Why Am I In the Beast World?!

Chapter 18- Female Alone

     While the Jaguar was away, Audre thought it smart to take the opportunity to bathe and change. She always saw in the beast world manga how the beast-man would always catch the protagonist bathing, but not her.

     The water was nice and cool, and the flowers added a sweet smell. The Jaguar had really thought about everything.

     Audre had also found an extra pair of underwear in the toiletry bag that she almost forgot she had hidden in a small inner compartment of her backpack.

     Just for a moment, she could forget about her worries.

     Audre examined herself in her new animal skin clothes. The tunic was made to wrap around her body and tied closed with the belt. Her pants fit perfectly around her waist and hung loosely around her legs. They were exactly as Audre had drawn them.

     'Everything is just right.'

     Guilt gnawed at Audre's chest. In the short time that she had known the Jaguar, he had catered to her every need. He had even thought of things before she had even thought of them herself.

     Audre knew how important it was in the beast world to get a mate, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to know how much it had meant to the Jaguar. She knew that she had taken that hope away from him.

     'No, it's no time to feel guilty. I didn't choose to be here in this stupid world.'

     That's right. It wasn't Audre's responsibility to be a part of this world. She didn't have to follow the rules of this world. And with the clock ticking, she had no time to feel guilty about the Jaguar. She had her own life to get back to. Although, there was one issue.

     'What if he rats me out to the chief?'

     There was no reason for him to continue to help her escape the village, and there was no reason for him to keep the escape a secret from the chief. The Jaguar may have very well left to tell her everything he knew. If that happened, everyone would keep an eye on her to be sure that she won't escape. She would have no choice but to participate in the mating rites ceremony.

     Truly there was nothing that Audre could do to prevent the Jaguar from talking and there was nothing she could do to prepare for it either. Maybe she could come up with some ideas if she were some master strategist or something, but strategy had never been one of her high points. But she couldn't just sit around and do nothing while she waited for her fate.

     Unable to keep still, Audre began cleaning around the tree hole. She pushed the water basin out on her hands and knees as she was still too injured to properly carry it out and found a spot to pour out the water. After she finished pouring the water, she carefully got to her feet at began putting away the utensils the Jaguar used to prepare the caiman.

     Luckily the world wasn't spinning like it was the previous day, or at least it wasn't spinning as much. It didn't take long to clean up outside the tree hole, so with nothing else to do, Audre thought to take the opportunity to explore a bit.

     The Jaguar was always overprotective, and there was no way she would be allowed the freedom to complete her quests while he was around. With him away, she finally had her chance, so she gathered both her quest book and plant book and headed out.

     Audre was already familiar with the clearing around the tree hole, so she decided to venture a little into the jungle. Slowly and carefully, she made it to the edge of the clearing. Looking into the jungle, she couldn't fight off the feeling that venturing out alone may not be her brightest idea. But what else could she do? She didn't exactly have anyone else that she could trust. The truth was that she was alone in this beast world and that she had to accept that.