"Shh, quiet."
"You shh, no one's even talking."
"You breathe too loud."
"At least it doesn't stink, you imbecile. Focus."
Somewhere deep inside a sea of trees; the large leaves completely cover the sky, only letting a speck of light persevere and touch the ground. Even then, however, the plants seem to thrive as lush as they could; bushes, even standing meters tall.
And inside those bushes were 4 pairs of eyes that reflected what little light was allowed to live inside the forest. The eyes seemed resolute, none of them blinking for even a single second.
"...Are you sure this is the right spot?"
"I'm sure. Can you just have some patience? Be like the new guy, he's been quiet since we entered the dungeon."
"...The new porter's sort of creepy."
"Shh!"
"You shh!"
The words coming from the owners of the eyes started to mix with the rustle of the bushes; the tiny noise they were creating, whispering through the darkness as they continued to argue endlessly.
Soon, however, as a tiny crack snapped in the air, their voices instantly stopped. Their eyes which were the only things exposed in the bush, now reflecting some sort of large deer.
The deer's eyes shone a bright red; its horns, almost as large as its body as they created a weird pattern similar to that of lightning. But even with these grand features, perhaps the most noticeable thing with the deer was that… it was holding a large bird in its mouth.
The bird still seemed to be alive, as its wings could be seen weekly flapping—but as soon as it did so, the deer violently wagged its head, slamming the large bird on the ground.
"..." The eyes that were hiding in the bush then all looked at each other, before obviously nodding as they once again focused on the deer. And as soon as it started devouring its prey, the owners of the eyes finally revealed themselves as they leaped out of the bushes.
The deer flinched as soon as it heard the sound of footsteps, it quickly turned its head toward the noise…only to find a flash of light blinding it.
"Roan, the feet!"
"You don't have to tell me!"
The 3 people that leaped out from the bush quickly surrounded the stunned deer. The smallest one of the group, Roan, a young man carrying a rope, was the first to rush toward the deer—circling around it as he wrapped the rope around its feet.
The deer tried unraveling itself, but as soon as it took a step forward, Roan pulled the rope.
"!!!" The deer then let out a wailing roar as it tripped violently—its horns, penetrating deep through the ground. It tried pulling itself up; but with its feet bound, the only thing it was doing was trapping itself with its own horns.
"Now!"
And with it trapped, the other two rushed toward it—brandishing and swinging their own weapons at the trapped deer. The largest one of them, a muscular bald man sporting a beard, slammed his hammer that was almost half his size straight on the deer's bound legs.
The deer screamed…but that was it—despite the size of the hammer, it only managed to scrape a skin off the deer's leg. His companions were in the same boat—their spear, and knives, not able to pierce through the deer's hide.
The hunters did not stop, however, as they continued violently swinging their weapons at the deer. None of them stopping…not until the red glow in the deer's eyes started to fade away.
And with the light in its eyes completely gone, two of the hunters quickly stepped back.
The only one that remained near the deer was the one holding the spear; her hands, gripping her weapon tighter as she stepped on the deer's neck. She then took in a deep breath, before stabbing her spear straight into the deer's head—and this time, it was able to pierce through it, even penetrating the ground.
And with that, any movement from the deer disappeared.
"Ha…" The female hunter then quickly backed away, falling to her butt as she let go of her spear; her breaths, as heavy as they could be as she looked at her comrades. The exhaustion on her face did not last long, however, as she raised her thumbs up and smiled.
"Good work, everyone!"
"Alright!"
The other hunters raised their weapons in the air; their cheers, filling the darkness of the forest with joy.
"I told you, it will be here! How many times have I failed you guys!? Zero! Zero!" Roan raised his voice, pointing at his two comrades as he laughed.
"Like… a hundred times?" The woman sitting on the ground once again released a deep breath; wiping her sweat before finally standing up and retrieving her weapon from the deer's head,
"Anyway…" The woman then retrieved something from the small bag attached to her waist—a watch. Not digital, however, but completely analog as the sound coming from it ticked quietly in the air, "We only have a few minutes left, I don't want to get a penalty again. We can barely pay for the inn as it is."
"Wait, our time is up!? We… only hunted one!?" The short man, Roan, clasped his head as he looked at the dead deer, "This is your fault, Bert!"
