Limits

We were getting closer to the path in the south. I said to Shelly "When we go down, we will have to travel back north a bit. I want to go where that fog was, maybe we will find something interesting over there". Shelly was sceptical about the path but we went there anyway.

Just before we had our lunch, it was time to play the game. I said to Shelly "This time I'm going to win! Hahahaha". It was my turn to start. Shelly looked at me attentively and waited for me to finish doing something. I went forward couple of steps and somersaulted forward. This time Shelly didn't have a grin on its face, rather it looked quite grim. I said "Ha! try repeating this!" to which Shelly shook its head to mean that it couldn't do that.

I said "You thought it will be something easy again but Hahaha. You've lost so it is your turn to get food and you have to bring it here!". Shelly wasn't very pleased but I didn't care, I've lost twice already and I wouldn't make it easy for Shelly either.

While Shelly went deeper into the forest to get something to eat, I rested near the cliff. I watched the clouds and the scenery that was displayed in front of me. The view from the top of the cliff was great, especially during a nice sunny day. I've waited for about 20 minutes and heard some rustling coming from the forest. I thought 'Shelly is probably coming back with the 1st animal it hunted'.

I turned around and saw a bloodied Shelly walking towards me. Without thinking, I ran over and asked "What happened to you? These parts of the forest are not that populated with strong beasts". but Shelly was too tired to explain, it only made some noises due to pain. I took out medicine from my bag and applied it all over Shelly, I also gave Shelly some Vital Liquid to drink to heal its internal injuries.

I waited patiently for Shelly to get better and thought about possible things that could've happened to Shelly while it hunted. After about an hour or two, Shelly was finally feeling much better and started explaining what happened. "Right, so you went into the forest and saw a small group of wolves that you wanted to hunt. When you killed most of them, something else attacked you. It didn't injure you heavily so you were still at almost full strength. You wanted to take care of that something but then realised it was bunch of humans. They attacked you more while you tried to take them out but it was difficult because they all used weird tactics and you couldn't get close. You decided to run away and that is how you got here". Shelly nodded and made some more noises.

I said "So, some kind of human group wanted to hunt you or maybe capture you? Where was that incident?" to which Shelly showed me the general direction it came from. I said "Wait here and hide yourself, I will deal with that" but Shelly made more noises to mean I shouldn't go. I said "I will be back soon, just hide yourself and rest" then went inside the forest.

I wouldn't mind other humans hunting in this forest, the forest wasn't just mine but attacking my family and doing so in sneaky ways, was a death sentence to that group. I wouldn't just forget about it and leave, they had to pay for what they did!

I searched the forest in the general direction that Shelly pointed to but couldn't find anything. I though 'It's been couple of hours, they must've been gone for a while now. It would be hard to find them'.

I searched for a bit more but didn't manage to find them, I did find the location where Shelly fought with the wolves and later the group of humans but there were too many tracks to follow. I couldn't determine where the group of humans went. I had to give up and leave. When I returned to the cliff, I called out to Shelly "I'm back, you can come out now" but there was no answer. I thought 'That is weird, where did Shelly go?' I called out again "Shelly! where are you?" but I heard nothing. Now I started to sweat 'Where is that turtle?'.

I searched and searched and finally found something. Shelly left a drawing, in what I assumed its hiding place. When I deciphered the drawing, I knew what happened and the rage inside me almost burst outside. If what the drawing suggested was correct, Shelly was taken by the same group of humans. These bastards didn't chase Shelly on purpose and let it run away to me. 'They knew I would go search for them and this was when they tricked me' I thought. If I stayed, they would have to face me but because I was so pissed, I just had to go and search for them.

'Those bastards are not stupid. Yet they forgot about one crucial thing, ME!' I thought and took out a map. I soon found a very large village couple of days worth of travel on my map. I thought 'So they probably went to that village'. I didn't wait any longer and used my full speed to chase after them in the direction of that village. Even if I had to, I would burn that village down to get Shelly back. As for that group of humans? They would receive the most painful deaths they would be able to imagine!

I ran for couple of hours then took a break and like so a day passed. I saw no sign of that human group but they had to be close if they traveled towards the same village. After a night's rest I continued my pursuit. After about an hour or two of running. I found a camp that was abandoned not too long ago. 'So, they were here. I'm not far away from them in that case. I don't believe they didn't leave any tracks behind. If I search very thoroughly, I might be able to find something' I thought.

I searched the area and found couple of tracks leading in different directions. "So they want to cover their tracks and mislead me to somewhere else but they forgot about something again". I walked towards a piece of ground and saw a drawing. "Shelly is with them and as long as Shelly can move just one claw, it will help me find them". I now knew the direction they went into, the chase continued. I was wondering what type of methods did they use in order to restrain Shelly. Shelly was very strong and wouldn't just sit idly waiting for nothing. Shelly was quite heavy, there must be someone in that group who can carry Shelly for a day or couple of people who interchange carrying it. I guessed that I would find out when I catch up to them.

At night, I stopped the chase just to rest and be ready for a fight, I needed to be at my prime when I encounter those bastards. I woke up early in the morning and gave chase almost immediately. They had to eat and sleep just like me but I already had some leftover meat from killing animals on my way.

In the afternoon, I caught signs of human presence. I slowed down, I knew I was getting closer. They probably thought that I couldn't find them due to the tracks left in their previous camp. I slowed down but still chased after them.

I took more regular rests and ate more food just to be at my prime and finally the night came. When I traveled through the night, I saw fire in the distance. 'Finally! I caught up to you bastards!' I thought and silently made my way forwards.

When I arrived near their camp, I saw a group of 10 humans sitting near the fire. Some were drinking something while other chatted and ate. I could also see Shelly tied up by some kind of strange rope. Shelly was tired from what I could see, I guessed that it struggled to break free but that rope was very sturdy. I thought 'Now, all of you are just walking corpses' and started devising a plan of action.