The Forgotten One

Finishing the petting I picked up my bowl and spoon and walked towards where the little girl was walking. She neared the large fire and began ladling the stew waiting for me to get closer so she could put some in my bowl. I approached her but was very wary. Of course that angry woman was staring at me but I figured she’d do as much.

After she’d filled my bowl to its brim she walked off and sat next to the two women that had helped her. She looked at me when she sat down and patted the ground next to her and gave me an expecting look. Yeah no way the second I sit down someone’s going to knock me out again. I’ll pass. I slowly shake my head towards her.

She frowned from my actions which only angered the very people I was trying to keep calm. The oldest of them got up and approached me with her hands held up in a defenseless manner. When she reached me she put both hands on my shoulders and steered me towards the little girl. With my bowl so full I had to use both hands to stabilize it. She sat me down and patted me on the head like I was some kind of animal. Then went right back to her spot around the fire smiling to herself.

Just great ok ok calm down and don’t move just eat but do it slowly. Very very slowly and keeping my eyes on all of them as best I could I ate the stew. It was as delicious as my first bowl but I didn’t even notice as I was too preoccupied with my surroundings. After finishing my second bowl I set it down and looked either at the ground or off into the forest but made sure I didn’t look at any of the women.

I was going to keep it up as long as I could but after only a few moments my stomach decided it wasn’t done and growled loud enough to be heard over the crackling of the fire. I couldn’t stop myself from slapping my own forehead in disbelief. How can I still be hungry? I heard a light laugh from the girl beside me but I couldn’t look at her.

She got up and took the bowl from me went right back to the stew and filled it up again. She brought it back and offered it to me. I embarrassingly took it from her and bowed my head in thanks. I finished off five more bowls and only stopped because the stew had finally run out. The little girl was absolutely delighted to go back and refill my bowl and the two other women who’d smiled at me previously seemed to be enjoying her antics and the rest weren’t as amused with her catering to me.

She then tried to talk to me for the remainder of the night with a few of the other women trying to see if I truly understand or not. I only understood a small percent of what she was trying to ask me. Mostly because of the motions she was making but the premise of it was. “Are you okay? Can you understand me?” I figured that one was pretty self-evident so I didn’t respond to it. “Are you still hungry? Do you like the wolf?”

Basic childish things like that. But I’d responded to most of the questions and after she was finished talking with me she yawned. It was actually kind of cute and endearing to see. I must have smiled without realizing because she pouted at me for making fun of her being tired.

As she started to doze off over the next hour or so from what little light remained it was difficult to tell the exact time. The slightly older woman who’d rode the elk picked her up and was about to take her to a tent when she started to struggle and speak to her. When she was put down she walked back to where I was and whistled.

As soon as she did I heard large paws hitting the dirt and guessed I was about to be face to face with the wolf again. My guess was right on the money as the wolf trotted over and nuzzled the girl again. Maybe it’s a nightly ritual for these two? I wasn’t about to ask since I’d get no answer.

After a quick one sided conversation the wolf almost seemed to nod at her and she smiled. She walked back to the older woman who’d carried her. They traveled back towards the largest tent. She turned back and waved at me as if saying goodnight so I returned the gesture.

The second she was out of sight though the atmosphere changed. All the women present save for the wolf rider and the deer rider openly glared at me. This is going to be a bad night I can just feel it now. The wolf slowly walked over to me and laid down behind me with its side facing my back. I slowly leaned into her and reached out with my right hand to pet her head.

It was quiet clear that this annoyed more than a few as some of the women the bow wielder included tried to call her away from being used as a backrest. She seemed to be completely oblivious however as she just stayed there and received a nice and gentle petting. Not much happened after that. Several of the women left to their respective tents but two stayed up and watch over the surroundings of the camp and of course to keep an eye in me.

I had absolutely no reason to try and do anything at the moment. I had no real knowledge of the surrounding area nor what language was mostly spoken by the people of this region. I curled up next to the wolf and tried to sleep as best I could but that proved to be quite difficult considering the chill that crept into the woods as night fell and my body still being completely uncovered.

Try as I might sleep eluded me that night. It wasn’t going to be that big of a deal however. I’d down a few tests previously before my forced cryo sleep to see how my new body fared with things that would normally stop a normal human from working at optimal levels.

