Survival, lack of water.

A vast forest with its trees that exceeded the average height and its yellow leaves, its thick and robust trunks showed the maturity of its wood. Animals ventured among its branches, small and rare fruits attracted their attention.

Under the tall stems several peculiar animals were moving, groups of animals were listening to the possible danger and were frightened by the rustling of the leaves. These were herds of animals.

The herds, a group formed by animals to cooperate in the survival as a species. They are a group with defined roles, being the leader of the herd the one in charge of leading the group to a better territory and to survive.

That in the animal world, but now it was both dissimilar and equal.

A small group of a dozen human members advanced through a vast forest of dry leaves, their fearful gazes wandering in all directions, walking at a slow pace.

Their bodies covered by barely open brown cloaks let a faint flash of black and white show through, but their most striking feature was a pair of bovine horns atop their heads and a pair of extra human ears.

At a slow pace, their sandals rattled the dry leaves and the sounds of the forest alerted their pair of animal ears. Already in a small stream, the group was ready to rest.

Out of the whole group, a couple of them took off their cloaks revealing their voluptuous female bodies covered in black and white patterned underwear.

A maiden with short dark hair approached the water, sniffed and tasted the water, after a couple of minutes she turned her blue-eyed gaze and gave a nod. So the whole group took off their cloaks to cool off and drink some water.

Voluptuous bodies without reaching the absurd were shown in all their splendor, sweat soaked their smooth skin. Breasts that moved with just a sigh, small breasts for the smaller ones. It was a group of many maidens with fantastic erotic fetishistic characteristics.

They were one of the many races of this world; the cow-girls, a tribe with bovine characteristics being their horns, ears, tails and underwear characteristic and so were their breasts. The race was related to a much larger and stronger species, but they were small and weaker.

Now, this group of girls showed off their feminine splendor in the forest.

It was a great sight, but not all of it looked good. With their fragile appearance, among them were some who showed scratches as a sign of a fight... with some of them showing their ribs because of their thinness.

A petite girl with blonde hair and small horns approached the tallest of the group, the guide.

"We've walked too far already... shouldn't we take a break for a while already? The supplies are almost gone, there are some of the group that can't go any further." The blonde girl sounded worried. Her voice was a bit shrill. "Don't you think we've already lost them?"

The short-haired maiden took a sigh. Her gaze was on the route they took and then on their group, she saw how some girls massaged her feet. The path taken was hard and long, it was normal to feel sore.

"We should... but I feel like we're still in the old master's territory. You know what will happen if we get captured."

"I know... we've already lost many by running away and we don't want to go back. But we're out of supplies, we'll starve to death if we don't gather some food. Winter is coming...we will die of cold if we don't find shelter."

"We escaped to the forest that our mothers knew. They said we were safe there, they were wise."

"...but they died waiting to escape from their prison. And we will all die if we do not rest and gather for supplies."

The leader of the group listened to her companion, she understood what she was saying. But in herself also burned a flash of fear, her ears twitched, she felt something wrong with her surroundings.

"I know... let's just move forward a little more. I feel like we're not safe yet, please let's go." The leader took a leather bag and filled it with water, putting on her cloak she led the way.

The girls in the group groaned in reluctance and pain as they had to walk much further, they could not go on, but they had to continue. In spite of everything, their guide and leader had a specific point of reference.

Despite all the pain, the group put on their cloaks, filled their bags with water and carried their small bags with provisions on their shoulders.

The herd was lost to sight in the trees, their steps quickened even with the discomfort in their feet.

Night was falling, and at a slow pace a group armed with armor and horseshoe beasts arrived at the stream where the group of girls had been some time ago. The group of armed men searched the place and immediately set up a small camp.

A man with a dark complexion and a robust muscular body checked the place with one of his dogs, the animal immediately caught a scent and barked pointing in a direction. His scarred face frowned, he held his animals chain and grimaced.

"The fuckers went this way."

"Sir, we have news from the other group." A scrawny man addressed the word, his voice sounding strained as he felt the gaze on him. "They have been unsuccessful in their capture."

"They don't matter. We're the ones who will capture our cattle, you don't have to care about the others."

"...It's okay. I was just saying, I'm thinking about the reward."

"Don't count the gold before you find it. We're already too close, but not close enough."

The strong-looking, scarred man grinned mischievously, his gaze showing mockery. He already saw a catch made in spite of everything.

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Which was the hardest thing to survive in a strange world. Not drinking water was the main thing, suffering from dehydration is a cause of death. The main of them oblivious to potential predators.

And now I was suffering from dehydration.

Adriel had never given much thought to getting stranded and lost, he never thought he'd get to the point where he'd have to use skills he'd seen from long ago TV from his favorite survival shows. He still remembered old Bear; the guy was great.

But it was one thing to have some knowledge, applying it in an emergency situation was more difficult than expected. It was hopeless when what you thought you knew didn't work, when you didn't recognize the places where an indispensable resource might be.

