Palworld; Rhea's Odyssey

Chapter 08: Enduring the Fruits of Labor

Rhea was awakened by the pain of her ribs snapping back into place. She hadn't noticed that the pain of her healing process had caused her to lose consciousness, but that same pain had brought her back. Most of the damage she had endured was already gone, and so she stood up to make her trek back to the shoreline.

Her stomach growled as she stood up, and she decided to eat whatever she could find along the way. She ran into a few berry bushes before long, but stopped when she walked by an extremely peculiar tree.

It bore no leaves, and its trunk jutted out of the ground in a twisted manner, growing branches in various directions. Its bark also glistened with a bright blue color reminding Rhea of the Paldium stones she had seen days before. The entire tree was relatively empty except for a single strange fruit.

What kind of fruit is that?

Attached to the end of one of the branches was a large fruit in the shape of a sphere with a green and black pattern. On its top was a twisted stem with large green leaves attached to it. The oddity of its look intrigued Rhea more than she liked to admit.

Okay, this will be the last thing I eat before I focus on getting back to the shore.

Rhea jumped onto the trunk of the tree and used its branches to climb up to where the fruit was and pulled it quite easily. When she had it in her hand, she realized just how large it was.

Whoa. I might be biting off more than I can chew here, but I'll surely be fighting on a full stomach if I eat this thing.

When she jumped out of the tree, she took a seat at its base and prepared to take a fat bite out of the fruit, but heard footsteps approaching her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you..."

Rhea turned her head fast and stood up to see who was walking up to her and wasn't happy to see Chloe standing there.

Of all the people...

"What are you doing here? Are you following me or something?"

"Something like that..."

"What is your problem?!"

"Calm down. That was a joke. Honestly, I just happened to find you here, but I'm glad to see you."

Chloe hid the fact that she was relieved to have found Rhea like this. It was taking her days to learn anything of her whereabouts and she was beginning to think whoever she was looking for had taken Rhea to another one of the major islands.

"The feeling isn't mutual.

"You shouldn't take any of what happened between us personal, ya know? It's just business, and it was good business. I made a lot of money off of you."

"And let me guess; you're here to double up on your profits?"

"Of course not. What kind of monster do you think I am? I'm here to ask you a few questions."

As if I'd give her any information after what she did to me. Plus; what sort of info does she want from me? I'm the new person here.

"And what makes you think I'd answer anything you asked? You sold me into slavery!"

"Ah, so you were sold? But to who?"

"Huh? You're the one who captured me. Why are you acting like you didn't know I was sold?"

"Because I didn't. I handed you off to Mr.Black, but I wasn't there for the transaction, remember?

Ohhh...she doesn't know about the Rebels! I bet she's curious as to who bought me after all.