It could have been the clear skies or the clear air, it was also probable that the comfort of being back home made Bave dream about a time that had been long forgotten.

It couldn't have been less than twenty years ago, little Bave was about eight or nine years of age. Around that time, he often explored the city and its nearby fields.

Since he wasn't one to join locally formed groupies, as every neighborhood at Udeos had such – kids gathering and going around to either play or do mischief, he preferred exploring.

One day, little Bave had taken off to a cave that was rumored for its herbs and secrets from the past. Despite being warned as a kid not to go there and threatened with scary bedtime stories about wicked creatures preying on children, as most kids were told, Bave was rather determined to overcome his fears of the cave.

He had well-prepared with food and water. He decided to take his father's pocket knife and a small bag with rocks he could always use with his wooden slingshot. It was a small hand-grip tool with two horns connected by an elastic rubber that could shoot rocks like a pocket catapult.

Off little Bave spent several hours walking to a nearby forest zone that guarded the secrets of that cave. His curiosity kept him occupied with different things. The small forest offered him gifts like wild strawberries and weird-looking mushrooms along the pathways.

Bave really liked poking at the colorful crowns with either the pocket knife or moldy sticks he found on the ground. The texture was fun to poke at, and besides, for some reason, he liked observing the different patterns mushroom gills had. They were so fragile that even if he tried to retrace them with the stick tip, he eventually ruined the gills.

There were other interesting things in the forest – like the pine tree resin. These small amber capsules were hard but if heated they became sticky. The resin protected any damaged area on the tree and one could either find them on the tree itself or any fallen branches.

People from Balhkara knew how to gather pine resin and use it in different ways. For example, it was a great mosquito repellent. Bave's father, on the other hand, often gathered it for waterproofing. His work on the field often had to do with water, so it was of great use to resin-layer his shoes a night before work.

Upon spotting a clustered pine tree zone, little Bave ran to look for resin. He had never collected these amber capsules, therefore, once he spotted several attached to the tree trunk, his pocket knife in hand and he started poking.

Unskillfully so, he actually ruined the capsule and its stickiness covered the blade once the resin was cut open. Bave irritated started tapping the blade into the trunk, hurting the pine further.

Unaware that there was someone nearby, his sensitive hearing detected a cracking sound against the branches-and-leaves-covered ground.

He jerked around and ready to be jumped by some of these wicked creatures he had heard about, his eyes widened upon seeing a young lady standing next to a tree. She was a bit younger than Bave, probably around seven-year-old or so.

She had long golden-hair like silk spilling over her small shoulders, complemented by the beautiful honey color of her eyes. Her small frame was wrapped in a red mantle which made Bave associate her with the stories about Little Red Riding Hood.

Despite being taken aback, Bave mustered a question out his lips although his voice cracked at first,

"Who—Who are you?"

"You are hurting the tree…", the young girl's voice was soft but she sounded a bit sad. It really seemed that she cared about nature. Therefore, seeing Bave poke and tap his blade into the pine trunk made her approach him.

"Ah…I didn't mean to…", Bave's attitude quickly changed and he felt somewhat guilty. He looked down at his knife blade and it was glistening from the resin.

"Do you need resin?", she curiously asked but still not approaching him, just standing next to a pine tree like a shy little princess.

"No...yes…I mean, I didn't plan to but…", Bave was embarrassed for some reason. He couldn't even draw back the knife as it was sticky and dirty.

So, he held it down like a fool, not knowing what to do with his hands.

"My big brother also likes to collect resin. – she smiled brightly once she mentioned her brother. Bave could tell from her gentle expression that she loved him, "Do you want me to show you how to do it?"

She was friendly and meant no harm. Bave nodded as it was a chance for him to get closer to her. Little rascal did not care much about the resin but wanted, for some reason, to spend more time with her.

She approached him with small but quick steps before lowering down to pick a leaf from the ground. She wanted to smudge the burst capsule of the resin against the open area, so the pine "wound" would not be attacked by bugs.

Once she sealed the opening, she looked to her right and twitched. Bave had been closely looking at her.

"W-What?", she got flustered since Bave himself was rather handsome for a kid. His black eyes were deep whilst his black hair had shades of blue.

Both of them made quite the duo, she was bright like the sun and he was shaded like the deep yet beautiful night.

"Ah…sorry…Your hair is golden...", Bave was truly mesmerized by it as it was rare to see such fine hair-color.

The girl smiled again and spoke of her brother with admiration once more,

"You have to see my brother's hair! It is so bright that it looks like silver under the sun!"

"You really like your brother, don't you?", Bave gave her a stare, he didn't exactly care about some dude. Especially one who was so damn adored by such a beautiful girl.

"Yes! My brother is this place guardian!"

Bave blinked before his brow cocked up and his fingertip scratched his cheek. That was awkward. He could tell that she was younger yet she spoke of some rather childish things even for her age. Did she believe in elves or something?

She spoke as if her brother was some forest king.

"What do you mean by 'guardian'? Is he a bandit from the forests?"

"No!", the little girl frowned and visibly grew upset, "He is a guardian!"

"Ah! He knows magic! Is he a wizard at the Magic Academia?"

