Eternal Lifeline

Chapter 2 - One Got Loose

Luckily, his trip was just as long as he had predicted. Since he was going to come home essentially empty handed, except for acquiring the obvious, Sebastian knew his father would not be pleased with his faulty punctuality. As he made his way into the main pathway, he noticed his bag was just where he had placed it, so he wrapped up its contents and threw it over his shoulder. After his fifteen minute walk back, many questions arose in his mind, likely enough to make even Zuri regret giving him the clear to ask anything. He had so many questions that he was sure she would want to go back into hiding; therefore, many of them, he had decided for the first time in his life, would just have to go unanswered.

He still had everything that he left in his bag, except his knife that was drilled into the skull of that beast, which was long gone when he had woken up. His dad wouldn't be too happy about him losing that knife, since metal was hard to come by, but Sebastian was sure that he could somehow coax him into forgiveness.

Finally, instead of experiencing some synthetic form of darkness, Sebastian's nerves were calmed when the Sun itself decided to rest for the night. Its rays, no longer bothering him, were barely scraping the top of the trees, and the calm and cool rush of air quickly filled the empty space the heat left. It was refreshing, almost making him forget that he was nearly killed just fifteen minutes ago.

Sebastian had decided that he would tell no one about what happened because, one, no one would believe him, and two, it was probably best to keep the sword a secret. Who knew what kind of people were hiding in the village, waiting for the moment to steal this blade from his grip? Speaking of which, Sebastian would probably have to learn to sleep with one eye open. He never knew that a threat like the Hellhounds existed in these peaceful woods. Yeah, bears were a common sight, but they weren't nearly as aggressive or numerous as the pack of wild beasts that came into his path.

After a bit of worrying and walking, though, Sebastian just decided that they were indigenous to that part of the woods and wouldn't bother coming to the village. Besides, there were enough people in the village to fight them off if they decided to pull something funny.

One of the many entrances to the village was now in his sight, and he knew he was home safe. Even though he would have to go right back outside the next day to chop down some more trees, he could enjoy a nice hot meal and some rest before having to worry about such things. While he was trying to guess what supper would be, he didn't catch some of the others coming back from cutting trees. They seemed to have the same jovial mood that they always did, well, within reason, seeing that they had to deal with trees every day as well, and Sebastian was happy, since they probably weren't dealing with the same issue as him. That was likely because they weren't as curious as he was, so they likely lived regular stress-free lives.

Sebastian finally found himself in line to the check-in station, which was one of many associated with the village. Despite this whole place having some sort of disdain for innovation, they were very well organized and efficient with how many materials came in and which were used for building. In the village, there were five main stations and sections of work, which included farming, mining, livestock, fishing, and lumber. This, of course, was the lumber check-in station, and anyone coming in would have a booklet for reporting how many trees they had cleared that day. Each person had a yearly quota for how much lumber they would get, and if they went above and beyond, they would receive more food and tradable goods for their hard work. That's why Sebastian's dad was such a hard-ass about things.

Speaking of which, he had to get out his booklet to be checked off, which was likely in his bag. After a bit of rummaging through the bag, Sebastian finally found the somewhat folded booklet near the bottom. He wasn't the best at organization, but he was always prepared with everything ready to go.