I woke up starving.
Seeing that I woke up, Lion signaled everyone to stop riding.
Lion immediately nuzzled me all over my face while asking me if I had a good sleep.
I nodded sleepily then asked him if he has some candy while snuggling towards him.
He asked me if I am hungry in which I told him that I haven't eaten for quite sometime.
Lion has a horrified look on his face as he exclaimed that he thought that I had eaten before I fell asleep.
Immediately he called Sly and asked him if he has some food as I haven't eaten yet.
There are no words to describe the look on Sly's face as I can hear him cursing himself while he frantically rummaged his bag.
It's my fault for not telling him! Also, I didn't have any appetite during the time when we were trying to escape from danger!
While Sly is busy rummaging his bag, Lion asked Alpha if he has any food left.
Alpha looked confused as he told Lion that they already ate everything back at the oasis.
When he saw that Lion didn't say anything despite having a horrified look in his face, his looks of confusion became looks of panic as he now understood the situation.
Now Alpha is also rummaging his bags to see if he could find any morsel.
Orm and Deus were busy having an intense conversation when they noticed the frantic looks on Lion, Alpha and Sly as they kept rummaging their bags.
Orm smirked as he asked them if they left something back at the oasis and reminded them that we had traveled a long distance already.
His smirk didn't last long when Alpha told him about the situation. Now both him and Deus are engrossed in rummaging all their bags too as they began blaming each other for eating too much back at the oasis.
Deus paused for a moment then with a reluctant look on his face, yelled Bubu's name in which she approached him with her steed while having a disgusted look on her face.
After telling her about the situation, Bubu snarled at him and hurriedly approached me as she asked me what I wanted to eat.
She snarled at Lion, yelling at him for being stupid then continued to ask me in a tender voice if I wanted meat as she will go and hunt some prey.
With a wicked grin on her face, she told me with a loud voice that if she can't find a prey, then she would just choose one from the group and cook them instead.
Even though Lion wanted to retaliate, he didn't as he hung his head in shame.
I asked him why can't he use magic instead to make or get some food.
He gave me a long, detailed explanation that ended with Alpha telling me that he can't because of some rules in magic.
I usually like listening to Lion's explanations when it comes to magic but my mind is currently screaming for food.
Orm must've realized that he doesn't have any food at all in his bag that he yelled at Ghost, telling him to find a way to cook something.
Ghost looked surprised at Orm yelling at him as he wasn't aware of the current situation as he and Khamsin were busy doing something with magic.
Soon, it became clear that nobody has any food at all.
What the..
That is highly irresponsible!
We have no problems with water, but food?
Food is a necessity that we should have!
Especially since we are traveling in the desert!
Argh!
Now I'm in a bad mood!
....
Okay, I should probably calm down.
All of them except Bubu are out hunting while we're stuck inside the tent that Lion made for me.
He placed a strong protection spell around my tent before he left and gave Bubu a warning glare.
Bubu just gave him a snarl before ignoring him.
After the rest of them left, Bubu asked me if there's a specific food that I wanted to eat.
I told her that I wanted to eat anything as long as it's not raw meat or eggs.
Bubu has a mischievous look in her face in which I hurriedly reminded her about Lion's warning not to touch the protection spell that he placed around the tent.
With a wicked grin, she told me that Lion didn't mention anything about using manipulation magic.
Oh.
Since Bubu is talking about magic, then it's serious Bubu I'm talking to right now.
Now I don't want Lion to get angry at Bubu but she has a point though.
After activating some sort of a spell, a hole appeared on the ground in which she jumped in first, then told me to follow her.
Well, here goes nothing.
....
Manipulation magic is so cool!
I followed Bubu as she continued on making some sort of a tunnel. I asked her if she has any idea where we are going in which she simply shrugged her shoulders and told me that she would just make an exit on a random spot and hope that we might meet a wild prey outside. Or a wild predator as she is confident that she can kill one. But if we are facing many wild predators, then we could just run away instead.
This Bubu...
I would end up getting killed with that kind of thinking!
But since I'm too hungry to think rationally, I just followed her instead, hoping that we can get back before Lion discovers our absence.
Suddenly, we heard some sort of deep grunts and bellows that Bubu began to lick her lips and hissed, telling me that there's prey above the surface.
Um, okay.
So what should I do then?
Bubu assured me that I can just watch while she would do the hunting instead.
I asked her if hunting won't take long in which her nails began to grow quite long that I can see that there's no need for any further discussion.
