EPISODE 2.2
Embarking on a Long Journey to Civilization
Creed and Aleph planned to start walking on the break of dawn to avoid the sun's heat later that day. However, they would still have to watch out for the tide changes, so they might still have to walk under the beating heat of the sun at noon. On the other hand, they need to walk fast to avoid spending the night in the middle of the sea where everything was still unpredictable.
Walk fast when the tide is low, then walk carefully at a higher place when the tide starts to go up. That was what she told Aleph the night before.
Thankfully, during their time at the island, he learned to know the approximate hours of tidal change.
At the edge of the beach, Creed glanced back at the island one more time, and so did Aleph. This was where his life changed forever, and it was time to leave it.
He nodded towards Aleph. "Let's go."
They started walking.
Wherever there was sand, they walk towards it.
Using his improvised wooden spear, a sturdy tree branch with a crudely sharpened stone attached on one end, he surveyed the waters along the sandbar.
He used the spear to find the edges of the sandbar when he wasn't sure where the land ended. If it touches water deeper than the line he etched on the wooden body of the spear, which is about the same height as his knee, they avoided it.
So far, everything was as he planned and thought. There really was a long stretch of sandbar that connects the island they came from to the opposite shore.
However, not long after the pair started walking along the sandbar, Creed turned around to Aleph. He noticed how her absurdly long hair trailed behind her as if it was a dress.
He sighed.
"Come," he said and went behind her. "Let's braid your monstrous hair first."
"What? Why?" she asked.
"That would get too much sand and water," he said.
"Aleph doesn't mind, and Aleph thinks it will be too heavy if you braid it! So, no thank you!" She pulled away from him, but he dragged her back easily.
"Yeah. Until sharks mistake your hair for a seaweed and drags you to the depths. Or crabs attach to it because it's one step to being a fish net," he said, which made her shriek. "You don't want that, do you?"
"T-that's so—nah, you are just trying to scare Aleph," she said, but she started carrying her hair.
Creed shrugged. "Okay. Your call. But don't blame me if—holy crap, what is that?!"
His eyes widened as he looked at her hair. Aleph's face went pale.
"What?! What?!" she shrieked, frantically brushing her hair with her hands. "What is it?"
But then, Creed just laughed out loud. Aleph angrily pushed him and stomped her feet.
"That's not funny!" she said. "You almost gave Aleph a heart attack!"
"Alright, I'm sorry. But I'm serious. Braid your hair or suffer the crabs," he said.
"Fine," she sighed. "But Aleph hopes you get an actual crab on your hair for scaring her like that. You have a stupid long hair now, too, you know."
With much trouble, he was able to braid her hair. Or, at least, keep it out of the way.
They continued walking, with Aleph carrying the bulk of her hair in one hand.
However, only just several meters away and Aleph started screaming.
"Holy crap, what is that on your head?" she said, pointing at him.
Creed gave her a side glance and just shook his head. "Nice try. You just copied everything."
"Aleph is serious!" she exclaimed.
"And you can't say 'holy crap'," he said.
"Wha—Aleph is telling the truth! There is a crab like thingy walking at the top of your head!" she shrieked. He was gonna give it to her. Her acting skills were almost believable. "If you don't believe me, then have it your way! You're gonna be bitten by that crab!"
He sighed and shook his head. But as he did, something suddenly dangled in front of him.
A small, black creature with long, thin legs. His eyes widened.
In panic, Creed jumped back, all the while trying to brush away whatever thing was crawling on his hair. He jumped a few more times before the thing landed on the sand, and scurried away.
Upon closer look, it was a tarantula. The hairs on the back of his neck stood.
"How the hell did that thing get up there?!" he shouted, pulling away a few strands of his blond bangs to check if there was anything else. He combed his unruly hair to find anything else, but there wasn't anything.
Meanwhile, Aleph burst out laughing. When Creed looked at her, she was almost kneeling on the sand.
"Well, THAT wasn't funny! That thing could've seriously killed me. Again!" he exclaimed. "And God knows where I will get sent if I die again this time!"
