Reincarnated as a Dragon - A New life

12| A Hidden Strength

Now that we're out of the meadow, we should decide which direction to travel in next. I'll let horned rabbit pick this one. I've been leading the entire time and I'm kind of curious to see where the rabbit would take me.

I turn to the rabbit sitting on my tail. So, horned rabbit, where should we head next?

To convey my question, I look left, right, and around me, moving my head in short bursts before ending with a head tilt.

"Garu?"

Seems like horned rabbit understood. It looked around before pointing its horns to the direction behind me.

"Pefu"

You sure you want to head this way rabbit? That path led back towards the charred tree. There's still a lot of ground we haven't seen in this area. I'm not complaining though. While we could stay and explore, sometimes simplicity is a better option. Moving in a straight line makes it easier to return as well as giving a better outline of where things are. Besides, the flower field gave me the creeps. I'd rather stay away from it for a while.

Alright, so back to the tree it is.

I lower my tail to the ground so horned rabbit could easily hop off. The rabbit just stares at me. I wiggle my tail as a hint to get off, but the gesture flew over its head.

What is it horned rabbit, is something wrong?

"Ga?"

Horned rabbit responds by tilting its head.

"Pefu?"

The rabbit pats my tail with its paws as if it said 'What are you waiting for? Start moving'.

What am I? Your personal transport? It's heavy carrying both you and the basket. Besides, you can walk fine on your own.

I shake my tail a bit more forcibly, but the rabbit insists on staying on my tail.

Sighing, I give up the attempt and start the trek back towards the charred tree. I feel horned rabbit move as it opens the basket to eat one of the fruits I stored earlier.

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When the rabbit opted to travel back to the direction we came from, I figured that maybe the rabbit planned on changing directions when we reached the charred tree, but when the tree came into view, the rabbit pushed me to continue moving.

Why does horned rabbit want to go this way? We're heading in the direction of the river now. There's nothing to see there. Earlier, before finding the meadow, we stopped by the river for a drink, so I doubt it is thirsty. Though, that could still be the case.

When I turn behind to voice my confusion, I notice the rabbit looking into the forest all tense and rigid.

It seems I wasn't the only one that felt nervous. It's strange. I thought that once I left the meadow, everything would become normal, but I still feel anxious . I had determined that it was just my imagination, but horned rabbit also being on edge proves that isn't the case. It feels like we were being watched.

I start walking at a brisk pace. When I sped up, a bush shook briefly in the corner of my eyes. Horned rabbit and I made eye contact. I understand why the rabbit chose this direction. Whatever is out there, it's following directly behind.

We don't know what exactly is stalking us, so I can't do anything drastic such as confronting it directly. There was too much of a risk in that. Our best bet is to act like nothing is happening. While our stalker has the advantage of surprise, the fact it hasn't attacked yet shows that it is also wary of us. If we don't show signs that we know it's there, the stalker should keep its distance for now.