Yang woke to the chirping of birds and insects as the sun began rising, painting the sky in shades of pink and orange. He blinked away sleep and immediately felt the discomfort of his sleeping arrangement. He was curled up in a small hole in the ground, barely large enough for his child's body, with a large rock covering most of the entrance above him.
He'd rigged the rock with rope to fall into place once he pulled it, blocking the entrance while leaving just enough space for air to circulate. The rock was big enough to protect him from most predators, but he could push it away from the inside when he wanted to get out.
Yang had figured out this shelter solution yesterday after he couldn't find either a small cave or a strong enough tree to sleep in. The trees that were strong enough, thick and tall with sturdy branches, he'd been diverted away from by his inner instinct. Apparently something dangerous lurked in or around those particular trees.
Unlike his original plan of going back to his cave after spending a night or two in the forest to gather beast cores, it had been almost two weeks since he'd left. Winter had arrived while he was out here. Thankfully it wasn't snowing yet, but the air had that sharp cold quality that warned of harsher weather to come.
Yang had kept getting deeper and deeper into the forest because the further he went, the more beasts with cores he found. He had around fifteen cores in his possession right now, and more than half of those had been obtained in just the last few days. The density of magical beasts increased dramatically the deeper into the forest he ventured.
He'd had a few close calls. Beasts that were faster than he expected, stronger than he could handle. But the allure of the beast cores kept drawing him in, kept pushing him to take just one more risk, and hunt just one more creature. He'd been bathing and drinking in the river daily and had plenty to eat. Actually, he'd had to leave behind many carcasses, which made him sad at the waste of good meat. He could have dried it in his cave, but he couldn't carry so much meat around with him. So he left the excess for other animals to scavenge.
Last night had been a particular low point. Yang had tried to hunt a beast that turned out to be much more aggressive than he'd anticipated. After his arrow struck it, the creature had become enraged and chased him through the forest. It wouldn't let go, furious at his attempt to kill it. Yang had to run until he found a tree tall enough to climb beyond the beast's reach.
But the damn thing had tried to knock down the tree by continuously slamming its body into the trunk. The impacts shook the branches and made Yang's perch increasingly unstable. When he'd had enough, Yang decided to risk angering it more by trying to finish the fight. He'd shot it full of arrows from his elevated position, then jumped down onto its head with his axe raised.
Thankfully the arrows had weakened it considerably. By the time Yang dropped on its head, axe first, the beast was struggling to stay upright. Yang had hacked at it with his axe until it finally stopped moving. By the time he'd extracted the beast core, Yang was far enough from the river that he didn't exactly remember the way back. In his rush to escape the murderous beast, he'd run in a rather haphazard manner, taking whatever path seemed safest in the moment.
Yang was pretty sure his inner instinct would guide him back to the river, but by then nightfall had arrived. So he'd found the safest place to sleep, which turned out to be an abandoned fox or rabbit hole with a rock he could position in front of its entrance.
Now Yang pushed the rock away from the entrance and crawled out into the morning light. He stretched his body carefully, working out the stiffness from sleeping curled up all night. The beast cores tucked in his clothes had kept digging into his body, leaving sore spots. Overall it had been a torturous sleep, and he definitely didn't want to repeat that experience. He much preferred caves or trees to sleep in when proper shelter wasn't available.
But yesterday's experience had been enough to shock him into wanting to go back to his cave. He'd stayed two weeks in the forest, getting deeper and deeper, and this place was clearly beyond his current strength. He was frequently being urged by his inner instinct to change direction to avoid danger, sometimes multiple times within an hour.
He'd ignored many of those warnings in his greed for more beast cores. But what use did he have for them if he got himself killed?
Yang followed his inner instinct back to the river, which took a few hours of careful navigation through increasingly familiar terrain. When he reached the water's edge, he took a proper bath to wash off the dirt and blood from his fight and night in a hole in the ground. The water was freezing, but Yang scrubbed himself clean anyway. He also drank his fill, the cold water shocking his system awake.
After that, he began his journey back toward his cave.
A week into his journey home, Yang was almost halfway back to his original cave residence. He sat on a fallen log in the forest next to a fire he'd created to cook meat from a kill he'd made a couple hours ago. As he ate, he thought about his journey so far.
He'd also captured a few more beast cores by hunting along the way, unable to resist the opportunity when his instinct pointed him toward weaker creatures. He'd also accumulated a sizable collection of furs which would be helpful once he'd processed them properly. He could make new clothing, which he desperately needed. His two-week jaunt in a single pair of tunic and pants had destroyed his plant fiber and fur clothing into shreds that barely covered him anymore.
It was his third week away from his cave. So far he'd gathered twenty two crystals in total, an impressive haul that would have seemed impossible just a month ago. But the number he was finding had reduced considerably since leaving the deeper forest. The magical beasts were simply rarer in the outer regions. He still had a week's journey to reach home, maybe less if he pushed himself.
Yang finished eating and carefully cleaned up his cooking area, scattering the fire and covering the embers with dirt. Then he gathered his belongings and set off in search of shelter for the coming night.
He walked through the forest as the sun began its descent, scanning for suitable places to sleep. Eventually he found some rock formations that looked promising. After examining them carefully, he discovered a cave entrance partially hidden by hanging vines.
Yang poked his spear inside cautiously, probing to see if any animal or creature was residing there. He felt nothing, no resistance or sudden movement. Carefully, he entered.
The cave was small, barely larger than his current shelter. But it was too open, and there was nothing to close or hide the entrance with. No convenient rocks or logs to block access. Yang explored further and found a small cavern deeper inside the cave, a natural hollow he could crawl into. The entrance to this inner chamber was small enough that he wouldn't be completely exposed while sleeping.
He wasn't happy with the arrangement, but he'd slept in worse places during this venture. And he was too tired to search further or be more selective. His body ached from constant travel and fighting, and his mind was foggy with exhaustion.
Yang took his sack off his back and crawled into the small cavern with all his belongings. He lay down, his head pillowed on the sack. It had been hours since he'd properly rested. Through the cave entrance, he could see the light diminishing as the sun fell below the horizon, painting the sky in deep oranges and purples before fading to black.
Yang's eyes closed almost immediately, and sleep claimed him.
He didn't know how long he'd been asleep when he suddenly jolted awake. The same cold terror that his inner instinct had showed him in his initial days in the forest flooded through his body like ice water in his veins. His eyes flew open into complete darkness.
He saw nothing. Heard nothing. But Yang could feel with absolute certainty that he wasn't alone in the cave anymore.
Yang slowed his breathing and stopped moving, every muscle in his body locked rigid with fear. The terror radiated from his inner instinct with an intensity he'd rarely felt before, screaming at him that something dangerous was in the cave with him. Something that could kill him easily if it knew he was here.
Yang lay perfectly still in the darkness, his heart hammering so loud he feared whatever was out there could hear it. His hand wanted to reach for his knife or axe, but he didn't dare move. Didn't dare make even the smallest sound that might reveal his presence in the small cavern.
In the absolute blackness of the cave, Yang waited and listened, praying to whatever gods might exist that the thing out there wouldn't find him.