Gathering firewood and getting food for a safe shelter was also paramount, although as a good farmer he was able to modify and build a small living area. Burning embers was something he always kept fed at his small campfire.

The food despite being in an unknown place, the trees provided a dry fruit which was eaten by birds; which gave confidence of being edible. These fruits served to satiate their hunger, although one could not live forever on fruit.

"And this is the last thing... phew. I guess getting food and water is as important as wood for the fire in the middle of the wilderness." Adriel commented on the obvious, exhaustion had him delirious. It was that and being alone in a completely unfamiliar place had him very paranoid about encountering a predator and getting hurt or killed in the worst case scenario.

Throwing down a handful of firewood, he sat down and drank what little water he could get his hands on and filtered into something makeshift. The liquid looked a bit cloudy and reddish, but it tasted good. It tasted like clean water... a little brackish.

"This is delicious, the water tastes better than anything these days." Surveying his little shelter, he felt satisfaction.

It was true that it wasn't much, but even so, as it was, his satisfaction was a morale booster; being under the shade of a small cave in a huge rock, using straw as a mattress on a rock ledge that kept him off the ground and a course of dry firewood. Upright green branches were embedded in the earth forming a wall that protected him from the breeze and gave him some privacy.

He couldn't say he was keeping safe; the wood couldn't provide much security despite everything.

"What I have is a worse is nothing. Though if I had a machete and water to make mud I'd make a livable house."

Believing he was living a dream was in the past, this was real life. He felt it in his flesh when he hurt and bled as he broke off the small branches for shelter. His muscles ached and sweat dripped down his chest.

Blood blisters adorned his hands, others had burst and burned almost as badly as the wounds torn in his arms by bush thorns.

The pain in his hands from such wounds took him back to a small flash of his youth, when he learned how hard country life was.

It had been a few days, possibly more as his internal clock was giving him the signal that it was dawn, but the darkness still continued to signal that the time system was different. It was easier to feel that difference at night than in the daytime, all because he was so busy doing his basic survival stuff.

The heat of the day dehydrated his body so much that he had to take off his T-shirt and vest, and surprise, under that he had a dark cotton undershirt. In total he had three pieces of clothing on his torso, a great help for the lack of sheets.

"Surviving had never been so difficult on television. It was in vain not to practice some of it in my youth. It could have been simpler and- ¡Who's there!" Adriel turned and felt a shiver run through his body as he looked out into the forest, it was a very strange feeling. He thought that was the feeling of feeling watched, he believed that was it, or possibly he was very paranoid. "Could it be the damn rabbits? I haven't seen anything but that and birds, and one and that other fox."

He still remembers those jumping rabbits with horns, slippery little animals that he tried to catch with rustic traps and wasted valuable time. There was no point in remembering that. But still the feeling of being watched persisted for a while.

"...it is not even her. She who has encouraged me to continue in this lonely world." Adriel murmured. He remembered the motherly voice that constantly spoke to him in his sleep, her tone as soothing as a mother caressing you in your childhood. "Maybe I'm busy? Or maybe I've gone crazy..."

Sighing, he took his tactical knife and cleaned some bowls, he had to go back to nature and look for vital liquid. The pilgrim's gourd was cleaner and ready, it had a capacity of more than a liter and was the best that nature had to offer. He used the stuff when he was a kid at home, but only as a souvenir from his grandparents. Blowing away the dust, he left his shelter in the late afternoon.

Complemented by a pointed green stick as a staff, several strands of fiber decorated the branch. Around the area there were weeds which served as threads as their bark was drying and being woven.

In spite of his paranoia, he could not be afraid because he might die from it.

Still, his knife and a branch were his best weapon. But even though he still remembers science fiction stories or people with divine missions who received blessings to survive more easily, he received nothing else except his youthful body and a small weapon. Now he had to live his life as a man, a lonely man again.

The evening was falling and the wind was cooling, but despite his search in a dry creek he could no longer find any water on the ground. It was another night where he did not drink enough water and it had been five days since he had drunk enough.

The fruits he could find gave him more sugar than anything else, he couldn't depend on that alone. He needed water, even meat.

"This is bullshit. Where's the help I need." Kicking at the stones, Adriel turned around.

The sturdy trees without a known name, the night birds began to sing giving loud sounds that made your skin crawl. Today there was no moon in the sky, moons as far as could be seen; there was a smaller moon next to its larger one.

The walk back was long, and now with morale low his body felt stiffer. His muscles began to ache, a cramp caused him to fall. His saliva was thick and bitter, his eyes were a little blurry.

"I-I haven't felt like this since I was working in the midday summer sun. Who said living in another world was a wonder." Adriel felt himself take a last breath only a few steps from his shelter.

Flashing eyes watched him fall, in the middle of the night a huge creature approached and smelled the fainting body.

Dark fur and silver gaze, the huge creature pulled the human body, the pants were pulled by sharp fangs. Adriel was dragged away, but he could do nothing.

It was possible that he would die that night, one way or another.