Chapter 120 - Seri Shows Off Her Survival Skills

We plunged into the cold water and was tossed around by the strong current. I let go of Dante as I was unable to withstand the thrashing. I flailed around in the water trying to swim to the surface.

Our heads both broke the surface of the water at the same time. I coughed out water still trying to stay afloat. My eye caught a large log that was wedged between two rocks. I grabbed onto it, expecting to use it to climb out of the currents.

Instead it broke free from the rocks and traveled with me. I scowled at it, "Useless log..."

Oh well. I've always wanted to go white water rafting.

I climbed on top of it and used another branch as an oar. I scanned the current and saw Dante's head bobbing up and down with a very angry scowl.

I waved at him, "I will save you!"

I used the oar to speed up and he grabbed onto the log. He glared at me. "Why didn't you let me kill the bear."

"It's not okay to kill a defenseless animal." I said as a matter of fact.

His eyebrow raised, "Defenseless?" He couldn't imagine that bear being described as defenseless.

I clicked my tongue, "Why are you so angry? It's not like anything bad happened."

He hissed through his teeth, "You pushed me off a cliff."

"Hey! Lot's of people would pay good money to have an opportunity to go cliff diving! If anything, I just did you a favor."

He sighed, "Let's just go to shore."

I nodded and looked back up. I froze. "Uh... You know. I seem to remember hearing that fast moving water usually leads to a waterfall."

His face grew darker, "What."

I gulped, "Theoretically speaking... If we were to go over a waterfall... Whats the likelihood that there would there be sharp rocks at the bottom?"

His glare turned sharper, "Very likely."

"Uhuh. So once again, theoretically speaking... There would be a high chance we would die?"

"There's a waterfall behind me, isn't there."

"There is. Yup."

Before Dante could look, we flew off the side and started free falling down.

I shouted, "Today's a good day to diiiiiiiiiiiiiie-"

*SPLUNK*

I fought the water and swam back up to the surface. Luckily the water here was a lot calmer.

*PAH*

I spit out my breath and started swimming towards the side. Dante also came up to the surface and swam over. We crawled out gasping for breath.

"AH! I've never been happier to see land!" I knelt down and gave it a large kiss.

"Pah! Gross!" I spat out the sand and collapsed onto my back. "WOW! That was fun! Let's go again!!"

Dante just scowled at me. He stood up and looked at the water.

I looked at him, "What is it?"

He mumbled, "I lost my sword."

Wait... Dante doesn't have his sword attached to his hip?! Doesn't that mean... He's human now?!?

I looked down in a panic and blew out a breath of relief when I saw the slingshot still attached to me. I patted it arrogantly.

"You should have attached it to your body better like I did with my slingshot."

He glared at me with a terrifyingly angry expression, causing my hair to stand up.

"EEK! OKAY SORRY! Calm down!" I stood up and looked into the water, "Should we try to find it?"

He shook his head, "No. I lost it when we first fell in."

"Was it valuable?"

"It was expensive."

"Ah... Such a shame..."

His glare grew more intense, "If it wasn't for a certain someone... I would still have it."

I gulped under the pressure, "Alright alright! I will buy you a much better sword!"

He raised an eyebrow, "How? It probably cost more than your allowance for an entire year."

That expensive?!

I waved him off, "Don't worry. I know an illegal *cough* LEGAL weapon's dealer who could give us a good deal."

Dante looked as if he didn't believe me. I quickly changed the subject, "Anyway! We will be fine. We shouldn't be too far away from camp."

We both looked up. A huge steep cliff side that went on for miles stood in our way.

I clapped my hands together, "It's okay! Let's stay optimistic! I've seen survivalist documentaries before!"

"..."

I quickly corrected myself, "I mean, I've read survivalist books. I can save the day!"

I ran off collecting sticks. Dante just walked after me and watched silently. I found some vines and ripped them off. I strolled back to the water with the items in my hands.

I put it down and started tying the sticks together. Dante raised an eyebrow. I explained, "It would be faster to float down the river than walk. So if we make a raft by tying these sticks together, we'll be out of here in no time!"

Once I completed the makeshift raft I nodded in pride. "There! Now we just got to push it out and-"

The raft was pushed out into the water....

.... And sunk.

Dante spoke coldly, "It sunk."

WHAT THE F*CK! I followed the way they did it in the show!!!

My face twitched in irritation, "I've been conned."

I looked up the cliff, "Do you think we could climb back up?"

Dante ignored me started walking down the river. I ran after him. I made sure to keep my distance because he appeared to be very angry still.

Who knew he loved his sword that much.

I spoke nonchalantly, "Yes, we should definitely walk. We will probably get back before nightfall."

He stopped abruptly, making me nearly collide into him. I jumped back, "What is it?"

He pointed to the sky. I looked up and felt a raindrop splash onto my cheek.

"You've got to be kidding me..."

Suddenly, the bright and cheery sky turned dark as rain pelted down on us relentlessly. We started running looking for cover. Dante saw a small cave and led us over to it.

I sat at the opening pouting, "It's not supposed to rain today.."

"How do you know?" He asked still irritated.

