(I Died and got Reincarnated) My New Life as a Saltwater Crocodile Begins

CH•33 - "Sharing the Night with a Predator"

I trek down the mountain at a crawling pace. There's nothing but snow and rocks in the scenery. The temperature is dropping, and the sun is being blocked by thick clouds, even though the skies were so clear up until a moment ago. The little snake must be freezing on my head. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to separate with the falcon. He could keep the little snake warm with his wings.

I wonder if they're catching up to us now. I may be moving at a slow pace, but I've been at it for a while now, so there surely is a distance being made. Maybe they've lost sight of me. I don't even know how far I've gone. I can only hope the two flyers can find us from the skies. Surely a big, green crocodile like me is easily spottable in the air, right? Then again, with the clouds blocking the sun... it should be fine. They have the bat with them. He can just use echolocation and find us by sound.

... What am I saying? They might not even find us for all I know. It's getting dark. Has the sun set already? I can't tell. It's so cold. I'm getting sleepy. Huh? Since when did it start snowing? That's not a good sign. I must not have noticed it with this drowsiness taking over me. Mm? Little snake? You there? Drats. I can't even feel any hint of movement from the little snake on my head now. He must've fallen asleep at some point. I don't know where to go. The snow's picking up. Now I'm really lost. Looks like... this is it.....

"To your left...!"

Then, a voice came to me in my head. The bat? Where...?

"Go left! Follow the bird!"

Bird? Is the falcon there? When I looked up, I see the falcon diving down to my left side before slowing itself down as he got closer. The falcon then proceeds to hover in place and slowly flies backward.

He must be leading me to shelter.

I follow the falcon as he leads the way. The falcon turns around and shifts from hovering backwards to gliding forward. Despite the slow speed of gliding, he was still faster than me. Despite my sleepy state, I was able to follow the falcon all the way. The falcon maintains his gliding position as he enters inside a large cave opening below a cross-intersection of two boulders, like a large tent made out of rocks.

It didn't take long for me to immediately drop myself to the floor the instant I was inside the cave. I don't see the bat anywhere. Well, knowing bats, I'm sure he must've perched himself somewhere up the ceiling. I'm too tired to look. Besides, he might not even feel like seeing me after what happened back then.

Getting... sleepy......
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When the weather picked up so suddenly, I had to remind myself where I was. Guess even now, I still haven't accepted the reality about all of this. With the bird's help, we were able to find the crocodile and his pet snake before the snow got any heavier. Even after helping them find shelter, I still couldn't bring myself to face him.

And here I thought I was finally able to warm up to them, yet my cowardice resurfaces once again. I couldn't myself. My fears got the better of me and I couldn't even look at him as he was... ripping a man apart. Guh...

I saw him with a bloodied mouth before when he was eating a bear he just killed. It didn't bother me as much since I just treated the scene as animals killing each other, even though one of the animals has the mind of a person. This time, however... I don't know why, but I broke down.

Call it a weakness, a weak heart, a fragile soul. I just... couldn't even watch. But I could hear it in my head. What he was thinking the whole time he was eating that man. He was... elated. He savored the taste of human blood as it entered his mouth. He did not feel the slightest disgust from devouring a person at all. It terrified me.