A Deer’s Journey - Chapter 40 Second Expedition Vi

As soon as she left the tent Sijm found herself surrounded by many people who looked like Goosemon although dressed rather poorly as if to a lower standard. ‘ Could it be.. he is someone important after all?’

Keeping her eyes downcast Sijm felt like she was being paraded around. No one came to talk to her. Apart from a couple of glances shot her way, it felt like she was being ignored.

From what she could tell the tent she stayed at looked completely different to how she imagined it to be. It was like someone upturned a tortoise and used it’s whole body to make a house half buried in the sand, it was strange.

Still there was not much Sijm could do right now apart from follow Goosemon as he led her, and what she supposed was his retainers around. Actually compared to other tents Goosemon’s seemed to be a bit further away, with a large space around it while the others were a lot smaller and bundled near each other. Glancing out of the corners of her eyes she couldn’t see very clearly but neither was she stupid enough to draw more attention to herself.

Keeping as quiet she could, she only followed, it was not till a few moments later that they finally managed to walk into a even more secluded encampment which houses a massive tortoise shaped tent. It was like someone took Donatello and gave him a growth potion only to kill him to use as a house. This house was a bit special too because the sides were a lot more elongated and probably were used as mini storage rooms of sorts.

“You guys stay here. And you, don’t speak unless spoken to and follow my actions, copy what I do later when we meet Dwade.”

Slightly nervous and unsure what to expect Sijm glanced at Goosemon’s face, only he replied with a fierce glare.

The soft sounds of pitter patter could be heard in the quiet as they walked closer towards the house. An ominous feeling hung in the air, as they approached the house someone came to the door but it looked like it wasn’t Dwade because while Goosemon retained a respectful form of adress, he didn’t stop for long before they passed through and into a wide hall.

Sitting inside were a group of people, ‘Goosemon’s kin?’, their clothing were a lot better than even what Goosemon was wearing, it was very clear even from a distance. The colours were bright and luxurious, a couple even had some form of hats on their head to demote their status or importance.

“Why are you here?” an intimidating voice burst out from the crowd of people sitting in center of the room. Clear and commanding, this was someone who was used to authority. Hearing it, Sijm was sure of one thing, this person and Goosemon definitely were not on friendly terms, she would even guess they had some sort of conflicts in the past.

Bowing slightly, “Dwade, I heard you have an interest in those from other Tribes and I just happened to find this girl here; today is your day of your three long reign as Chieftain, I’ve come here to pay my respects and send you this gift.”

Even though a lot of things were unsaid Sijm could tell from his words that they definitely had some problems, unfortunately she was his ‘peace offering’.

A curt nod could be seen as Dwade moved his head signaling one of his guards to accept Sijm. Feeling the tension in the air, Sijm knew this was not the time to make a scene so she quietly followed the person in the front as she was led out to a different area. Even so she could hear Dwade’s short reply as he said “NOW LEAVE”, it didn’t look like Goosemon had done her any favours.

At this time even though Sijm was going through a rough time, Deer was hanging onto his life by the skin of his teeth. It was unfortunate, he was still human after all, other than a few changes to his body, he was no superman after all.

Bleeding in several spots, Deer could even see one of his chest bones poking through his chest. *cough erh* This wasn’t he first time his body was hurt so much, even his whole face looked pale, like he was dying soon. Clenching his teeth he struggled to move his body ‘I can’t fall here’.

The only thought in his head was his desperate will to get up, he didn’t want to die. As if knowing the situation, subconsciously he could feel Sunder, his shoulders seemed to heat up at this moment.

Although he couldn’t move his head he knew Sunder had come out and looking at him now, conflicting emotions seemed to run through his head as he felt the pain as well as Sunder’s feelings transmitted to himself, but above all he could sense a steely determination as if something big was about to happen.

It was at this time that a notification came up on his system, how could he forget this useless system: “Sunder has initiated a ??? will you accept?”

‘What is this, what’s going on? Sunder!’ internally Deer felt an strange sensation, he knew that if accepted something that was out of common reasoning might happen, even more so he could feel a hint of sadness from Sunder. Hesitating, in the end he still accepted, he knew Sunder wouldn’t harm him but…

A strange feeling coursed through his body, he could feel a part of himself stretching and changing, some of his wounds began to close up at an increased rate, at the same time the forced recovery also caused him to go through tremendous pain. There was no words to describe the feeling but it was like being enclosed in a coffin which had countless nails dotted inside and the lids were closed while he was still lying inside. To make matters worse he could feel a gnawing sensation on his body that made it itch all over like the bites of thousands and thousands of ants at the same time all in different spots, again and again.

Facing the pain he could feel himself start to blackout and lose grip on reality. ‘SUNDER!!’

It was at this moment a strange notification appeared on his system, although Deer harbored gone past the point where he could even pay attention, he had lost consciousness.

“Your body has successfully bound with Sunder and entered symbiosis.”