The girl was fiddling with the hem of her red mantle and shook head,

"Yes!-No!", the little girl was too hasty to answer his first question but got flustered by his quickly shot second one.

"…My brother guards all the forests, all the fields, and all the people. He is no wizard.", she shyly said.

"Hmmm, 'all the people'?", Bave was visibly confused and his eyebrows formed a line of hesitation. What was she talking about?

The little girl reached hand forth, gesturing for Bave's pocket knife and he handed it carefully to her. She grasped it and reached for another intact resin capsule as she carefully scooped the resin without hurting the tree.

"Mmmhm…my brother knows a lot. He taught me how to collect resin too."

"Yeah, yeah…he sounds like a great dude…", Bave rolled his eyes and leaned his shoulder against the tree, "Why are you not with him? The forest is dangerous."

"Dangerous?", the girl looked over after she swiped the blade against another leaf to preserve the capsule and wrap it within the greenish sheet of it.

"The forest is our friend. Brother often says that he who respects the forest, so the forest shall respect him back."

"Ehhhh…", Bave nodded slowly as the words, indeed, made sense, "Do you live in the forest then? You don't seem afraid of it."

"No, I live far from here but my family had to come to Udeos and meet someone."

"Oh, so you are a foreigner!", he chuckled as it made sense. It was rare to see such a hair-color since Balhkaran people usually had brown or black hair, one just like Bave's.

"Nope! I am from Balhkara!", she smiled brightly and handed him the packed resin and knife.

"Really? Where are you from then?", Bave asked curiously as reached for the resin and pocket knife, carefully packing them back in his bag.

"Eslak! Have you been there?"

"Hmmm… no, but I have heard it is a beautiful place.", the young boy adopted a dreamy look as he could only imagine what their glorious capital looked like, "Say, have you seen anyone from the royal family? They live there, right?"

The little girl laughed softly and Bave did not know why she reacted that way. Did he ask something ridiculous? Probably it was silly to suggest that anyone could meet Tulo.

"Yes, I have seen the royal family."

"No way!", he rocked off the tree and looked at her in disbelief, "You are lying!"

"I am not!", she pouted and crossed arms before chest, "I have seen them!"

"Then what the King looks like?", the kids quickly turned the conversation in some form of competition who knew more about Tulo. A game of facts and rumors!

"He is big and tall, and his smile is very bright and gentle!"

"Oh?", Bave cocked a brow again, it was hard to imagine such a great King was described as a sort of a gentleman who would rather make steamy buns than actually lead a country.

"Then, what is his name!", asked Bave although anyone would know the name.

"Tsuge!", she quickly answered and leaned forth as she disliked the distrust Bave displayed.

"Okay, okay…don't get angry…", he raised hands defensively, "I was just joking. I believe you."

"Do you?", she insisted and squinted her eyes.

"Eh…ha ha ha…Let's say that I imagine it is possible to meet them?"

The little girl adopted a blank stare as if Bave was being ridiculous at that moment.

"Hmph! I shall inform the King that you have hurt His forest!"

"Eh….right…", Bave crossed his arms before his chest, "And I shall tell the King that you stole from His pine resin!"

"W-what!? I did not steal!"

"Yes, you did.", Bave laughed and pointed to the pine trunk.

"No, I did not! The forest belongs to everyone!"

"Oh? Then the great Tsuge won't mind if I accidentally poked a tree that belongs to me as well!", Bave outsmarted her.

"Nghhhh!!!", she hissed like an angry kitten upon realizing that he had a point, "The King would mind! Forest is a friend!"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it. Do onto the forest as you wish to be done onto you.", Bave rolled eyes and picked a leaf from the ground to smudge the open pine wound after the girl swooped the resin off the trunk, "Here! I am the forest's friend too."

"Hmph! You better be! My brother doesn't like people who hurt the forest."

"Umpf…", Bave huffed as the brother-talk began again, "Okay, okay. I don't want to be disliked by your brother."

"Right?", she agreed and leaned back with her chin slightly lifted, proud to have her brother's love, "If you treat the forest right, my brother will be your friend too!"

"Right, right...", Bave slowly began to walk as his interest had nothing to do with some unknown dude who probably was a forest freak.

"And and…. ", the girl followed after him, "Remember, if you ever hurt the forest, my brother will know!"

"Right, right…", Bave rolled his eyes and returned to the path with the young girl following like a puppy behind him with stories about her brother and whatnots.

The dream soon took a blurry form, pictures and sounds faded but her laughter whilst walking by his side echoed in his mind whilst Bave started stirring up from his slumber. What a dream to have, shortly before entering the forest with Kal and Koh.

Bave wondered what happened to that girl as he never saw her again. He visited the forest for years after that, approximately around the same time of the year – the beginning of June, just like now the forest was full of life back then.

He wondered if the upcoming passage through the forest made him remember her; it also made him wonder if that brother of hers would protect his team now when a possible danger lingered behind the bars of these pine trunks.

What a funny thought he had - rather silly.

His body stretched and he glanced over, spotting Kal and Koh patiently waiting for their captain to wake up. Bave felt somewhat confident, that dream made him remember something he brushed so easily when he was young – treat the forest right and the forest shall treat you the same.