The old hag scread and scread—every ti for Kitty, but also putting different emphasis on the na, calling one ti ’Kiiiiiiiiitty!’ and then the next ti ’Kittyyyyyyyy!’.
I got more aggressive the clearer I heard her voice, even though she was still far away. That went on until I reached my breaking point.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I yelled, hearing my voice echoing through the forest, peaceful silence following.
Henry on my back flinched before laughing sleepily and dozing off again.
I turned around to the tiger that moved his ears uncomfortably as if telling I was too loud.
"Why is it who is too loud? You heard her screeching, didn’t you?" I asked the tiger before noticing that I was talking to a fucking tiger.
I looked at the girl, who seed to be running a fever but still bravely held onto the tiger’s fur.
"Sorry for screaming. We will be there soon," I promised her, and she nodded obediently.
I continued to walk for five more minutes in absolute silence until I heard hasty steps and a walking stick that was used to slash bushes and leaves that were probably in the way of the force coming to us.
I trembled for a mont when I imagined the picture of her running through the forest at full speed to beat .
"Haaaah." I sighed exasperatedly, walking to my doom while listening to the steps that grew louder and louder.
It seed she was the only one running because the others didn’t hear us—we can’t forget that Grandma had leveled up, so I have no idea if the others even heard .
Eventually, I spotted her figure zooming in on us, and I marveled at the green jumpsuit with the oversized Gucci belt around her waist, which I hadn’t really noticed when I saw her from the tiger’s eyes.
She slowed down the mont she spotted us before she halted a few ters away, and I did stop as well.
Her eyes wandered all over my body as if she scanned for injuries, and seeing her doing so, I was ready to forget the grudges from before.
That was until she spoke, after glancing at Kitty.
"What are you doing with my great-granddaughter?" she asked accusingly, leaning on her walking stick.
"I KNEW I WAS THE UNCLE THAT YOU TOLD HER TO EAT!" I said very loudly, now understanding the genealogy she had spun together, and seeing her narrowing her eyes, I got even angrier.
"And why the fuck, great-granddaughter? Kitty is fucking male!?" I bent down with difficulty as Henry was still on my back to take another look at the tiger’s private parts, but I already knew.
"SHE is a GIRL!" My grandmother insisted, as if I wasn’t seeing a dick and balls dangling from the tiger with my own eyes.
I straightened up again and laughed speechlessly before I took a deep breath.
"I brought you a HUMAN girl; she can be your great-granddaughter," I said while walking to her.
She harrumphed and crossed her arms while still holding onto her walking stick.
"That is clearly a boy. You don’t know the gender of your own illegitimate child?"
"HOW MUCH TI DO YOU THINK HAD PASSED FOR TO PRODUCE A KID THIS BIG?" It broke out of , although I had just cald down.
Henry woke up, which was clearly HER fault, and growled for a mont before he went back to sleep.
Wait.
I looked back at the kid.
"You are a boy?"
’She’ nodded, and the tiger looked at with pity for the dumb.
"Fuck," I cursed while I continued in the direction of the camp, with my grandmother right beside .
"Well, we both can’t discern genders, as it seems—it has to run in the family."
"Only you could be so blind." She said before taking out a walkie-talkie from her cleavage...
When I saw that, I swore to myself to never touch a walkie-talkie again in my life.
"The disappointnt and his friend are with . We are on our way back."
We instantly heard three voices talking back simultaneously.
"HE IS?"
"Where?"
"Is he injured?" All three of my friends asked.
At least soone was caring for .
My grandmother turned off the walkie-talkie unfeelingly.
"So? Have you decided to co back ho?"
"How much ti had passed since I disappeared in your world?" I asked her instead of answering with the obvious.
"Two years. Since your friend disappeared, it has been one year."
"Exactly one year between my disappearance and Henry’s?"
She huffed.
"Your grandmother is able to count, yes, exactly one year each. Although your friend didn’t disappear, as we knew he ca to get you."
"How did you know?" I looked at her and watched her swagger her walking stick—which she didn’t need anymore anyway—like we were going to a picnic site.
She snorted.
"Because it was my n who watched the place you had pointed out in one of your... visits... and notified Henry when the portal opened."
"Ah." I fell into thoughts.
I wished for the first portal to have opened exactly one year after my disappearance and not a day longer, so was my wish carried out regarding the second portal as well?
Like, I wished for one year, and I got it, not once, but twice?
Damn it. I should have made another heartfelt prayer; then maybe not as much ti would have passed on their side, but then again, if they needed this one-year tifra to find the military warehouse, what would have happened if I wished for only one day to pass by?
