Survival (Edited)

XI: Unexpected Company

~Sylvia~

"Ahhh!" I screamed out into the empty air as I fell onto Maple's back, only to feel a sharp pain in my shoulder and shoot straight up. I glared at my rifle as I rubbed my shoulder until the pain went away. It had been eight hours since I left and nothing exciting in the least had happened. I reached the end of the creak this morning and have been following the map toward Widow's Valley ever since.

I rolled my eyes just thinking about the name, it sounded so stupid... Who in the world would name a town Widow's Valley? Ooooo, so scary! I snorted glaring at the small trail in front of me. Simba was jogging at my side as always, though he glanced up at me and I swear he looked concerned. Maybe he can understand me? Or at least my movements? Nah, I'm just losing my mind; I decided as I let out another frustrated groan, fell onto the pommel of Maple's saddle, and closed my eyes.

At some point, the open fields had turned into a thick forest that cast shadows across the trail that was heading in the direction I needed to go. Currently, it was about midday, the sun completely baren of clouds as it beat down on me. Overall, though? I was simply shocked, and at this point irritated. I had gone over fields, creeks, forests, not even bothering to keep quiet, and yet I had hardly seen any signs of life. Of course, there were always birds chirping up in the trees, and rabbits or squirrels skittering away, and the occasional lonely sounds of a coyote. But nothing that posed a threat. At this point, I was starting to plead to the world to send me something like a bear or raiding group or something that would be more entertaining than finding shapes within the shadows that seemed to tease me,

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea..." I began out loud with a sigh, running my hands over my frizzed hair, "I mean... Like, really, it's just a guy... Usually, I kill everyone I meet on sight!" I exclaimed as I threw my hands up in the air before glancing down at Simba, "No offense bud, you're better than everyone," the dog simply looked back up at me with that same concerned look as he panted heavily,

"But no... He can't be the reason I'm out here," I stated stubbornly, "it has to be because I want to avenge my parents... It has to be. And to see if my brother's alive!" I exclaimed, though at this point I think I was trying to convince myself as there was no one else here to listen to my complaining,

"I mean... Sure, he's rather attracti-" I screamed as I threw my head into my hands, pulling on my hair, "I am not thinking right... It must be the heat... Or something! I mean, I can't be thinking logically, right?" I questioned, glancing down at Simba who gave a small whimper in response. I groaned, hitting my forehead on the pommel again as I shut my eyes tight,

"Well, that would just depend on how you look at it," my eyes shot open, "like... What you think thinking correctly is... Many people have said I don't think correctly," the voice said with a chuckle, "but in my preference, I think that I think perfectly! Oh my... That's a lot of thinks... But I'm sure you do too, you're just stressed about all that... Stuff you were talking about," okay... So, either I'm starting to hallucinate, Simba suddenly learned to talk, or there was a man walking beside Maple talking like he was some long-lost friend,

"I have some family problems too... They're always complaining and..." his voice seemed to trail off before suddenly returning with much more enthusiasm, "Oh my! Is that a dog!? It looks so soft..." I heard a low growl beside me and could only imagine whoever was walking beside me reaching out to try and touch him.

Ah! I cursed, what the hell am I doing!? With practiced movements, I pulled out a knife that was strapped to my thigh and jumped off Maple to land right where I had heard the voice, followed by a yelp. I looked down to see startled green eyes as I pressed the cool steal below his Adam's Apple,