Re:War (Discontinued)

Chapter 5: Forest Messenger

Morning came earlier than expected. But the sun was nowhere near the horizon when I woke up, the two moons still hanging high up in the sky. I had woken up in cold sweat, feeling for my neck. It was still intact, my head still part of my body...

I sat up, memories of a child in panic. A giant wolf tearing off my head... The child was.... a girl. Scarlet eyes and blonde hair... accompanied by a wolf? What happened?

"You died, Raibo. Welcome back."

"I... died?"

"Correct. And it is still midnight, just as I said. You were killed by a Puppet, you spooked her and made her panic, and it appears that her canine friend did not appreciate your presence."

"So.... you turned back time?"

"Back to midnight. Like I said I would. But you're handling this fairly well. Most would be in extreme panic, possibly hysteria. Like my previous users. Never really good for their minds... shame."

"Do you know that Puppet?"

"No. But I do know that she roams the forest. And if I may suggest, the next time you meet her, do try to listen to what she says."

"Right...," I lied back down. I couldn't go back to sleep after that. The memories of the death was harrowing and highly disturbing. I've already lost a month. I can't afford to die again like this.

But if what Kuro said was right, that Puppet that killed me... she was going to tell me something. I should listen closely.
---
Father came into my room hours later to wake me up, but I was already up. He was surprised to see me up so early, but I just brushed it off as being excited.

And like a tape rewound and replayed, the events of the morning occured again to the exact same detail.

Hina was not be the happiest to hear me suddenly leaving her like this... Though I could blame it on Tsuki-nii never being the best when it came to playing with siblings.

But as the eldest brother, he did wake up early as well just to send us off with the half asleep Hina drowsily waving. He didn't question father's choice of letting me follow either. Though he did remind me to stay out of trouble.

Everything is happening just as I remember. This is.... very weird.

We got onto horseback and rode off. This was going to take us a few hours before we reached our stop. We were a few cities away from Shirobashi, a major city in Kamisen, and the place where the meeting would be held. But there was a forest to go through first, and I've already died once.

I just had to hope that this time, I'd make the right choice of actions.
---
Back in the forest, I was paying attention to our surroundings. If my memory served me correctly, it happened when we were taking a break. Riding a horse makes life easier, but it no doubt hurts your arse after a while, occasional breaks every now and then soothed the pain.

We sat down of the soft grass (thank god for the softness...) to have some bread and a drink.

Raibo, pick up that little rock by the creak. And that seed.

Why?

Just do as I tell you to.

I sighed and picked the things up. I had no idea what her interests were, but I decided to humour her. Into my backpack they went.

Around this time that I felt my mana being drawn. Kuro was right about it being a Puppet.

I got up and moved towards the direction my mana was drawn. Hanzo, the trainer Amayasha-sama assigned to me followed me out of curiosity. He was also a close friend of my father, no wonder she chose him.