Sunnie wanted to protest. She told her system that she can't stay here at all!
"Send me to the mountains or sea or something else," she insisted.
But the system made it clear that in the original storyline, the beast husbands ended up here anyway.
Even if she doesn't stay here now, the people would still find a way to cast them here in the future.
[So it's better you start surviving here anyway,] the system explained.
Sunnie sighed. She guessed she had no choice.
"What an interesting choice," Zayn folded his arms, raising an eyebrow. "This is the place?"
"Well... I guess so," Sunnie shrugged.
Luka stared at her. "The female suddenly seems brave, because weren't you scared of the dark or scary places like this?"
This Sunnie was still scared of such places! But she had no choice. She shrugged with a smile. "Well, we have nowhere to be. So we might as well begin colonizing this area," she smiled.
The beast husbands didn't seem to have a problem with it. They simply stared at each other and then began making their way into the forest.
Sunnie stood there for a while, watching them go in. She blinked, she guessed they weren't scared. They grew up in such an atmosphere after all! Surviving on their own!
Sunnie grew up in the comfort of her apartment with soft bedsheets, pillows, light, AC and the likes!
"Aren't you coming?" Karl asked as they turned to stare at her.
She smiled. "I am. I'm coming," her ears twitched along with her tail as she made her way towards them.
---
Minutes later, they were strolling through the thick forest that evening. Sunnie had a stick with fire on it. Luka had made it as she offered to carry it for him.
Sunnie was in front, leading the way with the help of the system map that was supposed to help her find a place to rest for the night.
This forest was creepy in all ways possible. Its bushes were thick and unkept, it was clear that it had never been attended to for years. And people didn't seem to live in it.
The path was dirty and unkept. Weeds and certain unpleasant stuff had grown on the bare ground which made it hard to tell which path was the way.
Sunnie held the fire firmly as they made their way through; the forest was dark. Extremely dark. She couldn't help but look deep into the darkness.
She felt shivers down her spine. She could have sworn she saw bright eyes looking at them through the dark!
But soon, they were gone.
Sunnie shivered but stayed calm. She had gone camping a lot in university and during work, so this was nothing! - she believed.
At some point, the air became misty and unclear. It was as though someone was burning something somewhere because it became hard to even breathe and see.
Sunnie coughed, covering her nose with her hands while she struggled to see. The beastmen casually did the same.
"Here doesn't seem like a place to live," Azure observed. "The air is contaminated, the land doesn't seem fertile at all as everything here clearly looks like weeds. And the place doesn't seem safe at all."
Sunnie blinked. As if she couldn't tell! But she had to say, "Don't worry, we'll find a way out of it," she explained as she continued moving, coughing.
The beast husbands stared at each other and then shrugged while they continued.
Sunnie was moving, her eyes searching through the path ahead. It had grown so dark that she couldn't even see the path ahead.
She tried putting the fire ahead to see, but she heard a loud ugly groan.
It didn't belong to someone. That belonged to an animal. Or beast!
Sunnie instantly panicked as she stepped backwards. But then the eyes appeared. She saw huge yellow eyes staring at her from the dark ahead.
She raised her fire, ready to strike the beast with it if it approached further. But the aggressive Eagle took action before she could.
Karl flew ahead and smashed his foot against the huge wolf-like beast that crawled out of the dark. It was looking all shabby and ugly, with yellow eyes and a skinny body. But it still looked dangerous enough to kill.
Karl effortlessly smashed a hand against its face and another against its neck. While the wild wolf staggered backwards, he scratched his fingers against its body and kicked it so hard that the wolf flew backwards.
The wild wolf smashed against a huge tree and fell down. It didn't bother attacking; the wolf groaned in pain and made its way off into the dark again.
Sunnie let out a sigh of relief. For a moment there, she couldn't help but think that the wolf looked hungry and pathetic.
Either way, they were safe now.
She let out a smile as Karl cast her a cold glare. "You couldn't even handle that, how do you plan to survive here? Huh? Female?" He asked.
But Sunnie was quick. "That's why you're here. I'm your lovely wife, never said I was an alpha wolf or something," she said.
Karl found himself smiling at the humour until he cast a cold glare and went off to stay in the back.
Sunnie sighed and continued the trip through the thick dangerous woods. Soon, they arrived at their destination.
---
It was a cave.
A normal looking cave sitting at the edge of the forest.
This cave looked old and unmaintained but still normal. But the vines and weeds surrounding it made it obvious that it was old.
The opening was still there. So Sunnie managed to lead the way in.
"Ah!" She let out a sharp scream when her foot touched something in the dark.
Her beast husbands paused and stared as she flashed the light. It was a bone. And looking around, there were bones of dead beastmen and animals littered around here.
That added to the decaying look of the cave. Its smell wasn't the best at all, it smelt of everything decaying. The rocks and walls there were rusty, and you could easily see tiny animals and insects running up and down in the cave without searching.
In short, it looked like an abandoned mess.
Sunnie blinked. "Oh dear."