too good of a timing

chaper 6 : A dog Is a Man's Best Friend

Subaru panicked- he could hear the sound of rustling leaves, snapping underbrush, and the aggressive growling of an unknown but entirely too high number of dogs. The 'witch beasts', as Ram had called them, were approaching entirely too quickly.

'Think, think, think!'

Subaru hastily surveyed his surroundings. He had to do something if he wanted to avoid getting eaten alive.

'Yeah, that's probably not a good way to go... Nothing. There's nothing here!'

He redoubled his efforts in desperation. The surrounding terrain was even and relatively featureless- with no places to hide or items he could use to his advantage. It was just him, the trees, a light ground covering of plant life, and vicious beasts lusting after his flesh.

'...unless?'

It was a long shot, but it was better than waiting for death. Subaru looked up, dropped his pack of crystals to the ground, and immediately began climbing the tree he had placed a barrier stone on. Thanking his prior self for taking gym periods seriously, he steadied himself on a sturdy branch high up off the forest floor and tried to conceal himself in the canopy. As he did so, several packs of dogs came into view, all of them stopping several meters away from the base of the tree.

'That was close,' Subaru thought, looking down at them.

The dogs, still keeping well away from the tree itself, began circling it- furiously sniffing the air and ground as they did so. On occasion, they would glance in the tree's direction and begin to follow what was probably an obvious trail, only to convulse slightly and point their heads back towards the ground.

'What? Do I smell that bad? I guess dogs do have a good sense of smell...'

After some time, the dogs dispersed, clearly disappointed with their lack of a meal. For what were basically magically powered-up wolves, they were surprisingly emotive in a way reminiscent of domesticated dogs. Subaru, shaking slightly from his rush of adrenaline, climbed down from the tree. After carefully looking around him for any sign of danger, he proceeded in his task of placing crystals while keeping a much closer eye on where he was stepping. His frayed nerves kept him on edge for the rest of his hike, though upon reaching its conclusion he let himself relax a little.

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"Finally. The last one..." said Subaru, as he placed the final crystal. With a quiet sigh of relief, he began trying to figure out how he would go about locating his-

Rustle* *Rustle*

Without thinking, he began scrambling up the nearest tree, pushing his fatigued body as hard as he could to escape whatever predator was closing in on him.

'Come on, faster, I can't afford to lose more time! That sound was way too close!'

Urging himself forward, Subaru practically jumped at a nearby branch, stretching his entire body upwards to grasp it before he... didn't.

'Shi-'

He flailed his arms uselessly as he tumbled backwards off of the tree, painfully landing on his ass and back- knocking the wind from him. He struggled to get back on his feet, the dogs a much greater concern than his bruised butt, but failed to do so. He heard more sounds of the beasts' approach. The various noises became louder; they couldn't be more than a few meters away.

Subaru reflexively closed his eyes and covered his head with his hands, rolling into a ball in a useless, pathetic attempt to shield himself and preserve his life a few moments longer.

Rustle* *Rustle*

'I... I... they are going to eat-'

"..."