I woke up, drained out and tired on the forest floor. My head did hurt a bit and that made me wonder just what exactly had happened. Did he hit me? With a single strike? Did I pass out? Just like that?
I could tell Sabe had something about him. I could tell by the kind of aura I sensed from him but I never expected that he could take someone out in one hit.
"Damn it" I muttered, dragging myself up. Just what did he do to be capable of that? Does that mean he learnt all that under Mr Ash?
It was all good, I thought to myself however. I would use the last of my energy to get off this mountain the next day. It was something I had decided to do. I would go back home and forget about everything.
To me, I doubted if there was use for any of this. Was Mr Ash even aware of this or was I just being mistreated without him being knowing about it?
I got up and found my way through the dark forest back to the cabin. I paid no attention to the creeping sounds from the nocturnals around me. I paid no attention to anything save for how I was going to hold off through the night and pull myself out of this rubbish the next day.
I finally returned and there, Sabe was having his dinner. From afar, I could perceive the aroma of well grilled meat; I wanted to ignore it and bide my time till morning. But as I neared, my muscles began to twitch on their own. When Sabe and his meal came into view, I stood not far from him, watching him closely. Actually, I was watching his grilled meal closely. I didn't think of anything. I hadn't planned for anything. I simply walked forward almost mechanically.
As I drew closer and closer, my body twitched even more and more. I could feel common sense fleeting from my mind and by bodily control going haywire. I observed him for some time before I began nearing him quietly.
Sabe kept to eating his dinner outside, with the grilling fire still on. He hadn't even looked up, nor even noticed me from what I could see. I tried as much as I could to be quiet and undetected. Even a few meters away, he still hadn't seemed to notice me. Normally, I would have thought he was ignoring me as usual. But I didn't. I was really going at him.
And when I got close enough, about two meters away from him, I pounced.
When I woke up the next day, I remembered reaching for his meat which he suddenly wafted away. And strangely, I remembered seeing an alarmed reaction on his face. After that, I remembered seeing him strike at me with his fists and then, lights out, for the second time that day.
Waking up the next day, my head was in more pain than the previous night. I could even feel a large bump on my cranium.
"Ughh" I groaned. My body quaked from hunger. That was it. That was my que. I hadn't eaten for three full days now. My survival here was very questionable. I had to quit now and leave. After this, I would never see Mr Ash again. My thoughts weren't all composed but the bottom line was getting out of here.
Even standing up was a big deal for me in that state. It was then I noticed I had actually slept in the cabin.
'Did that bastard bring me inside?' I asked in my thoughts.
I still had my things here but I would abandon them for now. I would have abandoned them completely but I had brought a few important things. My phone had actually been taken by Mr Ash's attendants. They said communication wouldn't be an issue where I was going to stay. In my mind, I had pictured a wonderful space with up to date gadgets much more advanced than the ones I could afford. I never expected this, that I would be coming to have a near death experience.
My eyelids were half closed and my hands hung from my shoulders loosely. I staggered up to the door and got outside.
It was still in the house of sunrise. I didn't bother to look around nor inform Sabe that I was leaving. I simply tottered past the fence and began walking down the road I knew I had arrived here from.
"Oi. The stream isn't that way" I could hear someone say from behind me but I genuinely couldn't care about that.
"Oi" he called out louder.
I also couldn't care about the fact that he didn't call me by my name.
"Leave me alone" I said, not wanting to use more of my energy for anything other than getting down that mountain. I had quite a long way to go, if I remembered correctly. Moreover, Mr Ash's residence was nowhere around here. This was somewhere around the outskirts of the city so it wasn't as populated. But I could remember seeing a few residents around here while the rude lady drove me here.
The rude lady. Now I thought about it, the two of Mr Ash's subordinates I knew to an extent were probably inhuman. I wouldn't be surprised if that lady would treat me like this as well.
I kept tottering down the road. Since the road winded down the mountain, I thought it would be a hassle to cover unnecessary distance. Since it was daytime now, I could just move through the forest, straight downhill.
So I did just that, going off the road and taking the direction straight down without much regard for the forest.
Since the hill wasn't a steep slope, I wasn't drawn downwards too quickly and I also didn't have to expend much energy descending.
I walked past the trees and through the smaller scrubs. I had to be careful not to go down too fast or I would not be able to break my speed as I was too weak for that. I looked ahead. Before me was the forest, a multitude of trees standing on the mountain's depression.