°Thirty-Eight•Journey°

We rested the whole night last night and talked about a little something from the past. We both don't remember much from our childhoods as we had both lost our family at a young age. I figured that we have quite a lot in common. The difference between us was that she was taken care of but I had to work for survival.

As of right now, it's almost sunrise and we've continued our journey to the nearest town. I've been venturing my whole life. Chances are, I've probably been to the towns around, multiple times for the same reason. Business. But this time, I felt the very need to take care of this Rhea girl. It is as if it was my mission to do so.

Throughout the whole journey, Rhea has been having her own little fun. She's been jumping around and laughing. She's also been picking a few flowers and hugged a few trees. She's a weird one, I can tell you that. She seems so connected to nature too. It's like she was a part of nature all along.

She skipped ahead of me and was looking around, humming a melody. Her feet hit a rock as she was skipping and tripped her. I pulled her arm and pull her close to my chest, "Are you okay?" I asked. She pushed herself off of me, "Yeah, thanks. I'm okay."

"Don't skip around carelessly like that," I warned. The girl just nodded with a shy smile. We then continued our way to the town which I think is not far away. I think she learned her lesson from the trip because she walked quietly beside me instead of skipping around while having the time of her life.

As we walk further down the path, a pack of wolves jumped in our path. They growled at us and my instinct caused me to push Rhea back and have her behind me. I pulled out a dagger. I usually don't have a dagger with me but I brought one this time because my guts told me so. "Rhea, stay behind me, okay?" I asked, more time instructed before charging forward to give the wolf a slice.

One of the wolves then pounced on me, pushing me back onto the ground. I then heard a piercing scream to which I snapped my head and saw Rhea surrounded by three wolves. "Shit," I cursed under my breath. I then push the wolf off of me with all my might and ran towards Rhea. I used my dagger to give the wolves some slices. As they jump back due to the pain they got from the dagger, I pulled Rhea out and ran.

"They're chasing us!" Rhea yelled. I guess she turned behind in worry. "Rhea, close your eyes," I ordered. She obeyed and I picked her up and ran as fast as I could and make a swift turn to the side of the forest and hid behind a large tree. I saw the tree has a small opening on the side. I pulled both of us in and I closed her mouth.

They have a very sensitive sense of smell but we're in a tree. As long as they don't hear us, they are going to leave even though our scent is here because they're not able to use their other senses to look for us. I could hear their footsteps circling around the tree. I'm guessing to look for us but fail to do so.

Their footsteps slowly leaving and Rhea pulled my hands off and gasp for air. The wolves then turned around and growled. I put a finger on Rhea's lips to prevent her from saying anything. She looked at me and I shook my head, indicating for her to not move or speak to which she just nods.

The wolves growled. I was scared to the point where I could hear my own heartbeat. The wolves once again couldn't find us so they leave. Their footsteps indicated that they left. We waited for a while before crawling out. I helped Rhea out and lead her out of the forest, back onto our path.

"Phew, that was scary," she commented after we were further down the path and further from where the wolves left us. I nodded, "I totally agree." We continued our walk and it was getting hot and I needed to drink. We both needed some rest after that run too. I lead her to a big shady tree nearby and we took a seat.

I pulled out a flask from my pocket and took a drink. I then handed it to Rhea, "can you drink water?" I asked to which she shook her head. I looked at her in disbelief, "then how do you keep hydrated?" I asked. "I can be in a humid area and also food or fruits," she said. So she can eat watery stuff but not drink? What? Or does she just not eat in general?

"Sorry, I don't have fruits on me," I said apologetically. "We are literally under an apple tree," she said. I looked up and saw apples. She's right but since when was this an apple tree? I don't think I've encountered an apple tree. Until this moment at least. "Oh, this really is an apple tree."

I got up from my seat and reached up to the apple tree. I pulled some apples from the trees. They seem pretty mature to me. I handed two apples to Rhea and kept one for myself, "Enjoy the apples."

She nodded and stared at the apple. She then looked at me. I took a bite from my apple and looked at her confused. "Can I have your dagger?" She asked. I raised an eyebrow. "I need to slice the apple," she said. I nodded. I took my dagger out and cleaned it with a handkerchief before handing it to her, "be careful with the dagger okay? It's sharp."

She took it and carefully slice the apples and put them in her mouth. After she finishes, she handed me the dagger back, "Thank you."