Drip Drip Drop.
That was the noise I awoke to. Not just the water dripping from the ceiling that splashed against the ground, but literally, someone was saying—
"Drip drip drop." The voice said it again. It sounded playful and childish. "It's a nice sound, Onii-chan."
...Huh…? A voice…? Wait. I already knew that. Why am I acting so surprised? Perhaps it was because before, the voice was only mimicking the sound of water dripping from the ceiling above us, not speaking any serious sentences.
Another thing I noticed when I first woke up was the fact that my head was laying on something soft. My whole body hurt, especially my head, but it was feeling somewhat better since it was laying on this soft pillow. A gentle hand was stroking the back of my head, carefully avoiding the area on my head that was injured.
It was nice and peaceful.
Of course I was going to jinx that by opening my eyes.
Despite expecting some knife at my throat or to be eaten by some random monster, I was instead looking at the face of an admittedly cute girl. She had almost pale, almost flawless skin if it weren't for that scar on her right cheek. She possessed medium-length white hair that also would have been beautiful if it hadn't been so messy and unkempt or marred by dirt. But the one thing that chilled me about her were her eyes.
They held no discernible color. They could've been gray or a dull yellow or even a grayish white and I would never be able to tell. They held this weird look. It…I couldn't really explain it. There was one major thing that told me she wasn't bad. It was the emotion that lit up across her face when she noticed I was awake.
"Onii-chan's awake." The girl said to no one in particular.
It was then that I realized something:
My head was laying in her lap.
I was getting a lap-pillow from this cute loli!
I immediately sat up, my face flushed red.
First thing I took into account:
PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!
"Careful, Onii-chan." The white-haired girl warned calmly. "When you fell, you hit the ground hard. You dislocated your right arm on impact and your legs got torn off by a sharp tree branch."
My eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "EEEEH?!" I immediately examined my body, fearful for the damage I sustained during my fall, fearful that I would forever be a disfigured freak.
But…there was nothing. Other than a few scratches and bruises, I was actually pretty OK.
I stared at the loli, my heart having stopped for a second at the girl's sudden words.
The loli stared with a passive expression. "Ah, that was a joke."
My eyes widened EVEN FURTHER!
"THAT is your sense of humor!?" I screamed, exasperated. "That wasn't even funny! It was more morbid than anything! Dear Satan, that was awful! Oh my… Oh my Satan, I think I've found someone who tells worse jokes than you do… I mean… at least your puns and jokes are actually jokes…That was…"
After calming down from the shock caused me by that incredibly morbid joke, I examined my surroundings.
I was in a cave. That about summed it up. There was a small fire a few feet away, illuminating the area around us. The mouth of the cave wasn't too far away. I could easily just walk out.
"So… what happened?" I finally asked. I remembered being carried away by that vulture creature and then…Oh yeah. I got dropped like a dumbbell.
"Onii-chan fell down." The girl explained. "We wanted to play with Onii-chan again when he woke up, so we brought him with us back home so he wouldn't get eaten."
Part of me wondered if that was another morbid joke, but then I remembered we were in the forest of familiars. I daresay anything goes here…Wait…
Familiar forest!
"Shit! My friends are still out there!" I stood up despite the many aches my body was experiencing, bowing to the loli. "Thank you very much, miss…" I trailed off, not knowing the girl's name.
"Our name is Jacqueline." The girl answered. "But… when we were still looking for Mother, people called us Jack."
"Jack, huh?" I wondered aloud. I grinned. "Well, it's been nice meeting you, Jack-chan, but I gotta get goin'! Tell your parents I am grateful for their hospitality when they get back!" Then I turned around and started to leave through the opening in the cave.
"...We don't have any."
That stopped me in my tracks. "...What?"
"We don't have any parents. We don't remember our father. We found Mother and Onii-chan, but they left again." There was a slight sadness in her tone. "When Onii-chan came back again, we were really happy… but now he's leaving again…"
...Wait. I'M her "Onii-chan"?! Do I really know her?! I don't remember her! Could she be some unknown relative?! I really have no memory of this girl! Which reminds me: WHY THE HELL IS SUCH A YOUNG GIRL IN THE FAMILIAR FOREST AT ALL!?
I stared at the sad look in Jack's eyes. Even if her expression remained the same as before, I could tell her sadness from her eyes.