I’d gone a full week with no sleep and without eating or drinking. It wasn’t fun but it wasn’t detrimental to my health in any way I could see. I was mostly bored and needed to find things to do with the lack of sleep taking over my nights. As for the food and water test I’d found the biggest drawback was I’d missed the taste of such things. Whether it be a home cooked meal made by my mother or a nice cold soda of some kind. Point being while it wasn’t exactly “easy” to go without food or drink I could do it.

The reason I was hungry during dinner had more to do with the amount of mass I was sure I’d lost while in a deep sleep without the ability to restock myself. Most if not all of my abilities came from the amount of mass I could hide within myself. Which I could then shape and or unleash to give myself an overwhelming advantage in any fights I was involved in.

A few of my other abilities were just from changes at the genetic level the virus had done to me. Two of them enabled me to see in two different aspects compared to normal people. I could see anyone else who’d been infected with the virus almost like they glowed compared to others. The final thing besides all my senses being enhanced was that I could see the heat that peoples bodies and other things gave off. The fact I could use both through walls with that one was a life saver in more than a few occasions.

So I spent most of the night absentmindedly petting the large wolf and actively switching between my two different enhanced visions. After a while of laying and monitoring the surroundings I saw a large heat signature moving towards the camp very slowly. Upon closer inspection it wasn’t one large entity it was a cluster of several people. They were roughly three hundred yards away but were unmistakably making a straight line towards the camp.

I quietly got up from where I’d been laying and woke the wolf who’d dosed of a while ago to the endless strokes on her head. She seemed groggy and tired but I shook her head a few times to wake her. I raised my finger to my lips when she was focused on me and shushed her before she could growl or whine at me. I moved towards where one of the sentries had been before I’d seen the group.

They had changed a few times now as the sun was ever so slowly breaching the horizon. Just my luck however it was the bow wielding woman who I’d gone towards. I didn’t change my direction and quietly snuck towards her. She seemed to be occupied as she didn’t hear me walk up to her. When I reached out and tapped her on the shoulder she quickly spun to face my with an arrow nocked and pulled as far back as she could.

Luckily she didn’t try to kill me this time. But that didn’t stop her from trying to yell at me. Before she could get a word off though I’d covered her mouth with my right hand and signalled with my left she needed to stay quiet. She wasn’t too happy but complied with my demand. I released my right hand and pointed off to where I’d seen the people approaching. They’d only managed to get fifty yards closer.

I tried to motion to where they were hiding and then back to her and the camp in an attempt to show her they were about to be attacked. However she didn’t understand anything that I was doing. I sighed and quickly ran back towards the tents and slowly roused the women who were still sleeping. I almost got a black eye or two for my efforts but I’d successfully woke them all with the help of the wolf rider.

When they were all awake the little girl included I looked back to the group. They were one hundred yards away and beginning to pick up speed. I quickly pointed in their direction and then motioned as if I was going to attack someone. The women were very unappreciative of what it looked like I was implying but the little girl said something in her half asleep state that seemed to put the others in high alert.

They quickly looked back to where I had pointed and finally seen what I’d been trying to point out to them. At the same time the bow woman came running from her post shouting something that got all the warriors into ready stances. As the last of the women pulled out their weapons the group that had been making its way toward us began shouting as they ran into the camp with swords drawn.

There were twelve of them with a slight variance in weapons. Five had swords of varying lengths and designs. Two had spears one was a short four foot spear and the other was a long seven foot spear. Three of them had bows and hung further behind the main group rushing into the melee.

And then there were two in the very back behind the archers. On wielded a staff that was very similar in design to the woman who rode the white-tailed deer. The other was fully covered in a robe from head to toe and had no visible weapons on them.

The two that received most of my attention were the two in the back. If I was right the one who’d tried to heal me was similar to the staff wielder in their group. The other however gave of a terrible feeling of death and destruction. When I switched to my thermal vision I found out why. They seemed to be radiating heat like a blazing fire in the shape of a person.

I quickly marked my targets as the three bow users as we only had the one angry but talented as far as I knew archer. I quickly rushed up past our warriors just before the others clashed with them. As I sprang forward I startled a few of both sides’ melee combatants and tore a small hole through the groups as I ran at the three archers roaring.