred by angry and weeping scars–probably acquired through several years of fierce battle. The man held a Warhammer in his hand.
It appeared he'd spotted Raymond, judging by the look of disgust that came to his eyes.
"Good morning, sir," Raymond said, throwing up his hand in a manner of peace. "I'm just lost, I meant not to disturb your…er… hunt."
"Did none of your kind tell you no one survived in the Wedge?" the man said, his thick voice dripping with venom. "You shall die!"
"Wait a minute sir, I don't understand what you're saying," Raymond replied, confused. "Wedge? I don't know where this place is…" His words trailed off as he saw the man charging at him.
Raymond needed no one to tell him he was going to die if the man approached him. Instinctively, he stretched his hand, pointing his knife forward to keep the man at bay.
However, If the bald man saw his weapon, he made no record of it. Unencumbered, he continued his advance, raising his Warhammer for a brutal strike.
Raymond's fear skyrocketed, his body now trembling as he beheld his imposing attacker. In normal circumstances, Raymond was a muscular man. But compared to this man, he sure was no match, he'd definitely be crushed.
The man swung his warhammer, but Raymond leaped back just in time, narrowly missing the blow.
Swinging again, the bald man was tripped over by the entangled roots in the mire. His stance faltered and he collided with Raymond. Both men fell onto the slimy ground's edge.
Raymond groaned in pain as he fell on his back, and his enemy atop him.
"I'm new in this place, I mean no harm," Raymond managed to plead through pain. "I promise I'll never step foot on your territory again if you spare me."
"You bastard!" the bald man breathed, spouting blood from his mouth before going silent.
Raymond turned his head to the right to see the close-up side of the man's face. Blood was dripping down from his limp jaw.
Confused, Raymond brushed the motionless man aside. It was at that moment he realized his knife had plunged into the man's chest, just where his heart should be located.
Raymond staggered back in fright. His chest heaved relentlessly as his heart threatened to pop out.
He's had inadvertently murdered a man!
"Ghansiki! We kill it!"
"My lord!"
Raymond turned back and saw the men who went after the boar earlier, approaching. He tried to leave quietly without being spotted but failed colossally.
Nevertheless, he backed away from the corpse as one of the men approached and inspected their fallen companion. The rest of the men dropped the wild boar they'd killed and converged on the corpse.
"My lord! My lord!!" one of them shouted, shaking the limp body vigorously.
"He's gone," another said. "Ghansiki is dead."
Seizing the moment of their distraction, Raymond took to his heels, but the sound of rustling leaves and snapping twigs gave him away.
"He's running away, get him!" he heard one of the men shout.
"Stop right there!" another voice ordered.
"You will die a painful death if I catch you!"
"Of course, I know that," Raymond muttered under his breath. He thought the men had exhausted themselves during their hunting earlier, but he was woefully wrong.
What did he expect? These men, compared to him, either hunters or, most likely, warriors, must've spent most of their years training, as opposed to him.
Raymond didn't go far before he was outran. One of the men grabbed him on the shoulder and slammed him against a tree. Raymond fell to the bottom of the tree, writhing.
The one who'd first approached the corpse of their leader earlier, a young man with black hair that fell far from his shoulder and a slender yet reasonable physique. He unsheathed his longsword and pointed it at Raymond.
"Please don't kill me," Raymond said, blood sipping down from the side of his head. "I have old parents who would be worried about me."
"Is that your excuse for murdering our leader?" the young man shouted, his eyes filled with hatred.
"No, no, that's not it," Raymond replied, shaking his head. "It was unintentional. He tried to kill me, I didn't even fight him."
The men exchange a skeptical look. "He must be so skillful to drop Ghansiki without even fighting him," one said.
"No, that's not it either," Raymond clarified. "I can barely–"
"Sheath your sword, Toby," a man said, interrupting Raymond.
"Can you hear yourself, Fillian?" Toby, the one wielding a longsword, groaned. "My life is on the line here!"
"You get nothing by killing him," Fillian said. "Either way, your fate is sealed."
"I can get my revenge by giving him a painful death!" Toby barked.
"Leave that to Agithara," a man interrupted. This one has a long four slashes across his torso–possibly from a wild cat's attack. "She'll decide his fate."
"Why!?" Toby said. "To follow the culture of what happens to whoever vanquishes a Ghansiki?"
"Of course not!" Jako, the man with a slash scar countered. "Look at him carefully. He doesn't look like he belongs in this world."
"That's true," Fillian rejoined. "His clothes are like nothing I've ever seen. I'm sure Agithara would take an interest in him." He whirled around, scanning the rest of the men. "Where's Bigbody?"
"Up here," a voice came, and everyone raised their heads to see a man sitting on the large tree. True to his name, he was twice–or almost thrice the size of Raymond.
He has a round face and a few hairs on his head, reminding Raymond of old men losing their hair to old age.
With agility unnatural for any man of his size, Bigbody jumped from the tree to a small one, before climbing down and joining the rest.
"Make sure you don't kill him till we get back home," Fillian said to the fat guy.
Bigbody grinned foolishly and, with his huge hand, raised their captive from the ground. With the edge of his free open hand hit Raymond on the back, rendering him unconscious.