Aleph wiped off her tears from laughing. "Aleph have seen those from the laboratory, and they aren't poisonous. Aleph never thought you are more of a scaredy cat than Aleph!"
To be sure, Creed checked their stuff to see if there wasn't any creature from hell anymore. After making sure there wasn't anything, he and Aleph continued on their journey to the island.
At last, they arrived at the beaches of the island.
"Finally," Creed said. "After so many months."
"Finally," Aleph agreed. "Much better food!"
They surveyed the beaches. From where they stood, they could see tall cliffs and forested areas at the top. However, there was a small ravine between two of those cliffs which looked like a passage towards the inner part of the island.
After resting for a bit, Creed and Aleph walked upstream, passing through the ravine. A short while later, the duo found themselves on a hilly forest.
The sound of babbling brook could be heard from afar.
It sure looked like a peaceful forest, but Creed noticed one odd thing.
"Why aren't there any animals around?" he said out loud.
Aleph looked around, too.
"Huh. Now that you mentioned it, yeah, there isn't," she said. "Aleph means, it's great that there are no dangerous bears or slimes around, but there aren't any birds either."
Creed's brow knit. "Slimes? There are slimes in this world?!"
His companion nodded in response. "Of course! Why, aren't there any slimes in your previous world?"
"N-no," he responded. "Not the kind that could move on its own."
"Wow," she gasped. "That's strange. Slimes in this world are as normals as cats and squirrels. They are just usually in the wild, though. People would kill them if they try to enter towns."
Huh, Creed thought. This world really is a lot similar to those ones he read about in novels. He used to play games, too, with a lot of slime as enemies. But never in his wildest dreams would he thought he'd live in one.
But then, he quickly thought of something and snapped at Aleph. "You're not being serious, are you? Just because I don't come from this world doesn't mean you could make up stuff like that!"
She crossed her arms, obviously offended. "And why would Aleph lie to you about that?" she snapped back. "Aleph is not a liar! Also, if you don't believe me, just wait until a large slime finds us—no, wait! If it finds you, it's going to find me, too, so never mind. But Aleph isn't joking, you see."
"Alright, alright, sorry," he said. "But I'd like to see one."
"Are you out of your mind?!" she yelled. "Do you know how dangerous slimes are?!"
"Come on," he snickered. "They're just cute and squishy, like you, right? They can't be much of a real threat."
"How could you even say that when you never saw one before?"
"It's just, back in my world, they are really usually very low level monsters in the game. Oh, except for that one slime who literally became a demon lord. Wow," he said.
"You said there's no slimes in your world? You are confusing Aleph even more!" she shouted.
"What I mean was, they are in stories. Not in real life," he said.
She back-pedalled. "Oh. You should've said so."
"That's what I said," he whispered. "What do slimes do in this world, anyway? Can they talk?"
Aleph looked at him incredulously. "How could slimes talk?" she asked, then shook her head. "Never mind. But they don't. They don't do much."
"Then how could you say they are dangerous?" he said. "You are confusing Creed even more."
"It's just, they steal things. You know, swallow things and poof! They're gone," she said. "And—hey! Are you copying Aleph?"
"They swallow things?" he said, totally ignoring her last question.
"Yes," she said, nodding. "Usually, just small stuff like objects that fall to the ground or near their reach. Aleph couldn't count how many pennies she had lost due to those annoying monsters."
"Good thing you weren't swallowed yourself," he said.
"I know right," she said. But then, snapped again at him. "What do you mean by that? Aleph isn't an object! And Aleph isn't that tiny to be swallowed by a slime."
"You never know," he said, and then shrugged. However, he stopped for a while and then checked their backpack to see any tears or holes. Thankfully, the make-shift coconut-leaf bag was still holding up.
They walked deeper into the woods, while continuing their conversation.
Little did they know, a few meters from where they stopped earlier, a slushy material slowly creeped and jumped between the trees, and then slipped inside a tiny crevice near the cliff.