Chapter 3.
An encyclopaedia. What could she possibly, ever do with that?
June first stared at the book which sat quietly on her thighs, and then at the toad which in turn stared blankly right back at her, its eyes saying, "you did this" a truth she could never deny. Empty word seemed to slip out each time she opened her mouth, she wasn't sure what to say anymore.
Bigo didn't seem to care about whatever was going through her mind, it was already written all over her face.
He continued.
[Guidelines for using Beastworld encyclopaedia.
One. Hosts are to ask encyclopaedia one question each day, depending on the urgency of the situation. If hosts wrongfully ask a question not useful enough, it will be counted and the encyclopaedia will not give the host any response until the following day.
Two. Encyclopaedia must not be torn, burned or man handled in any form or it will self-destruct shortly and the host will remain stuck here for the rest of her miserable life. Keep the book safe. You got that?!
Three. After Hosts managed to fill up all 1000 pages, Host can make any request to the system, including returning back to Host's original world.]
That was it, her way home was just staring right at her, but one thousand pages? That was the same as three years in the beast world.
June at first leaped for joy, but then it occurred to her, three years in the beast world before returning home would mean she had to be alive first.
"Now, all I've gotta think of, is how to stay the fuck alive." She muttered to herself.
She would first have to survive, which meant the encyclopaedia wasn't all that useless.
Turning to Bigo, she asked cheekily, "can I have a free try- of the book?"
Bigo responded with a firm, "NO!" That was absolute. She would have to take the first step in her survival trail, especially since she had little to less time left till dark.
"Oh, well, might as well look for a cave and call it a night there."
At first she scanned the area, there wasn't much to it, save thousands of trees. She didn't know how to climb up a tree, and even if she did, snakes were a thing, a cave was her safest bet.
June had begun her journey for safety, grabbing whatever twig, dried grass and fallen fruit she could find on the way, her idea was simple, "get to a cave, check for predators, start a fire, stay warm, munch on some fruits and call it a night."
Suddenly she stopped on her tracks, "how do I start a fire?" It was a question she had never asked herself in her entire life.
One option popped up, "use the book."
"Fuck! Why the fuck did I have to be sent someone here, why not make me some fucking princess instead!!!"
Bigo looked around, his eyes repeatedly scanning for predators, "Host, you're loud, you'd draw attention."
"Yea sure, I guess I'm doomed to die before I even get started anyway, you want me to survive but you're not even helping, I mean, have you seen where I come from, even cooking rice nowadays is technology, how the fuck am I supposed to start a fire?!-"
Sn-ap!
The whole world went silent. Bigo didn't waste a second to scram off there like it had nothing to do with him.
Slowly she counted her steps behind her, being out in the open screamed danger and her best bet was to get out of there immediately.
The bushes before her began to rustle, shaking vigorously as her steps quickened only to miss a step and fall to the ground, her heart raced, this was it for her, there was no way out of it.
"No- please don't eat me," she begged as she turned away from the date that awaited her.
Just as she closed her eyes, the rustling stopped, and a small sound was heard. June opened her eyes to take a peak and could only marvel at the cuteness of the bunny right before her.
"Aww, Bigo, it's okay, look, it's a bun-!"
Roar!
From deep behind leaped a leopard which missed her by barely a foot, landing on its side. June didn't waste the opportunity to get the hell out of there like her life depended on it. Her legs carried her deep within the forest and she dared not look back as she made Zig zags at every possible point. It was careless, confusing and yet seemingly good against her opponent who seemed to find it difficult to predict where she was going next, until she came to a dead end.
The both of them just happened to be running up a cliff and now, she stood between two choices of death, she could either fall to it or get eaten by the leopard.
"You look nice, female, why are you out here?" It asked, its voice deep and low.
June, nervously shaking calmed down a beast, if it could talk then it definitely was someone she could reason with.
"My clan cast me out, I was falsely abandoned because I seemed to be getting in the way of the chief priestess' lovely granddaughter's happiness," she blurted while continuously watching her back.
The leopard took gentle steps towards her, calm and calculating he was as his eyes never left her.
"Oh!" It said with a surprise, "then that would mean you're indeed fertile would it not?"
That question seemed to grant her some trust as she lowered her guard, her eyes seemingly glowing with happiness, finally, someone who could understand her and perhaps help her. "Of course I am, she just didn't want me pairing up with that ridiculous man," she blurted.
"I see, then I guess I'm lucky, to think I'd finally find a good breeding partner in a place like this, the beastgods may have pitied me."
"Breeding what?"
"You're coming with me."
The Leopard beastman rushed at her with full speed, there was no time to think, her body moves out of the way before she knew it, her hand raised against her opponent, "get away from me!" She yelled.
Suddenly a bright light flashed and her hands glowed bright green. Vines erupted from underneath the earth, grabbing hold of the leopard into a deadly grip.
"You little bitch!" He yelled, fire erupting from his body.
There wasn't a second to lose, the cliff behind her was her best bet as she directed the leopard to the end of the cliff, and with one swift fast movement the leopard was tossed in the air.
"I'll kill you!!!!" It roared as it fell to it's death.
June, terrified, fell to the ground, she stared at her hands which trembled greatly, "I just killed someone," she mumbled.
A twisted feeling in her stomach made her crawl on her feet as she reached the edge of the cliff to throw up. At least she was certain she wasn't gonna die if other beast folks caught her, however she wasn't sure which was a worse fate, getting used as a breeding tool by an unknown beastkin or dying, she was however certain she didn't want to die or get caught by those people either.
"Hahaha-" a small laughter echoed.
"Another one?" She thought to herself, she definitely knew better than to wait for something to show up this time.
Quickly she gathered courage to get on her feet and made a run from it. For minutes she ran, where she was going she had no clue, bigo, the coward had deserted her, it was every man for himself right now.
As she ran deeper, her eyes seemed to catch hold of something bright up ahead, "safety," she thought, her speed increased-
The world became quiet once again, her heart beat repeatedly echoing inside her head. She had never ran that fast in her life, that was a lot of calories burned.
With a loud sigh, she lowered her head and for the first time, she noticed her environment, June's feet felt wet, soaked, perhaps as she stood in a small river, illuminated by the beautiful sunset, small fishes swam by and it occurred to her, that she was hungry.
Quickly she braced herself and silently watched the fishes, ready to pounce her first catch-
Miss!
"Dammit!" She yelled loudly, knowing the risk she cowered and looked around for any hidden prey.
"Hahahaha- you know, I've never met a rabbit beast folk who's interested in meat." A mysterious cheerful voice said from deep within the shadows.
She could see only its figure, its ocean blue eyes staring at her was difficult to miss. Slowly she moved away but the creature made its way out, slowly stepping into the light to reveal itself.
"I suppose it'll be a much better option if you go for fruits instead, I heard your species can't eat anything other than green."
At long last, the being stood before her, not in a beast form, but a human form, after hours of pure agony, she was finally faced with a human figure difficult to ignore which smiled briefly at her.
"Hello Rabbit."