Surviving the Beastworld

Knock Knock

Who there? Well, you're about to find out...

Hope you enjoy<3

My body immediately tensed up at the noise. Whoever was out there was not Ahi because he would've just come in by now or announced himself.

Instead the person was messing around the door as if they were up to something. Something bad.

Reaching out for my trusty pepper spray, I pushed my bag into a hidden corner and moved away from any nearby shutters. There was no way I was risking going outside to see who was lurking about.

It was a dangerous world out there.

"Female!" A voice suddenly called out, jumpscaring me a little. "I know you're in there. Please come out."

Oh hell no.

There was no way I was going near that door. The guy sounded like a creep the way he kept calling out. I was much safer hiding in his corner thank you very much.

"Is she there?" Another voice asked in a lower tone, making the first person stop.

The voice sounded somewhat familiar and it was confirmed when the first person answered, "I believe so, but she's hiding away, Elder Williams."

The fear inside me disappeared for a moment as I wondered what Elder Williams was up to. Surely they didn't kidnap females in villages.

Right?

While my mind began spiraling with what could go wrong, someone began banging on the wooden door.

"Female! I know you're in there." Elder Williams cried out as the banging continued. "We're here to rescue you!"

To rescue me?! What the hell happened to wanting me to leave the village? The whole switch up was maddening and there was no way I was going to allow them inside.

They had to be crazy if they thought I was going to let them in after what they pulled earlier.

"If you don't come out now-" Elder Williams began threatening me from outside when there was a sudden caw.

"Elder, you're going too far." A third voice suddenly called out. "The female inside clearly doesn't want to see you. Besides, you're starting to crotch on my territory. I suggest you leave while I'm being nice."

"You think you can threaten me, Xavier?!" Elder Williams growled back. "I'm the elder of this village and anything I tell the king will be held at a higher regard than your words. Besides, I'm here to take the female away from that dreadful snake."

That cowardly piece of shit?!

He was planning to take me away from Ahi and even insulted him while he was away. That man just kept getting worse the longer I got to know him.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Xavier muttered in disgust. "Weren't you planning on abandoning the female to the wild earlier?"

Yeah, tell him! I thought to myself as I continued to eavesdrop on their conversation, forgetting about everything else for a second.

"That was just a little mistake. My rage at the feral blinded me for a moment." Elder Williams sighed. "That's why I came here. To help the female get away from that feral and offer up my son as an apology. I'm sure she'll prefer a jaguar over a feral."

What the hell?! Ahi was ten, no a thousand times better than most of the beastmen I had met so far. That included jaguar beastmen, who were ranking real close to those crocodiles.

His words disgusted me, but as the shock faded a little, my mind slowly pieced everything together. He wasn't here to help me, but rather help his son get a mate. I couldn't help, but shiver in horror at the thought.

I thanked everything that was holy that Xavier had stopped him from entering the hut. Who knows what he would've done if he got tired of waiting and opened up the door.

"We both know that's a lie." Xavier stated. "You're just looking for a female who'll take in your useless son."

Someone began growling as Elder Williams began yelling, "Listen here you-"

"Choose your words wisely, Elder." Xavier almost whispered. "I still have to take care of that feral problem for you. Keep running your mouth and I might just fly back home and let you wait for someone else to help you."

"You can't do that?!" Elder Williams cried out in frustration. "We have an agreement-"

"And I can leave any time I feel the job is too much. That was part of the agreement." Xavier retorted. "So, get lost before I get angry."

There was some more growling and whispering, not that I could hear anything, before silence fell over the hut. I immediately got up, wanting to thank Xavier for the help.

"They're gone now." Xavier murmured softly, rapidly switching up his tone, as he gently knocked on the door. "Ahi should be here soon so you'll be fine."

Realizing he was going to leave, I shouted, "Wait!"

I ran to the door, slamming it open to find myself gazing at a confused looking Xavier.

"Is something the matter?" Xavier asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No." I shook my head. "Just wanted to thank you for helping me back there. So um... thank you."

"You say thank you a lot." Xavier mused.

I cringed. "Is that bad?"

Thanking a person after they helped you couldn't be bad. There was no way right?

"No, it's not bad... Just strange." Xavier tilted his head, gazing at me intensely. "If that's all, I'll be leaving then."

I nodded my head, not sure what else to say. Xavier then changed into his beast form and flew off. I watched him go into the nearby jungle, soon disappearing into some nearby tree canopies.

Moments later, Ahi appeared with a huge cauldron in his hands, making me frown. I thought he went hunting. Where did he find the cauldron?

"I made stew." Ahi exclaimed brightly as he got to the door. He then frowned as his forked tongue slipped out his mouth for a second. "What happened here?"

"Elder Williams and his son came here to save me." I sighed, heading inside. "Xavier came by, stopping them and just left before you arrived... By the way, I thought you went hunting?"

"I did and met William when I was coming back." Ahi answered, placing the cauldron down on the floor. "He recommended I make a stew. Said females enjoy them."

That so...

Well, I wasn't going to complain. Stew was better than just eating plain roasted meat. And now I had something to write about in my guidebook. The beastworld had stew.

***

I just realized I named two characters William (well Williams and William). Facepalm.

Oh well, I know what I'm changing when I rewrite this. Anyone wanna recommend names?