Threads of the Soul

Staying beside the unconscious man for a few more minutes, Seth carefully observed the healing process under the influence of his makeshift potion. He had taken out his journal, currently holding it open in his hand, as he studied the healing wounds. Words weaving themselves onto the page as he mentally dictated them to Angel, a useful feature for a man who had lost his writing hand.

From his lifetime of 'studying' through video games, Seth knew exactly how important healing potions could be and how much they could change a nearly fatal encounter. Why else did any gamer have the primal urge to horde such things if they weren't useful?

Who knows, maybe if the man had access to a similar concoction then most of his group might have survived. And, while Seth couldn't go back in time to change their fate, he was damn certain he could figure out the right blend to save himself, and those closest to him, from the same fate.

However, despite his lofty goals and ideals for the future. It was hard for Seth to concentrate with a certain pair of eyes boring in the back of his head. Letting out a sigh, He glanced over his shoulder to look at the culprit of the intense gaze, only to find that it had shuffled closer to him when he hadn't been looking.

"You're not getting anything else, It doesn't matter how cute you are."

But, despite his strict words, Seth knew that they were weak. For under the intense gaze, this master of manipulation was slowly whittling away at his psyche and crumbling his resistance until it finally got what it wanted.

As if ignorant to its own masterful negotiation tactics, the adorable snow white puppy simply titled its head in confusion and kept looking at him with those big, hopeful and endlessly hungry blue eyes.

They had first found the little glutton when they tried to lift the injured man from his position, hidden underneath his body and kept safe within his grasp.

Despite its innocent and adorable appearance, the puppy was surprisingly dangerous. It was the one responsible for the deadly spikes of ice that had kept the Hemogoblins at bay. While it wasn't strong enough to kill the army, only being able to spawn so many consecutive ice spikes because of the man's protection, it was still safe to say that the puppies' efforts were directly responsible for keeping them both alive. At least stalling the wretched creatures, turning them to torture instead of murder, long enough for Seth's group to arrive and take care of the situation.

The puppy had been a little on edge when they first approached, trying to skewer them just like it did with the goblins, but after a few minutes of coaxing it finally understood that they were trying to help it and the man. It was only when he had been sitting here, waiting and observing the healing process, that Seth made the fatal mistake of feeding the adorable creature some of his spare jerky.

That was how they ended up in their current predicament, with the gluttonous beast whittling away at his mental fortress as it begged incessantly for more food. The most annoying part of it was that Seth knew that it was working. He knew he shouldn't feed it more, that it probably didn't need it.

But how could he stop himself?! It had perfect fluffy white fur, like fresh snow on Christmas morning. A comparison that was quite literal, as the air around it was filled with dancing and twirling snowflakes and a light fog of condensation twirled whenever it breathed, filled with twinkling flakes of frost. He could see a trail of frozen grass, showing where it had been sitting and how much it had scooted closer whenever he turned his back.

From its pointed ears, which constantly flit around at the slightest hint of noise, and the way its tail curled upwards whenever it stood, Seth knew that before it had to have been some breed of husky. Siberian, if he had to guess, judging by its size and general fluffiness.

However, despite its icy nature and its habit of freezing everything nearby, it was not uncomfortable to touch. Whenever someone petted it, which was practically all the time as the thing constantly nuzzled and rubbed against people for attention when it wasn't begging for food, instead of biting frost they'd instead feel a pleasant chill. It was as if you were taking the first sip of an ice cold soda on a scorching summer day.

No doubt part of it's insidious plan to get more pets. The dastardly beast.

As the cunning creature pawed at him again, touching its tiny padded paws against his thigh, a shiver ran down Seth's spine. But it wasn't from the cold touch of the puppy, in fact that was actually quite nice and refreshing. Instead it was from something far far worse. Something that every man has learned to detect and fear throughout his life.

The ire of a jealous woman.

He felt like a hare being eyed by a starving wolf, his hair standing on end and every fibre of his being screaming at him to run. But what had he done wrong? Who had he wronged? It didn't make any sense!

Whipping his head around, he quickly darted his eyes over the clearing to find the fearsome she-wolf, only to catch the sight of Astra's glowing pupils in the corner of his eye. However when he fully turned to her, she immediately looked away and took the horrific feeling away with her gaze.

'Oh you can't be serious…'

Letting out a mental sigh at the ridiculous nature of the situation, Seth put away his journal and scooped up the snow dog as he stood up. It was quite easy to lift the puppy, since the entirety of its belly filled his hand and it was as light as a snowball.

[Don't throw the snowball.]

'Quite you.'

The predatory gaze of jealousy intensified the moment he took the adorable little dog into his grasp, but after a few moments, when Astra realised that he was walking in her direction, the feeling disappeared. A mix of confusion, anxiety and poorly contained excitement fought for the right to express themselves on her face until eventually excitement won out, causing her to bite her lip to hold in her smile. Her eyes never left the puppy in his grasp. Yet, as quickly as that excitement came, it was torn away only to be replaced with an odd sadness.

She had tried to quickly hide and dispel that, but noticing the misery hidden in the eyes is the one thing that Seth retained from his childhood with his parents. It was the same look he so often saw in his sisters eyes, always hidden behind a smile. It was especially present in recent years.

Stopping a few steps away from Astra, Seth placed the puppy down before taking a plastic container out of the borrowed pouch he wore on his waist. The more he used it, the more he was hoping that he wouldn't have to return the pouch. The transportation gift was simply so useful, but he knew he'd have to give it up eventually. May as well make use of it for now though, instead of relying on his army of pack mules… I mean loyal puppets.

The sight of the container made the perpetually hungry puppy perk up, its tail swishing happily as its eyes locked onto its prize for being a good boy. But instead of giving it food, the container was tossed through the air and landed in the lap of the girl, causing the puppy to quickly hurry over and sit next to her.

"Feed this thing for me while I take care of that, will you?"

Astra glanced down at the container of food in her hands, before looking up at Seth and realising what he was talking about. It wasn't exactly hard to guess, since he was directly pointing at the wound on her side.

The dagger from the Hemogoblin still sticking out from her stomach, doing a decent job of plugging up the bleeding even if it made it incredibly uncomfortable and painful to sit, move and breathe. So nothing essential really.

At her nod, she began to absentmindedly tear the jerky into smaller scraps and toss them to the puppy, occasionally glancing at Seth as he began his work.

Humming his usual game tune, he began to take out his ingredients; which consisted of just a bottle of water, a bottle of the golden dew and an empty bottle, before starting to mix them together. This time planning on using a bit of a stronger concoction, since the last one was definitely too diluted.

"There's something you should know before you start."

"Oh really? And what would that be?"

"No matter what, you can't touch me. If you do… you could get really hurt or even… die."

She couldn't hold his gaze as she spoke, focusing on the grass as if she was trying to make a detailed account of how many blades of grass there were. Yet when Seth next spoke, it was not the shock or fear that she had expected and had received from all the others, instead it was her that was shocked.

"Really? Well, He doesn't seem to mind."

Her head snapped up at the words, a look of utter bafflement on her face before she followed his gaze to the puppy. The puppy that, after she had stopped feeding him for a single fraction of a second, was already standing with his front paws on her lap while he sniffed at the container full of jerky.

Raising a trembling hand, Astra paused for a few seconds before slowly reaching out with trepidation. Only when her blackened fingers danced among the puppies chilling fur, did she let out a stifled laugh as a single tear rolled down her cheek.