"How is this my fault when you're the one who got us waiting for an entire hour?" The muscular man, Bert, crossed his arms as he looked at Roan. The two then proceeded to… violently stare at each other before Bert just gave up, sighing and turning his head to look at the female hunter.
"I told you to share a room with us already, Lilly," Bert said, "That will cut our expenses almost in half."
"...You think I'm going to sleep in the same room as you guys?" The female hunter, Lilly, rolled her eyes before turning to look at the tall bush they emerged from,
"It's safe, you can come out now."
"..."
"...I think the new guy is shaking in his boots," Roan smirked, "For someone that looks like a ghost, I didn't expect him to be scared that easily."
"Can you shut up? Do you want to carry this thing yourself?" Lilly once again rolled her eyes.
"Just let Bert carry it, what else is he going to use all that muscle for!?"
"Then you carry my hammer," Bert clicked his tongue, "Then make sure to protect me when a monster jumps out. There's a reason we have porters, you little runt."
"What did you call me!?"
"And you're the reason why the last one quit in the first place! You—"
And before the two men could start arguing, the last one of their group finally stepped out of the bushes—clapping his hands as he looked at the three hunters one by one.
"Good work, everyone," the man then smiled; the ends of his lips, almost reaching his ears as he was revealed by what little light seeped into the forest, "I'll handle it from here so you can relax."
The man was covered in a cloak—but even then, his pale white face could be seen clearly; his white hair, too long to be contained inside the garment.
"...I told you he was creepy as hell," Roan sneakily approached Bert and Lilly, "...What was his name again?"
"I can agree with you on that."
"He was the only porter available. I… don't really remember his name."
Bert, as well as Lilly, whispered to each other as they stepped away from the carcass, making way for their white-haired porter as he walked toward the dead deer.
"...Are you sure you're a porter?" Roan squinted his eyes as he looked up at their porter, "Why didn't you even bring a cart…or a bag, for that matter? Where are you even going to—"
And before Roan could finish his words, the white-haired porter grabbed the large deer by its horns…very gently lifting it and throwing it over his shoulder.
"...Shall we go?" The porter then casually nodded, before gesturing to the three to lead the way.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Everyone?"
"Y…Yes," Lilly blinked a couple of times, before grabbing her spear from the ground and gesturing to her comrades to move. Roan and Bert, however, looked at each other for a few seconds before proceeding to walk ahead.
"...Can you lift that deer with one hand?" Roan whispered as he walked closely to Bert.
"I can…" Bert nodded as he glanced back at the porter, "...But look at him and look at me."
"I don't know… he might be more muscular than you inside that cloak."
"Well, he's definitely taller than you."
"The fuck you say!?"
"Guys, come on… stop embarrassing us," Lilly, who was leading the way, once again rolled her eyes as she glanced at her comrades, "This is the reason why our last porter left, he was frustrated from hearing the two of you talk shit."
"Tell that to the big guy."
"You—"
"Shh!"
"You shh!"
Even with Lilly's warnings, the two continued to argue with each other—with Lilly even joining in. It wasn't until they reached some sort of fiery ring of fire that they stopped arguing.
The ring was hovering inches above the ground, wide and large enough to fit perhaps a group of people—and within that ring, one could see a view that was completely different from the rest of the forest.
"You guys, shut up," Lilly sighed as she stopped in front of this ring, "Let me talk to the handlers first and negotiate—"
"The last one pays for dinner!"
And before Lilly could finish her words, Roan suddenly rushed past her—running through the ring… and just completely disappearing.
"..." Lilly and Bert then looked at each other—with Bert shaking his head. He seemed to want to say something, but alas… Lilly suddenly moved and ran through the ring.
"Damn it!" Bert stretched his hand to try and stop Lilly, but alas… he was the last of the three to pass through the portal.
"..." The white-haired porter, who was left carrying the deer, did not immediately follow the three out, and instead slowly turned around. And there, he saw 3 other deer that looked just like the one he was carrying—their red glowing eyes, staring at him as smoke fumed from their throbbing noses.
"Hello," the porter tilted his head to the side, returning the deer's stares as he very slowly stepped toward them. As soon as he did so, however, the three deer all turned around, quickly trotting away.
But before they could disappear into the bushes… all of them suddenly and instantly turned into a mist of blood.
"Hm. Animals are still scared of me…
…I wonder why?"
And with those words, the white-haired porter also disappeared into the portal.
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