I tried to break free but she had me on a death grip, I was afraid of telling her to let me go with the possibility of killing me so I let myself get taken away by the tiger.

“Let’s talk about this to my uncle!!”

“Uncle?” I asked but she ran fast and she didn't hear me at all

This went on for what I felt like half an hour

‘Where the hell are you taking me?!?!’ I silently screamed hoping this would end quickly

She at last stopped and let go, we were in a denser part of the dead forest, with a few bushes covering the ground. Noticing a few details they were trimmed to a perfect square, while I was getting dragged by her, I did see a few stumps along the way.

'Some of the trees are chopped off. but not by a lot, so maybe only two or three people live here nearby'

From afar Reelthrine shouted

"What are you spacing out for? Come here!" I turn towards where she shouted and walked, there was a cement-made path leading to a cabin

Judging by the looks of it, it's very well built that even an architech amatuer like me could tell, I began to wonder if the uncle Reelthrine mentioned would be an old man with a curse too

'Who knew dry and dead trees can make a sturdy looking cabin'

I have arrived at the door of the cabin, Reelthrine already went inside herself leaving the entrance wide open for me to step in.

'Ah.. The door is well made. The design's simple yet inviting.. wait.. I'm getting inside a potential murderer's house, what am I thinking?!'

Even before I thought about it, I had already stepped inside the house and the door was shut behind me by Reelthrine.

"Uncle!! I'm back!" she shouted

The interior of the cabin was welcoming, from where I stood on a ‘welcome’ doormat to the hearth providing warmth at my left, in front of the hearth was a comfy couch with a soft fur carpet underneath. Then there was the dining table with 4 chairs, leaving a wide gap between the couch and the dining room. Lastly at the very back was the kitchen and doors that probably lead to the bathroom and bedrooms.

“Welcome back Reelthrine! I thought you’d be gone for a few weeks” a man’s voice was heard 

“Ah well this time I didn’t get lost so lucky me!” she said

‘Wait..this time????’ I thought with a stunned face

Reelthrine had already run towards the tall man, he wore white silk gloves as he handed out a plate full of scrambled eggs topped with minced lemongrass, the aroma of freshly cooked eggs made me hungry but I can’t afford to let down my guard.

“I had made too many scrambled eggs, so your timing is perfect! So who’s your little friend over there?” He questioned as he glances over me with a smile

“I…” I tighten my grip on the handle of my satchel. I had already stored my other flashlight inside so I can’t use it as a weapon of escape.

‘Should I trust these strangers? What if this was an act to give me a false sense of security?’ I overthink about it then suddenly

Grroooowwll- My stomach made a loud growling noise

“Aha, you must be hungry! Sorry for making you wait. Here, let’s go to the dinner table and eat” Reelthrine pushes me to the dinner table and lets me sit down beside her. The uncle layed out two plates full of scrambled eggs still smoking, then handed out 3 empty plates with a spoon and fork.

“I can’t eat this…” Reelthrine said

“Ah right, I’ll go make another special batch for you, don’t worry it’ll only take a minute” The uncle then stood up and went to the kitchen leaving me and Reelthrine alone

“Why is he making another one?” I asked stupidly

“Remember how my curse only lets me eat mice and roaches only?” She answered

“Wait so..” I shivered

“Yep, but chill, uncle makes them look yummy, for me to easily eat it” Her cat ears went sideways with her tail being low

‘I can’t even eat my greens properly but eating mices and roaches to survive? I can’t imagine how much she suffered’ I pitied Reelthrine

“Enough with the sad mopey stuff, This is Uncle, his name is Yu, and he likes to cook a lot!” She switched the topic into introducing her uncle

‘So his name is Yu..’ 

Yu, his age is unknown for now, He has a mocha brown hair with quartz colored eyes, he wore silky white gloves and a gray button up shirt with black jeans, he happily cooks for Reelthrine

“Are you two related?” I asked

“Nope, Uncle just picked me up when I first met him. I think there was another Accursed but he left and ran away”

"Oh and uhm.. How old is he by the way?" 

Reelthrine was silent, she gave me a glance before looking over to the uncle then back at me again

"You may not believe me if I told you.." she nervously said

"What? Is he 40 or something?"

'is it the 'I look young but I'm old' trope?' I thought jokingly

"Yeah that! wow you're like a mind reader Sentrik!" She guffaws

"He's actually over a hundred years old" she continued

My face became slack-jacked, I could not believe a 25 year old looking tall guy would be over a hundred years

Reelthrine laughed at my face

"This is a joke right?" I wanted to hear yes

"Haha no, I'm not joking" but she wasn't joking. Right now I'm having a conversation with a tiger-cat girl and I came here after falling into an ocean instead of pine trees… but even before that I spoke with a smiley demon who told me my sister was alive so why should I be surprised if an uncle is over a hundred years old

"Here you go! Hope the food didn't get cold" The uncle handed over a plate of cooked and minced 'obviously' rat meat topped with chopped fried roaches

We began to eat our fill

"So What’s your name?" Uncle Yu asked

"Ah, I'm Sentrik Anwir, I met Reelthrine when she was passing by" I answered

"It's nice to see you Sentrik Anwir" He happily greeted me

"It's rare to see how Reelthrine brought a friend over, so thank you" Uncle Yu thanked me though honestly speaking she dragged me here out of my will but I won't tell him that

"Oh yeah! Sentrik is new Accursed here uncle" Reelthrine said

"New? That's unfortunate… Ah! here have some more" Uncle Yu gave me half of his fill of scrambled eggs without any hesitation

"B-but I.." He then hushed me saying that he doesn't mind and how I should eat more since I'm all sticks and bones so I ate without regrets.

“How did you get here, Sentrik? If you can remember, not many can remember how they got here so it’s ok if you can’t” He reassures me, Uncle Yu is quite a reassuring uncle although that wouldn’t be enough to soften me up. Though should I tell them I came from that ocean? Nothing would really be gained if I keep it a secret.

I gave it a few thoughts then told them

“I got here from the endless ocean, I almost drowned but I managed” I said as I eat a spoonful of eggs

“W-where?!” Uncle Yu shouted and Reelthrine almost choked on her food when they heard what I said

‘What’s with the strong reaction?’ I got anxious, was it that surprising?

 “You came from the Still Sea.. How are you even…” Uncle Yu nervously sweat as he combs through his hair with his fingers

“Holy shit, Sentrik, are you some sort of god?” She stood up while slamming her hands on the table, she gave an excited look on me but I felt uncomfortable.

“Reelthrine, sit down, I apologize for our behavior, it’s just… The Still Sea you came from is an oblivion, basically a null void, that’s why there isn't a lot of danger here because the Still Sea can swallow anything and reduce it into nothing.” Uncle Yu explained the endless ocean I was on, I was shocked of how lucky I am to be even alive; in one piece in that matter. Reelthrine nods her head vigorously

“Enough with that, but it is amazing how you were able to survive oblivion itself” Uncle Yu said

“Maybe even a greater wolf bites you, you’d still be alive” Reelthrine laughs at her joke but just hearing the word greater with wolf would instantly mark me dead if I face one