The Master of Fate

Chapter 4 - Waiting for me?

Inside the forest, there was a lake that perfectly reflected the scenic view around it, the risen sun, the steep mountains, the tall trees, and the blue sky. There is only one word to describe this view, 'amazing'. This is the best place Red has ever gone yet, aside from the habitat of Little White, of course.

On the shore of the lake, a young man with scarlet hair is roasting the meat of a wild boar and a white 'bird' is perching on his shoulder. The delicious fragrance of roasted meat can be smelled in the air and the beasts nearby that smelled the fragrance can't help themselves but to droll.

But they dare not steal the roasted meat of the young man as their instinct told them of danger, even if they just show a bit of their greed towards the meat they will die in less than two seconds.

The young man is none other than Red and the 'bird' that's perching on his shoulder is Little White after it shrank. The boar that Red was roasting is caught by Little White.

As the boar was roasted, Red wolfed the boar along with Little White. Despite the shrunken size of Little White, he still ate a lot seemingly competing with Red.

According to Red's calculation, there are only two hours till sunset. He decided to find shelter for the night. Though he has Little White as a guide and a protector, it's still better to find a good shelter.

This time Red did not ride on the back of Little White but walked instead. He decided to walk as a form of physical training at the same time, to avoid putting Little white in danger. Although he knows that Little White is strong, he does not believe that Little White is the strongest.

Little White, on his original size, is flying in the sky as a scout. He safely leads Red, at the same time, he will cry if he found a suitable place as a shelter.

Moments later, Red heard Little White's eagle cries. Red quickly dashed toward the direction Little White was pointing.

Then later, he found a wooden cabin.

"Hello, is anybody home," Red yelled to confirm if there are people inside, but nobody responded.

"Hello," Red yelled again but still silent.

He decided to enter while Little White is still flying in the air as he guards.

The cabin might have no one inside but the place was clean. it is evident that someone must be cleaning it.

Red opened the door and lit candles. A while later, he heard a flapping sound and Little White entered the cabin carrying rabbits twice the size of a normal rabbit on each of his claws.

Little White dropped the rabbit on the floor which stained it and looked for a place to perch.

Red found a blade in the cabin and began to dissect the rabbit. Dissecting is not an easy task for Red since it was his first time. The boar he roasted on the shore of the lake was dissected by Little White using its sharp claws and beak and the only thing Red had to do was to wash and roast the meat.

He dissected the rabbit with great difficulty while Little White was watching him with interest as if he was laughing at Red's clumsy action.

After a long while, Red finished directing the rabbit while his clothes were completely drenched in sweat.

He put the rabbit meat in a bowl and cleaned the floor that was stained with rabbit blood.

Red took a quick bath and found clothes that fit him. He roasted the rabbit meat and eat it with Little White.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the same night, as Red and Little were sleeping comfortably in the cabin, an old man is treading the forest they were in without difficulty. In fact, the trees are even moving their branches for him to walk on. The beast nearby keeps themselves silent and even holds their breath as if they were afraid to be discovered by the old man.

A smile appeared on the face of the old man when he saw the cabin that was lit. He moved faster and silently approached the cabin seemingly as if he was afraid to awaken those that were inside.

He stealthily entered the cabin which did not even awaken Little White with his keen senses.

As a beast, Little White innately has senses that are a hundred times if not a thousand times sharper than of humans.

The old man was startled as he saw Little White, "What a great beast," He muttered to himself.

The old man did all house chores in the cabin without waking Little White and Red.

By the time that the old man was about to finish, the sun was about to rise and Little White opened his eyes and was ready to start another day by hunting food for the both of them. But he was startled as he saw an old man in the kitchen that seemed to be preparing breakfast. Of course, Little White didn't know that the old man was preparing breakfast.

Little White let out a sharp cry that awakened Red.

Red quickly held the blade he used to dissect the Rabbit and got in a defensive position. While Little White returned to his original size that barely fit the cabin and got ready to attack.

The old man was startled and dropped whatever he was doing on the floor.

"Wait, wait, wait," the old man tried to explain himself but Little White was too fast as he initiated an attack.

The old man summoned tree roots around him to protect himself.

The tree roots that seemingly looked fragile, as it was hit by Little White's beak attack, did not even budge. It quickly coiled around Little White's body instead and restrained him instead.

Red was stunned by the strength and by how fast the old man defeated Little White. They did not even have room for escape.

The old man then looked at Red and began to approach him.

Red staggered backward and didn't know how to act. But he steeled himself and got ready to fight.

As Little White saw the old man approach Red, he struggled more violently, but it matters not because it is useless.

But the old man did not do what they both expected him to do.

"HA HA HA HA!"

The old man laughed and turned around to clean the mess from what he had dropped a while ago. Red took a quick look and recognized the sliced vegetables, along with seasonings and meat.

The old man then picked what he dropped and washed them.

The room was filled with awkward silence.

The old man waved his hand and the roots around Little White disappeared.

Red couldn't believe his eyes but what the old man said stunned him even more.

"I won't hurt you, because I was waiting for you,"

"This cabin was built for you, to be specific a waiting place for you," the old man added.