"Brother-in-law, what sort of sound is that?" Grace Lopez clutched Jas Brown’s arm, her face sowhat pale.
Jas Brown gave a slight smile and said, "It should be a bear."
"There can be bears on this island?" Sarah Utah asked in confusion. She had been scared pale initially, but hearing Jas Brown say it was a familiar animal now made it seem less frightening. The scariest part is not knowing what it is.
Jas Brown nodded and said, "I feel it should be about right, that sound is very similar to a bear’s."
Emily Lopez imdiately asked, "Brother-in-law, can you beat a bear?"
Lucy Campbell chuckled lightly and said, "Of course he can, a bear is certainly not as scary as a shark, right? Jas was able to kill a shark in the sea, dealing with a bear on land shouldn’t be a problem."
Jas Brown, however, spoke cautiously: "If it’s just one bear, I have no problem, but if there are several bears, then it becos difficult. So we should be cautious. For the ti being, let’s not wander around randomly. Without accompanying, everyone should stay here and not leave at will."
The won all nodded at Jas Brown’s caution, anyway, it was getting late in the day, and soon it would get dark, so they might as well not wander about.
Sophia, however, was a bit dismissive, turned and stood up, and walked straight in the direction the sound was coming from.
Jas Brown frowned and said, "Where are you going?"
"I’m going to see what it is." Before Sophia finished speaking, she had already disappeared into the bushes.
"Hmph, that wicked woman, better be eaten by the bear." Grace Lopez couldn’t help but mutter.
Lucy Campbell shook her head and said, "Though that woman is our enemy, we’re still in the sa boat on this island. At least here, we shouldn’t treat her as an enemy."
Grace Lopez retorted discontentedly, "With brother-in-law here, do we even need her? She still needs my brother-in-law’s protection."
Jas Brown chuckled and said, "Your brother-in-law isn’t almighty. Having another helper is always good."
Seeing Jas Brown also said this, Grace Lopez pouted and said, "Alright, but if she gets eaten by the bear, we can’t be blad."
At that mont, another roar ca from over there, and it sounded extrely agitated, as if encountering an enemy. Soon, there were several more roars, not staggered, but almost simultaneously, making the sound even more terrifying.
Bears are generally solitary, unless it’s a mother bear with cubs, but from this sound, it seed like they were together. Could it be that the bears here, like lions, hunt as a group?
It’s not impossible. Like lions, group hunting allows them to catch larger prey more easily, whereas animals such as tigers and leopards have their own territories and are solitary, partly due to their strength but also because prey isn’t so abundant. In circumstances where prey is plentiful, wildlife experts have seen a few tigers living together.
"Brother-in-law, it sounds like that noise is coming towards us." Emily Lopez tightly gripped Jas Brown’s arm, her face turning pale.
Lucy Campbell and Sarah Utah also stood up at this ti, nervously positioning themselves behind Jas Brown.
Jas Brown imdiately said, "Get into the cave; there’s firelight here, so the bears shouldn’t co near."
Everyone ran into the cave and closed that wooden door, which appeared sturdy enough but likely wouldn’t hold against a large animal like a bear. This belief made Grace Lopez and the others increasingly nervous as they listened to the bear’s roars getting nearer.
Jas Brown said at this point, "Stay here and don’t co out. I’ll go look."
"Brother-in-law, don’t go out!" Grace Lopez quickly grabbed Jas Brown’s arm.
Jas Brown patted her hand and said, "Don’t worry, even if it’s a group of bears, although I can’t beat them, escaping shouldn’t be an issue."
After stepping out of the cave, Jas Brown closed the wooden door. From the outside, it just looked like a dense row of trees, and if one didn’t know there were people inside, the wild beasts wouldn’t usually go in.
Just after finishing this, a figure quickly rushed towards them—it was Sophia, with four grizzly bears roaring and pursuing her. Their speed was clearly faster than Sophia’s, but because she wasn’t running in a straight line—dodging left and right—her nimbleness helped her avoid being caught by those four bears.
Jas Brown couldn’t help but shake his head. Really, what was Sophia thinking, provoking these bears needlessly?
"Co over! This way!" John Brown shouted to Sophia.
