I Reincarnated as an NPC Witch

Out from Danger

She run and run faster than she could ever do. She can still hear the roaring of the beast that is on her tail right now. She didn’t bother to even look if she have lost it or not. Her eyes are peeled within the surrounding. Looking for anything that could obstruct her movement and trip her over. At a glance, she looked at the vines and remembered the cool trick that Keeana was able to pull out. Even with her screams, no one was coming for her to give aid. So, she needs to help herself. She was able to grab the vines. As she puts all of her weight and momentum on it, she started swaying around the tree uncontrollably. With the pressure on her shoulder, she pulled herself up, away from the ground. The only thing she wants is not to be eaten alive by whatever creature that is coming after her again. Before the vine completely wraps around the tree she’s trying to climb, she kicked herself away from the tree trunk. It pushed her away a bit, preventing her from completely bumping and slamming herself directly on the tree. She kept pulling herself up until she got on one of the branches where she is safer than the ground. As she got a good grasp on the safe spot, she looks below her. There awaits the beast that was after her. It wasn’t the tree tiger that she encountered when she arrived at the camp.

She catches her breath as she sits on the branches, looking down at the threat that is below her. It has a much darker color than a tree tiger. Its shape is much resembling a leopard in real life. It doesn’t have beautiful and sparkling yet ferocious emerald eyes. It tries to climb the tree to get her as its dinner, but it fails numerous times. It keeps roaring and growling. There are times that it gets its momentum and almost reaching her from the branch she was in. In caution, she goes on a higher branch to make her much safer.

Abigail is just tucking herself in the branch. She’s confused about what she could do. There are a few branches that connect to other trees. She’s not confident enough to jump every single branch back at the camp, wherever it is. She stands on the branch she is standing on with care and caution. She moves in much inward to the tree trunk to get a better and sturdy part of the branch to scout on. With the density of the forest, even she’s in a tall tree, she can’t see that much. She climbs the tree much higher. With one mistake that almost took her life. As she was climbing, her leg slides through a flexible branch. The incident almost broke her leg and disoriented her. The beast that is below the tree was still there. If she wasn’t gripping hard from the branches, she will fall to her demise.

She lets a loud yelp as she felt a jolt of pain in the joints that joins her pelvis and legs. It prompted her brain to grip harder on the branch. It was the only support she has. She swings her other hand to grip the same branch. She can hear the snapping and cracking sounds that the branches make. Abigail’s heart is beating faster than it was before. The terror that the beast is roaring louder as it tries to hop and snatch her from the branch. As she witnessed before, these things can leap 10 meters into the air. She immediately pulls herself up, the best that she can. It was hard for her. She hasn’t been in the gym for weeks. It almost broke her own arms. But, she persevered and recovered herself. All of this struggling made a lot of noises. From shaking of the branches, snapping, the howls of the beast, and her grunts.

Those noises lead Keeana and Wren to find her struggling in the tree. “It’s Crocus!” She said as she looks at Wren. “How did she got there? She was in the camp just earlier.” Keeana shrugs, “We need to help her, she doesn’t have anything to defend herself.” She hops onto the other tree. Wren nods as he glides to her. They saw the beast under the tree, “That’s why she’s in that tree. That’s very impressive.” She muttered to herself as she swing tree by tree, landing on their branches and swinging again. It’s either through vines or the branches themselves. It was a smooth parkour tree to tree. The noises that she’s creating captured the attention of the beast. As she saw the threat more closely, her eyes widen. “How did that got here?”

While she was frozen in shock, Wren is still flying to Abigail. As soon as he arrived at the tree, he lands on one of the branches. “Hey, Crocus.” Abigail looks at the source of the voice that she just heard. It gives her hope as she turns her head to him. “Wren?” She said as he nods, “How did you get yourself in this situation? Gallant or anyone at the camp could’ve protected you. Did you all ran away from this beast?” He pulls her towards the center of the top of the tree. “No, I am the only one who ran away.” It made the man confused, “Then, what happened?”

“I was just finding these flowers called Nightingale Bluebell. I didn’t know there was yet another beast. I thought Keeana already scouted this place safe.” He sighs, “Even she did, these things move around the forest. Besides, she was away when this happen.” He looks at her, “Wait a minute… Why did you leave the camp without someone with you!?” She groans, “Why do I need someone to be with me? Do I look that weak to you?” He snickers, “Look where you at right now. At the top of a tree, helpless.” Abigail glares at him and points her index finger at him, “I am not helpless, mister bird. In fact, I am planning for my escape. If I am helpless, I might’ve just been running around.” He rolls his eyes, “Right.”

