[BotB] Chapter 1

01. How Did It End Up Like This

Huff, huff...

Sohwa ran, almost tumbling down the rough mountain path. Her breath was at her throat's end, but she couldn't stop running.

Due to her light fox physique, uphill was much more advantageous for her. However, the cruel predator chasing her from behind drove Sohwa only onto downhill paths, which benefited him.

Thud!

Unable to handle the speed, she rolled down into a muddy puddle. She bumped into a tree and landed in front of a burrow.

Her body hurt from the impact, and the strange smell from the mud stuck in her always well-maintained smooth fur was irritating, but Sohwa had no time to care about anything.

Overwhelmed with fear, with only the will to survive, she crawled into someone else's burrow. It seemed like a burrow dug by a badger.

'It's too narrow for him to get in.'

As she trembled at the end of the burrow, she heard the beast's paws outside.

Grrr...

The beast's growling, hiding its roar, sounded just like thunder. It was just the sound of it breathing. But what kind of monster breathes with such a ferocious sound?

'I don't want to hear it.'

Sohwa cringed her head between her front paws. She pressed her ears down with her front paws and prayed for this nightmare to pass quickly.

'Please, I hope he didn't find me....'

It was a vain dream. The beast's sense of smell was sharp. His snout was bigger than Sohwa's head, so it was natural.

In retrospect, he never missed his prey. He quickly put the sparrows that Sohwa repeatedly failed to catch on her breakfast table every morning.

Why didn't I realize?

The beast I was raising was that ferocious tiger.

"Come out, Sohwa."

Of course, it was useless to regret it now.

"Did you think I couldn't catch you if you ran away?"

The inside of the burrow began to echo as if it was about to collapse. She was relieved he couldn't put his front paw into the narrow burrow her tiny body had just fit into.

She heard the earth being dug up. It was a lightning strike. When she nervously lifted her eyes, she saw his huge front paw.

It reached into the burrow as if to snatch something, and his huge claws, which looked like black hooks, wriggled in front of her nose.

"Come out. You have to take responsibility for me."

Sweat or something else flowed down from Sohwa's tense body. She wriggled her hind legs to run away, but tree roots firmly blocked her back.

Without any success, the beast's front paw, which had retreated, started to dig the burrow. He seemed to widen the entrance to pull her out.

'What should I do? What should I do....'

Sohwa's body shook violently. Her small head looked around for an escape route. However, the beast thrust his front paw back into the burrow despite her efforts.

The hooked claws easily caught her body this time. Surprised, Sohwa reflexively bit the beast's front paw.

But the beast, bitten by her sharp canine teeth, only growled, and laughed as if he was enjoying it.

Eventually, Sohwa looked pitiful, dragged out and hung upside down by his front paw, but it wasn't the time to care about her appearance.

Golden color. The laughing yellow eye of the tiger stared at her.

"It hurts. What if you bite me?"

When she directly met the eyes of the beast, her body froze like a winter creek.

Water dripped droplet by droplet beneath her.

"Oh... again."

The beast clicked his tongue, looking at the wet, muddy ground. Embarrassed and scared, Sohwa struggled wildly.

"I got it, I got it. Let's go back to 'our house'. Okay?"

Saying so, he put her down and pressed her body with his front paw so she couldn't escape.

"Stay still."

He licked Sohwa's face, which was covered in mud. When his big and rough tongue passed over her mouth and sensitive ears, her body shrunk automatically.

"You should have been quiet from the beginning. What a mess."

He shamelessly blamed her and flipped her over with his terrifying front paw.

Sohwa, whose chest was pressed by his front paw, gasped for breath but calmly licked up even the urine she had leaked.

After carefully cleaning her body, he grabbed her in his mouth. He didn't bite hard enough to hurt her. She could escape if she struggled. However, when his sharp teeth, like a metal hook, touched the back of her head, Sohwa lost all her will to do so.

So, the beast climbed up the mountain path again, leisurely walking with the fox in his mouth. As if to make her realize her situation, he swayed his mouth gently as if swinging her and strolled.