A large and deep forest on the mountainside.
The forest, which grows many creatures, is an unknown land where the hand of human development has finally begun to grow.
This is the story of a boy who lives in a pioneer village built by such a deep forest.
Can I stay here?
Yeah, that's fine.
The boy climbed this mountain shaken by his son, Shoko, on the back of his father, who was a wooden man. The place where they arrived was a quiet place where soft sunlight plunged into the trees. The boy sits down and hangs his legs as he is lowered onto a nearby stump.
On his little back, his father put a blanket around his body.
"We have to keep it cold. Kenneth"
"It's okay. Father."
A boy called Kenneth looks up at his father when he grabs the edge of the blanket with both hands. The area around the base village is getting warmer, but the air blowing down from the top of the mountain is still cold.
Well, I'm cutting trees over there.
Kenneth nods as she gently strokes her head with her big hand. The father narrowed his eyes in love, then took the axe to his shoulder and left the boy. The back of his father, who was hiding among the tall trees, gradually shrunk and finally disappeared.
Kenneth, who was weak, used to spend a day in a house. His village, which was made up of settlers from various lands, has many children of his age. However, as soon as I played with them, I couldn't follow my body and became ill, so I spent the last year just watching them play through the window.
However, the village chief said that he had been a doctor in the city when he was young, saying that it was not good for him to grow up just holding him in a cage all the time. People need the power of the sun and forests to grow healthy.
Recently, on a cheerful day, I had my father accompany me to work in the mountains to enjoy a forest bath. Kenneth soon falls in love with the forest. It was a short time before his father came home for lunch, but it was the only time Kenneth could have a free time in his favorite woods.
I don't often walk around on my own, but even if I just sit here, I can feel the forest all over my body, such as the sound of birds and occasional deer ringing, the sound of the wind shaking the grass and trees, and the blue scent of the grass leaves. For Kenneth, who was always in the house, everything was valuable and enjoyable.
Kenneth sniffs and sniffs.
(It smells like forest. I wonder if the smell of flowers will start to mix in a little bit more....)
I just entrusted myself to a quiet forest time.
How long have I been doing that? Maybe it's time for my father to pick me up, when he thinks so.
Shit... shitter, shitter...
Something scratched the grass in my ear.
(What is it... deer...?
The large creatures that live in this forest are as large as herringbones. There aren't any wolves or bears, but there's a lot of smelly wild grass around here, so the carnivores don't come too close because they hate the smell.
... rattling... rattling...
(That's...)
I've heard it several times, and it's not like the sound of a herring walking. Even more... light, jumpy, irregular sounds.
What creature... yes, when Kenneth looked strangely at the sound.
From among the bushes of the forest, something like a yellow pole rolled out. Even though it's a hairball, it's as big as Kenneth's back, which will be ten this year.
"Wow, wow...."
I bet you could hear Kenneth's surprised voice in that fur ball. When the balls stopped moving, they carefully lined up their forelegs and sat on the spot.
For a moment, Sole, who looked like a hairball, looked like a big cat.
Yellow... no, thick, fuzzy hair mixed with gold and black. A fat tail covered in hair of the same color on a fat forefoot. The pin and the upward-facing triangular ear are also covered in fluffy hair. Surprised by a big cat-like creature that suddenly appeared from the forest, another beast, a very similar beast, popped out of the bush from which the sole came out with pleasure. The body is large, but the movement is as light as a kitten. Then, as if to invite the first person to come out, he rolled to the ground and made a little noise with his forefoot.
(Eh, hey, cat...?
I've never seen such a big cat in a village. And I've never heard of such creatures in the woods from my father and his friends who work as woodcutters in the woods.
The two cats do not have a big body, but squeeze like kittens together. Kenneth was just staring at the two funny cats, but the cats gradually heated up and turned their teeth against each other to intimidate them.
(Well, what should I do? Should I run away...)
No matter how cat-like it looks, if it were attacked with those big nails and fangs, it wouldn't be much fun.
I was worried about what to do if I was attacked. Should I run away or scream and call my father? The cats aren't aware of our presence yet, but if you shout it out loud, they'll notice. When I was wondering what to do, something like a big forefoot suddenly grew out of the void and pushed the two cats up. Strangely enough, only the forefoot was there.
As if trying to stop the fight, its forelegs are as white, golden and black as the two cats.
(Eh....?
Kenneth can't help but be dazed and watch. In front of him, the part above his forefoot emerges as if he were using a brush and paint to draw and add to the void one after the other. Chest, torso, back legs... and even a big face appeared. Someday a giant cat appeared in a place where only the trees of your forest could be seen.
I thought the two that came out earlier were big, but the one that came out last was so big that it couldn't be compared to it. It is even bigger than the two-story mayor's house in the village of Kenneth.
Compared to this cat, the first two are like kittens.
No, actually, the three looked like parents and children. The big cat grabs the cracked neck of the small cat and lifts it. That's exactly how the cat carries the kitten.
When the parent cat turned to take the kitten somewhere, he happened to meet Kenneth, who was wrapped around a blanket on a stump.
The big golden eyes got bigger and bigger as a surprise and stared at us. What should I do? I was made aware of being here. There's no escape now.
However, the appearance from the front was very elegant and very beautiful. The feeling of being attracted outweighed the feeling of fear.
"Wow. How beautiful you are..."
I've never seen such a beautiful creature in my life.
It behaves softly to the beauty of the shape that God may have made with his own hands. Each of them was full of elegance like a lady. It's divine enough to kneel down and want to worship.
When the big cat put the cat that had been sucking on his mouth gently on the ground, he sat there in good posture and quietly looked down at Kenneth with his golden eyes.
This was Kenneth's first encounter with Forest Cat.