“I don’t like being called like that.” She looks away from him and looks around. “I’ll prove you right now that I am not helpless!” She leaps and grabs onto a vine. Inside her, she’s hoping deeply for this not to collapse, her plan, and the vine itself. As she got a good grip on it with both of her hands, the momentum that she got from jumping swings the vine. Although, she grips on the vine in rather a quite low spot. The beast saw her and starts running towards her. As she arches up, she leaps again rather stupidly. It was lucky for her to grasp yet another vine to save herself from the awaiting demise that is the hard and bumpy terrain of the forest and the leopard-looking fiend that is after her. Her heart is pumping hard, with her hearing it through her very own tears. Her hands start to sweat even they are in a cold environment.

“Crocus!” Wren shouted. Keeana heard his shout that snaps her back to reality. She saw Abigail doing tricky and dangerous stunts that she just attempted this time. She quickly draws her bow and aims it at the monstrosity that is after Abigail. Her arrow was quite different from the ones she usually use. “I shouldn’t use these but I have no choice.” She took a deep breath, “I hope this works.” She lets go of the string of the bow, shooting the arrow across the dense forest.

Abigail screams as she panics. She was going to bump yet another tree. She looks around for another route to go. She saw another vine to hold on to. She has no choice. It’s either her risk of slamming herself on a tree or another risky attempt at a hanging vine that she doesn’t know will be sturdy enough to hold her up high. She pulls her other hand and reaches for the other vine. It swings her to yet another direction.

The beast leaps to her. She turns her head to witness the terrifying sight of a black feline on the verge to get her with its jaws. Its red eyes look through her. It wasn’t a friendly and calming eye to look through. It opens its mouth, revealing the sharp teeth that it will use to chomp her down. In fear, she looks away and extends her arms. She opens her hand, preparing herself to grab anything she can at this moment.

She felt something wrapping her waist. She doesn’t know if it's the creature that was after her or another one that is a threat. At this point, she closed her eyes in fear. She lets whoever or whatever got her to take her somewhere or finish her for good. Although, it struck her. The feeling of pain wasn’t something she expected. She felt something squeezing her stomach a bit but that was it. There’s no sharp thing piercing through her skin. She also feel something on her back, like something was leaning onto her. Even she’s afraid, she opens her eyes and looks up. She saw a figure that gave her hope. She was now in the air, with her lower body dangling. In her caution, she grips on the arms of Wren to make her more secure than she ever was. Wren flies through the trees. He goes around, back to the place where Keeana was.

Keeana hops out of the tree with her bow loaded and caution in her mind. She slowly approaches the dead beast that lies on the ground. The bow she shot pierced its neck, killing it in the process. She looks down at it and pierced it with a dagger to confirm its defeat. She looks up as she heard loud windy noises. She saw Wren holding Abigail dearly in his arms. The latter was tucked in on his embrace like a scared child. He lands on the ground and puts her on her feet. “It’s fine. The dark leopard is dead.”

“A dark leopard, huh.” Wren approaches the leopard and looks at it. “Don’t tell me that the dark wizard is here.” He looks at Keeana, she sighs. “I don’t know. If he is then it's dangerous to be here.” She looks at Abigail who is visibly confused, distressed, and scared of what just happened. “I am glad that this thing didn’t suck all of your energy. I am even surprised that you outrun this guy.” She kneels in front of the beast and flips it over on its back. She looks at its underbelly, examining its body. She looks at them both, “What dark wizard? D-dark leopard? What’s happening in here? Is there some kind of villain wandering around these forests?” Wren shrugs, “There’s a lot of villains in this world. It will be a long story to tell about the dark wizard thing. But, I guess you need to know it. Besides, you are a witch. You guys have the same powers and have unique abilities compared to average witches and wizards out there in the continent.”

Keeana took a deep breath and looks at Abigail. “We need to tell this to the rest. We will tell you the story when we got there. We really need to get out of here as soon as we can. This man doesn’t just play playfully. This man we are against plays seriously and dangerously.” The rest of them nod and they start to trek their way to the camp to bring the bad news to everyone that is back at the camp.

“We need to get out of here fast.” Gallant looks at Keeana, “Why?” She takes a deep breath, “He’s here.”