The young woman walked swiftly down a small path, her footsteps deliberate and thoughtful. Masuyo had little success while she was out hunting and all she wanted to do now was get back to the cavern that she now called home. Sounds of the ocean came from the distance, reassuring her that she was going the right direction. Her stomach reminded her once again that it had been since morning since she had last eaten anything. A soft sigh came from the woman, her pace slowing slightly. Right now she had a decision to make. Head back to her cave, where she barely had any food left, or head off closer towards the ruined city in search of food.

Masuyo came to a stop. She looked off towards her home then in the direction of the city. Her stomach grumbled at her once again, more loudly. A growl came from behind her. It wasn’t too close, but close enough to cause her some concern. Normally the creatures weren’t near this area, something had to be up. The young woman turned towards the direction from which the growl had come from, her eyes narrowed.

Things grew silent once again, making her feel uneasy. She readied her makeshift spear. Slowly the woman inched closer to the foliage, her body starting to blend into her surroundings. The change wasn’t entirely under her control. She fought it some as she didn’t want to blend in at least not yet. Rustling drew her attention away from fighting the ability she had gained from becoming an experiment. A strange looking creature that looked like some kind of boar cross stepped onto the path. It sniffed the air, growling and mumbling something she didn’t understand.

Even though Masuyo stood still, now almost perfectly blending into the surround foliage, she could feel herself trembling inside. The creature looked towards her, sniffing the air once again. It looked confused which allowed her to calm down some. She grinned, she hadn’t been found so she still had the element of surprise on her side. The creature moved past her, still searching for the source of the human scent it had been following. Getting an idea the woman tossed the spear she held over the creature’s head and into the bushes beyond.

The creature let out a loud growl and ran towards the bushes. Quickly she pulled a dagger from her boot and jumped onto its back, plunging the dagger into the creature’s neck. It thrashed around, trying to knock her off. She held on tightly, pushing the dagger in deeper. A loud roar came from the boar like creature as it grabbed ahold of her arm and throwing her to the side. Her left leg brushed against a tree before she landed hard on the ground. The young woman cursed under her breath as she forced herself to get to her feet. The dagger she had was still in the beast’s neck, but it had its hand on the hilt trying to pull it out. Now was her chance if she could get herself to move, her left knee was throbbing. With what strength she could muster she picked up the spear that lay on the ground nearby and ran towards the creature. She rammed the spear into the beast’s stomach with all her might. “I won’t die here,” she screamed as the boar like creature collapsed. It was dead finally dead.

Masuyo’s body was trembling uncontrollably as she let go of the spear and fell to her knees. A soft squeak came from her due to her injured leg. At least now she didn’t have to worry about food for a little while. Instead this posed a new dilemma, how was she going to get the meat home? For now that she wasn’t too concerned about it. The fight had left her exhausted and she needed to rest. Her only hope was that no more of these monsters were close enough to have heard the fight or smell the blood.