Then after making an exit towards the surface, I can see the presence of several wild looking creatures that are slightly bigger than me that have sturdy, thicker looking bodies with six legs that are eating some sort of fruits from small bushes.
Bubu whispered to me that they are wild preys in which after looking at them, I understood the difference between wild preys and civilized preys.
To make a long explanation short, civilized preys acted like humans while wild preys simply acted like animals despite both having beast like or unhuman like appearance.
For instance, Orm and Puma are preys but if it weren't for their appearance, I might have mistaken them for being human instead.
Then with a ferocious hiss, Bubu pounced on the nearest prey.
....
By the time we got back, the rest of the group still hasn't returned yet in which I decided to cook half of the meat that we got from the hunt and the rest I preserved for future meals.
We got several fruits too as the location where we found the prey has some fruit bushes.
Now that we have some food for future meals, I finally felt a bit cheerful. Cheerful enought to entertain Bubu, who looked a bit bored while licking the prey's blood from her fingers.
Since I already felt hungry, both of us ate a bit of the cooked meat until we felt satiated.
After cleaning everything up, Bubu told me that she's bored and wanted to get out of the tent.
Both of us are not in the mood for a long conversation so I tried to think of a way to entertain the serious Bubu.
Ah! I know!
Since the rest of the group are not here, especially the pack, I decided to copy a kpop idol sing and dance presentation that I saw on the internet when I was back in my previous world.
I don't know if Bubu would like it though.
Bubu somehow understood what I wanted to wear in which she enthusiastically helped me and then tried to tie my hair up in a high ponytail.
I thought I would look silly but after putting on my makeup...
I became a fan of myself.
Good thing that before I came back in this world, I had several types of dance lessons because of boredom.
I asked Bubu, who looked excited about what I am going to show her, if she wants to see something out of this world.
She nodded enthusiastically as she began cheering for me.
Oh, wait!
I hurriedly took a peek outside the tent, seeing that there's nobody outside, stood in front of Bubu and told her to prepare herself.
I tried to imagine myself as some sort of a kpop idol as I danced in front of her enthusiastically.
Singing while dancing is kind of exhausting though I enjoyed doing it.
It's a good thing that I had a long sleep earlier as the dance I unfortunately choose to show to Bubu is highly energetic and quite complex.
Not to mention that I'm getting breathless because I'm also singing at the same time.
It's quite enjoyable though I wished that there's music somewhat.
Hmmm..
As soon as we get back to the territory, I'll ask those palace musicians to record some music for me.
Ooohh!
Then I can dance all I want without singing at the same time as it is too exhausting!
How did those kpop idols manage to do this?!
Bubu enjoyed my performance so much that she began to copy my moves, which turned out to be a delight as she is a natural dancer.
Street style to be exact.
We had so much fun with the dance that we didn't notice that the rest of the group had already arrived and was staring at us, fascinated by our performance.
By the time I noticed them, they seemed like they were watching us for quite sometime that I felt flustered and hurriedly tried to hide behind Bubu.
I don't know why I felt shy all of a sudden as I already danced in front of a crowd several times before.
They began to protest, especially Lion as they wanted to see more performances.
But I'm too tired!
I began making some sort of an excuse when Bubu suggested that I should sing instead.
Bubu!
Bubu looked at me innocently as she told me that she wants to see more performances from me.
Sigh.
I told them that I will sing for them only three songs, just three songs and then no more as I wanted to rest.
Ghost, Orm and Khamsin began cooking all sorts of food while Sly and Lion tried to preserve most of the meat they got from hunting.
Because of my carelessness, Lion saw the meat that Bubu got from hunting. He was about to scold Bubu when I gave him a look and told him that I won't sing if he is going to scold Bubu in which he hurriedly closed his mouth, making Bubu made all sorts of faces towards him.
Alpha saw the fruit that we got earlier and gave it to Orm, who asked him where he found it.
Alpha turned to look at me in which I just gave him a grin.
Good thing Bubu and I got a lot of fruits earlier or Orm, Ghost and Khamsin won't have anything to eat.
But I'm quite thankful to them as they also hunted despite not eating any meat after learning I was hungry.
I will definitely give them a performance of a lifetime.
Deus provided all the liquor this time and soon, everything is ready.
Everyone faced towards me as I took my harp that Leon gave me then gave a nod towards them.
I told them to enjoy eating while I will sing for them.
Then with a smile, I began to sing the first song.