"...No family… huh…?" Somehow, that thought struck me at my core… I kind of knew that feeling. I lost my parents at a young age…but I always had Naru-nee to look after me. Jack… she had nobody. I either was or looked like this "Onii-chan" of hers, but if he left a long time ago and never came back…
I doubted he ever would.
Jack would remain alone here in the forest until she was either killed by one of the inhabitants or died of old age.
And thus I made a choice…
"Lift." I appeared by Jack's side, utilizing my Knight trait. I lifted Jack and threw her right over my shoulder.
Jack stared at me with confused eyes. "...What are you doing, Onii-chan?"
"Technically-speaking," I began, "I'm kidnapping you."
…
"...Eh?"
"Well, it's hard to kidnap someone who has no home, so it's more like I'm adopting you." I clarified. I shot Jack a cheesy grin. "You're gonna become my adoptive familiar/sister!" Hey, she's a denizen of the forest, so maybe it's possible. Neither Gremory-senpai nor Sitri-senpai said it wasn't possible to make humans or humanoid creatures my familiar. I wasn't just going to leave Jack all on her own.
I heard Jack's voice waver. "...O-Onii…chan…"
I smiled softly, setting Jack on the ground before me and hugging her close to me. "I won't leave you on your own. You won't be alone anymore, Jack." I couldn't just leave this adorable child. I would never abandon someone who is so alone. No one should go through that kind of suffering. "So let's go. All of your new friends are waiting to meet you."
"...Onii-chan…" Jack looked so happy that it appeared she would start crying. For the first time, she was smiling at me. So cuuuuuute. "We can really go with Onii-chan?"
"Yep yep!" I confirmed. "And hey, maybe we can find your 'Mother' while we're at it! And we'll play lots and lots while we're at it!"
Jack sniffled, doing her best to suppress tears. "Y-You promise, Onii-chan?"
To be honest, I had no idea if Jack's mother was even still alive. But I wanted to give this girl something to hope for.
"Hells yeah!" I pumped my fist into the air. The look on the loli's face was so incredibly happy.
"Oniiiii-chaaaaaaan!" Jack broke out into tears, pressing her face against my chest, letting loose tears of joy.
Auuuuuuu! She's so cuuuute!
"Onii-chan! Onii-chan Onii-chan Onii-chan!"
Truly adopting such an adorable little sister would be worth any kind of beating Naru-nee would give mel!
I held Jack close, letting her vent her happiness. Even if I wasn't really her "Onii-chan", I would rather let her have this blissful lie than whatever bitter truth would await her should we ever find her "Mother" or "Onii-chan". It was difficult to discern her true age, but I was fairly certain that Jack was, at least mentally, a child.
After Jack had finally calmed down, I released her from my arms. The moment I set her down, Jack quickly grabbed hold of my hand. She looked up at me, still smiling.
I smiled back. Together, we made our way out of the cave Jack had apparently been living in…bIt would be tough, but maybe I could convince Sera-tan, Gremory-senpai, or maybe Sitri-senpai to provide somewhere to live for Jack. Like Hell I'm gonna let her stay in this forest. What with the monsters and demons wandering around—
Grrrrrrr
I frowned, looking at Jack.
Jack stared in confusion. "What's wrong, Onii-chan?"
"W-Was that your stomach?"
Jack quickly shook her head. "No."
That only confused me more. "Huh? But then what was?"
KREEEEEEEEEE
"It looks like Mr. Lion Bird is awake." Jack answered with a passive and calm expression in response to that unbelievably loud, shrieking roar. "This is near his nest after all."
"...N-Nest…?"
STOMP STOMP
The very ground shook violently. I could hear the sound of violent breathing. A large shadow fell upon Jack and I, throwing us into an area of temporary darkness.
I sighed. "When I look behind me, there's going to be a giant monster, isn't there?" While hesitant, I slowly turned my head to look behind me.
Standing behind me was a behemoth of a beast. It possessed feline-like paws and claws, its torso overall resembling that of a lion, including its tail. Its head, however, appeared to look like that of a giant bird… and it had wings.
Huge? Check. Weird appearance? Check. Gives off the aura that it's gonna kill me? Check-a-roo.
Yep. This is definitely a giant monster.
KREEEEEEEEEE
…Well shit.