I got a fucking headache just thinking about this crap.
"What’s going on in our world and city? Why did you move into a cornfield?"
My grandma looked at for a long ti before answering.
"Did you see that in a vision? If yes, why do I have to answer if you already know everything?"
I laughed angrily, feeling my blood pressure spike again.
"I possessed the tiger, like I did during the so-called ’visits’."
She widened her eyes and pointed her finger at with more anger and more accusation.
"No wonder Kitty was suddenly so disobedient!"
I took a deep breath, ready to yell at her when I saw three, no four, figures running through the forest toward us.
I laughed happily, seeing Danny with longer, bleach-blond hair—what else?—then Jordan, also with longer hair than last ti, and Omar still sporting a crew cut like he always had.
They looked healthy, had gained muscles, and had matured but didn’t look that much different otherwise.
"KENNY!" Danny spread his arms; his face was full of snot and tears as if he had cried during running the whole way. It looked so disgusting that I stopped walking toward them and took a few steps back instinctively.
Jordan, who ran beside him, noticed my reaction, grabbed the back of Danny’s collar, stopped running, and fell into a walking pace with him so that I wouldn’t be run over by Bleach Boy, while Omar continued to hurry to .
I grinned; it was a fucking relief—no missing arms and legs, no scars on their ugly faces, just a bit sunburned, but they looked like proper soldiers all clothed in camouflage, even though they had grown their hair.
Ah, and the commander was jogging behind them, looking at and Henry on my back with what I thought should be relief.
"Worrying your friends like that—do you even have a heart? You are just like your grandfather," my grandma grumbled under her breath, but I ignored her attempt to rile up with the ever-sa cards in her repertoire.
"Are you alright?" Omar was the first to arrive to us and grabbed my arms while looking all over .
"Yeah." I grinned at him.
"Co, let take him." He let go in an attempt to take Henry from .
Henry, still half asleep, tightened his hold on while I simultaneously took a big step back.
"Don’t touch him!" I snarled instinctively.
Only when I saw Omar freeze with his hands in the air and my grandma getting ready to yell at did I co back to my senses.
"Fuck, sorry." I laughed but also tightened my hold on Henry’s thighs, not wanting to hand him over.
"Sorry, Omar." I repeated while he stared over my shoulder at the sleeping Henry before he patted my head.
"No worries. Are you injured?"
"DID I RAISE YOU LIKE THIS?" My grandmother finally gathered enough air to yell while her stick t my shin.
She didn’t strike that badly, but it seed that the stick had changed; it wasn’t wood anymore but iron or sothing that was camouflaged as wood?!
"STOP YELLING!" I looked at her incredulously when the others arrived.
Danny was trying to fight his way out of Jordan’s hold to co to my side while cursing, while Jordan looked at Omar, , and my grandma.
"What’s wrong?"
"Kenny, stop the yelling; we are in a foreign world, and it’s dangerous." The commander had taken on speed and arrived as well.
I nearly popped a vein, seeing that he only addressed .
"Omar, please take Henrietta on the tiger." I motioned to Kitty with my chin.
"Commander, take the kid; she...he is running a fever."
Then I turned to Danny and Jordan.
"Good to see you guys; let’s postpone the party for later. Let’s hurry the fuck up and we’ll go ho!"
"Hooe!!!" Danny cried out loudly.
"You heard him, the drinks are on Kenny!" Jordan laughed.
Omar nodded while carrying Henrietta over his shoulder; the commander got the kid and calmly talked to her—damnit, him!—before hissing at us to be silent, my grandmother looked down on with disappointnt, and Henry was right behind , letting feel his breathing on my neck and his heartbeat against my back.
Shit, I am so relieved to see them. Look, there are people searching for us, and they really managed to accomplish that impossible feat.
What luck, haha.
"No way, I let you guys continue to mooch off of . Jordan pays." I chuckled and continued to walk forward, the others behind or beside .
"What about the food and accommodation I provided for your friends for a year?? Who will pay ??" My grandma asked while pointedly looking at .
"Kenny!" Danny screeched when he was lifted over Jordan’s shoulder because he still tried to fight his way to , even as we walked.
"Kenny!" Jordan, that traitor, answered simultaneously, as if they had trained for this exact mont.
"Kenny." Omar sniggered, surprisingly taking part in their childishness.
"Just deduct the amount from my inheritance." I smirked at my grandma and again felt the mightiness of the stick.
Ah...
What fucking cursed luck~
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