....
The first song that I sang was from a classic movie that I watched on the internet. The song, which was a romantic ballad from a children's movie, focuses on the peace and harmony of the reunion of the two main characters who were separated for a long time because of an unfortunate incident.
I can feel Lion's tender gaze towards me when I sang the song, briefly reminding me of the time when we finally got together after being separated for a long time.
After I finished the first song, they all cheered for me. Khamsin told me that he never saw a performance like that before, making Ghost smile at him smugly as he told him that he has the privilege of watching me perform a lot of times.
As I was taking a bit of break, the group started to eat while Ghost continued on telling Khamsin about all my performances in the past.
After he ended his story, I decided to sing a different song this time.
I told everyone that the song I am going to sing is inspired by our current location that made Khamsin sat up with interest in his eyes.
Then with a strum on my harp, I began to sing the second song.
....
The second song that I sang was from another children's movie in which the setting was at a desert. It tells all about the wonders of the desert and its cities.
Almost all of the group closed their eyes as they nodded along while listening. It was a good choice of music as all of us can relate to its lyrics, especially Khamsin.
Eventually, the song became one of Khamsin's favorite songs in which he requested for me to sing it to him from time to time, making me soon got tired of it that Lion helpfully made a recording music box for him.
After recording me singing the song, he kept on listening to it again and again.
That music box became one of Khamsin's most prized possessions.
....
Bubu began nagging me to sing a song for her in which I gave her a grin as she definitely deserved it.
We became quite close after the performance we had earlier, despite being silly most of the time, I think she would be a good friend to me and I will be a good friend to her too.
The song that I sang for her was from a children's cartoon series that has a fairy as its main character. Its lyrics tells about self-discovery, empowerment and embracing our unique identity while overcoming doubts and find wonder in life, seizing freedom and courage to chase dreams.
While singing, I noticed that Bubu had a sudden look of pain and intense sadness in her eyes that vanished after a while.
I wonder what's her story?
Sometimes, it makes me think that her silliness may be a result of a trauma or something. I learned back in medical school that some people develop several personalities after experiencing intense trauma.
She may be a creature or a being, not a human but she can still experience pain and trauma, same like the others.
Now it reminded me of Lion again.
I wanted to know his past but somehow I can't bring myself to ask him.
As soon as we get back at the territory, I will ask for Leon's help. Surely he must know something.
....
No more!
I'm too tired!
Everyone, especially Lion sighed in disappointment when I told them that as much as I wanted to sing, I'm too exhausted.
Someone suggested that I will drink a potion to replenish my energy which made me laugh, then gently explained it to them that whenever I sing, I always sing from my heart and put all my emotions and feelings towards it. Singing is not just physical exhausting but emotionally too.
I told them that it's like a vial of water that I kept pouring out until the vial is empty. Even though you kept refilling it, sometimes you poured out more than the amount you put inside.
Somehow they all understood as they told me that they will look forward to my next performance someday.
Of course I will definitely sing for them someday.
...
While we continued on our travels, we met some traders who gave us helpful information about a mysterious object located somewhere in the north.
They warned us to be careful as a lot of creatures who explored the place ended up dead. The remaining survivors barely escaped, telling all they met to avoid exploring the place.
After trading with them, they left but not before warning us one last time as it is quite obvious on our faces that we decided to explore the place.
I wonder what kind of danger we are going to face this time?
My question was soon answered when suddenly, there was a huge sandstorm that met us that despite Lion and the others trying to get rid of it, engulfed all of us.
Lion used his cloak to cover us both then held me tightly as we felt the strength of the sandstorm, hitting us with sand and hearing its roaring noise.
The noise became deafening loud, making it difficult to hear what Lion is trying to tell me but I know that he is trying to comfort me.
Despite being held tightly by him, the wind itself is too strong that I can feel him losing his grip on me.
I can't see anything as it is too painful to even take a peek in which I can feel myself being taken by the wind.
There's no point in screaming as by opening your mouth even a little will invite the sand to get inside and will cause irritation to your mouth and throat, resulting to injury and breathing problems.
So instead, I made sure to cover my face with my scarf as I can feel myself being taken by the wind.
Soon, I heard silence in which I slowly opened my eyes to check my surroundings.
Um.
Where am I?
As I glanced around at my surroundings, I can see nothing but sand around me.
Vast sand dunes to be exact.
Nothing else.
And to make my situation even more harder, I don't have any compass. Or water.
Curses.