Day: 3

Days Left: 5477

Lives Saved: 0

The young woman and the chimaera once again ventured to the mountainous pile of discarded junk and belongings.

Corinna paused in gathering and gazed back at the chimaera, who was currently fascinated with a red pocket-watch. Throughout the entire morning, Corinna felt as if the monster had forgotten her, or perhaps her presence did not affect it whatsoever. When they had left the house, it walked out without looking behind to see if she followed. The journey here, the monster had kept a consistent distance in front, even when she caught up, it would pick up the pace.

It doesn't want me here, does it?

The very idea that the monster was too polite to ask her to leave, however, was absurd. Surely, if it no longer wanted Corinna around it could just merely scare her away?

She looked back at the chimaera, who was still mesmerised by the red pocket-watch.

Corinna considered leaving, turning a corner to see if the monster would even notice if it even cared. The thought was fleeting and dissipated as soon as it was born. Regardless of whether the monster valued her safety, it gave her shelter and food, appearing to ask for nothing in return. To discard such a deal in the Eternal Abyss, Corinna knew was illogical.

Continuing to rifle through the item pile, Corinna found the end of a wooden plank, ideal for the chimaera's escape plan. She tugged at it, attempting to free it from underneath the rest of the rubble. It refused to budge. Corinna prepared herself for another attempt, placing her hands further down and-

And something cold latched onto her wrist.

She recoiled from it, stumbling back and falling to the ground.

The cold webbed hand reached out of the rubble. It then pulled the rest of its body out from underneath the pile. A scaly amphibious creature stood before the young woman, its rubbery skin sagging underneath its giant unblinking eyes. Its mouth was lip-less, revealing its long and numerous teeth that were as thin as blades of grass. 

The amphibian twitched its head, salivating, then took a step forward to the young woman, shoulders hunched.

Corinna pointed her spear at the creature, the blade almost slicing its neck. "Get back or I'll..." Her words slowed and drifted off into a murmur.

An antenna rose out of the amphibian's head and dangled in front of its face, a white glowing orb hung from it.

Mesmerised by this light, Corinna dropped her spear and stepped forward, reaching out to it. Just from looking at it, she felt calm, all of her troubles and anxieties from earlier drifted away, out of her mind. A warmth and giddiness enveloped her body. Corinna stepped closer again, inches away from the creature, her hands cupped around the orb-

The chimaera pulled Corinna away from the creature and stood in between them. Hissing through its thin blades of teeth, the amphibian retreated back a step, slipping on the pile of fallen objects item, and collapsed. Its black eyes darted back to Corinna, who had stood up and rearmed herself with her spear. The corners of its lipless mouth curled upwards and made a husky gurgle like a demonic laugh. The monster responded with a guttural growl, its talons spiking out of its paws, leaning closer to the creature. Backing away, the amphibian gave out a throaty hiss as a final retort with a leering look at Corinna, causing the chimaera to let out a blood-curdling roar. The creature retreated, scampering out of sight.

*

After it was confident that the creature would not return, the chimaera turned around to face the young woman. She was attempting to calm herself by controlling her breathing. Aside from that, the rest of her betrayed no indication of fear or anything that would have hinted that she had experienced a near-death situation. Her mask of indifference and vacancy almost tricked even the chimaera, if it weren't for the heaving breathing.

"Thank you." The young woman smiled.

The chimaera reached out to pat the young woman's head but held back when she flinched from the sight of its claws. With hands clenched at its sides, the chimaera left the blonde and collected up all of its supplies for its escape plan.

"No! Wait! I'm sorry!" the young woman called after the chimaera. "I didn't mean to-" But it did not acknowledge her, too focused on heading to its destination- the rock spire.

*

Whilst the chimaera worked on its escape plan on top of the rock spire, Corinna sat on the sand below, contemplating why the monster still kept her around.

I was useless back there.

Why is it still helping me?

It has no use for me.

I can't fight.

I know nothing about survival.

What am I then?

Am I food in an emergency?

What am I?

*

These thoughts occupied the young woman's mind, even when they headed back to the house. Wondering if she was wanted anymore, she hesitated in front of the door, letting it shut behind when the monster entered. With no way to repay the monster, Corinna contemplated leaving, finding new shelter instead of taking advantage of the chimaera's kindness.

Realising that Corinna was still outside, the monster opened the front door and stared down at the young woman. Gesturing inside, the chimaera held the door open until Corinna stepped inside.

After she took off her coat, Corinna prepared to thank the chimaera properly for earlier, but as she had turned around, it had gone down into the basement.

Sighing, Corinna looked around at the house for any speck of dust or mess to clean, but even after scouring the place thoroughly, she found it entirely spotless. She had hoped that she could do the cleaning to be of use to the monster, but surprisingly it seemed that even that job the chimaera could handle by itself. All that was left to do was the cooking.

Corinna flopped onto one of the armchairs, wishing that she had brought something of entertainment value from the mountainous item pile.

The monster returned to the surface, closing the hatch with its snake-tail.

Springing out of her seat, Corinna snatched the kettle from the chimaera's grasps. "I can do it. I can do the cooking. Please, I-" Corinna calmed herself. "There's not much I can help you with, so please let me cook."

The chimaera stared at her, with those radioactive green eyes, then nodded.

"Thank you for saving me back there," Corinna blurted out, her hands scratching at her elbows. "And thank you for listening to me, and letting me do this and everything." She smiled, then sighed. "I just wish there was some way we can talk to each other properly. I know you can't talk, but it would be nice-"

The monster's green eyes widened. It turned and rushed back down into the basement.

"Oh, okay." Corinna scratched at her elbows again. "It was nice talking to you..."

Eventually, the chimaera returned and sat down near the fireplace, holding a whiteboard and a collection of whiteboard pens.

Quickly realising the plan, Corinna sat down, facing the chimaera, watching it write on the whiteboard with its three-fingered paws, holding the pen almost like a knife.

Once it had finished, it held up the whiteboard with the word 'HELLO' in green ink.

Corinna giggled. "Hello." She waved. "My name's Corinna."

The monster wrote down her name on the board. 'KARINA'.

"With a 'C', not a 'K'," said Corinna. "And with two 'n's and the first 'a' is an 'o'."

'CORINNA'- The chimaera corrected.

She nodded. "What's your name?" the young woman asked the monster.

Corinna waited for the chimaera to reply. The monster looked up at the ceiling, then down to the floor, as if trying to remember.

Did it forget its name?

Did it even have a name?

The monster eventually picked the whiteboard back up and wrote something down then turned the board around to show the young woman.

On it was the name: