6 Chapter 5: Sir Bear

Kanae cocked an eyebrow, and tilted her head, "Excuse me? Your doors? Did the name plate break? Next time, be sure to get wooden hoardings, they give out fake, weak ones now." Kanae said in a serious tone, shaking her head.

The girl had a conflicted expression on her face, before her ears grew bright red and she flared up, "You! How dare you make fun of our house?! Do you even know what pains we took-"

"Miao." The boy uttered, hugging her from behind. "Be silent for a bit, the bear can hear us. We don't want him to get violent on hearing us."

Miao looked up at him with teary eyes and nodded. The situation in front of them was more important than wasting time arguing. A small tear slid down her cheek, and she rubbed it off. The boy, Ed, rubbed his cheek against hers.

Kanae blinked.

She knew she had crossed the line this time.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." She apologized, bowing slightly. "Since I disturbed you, I'll take my leave now."

She abruptly turned around on her heels, and started exiting the cave. A voice called out, "Wait. It's dangerous to go out now. Moreover, you don't even have a weapon. What are you going to do out there?" Ed said, brows furrowed.

Kanae frowned. If he had that type of thinking, then survival would be tough for him. First comes one's own survival, then others. Reverse the order, and get ready to bid your life goodbye. He should have a strong mentality, and never waver.

'Naive.'

Disappointment filled her. Somehow, she had expected something from him. Instead now, she felt the girl was better in comparison. She hadn't bothered to ask her to stay, but she could read from her expression that she found Kanae a bother.

But before she could reply anything, a 'rumble' made them all jump. Heart thumping, they looked at the entrance.

Sure enough, a huge shadow blocked the way, making Miao tremble slightly. Ed gracefully leaped in front of Kanae, and gestured to get back.

Seeing this, Miao glared at Kanae.

'What did I do now!?'

Ed had somehow already worn clothes and a silver longsword appeared in his hand. Each strike he made was perfect, worth a show, and Kanae watched his moves in wonder. His movements were smooth, didn't put much strength, just enough to hit the bear. Even Miao joined, though she wasn't of much help.

Kanae was guessing they had probably fought with the bear before.

But suddenly, Kanae felt a chill and her eyes grew alert. They focused on the bear, who was releasing a thick bloody aura.

"Never roam at night they say...The bloodlust grows in beasts." She mumbled and straightened up.

With just one blow, both Ed and Miao got hit in the gut and went flying in the air. Kanae whispered "Cream Donuts! This bear is angry today."

The bear glanced at Kanae, and she stared back. It lunged at her, and in panic, she blurted out "Open *Unknown*!"

A box appeared in front of her glowing. It was huge, slightly yellow, but seemed majestic enough to carry a weapon.

Excited, Kanae opened the box in expectations of finding a good weapon that could help defeat Bear. Her hands closed around the knife, that seemed a little worn down. The other two gasped in unison. She had just summoned a weapon in front of them! How can they not be shocked?

Feeling impatient, Kanae said smugly, "Just you wait Bear. I'll hit you till you beg for mercy, once I get my weapon." And with that, the 'weapon' came out.

What was in there, made everyone's eyes grow wide with disbelief. Kanae almost hit herself in disappointment, because it certainly did not go as she had expected.

Looking at the bear, she fiddled her thumbs cutely, and asked, "Uhm, Sir Bear, Will you forget this young one's mistake? It seems as if I had lost my brains after seeing something that I'll never forget." She smiled and the bear replied with a 'smack' on her face.

The bear hit Kanae on her cheek and she fell down, bone cracking as her nose hit the ground. A thin trail of blood was running down from her nose and she yelled out in pain, "Mother of a duck! That hurt!"

She proceeded to wipe off the blood, but stopped when she saw something. Her 'weapon' was lying on the ground, broken into small pieces.

She sat down, and looked at it with a despaired expression. "No... NO! NOT MY COOKIE!!!" She cried out loudly, gathering the small crumbles together.

After all, the weapon they had all expected was in fact, a big soft, crumbly cookie, with a wonderful texture and a beautiful colour. She could only imagine how it would have tasted when she placed it in her mouth, and it broke into crumbs, chocolate chips melting by the heat of her tongue.

But now... What was left was a dirty, crumbled cookie. And it was all because of the bear. The couple simply stared at Kanae in shock, wondering why she was crying so much over a sweet.

Kanae's fingers tightened around the cookie, and it got reduced to powder. A fire burned in her eyes, as she looked at the bear, determined to beat some sense into him.

With a cool face, she moved towards the bear, who was now standing at the side, a little confused about what was going on. The sudden changes in the reactions of Kanae, made him start contemplating what to do next.

If one thing was for sure, it was that the bear had human-like intelligence. It could understand the emotions of the person standing in front of him, and could predict what they would do next.

Yet, the bear hadn't meant anyone like Kanae before, whose mind was unknown even to herself. No one could predict what she would do next, she was just that amazing.

(Or just that crazy).

Her voice resounded slightly as she mumbled, "Open *unknown*."

Behind, the boy yelled out to her, "Hey, are you mad? Do you want to die so soon!? Run away!" He had already stood up, and was now supporting Miao. Slowly, they moved towards the entrance, eyes warily staring at the bear, in hopes that they would not be caught.

Kanae ignored his yell. She was too angry to hear anything now. The voice of the cookie was calling out to her, wanting her to take revenge, and her blood boiled.

"Destroy my cookie?! You'll pay for this!" She growled and the bear let out a weird noise.

"What? Scared now? You should be! Messing with my food... Means having a fate none other than death." Her blue eyes grew darker and a mysterious light swirled in them.