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A Tale of the Eternal Hunters

Chương 1: The Beginning

*Yawn*

I yawned, using my arms to block the sunlight filtering through my eyelids. It didn't work of course, and so I lazily tried to find my blanket, only to find...nothing.

I sighed.

'Guess I have to open my eyes.'

I slowly opened my eyes, adjusting to the unnatural bright sunlight in my room...only to find I'm not in my room.

A huge forest surrounds me, unnatural big trees and roots all around, and I happened to be on a root. Fog drifts below the roots, and I was unable to see through it. As I tried to make sense of the dreamlike situation, what appears to be a floating head of a large white wolf, with purple eyeliner popped beneath me.

"Boo!"

I just stood there, confused. Even though anyone should logically try to get away the moment this monstrous huge spirit wolf appeared, I have a feeling that it won't hurt me.

Strange.

"Good morning, little Lamb." He chuckled.

"Good morning Wolf," I sighed, then blanked. How did I know him, and why did I respond to that name?

When I kept thinking, a sudden wave of pain washed over me, and I knelt down, clunching my head.

"Lamb, Lamb! Are you alright!" Wolf hovered around me, trying to see what's wrong.

After seconds of feeling pain, it ebbed away, and I stood up with relief.

"It's fine, Wolf. Now, what were we going to do today?"

I remembered.

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I was just an average 18 year old boy, who loves playing games and reading books. One of the many video games I love to play is League of Legends. One of the many champions I play is Kindred.

I always did love playing Kindred, even if it easily falls behind just by one minor setback, and can snowball if it get marks.

One day, after finishing a game, I felt a wave of exhaustion come over me. I didn't really take this seriously, so I just went off to bed, and closed my eyes.

Never waking up in that body.

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'And now...I'm here', I thought in wonder as I stared into a puddle I found just a couple steps away. What reflected off the puddle was a purple long-haired girl, tufts of hair poke out, with a braid running down the front of my shoulder, a yellow bow sticking on the end. She has two brown ram-like horns curved at the sides of my head, with a yellow star-like flower on the left horn. A white mask with red patterns was on my face. How can I see clearly through it, I don't know.

She was wearing a white wool shawl covering my shoulders, a red scarf, two fluffy wrist terry, red gloves. A short pink kimono with blue stripes, extending all the way down to her thighs, were held close to her body by a blue waist seal wrapping around her waist, tied by a larger yellow bow on her back. She had white baggy pants, covered by two magenta colored leg sleeves, starting from the knees, and all the way down to the feet.

No, not feet. Hooves. Black hooves.

She seemed like an innocent little child-if she didn't have a scary mask with horns, and holding a large blue wood bow, with pink petals sticking out along it.

So...this is me now, huh? I touched her-no my braid.

I didn't really care about my old life, except my family and the books I'll never read again.

What a sad thought.

I hope they're happy without me.

Either way, this situation is quite strange. What I do know is, I remembered everything about Lamb.

Her memories, her skills, her thoughts. Everything.

I guess I'll take her place now, since we somehow merged, for some unexplainable reason.

As I stared at the pond, Wolf flew to me.

"Are you alright now, Lamb?" He asked concerned.

I smiled through the mask. "I'm fine now, Wolf. Do you want to play chase?"

He grinned in response. "I'll give you a running start!"

I sighed mentally. It won't help. At all.

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It has been many weeks since I've arrived into this world.

Even though the memories guided me well, I still have to experience them. Walking with two hooves is a new experience, but I adjusted to it quickly with my memories, as well as the usage of my bow. It was strange, the bow was quite large, yet I was holding onto it without strain. The bow's string also appears when I want it to.

Quite strange, and I'm suppose to use this bow for hunting.

Ah yes, hunting. I hunted several beasts, some of them having a mark Wolf chose.

Marks are, well, marks, which Wolf or I choose to place on a creature. It's visible to the bearer of the mark, as well as those with strength. Wolf places a mark on beasts or creatures, and I place marks on people. Since there aren't any people close by, Wolf only places the marks on beasts.

Once I hunt down the being that has a mark, it gives me an increase in strength and skill. Agility, reaction timing, accuracy, power, whatever.

I didn't have much difficulty, and if it was difficult, Wolf always says it's 'more fun'. What an adrenaline junkie.

Wolf chases when they run, and I shoot arrows at those when they stood. It's a pattern.

I gave the carcasses to Wolf. As spirits, we never truly get hungry, but we do enjoy eating delicious delicacies. And if they're unhealthy or poisonous, we won't feel a thing. We're spirits after all.

And Wolf, well, he's always hungry. Hungry to kill, chase, and eat.

Wolf and I have a connection that allows us to sense each other, like our thoughts or location. Doesn't really help when we play chase, but that doesn't matter.

What matters is our bond. It's as if we're the same person, which we actually are. We came into existence after the gray man cut himself into two, so he'll always have a friend.

Even when time passes, I was never lonely. I have a friend after all.

"Never one..." I started.

"Without the other." Wolf finished.

I was standing on a pond, meditating. How I can stand on water, I don't know. It just comes to me. I was standing on one leg, with the other on my thigh, like a stance of sorts. I didn't waver nor move a single millimeter. Balancing at the start was tad bit difficult, but with my memories, I was able to balance on one leg as easily as breathing unconciously. Acrobatic and flexible actions also come easily after a bit of training.

Wolf was floating around me, with a face only I can tell of boredom. I can sense it.

I started humming. Humming was apparently a habit Lamb did while being idle, which I don't mind at all. It's calming, and quite easy on the ears.

"Lamb, Lamb, when are we going to chase? I'm hungry"

"..."

I sighed with annoyance. Then I had a sudden thought, and with a hidden smile beneath my mask, I said with a mocking voice-

"I'm hungry, I'm hungry, I'm bored, chase chase chase!"

"You get it now!" Wolf responded happily.

"..." It was suppose to be a joke, one Kindred said in the game. Since I main her, I keep hearing her quotes every single game. It's ingrained into my head now unfortunately.

But to think Wolf didn't get the joke, I guess it flew over his head.

While I was bantering with Wolf, a wave of power flew threw both of us.

We stiffened. I brought up the bow I was holding while meditating, and held an arrow into the just now materialized string. Wolf got ready to pounce.

In front of me, a blue portal appeared.

...

After waiting for several minutes, we sighed.

We got ready for an attack...for nothing.

As I was staring at the portal with contemplation, Wolf asked me-

"Can we go in there?"

"We don't know what's on the other side. And even if we do go in there, we may never come back."

"Well, the unknown is always an adventure, and we can handle ourselves well. We're spirits of death, hunting those who try to escape! Not children playing around!"

I pondered his words. It's true that we only play around and hunt a little each day, a bit of adventure should be exciting. Plus, Wolf can shut up and stop complaining if I go into the portal.

"...I guess its time we have an adventure...the weft and weave of fate guides-"

"Words spoil the chase!" Wolf replies quickly.

...we aren't chasing anything though.

'It's time to see a new world. It is fate that this portal has appeared before us, and it will probably lead to a world where one is in need of the hunters of death.'

I slowly hopped-skipped into the portal, Wolf following me excitedly into it.

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Kindred entered the portal that appeared above the pond, and the portal disappeared.

All signs of it appearing, gone.

The forest returned to its initial state, no traces left of Kindred.