The sun had begun to peek over the horizon. Enzo and Zeli made their way to the gathering team. They did not head towards the hill, but rather in another direction.
As they walked, Enzo noticed the younger children walking around. They were carefree. He saw small tigers roughhousing. He knew those children were cub beastmen, and the ones who couldn’t transform but were enjoying the show were sub-beasts.
He still couldn’t believe there were no women here.
It didn’t take long for them to reach the front of the tribe. There he saw the sub-beasts chatting among themselves. He looked at the things in their hands. Some had furs and others had baskets.
Everyone was admiring the baskets on the backs of the sub-beasts. Zeli saw Nova and walked over to him with Enzo.
"What’s this?" he asked Nova.
Nova, face smug, smiled at Zeli and said, "It’s a basket. We can use it to collect more things than we could with the furs. Rin and the others made them yesterday. Who told you to stay with the idiot? You could have had one too."
Enzo rolled his eyes. It was a basket; there wasn’t anything special about it. If he tried, he could make one too. Did he actually know how to make one? Absolutely not, but he still remembered the basics from a tutorial he saw.
Nothing beats trial and error.
Enzo stiffened slightly when he heard the name Rin, but relaxed soon after. He checked his surroundings and saw Kifa standing with a few other sub-beasts. Their eyes met, and they greeted each other.
As he waited patiently, laughter came from his left. Enzo turned to look. Three sub-beasts were walking towards the group, baskets on their backs. The one on the left looked proud and haughty; it was clear that this person lived a pampered life.
The one on the right looked silly and kind, with an innocence Enzo knew he didn’t possess. He looked between the two, wondering how these two personalities became friends.
Then there was the person in the center. As Enzo looked at him, he could swear he saw a halo. His stride was confident; he walked like he belonged and the world should bend to his command.
Enzo observed his appearance, and his eyes widened. His pupils shrunk, and his mouth opened slightly. His heart was beating so loudly that he was almost sure everyone in the vicinity could hear it.
This was it. This was the look. Unlike Enzo’s baby face, the person before him had a quiet beauty. His features were soft. A small mole sat at the outer corner of his right eye. It drew people’s attention immediately. The smile was inviting and made people feel warm.
Enzo scrutinized the person before him. Something told him this was the person, Rin. He looked the same as the author wrote him. A fellow traveller like himself who came to make the lives of the beastmen better.
Enzo sighed. It really is him. He really is inside a novel.
He wasn’t sure what he was feeling at this present moment. But something about Rin’s presence made him feel relieved. Since he was in the book and Rin was the protagonist, there wasn’t a reason for him to step forward.
He felt he didn’t need or want to be the chosen one.
Yet, the conflicting emotions in his heart said otherwise. The space that he had yet to check made him feel like he had a chance at being the protagonist. He knew what would happen; he could stop it.
But who would listen to him?
Enzo pushed the feelings away before they could completely surface.
"That’s Rin," Zeli whispered. His worried eyes met Enzo’s. He let out a breath when he saw Enzo didn’t have any other reaction.
"We had a conflict, right?" Enzo asked.
He had figured out everything he needed to. His heart was still going wild after realizing he was in a story. He could feel his eyes twitch, but he couldn’t exactly start screaming his head off in a crowd.
"You remember?" Zeli asked carefully.
Enzo shook his head. "I don’t remember anything. I pieced it together from what everyone said yesterday. You don’t need to worry. I won’t cause trouble."
He watched Zeli’s tense shoulders drop, and Enzo chuckled to himself. He wasn’t the original. Whatever relationship he had had nothing to do with him.
Enzo turned to look at Rin once more. As soon as he turned, their eyes met. Enzo greeted him. This was the protagonist; being in his good graces could only be a good thing.
Rin looked at Enzo, confused. Enzo could see him trying to place him. The confusion made him laugh a little. Still, Rin greeted him and continued talking to his friends.
Enzo looked at the two people beside Rin. Their names popped up in his head. Kris and Sani, the protagonists’ best friends. They appeared frequently in one way or the other.
Sani left the tribe later in the book, having found a pair of beast partners from another tribe, twins.
"Alright. Everyone’s here. Let’s go."
The group walked out of the tribe and onto their designated path. The friendly chatter made Enzo smile.
"So where are we going?" he asked Zeli. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Nova responded.
"Just follow everyone and don’t get lost. It’s good enough that you don’t cause trouble."
Enzo pursed his lips and gave a sideways glance to Nova. He genuinely couldn’t understand this person. He spoke to him with such disgust, yet he still stuck around. He was certain Zeli wasn’t the only friend he had.
"Don’t you have anything better to do? Why are you walking with us?" he quipped.
Nova scoffed. "Zeli’s my friend; do I need your permission to walk with him? You’re just an unfortunate consequence of wanting to be near my friend."
"Both of you, stop it," Zeli said.
Nova crossed his arms and turned his head. Enzo sneered.
"Enzo, don’t mind Nova. He’s like this with everyone. He says the meanest things, but he’s really nice."
Enzo didn’t believe a word Zeli said. "It’s lucky he’s a sub-beast. If he were a beastman, people would beat him."
"At least when I enter adulthood, I have a partner, unlike someone..."
"Someone actually wants you? Who’s blind enough to want something like you?" Enzo opened his eyes, exaggerated shock on his face.
"You..."
Nova stepped forward, and Zeli held him back. Enzo stuck his tongue out, only to receive a reproachful look from Zeli. He cleared his throat, his face turning slightly red.
Enzo mentally slapped himself. Are you going through puberty again? Why are you acting like a child? You’re a thirty-year-old man. Enzo berated himself for acting childishly.
Since Zeli stopped them from arguing, Enzo finally took in his surroundings. In the tribe, there wasn’t much to see. It was the same mud huts everywhere. But once he stepped outside, the atmosphere was different.
Just beyond the tribe’s perimeter was vast greenery, tall shrubs almost half his height, wild grass, and thorny brambles. There was a path, which meant the tribe gatherers walked here very often.
The smell of damp earth hit his nose. He looked around at the people walking with him. He saw that not only were there sub-beasts, but there were also beastmen. Their tails were the first thing he saw.
His fingers twitched once before he looked away.
In that quick glance, he not only saw their tails; he saw their muscles. They didn’t have lean muscle like the sub-beasts. They were muscular without being massive. It was the type of physique that came from training rather than bodybuilding.
He turned away, touching his own small arm and sighing.
The surroundings- that’s where he should be looking. He should familiarize himself with it in case he ever wanted to come out on his own.
The group continued their walk until they came to their destination.
"Remember to be careful, everyone. Don’t stray too far." It was the same person who had called them to leave.
Various sounds of acknowledgement rang out. Enzo gave his own and then walked away with Zeli. Of course, Nova was trailing behind, not that he noticed.