Sophia imdiately dashed towards John Brown, while he picked up a burning branch and flung it at the grizzly bear behind her.
Animals are generally afraid of fire. Although the four grizzlies were chasing fiercely, as soon as they saw the fire, they yelped and scattered. John Brown threw a few more burning branches, making the grizzlies yelp more and hurry into the forest, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
With the crisis resolved, John Brown laughed and said, "What were you doing? Were you thinking of eating bear paw, or did you want to test your strength against them?"
Sophia snorted, feeling frustrated. She likes to challenge strong beings. Although bears are not people, they are powerful animals, which sparked her interest. Following the sound, she quickly found the grizzly bear and charged straight at it to try and kill it.
But when she actually faced this gray-furred beast, she realized how difficult it was to deal with. The grizzly stood over two ters tall and weighed seven or eight hundred pounds. Even the burly white n in this mission were insignificant compared to the bear.
The bear’s thick hide and fat were so tough that Sophia’s throwing knife, which could penetrate five centiters of wood, couldn’t pierce through the outer layer of fat.
Dealing with one grizzly was hard enough, and who knew the grizzly she attacked would roar, calling three more companions, leaving Sophia in a very embarrassing situation. Running was the only option left at that point.
Fortunately, John Brown ca to her rescue, preventing her from becoming bear food. But she was irked by his joking remark, feeling it was mocking her. She retorted with a cold snort, "Don’t think you saved . If you hadn’t scared them away, I would have killed them."
"Yes, yes, it’s all my fault," John Brown replied with a smile.
"Do you think blinding them with throwing knives would be difficult for ?"
John Brown nodded and said, "Of course not. But you just shared good news with —you’re running low on throwing knives."
Sophia’s face darkened at that remark. John Brown was right, though. She usually had plenty of throwing knives, and it didn’t take many to defeat an opponent. But she had already used most of them in her dual with John Brown, leaving her with only a few. She wanted to have a real showdown with him, and these few knives were essential for her strongest moves. How could she waste them on those silly bears?
She had to admit, John Brown’s sharp analytical skills impressed her, making her more determined to have a final showdown. A worthy opponent like him warranted a battle, even if it ant dying by his hand. Living had been painful anyway, and perhaps that would be a relief.
"Hey, what are you thinking?" John Brown waved a hand in front of Sophia, snapping her out of her daze.
Sophia’s gaze turned icy as she glanced at John Brown, then walked to the fire, added so logs, tore off a piece of venison, and disdainfully remarked, "Every strong person should face challenges head-on to continuously surpass themselves. You didn’t directly confront the bears earlier, and I despise that."
John Brown sat across from her, slicing off a piece of venison, and said, "I’m not concerned with surpassing myself. I just want to handle enemies in the simplest way possible. Do you really think I should wrestle a half-ton grizzly with just my hundred-pound fra?"
"Hmph, that’s a coward’s way."
"Ha, who’s the coward? You ran when the bear chased you, didn’t you?"
"You..." Sophia glared at John Brown angrily, but he ignored her, enjoying the delicious venison. This made her angrier, and she longed to fight him right there, yet she held back. She wasn’t in peak form, and battling him now would be masochistic.
"Hmph, when I recover, you’ll see," she muttered to herself, then focused on devouring her al, ignoring John Brown.
The bears were scared off, so Grace Lopez, Lucy Campbell, and Sarah Utah erged from the cave. Everyone had a bit more to eat. John Brown collected so water with two large leaves so they could wash up, then they all returned inside the cave.
The outside fire stayed lit, and there was a small pile of coals inside, keeping the cave cozy.
With nightfall, the dim light from the coals was barely enough to see, but it wasn’t completely pitch-black.
Being modern people, none were used to sleeping this early, but here, they had no choice but to rest when the sun set.
The cave was just large enough for the five of them to lie side by side—John Brown on one end, Sophia on the other, with Grace and the others in between. Grace settled naturally beside John Brown, given her special status, without any objections from Lucy and Sarah. It was understandable for her to keep them a safe distance from him.
Before everyone fell asleep, Grace behaved, avoiding any intimate moves with John Brown. But as fatigue set in and sleepiness crept over them, John Brown felt Grace’s small hand stealthily reaching over to him.
Reviews
All reviews (0)