Fear, Hunger and Cosmic Horrors

Chapter 4 - Where Do We Go From Here?

Know what? I would love to have more time to update my fics, well, at least i dind't stopped. Here is the new chapter! Enjoy it!

Chapter 4 – Where Do We Go From Here?

Hesitantly and with trembling hands, the girl accepted the doll; I released it, pulling my hand away slowly. The girl held the doll with extreme care, as if the rag toy would fall apart in her hands.

The girl crawled out of the cage and stood in front of me, her eyes focused on the toy. She held the doll in front of her face with both hands and analyzed the toy's features, carefully; the girl dragged her fingers through the doll's hair and face. Then she hugged the toy to her chest, lifted her head and stared at me in silence.

Okay, that was a little scary, despite knowing the girl's history; she still looked like a kid from a horror movie. The girl made an uncomfortable face; I must have been staring for some time.

Composing myself, I tried to break the awkwardness of the situation, leaned towards the girl as I smiled and held out my hand "Nice to meet you!"

My smile faded when, instead of accepting my hand, the girl gave me a confused look.

"Do you know what a handshake is?" I asked.

The girl cocked her head to the side.

"Can you even understand what I'm saying?" Please say yes. I don't want to have to communicate through gestures.

The girl nodded slowly.

"Perfect! Where I come from, a handshake is a formal greeting between people, especially when they're meeting for the first time. We firmly hold each other's hands and shake them up and down. Do you think you can do it? I'm embarrassed to be holding my hand in the air."

The girl was silent, several expressions passed over her face, and she frowned, looked away, opened and closed her mouth. Slowly, she extended her hand. I gave myself a mental pat on the back; it looked like my attempt was a success.

Or so I thought, as the girl wrapped her right hand around my left index finger and weakly wiggled my finger up and down, kind of cute, but she did it for a long time as she stared into my eyes. God, this girl is weird, but I can't judge, because I am even more, being a little introverted and with a certain degree of anxiety doesn't help much.

"You can stop now." I said with a nervous smile and sweat trickling down my forehead.

With slow steps, the girl let go of my finger, walked away from me and turned back to face me as she hugged the doll. Damn it! This is unnecessarily weird; I have no experience caring for children, much less a traumatized possible future goddess.

What should I do? Hm... I need to choose my priorities first, get the girl out of this room and get her some food, she must be starving. Second, scout this place for items and equipment. There are several important items in the area and two places where there is a chance for me to get armor and weapons without having to spend coins.

Thirdly? Go deeper into the dungeon? I think I'll only do that after I'm sure I'm ready. I might as well wait for Le'garde to die or for someone to save him, that way the fog around the dungeon dissipates and we can escape.

Calm down and let's start slowly. "Hm... Listen, I know we just met and you don't trust me, but I want you to know that I'm here to help. You must be hungry, so how about I fix you something to eat? There's a kitchen nearby."

As soon as I finished speaking, a loud noise echoed through the room, it was the girl's stomach; she grabbed her stomach with a pained face. Damn it! I've seen the images of starving children in war zones or in poor countries, whether on TV or the internet, but seeing this in person is a completely different story, it makes my heart sink.