Because it didn't in the original novel... However, I'm starting to realize that the book left out a lot of things.

I felt a sudden chill and started shaking. The night was surprisingly cold. It didn't help that I was soaked in water. Dante gave me a look and stood up.

"I will start a fire."

He ran off and then returned holding wood and timber. Yeah. Only he could find dry timber when it's pouring out. He started attempting to start a fire, but was having a hard time.

I grabbed the sticks from his hand, "I got this."

I started rubbing the stick together on the bottom stick and smoke started rising. A flame erupted and I blew on it gently until the other wood caught fire.

I grinned, "There! I told you I could do it."

"..."

Dante thought to himself, how come she is only good at starting fires?

I smiled at the warmth but could still feel myself shaking. Dante started to take his shirt off.

I shrieked and covered my eyes in a panic, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Taking my clothes off."

"I know that!!!! But WHY?!?"

"Because they are soaked. It needs to dry by the fire. You should do it as well."

I blushed, "What?! No way!!!"

"It gets cold at night. You'll catch hypothermia."

I clicked my tongue. That does sound logical.... But I can't get naked in front of Dante!!! That's way too embarrassing!

Dante noticed my hesitance and smirked, "What's wrong? Didn't you tell everyone we've already seen each other naked?"

I screamed internally.

WOLF! This man is a WOLF!!!

I sobbed, "Don't bring up such an embarrassing memory... Fine. We can strip. But you are NOT allowed to look! You have to turn the other way!"

Dante nodded and turned around. With our backs to the fire and to each other, I stared outside of the cave while Dante stared at the wall of the cave.

It was now dark out. The only light came from the moon and the fire. I looked down at my scarred body which was illuminated by the flickering flames.

I spoke breaking the silence, "You're not allowed to look."

I sheepishly glanced over my shoulder.

"You either."

I snapped my gaze forward, "I-I wasn't going to look!!! Why would I want to look?!?"

My face blushed as I looked forward.

"..."

Dante's ears turned red as he tried to control his inner thoughts and behave himself.

I glanced up at the moon and chuckled to myself.

"What is it?" He asked in a low voice.

"Oh. I was just looking at the moon."

"Hmm." His voice had a hint of regret. He was bored with staring at the cave wall.

I smiled, "It's a crescent Moon tonight. Do you know what it looks like?"

"...?"

"It looks like a toenail." I continued, "The stars are also shining bright tonight. I see the Ursa minor, do you know why it's called that?"

I began to talk endlessly, describing the stars and the stories behind them. Dante listened to me quietly with a soft smile.

After a while he spoke, "Our clothes are dry."

I sighed in relief, "Finally. It's too embarrassing to wear my birthday suit."

"Birthday suit?"

"Don't worry about it."

We both changed with our backs to each other. Then after we ensured we were both dressed, we turned around. I patted my pocket and sighed in relief.

I glanced at Dante with a slight blush. He put more wood on the fire. His handsome face flickered in the light. He glanced up at me.

I felt my body stiffen at those golden eyes. It felt like they could see straight through me. They were cold and sharp. Calculating and dangerous...

Yet... They filled my heart with warmth.

I dug my hand into my pocket and pulled something out. I held my hand out to him. "Here."

He raised an eyebrow and held out his hand. I dropped the object into his hand. He looked at it with wide eyes, "This is..."

I blushed, "It's a tassel."

He gave a small smile, "For me?"

I looked away and mumbled, "I didn't make it specifically for you or anything. I just saw everyone else excitedly making them, so I wanted to try it too."

"Don't you know what this means?"

I tilted my head in confusion, "What do you mean?"

He chuckled, "Nevermind. Thank you."

I smiled lightly, "I should be the one thanking you."

"Why?"

I hesitated. Yeah. Why am I thanking him?!

I cleared my throat in embarrassment, "Nevermind."

He looked at the tassel carefully. Although it was a simple design, it still looked crudely made. The tassel was black with black beads that had carvings which looked lopsided and crooked.

He spoke, "Why is it black?"

"I thought black suited you."

"So it was for me."

I instantly wanted to slap my mouth. I blushed as I scowled, "I only made it for you because I wanted to show you how good I am at crafting!!"

"Hmm.." He smirked at me arrogantly.

I forced a yawn and changed the subject quickly, "I'm sleepy."

He nodded, "We should try to sleep."

"I agree."

We both laid down on the cold ground by the fire. Dante glanced at me, "Will you be able to sleep like this?"

"Oh yeah. I've slept in much worse places. I used to sleep under cars on concrete."

"Cars?"

I cleared my throat awkwardly, "Yes. Cars. That's a nickname for carriages."

"Ah." We grew silent. He spoke, "When did you sleep under a carriage?"

I yawned loudly, "Alright! Well let's go to sleep now."

My heart beat rapidly as I lay on the ground. I seriously can't relax around this kid. How dare he just throw me a handsome smile out of nowhere?! Not to mention he just started stripping like it didn't matter!!!

My heart can't handle this.

Good thing he doesn't realize that I know the meaning behind a woman giving a tassel to a man...