As wind blows through the pack of trees and leaves are getting swept into the vast blue sky, an echo, produced by the singing of birds, sounds around. The very same forest we are walking through at this very moment.

“So how far is the city anyway?” I ask impatiently. We have already been walking for a day and my friends were the only thing on my mind ever since we moved out. “Give it four days by foot. Carriages don’t travel around here too often, we would be lucky to catch one.” The Mistress replies. It has been two years since we have first met on that fateful day, meaning I am fifteen now and I’m proud to say I’ve grew at least five centimeters so that makes me one hundred sixty-seven centimeters tall, just a bit shorter than my Mistress! I guess I’ve outgrown my ponytail, since I now prefer to let my hair down to the bottom of my shoulder blades. I’ve also made my bangs so the long end on one side is much thinner than on the other, leaving a sort of partial side cut on the thinner side. I really do like my own style. My clothes on the other hand…..The only clothes that were at the Mister’s place apart from the Kimono, which would have been uncomfortable to travel in, were the clothes we first arrived in….It’s ripped on some spots, not to mention, it’s pretty tight since this was made for the shorter version of myself. At least we got a cape we can put over ourselves. Hidiku though….he grew way more than I have. If I had to guess, I would say he passed one hundred eighty. I can’t imagine what wearing his old suit must be like for him.

Suddenly, a tummy growl can be heard coming from Hidiku. Now that I look closer at his face, he looks like he’s about to die. “Should we make a snack break?” I ask as I look up to meet his eyes while walking besides him to which he replies with a sluggish nod. I then proceed to take off my backpack with food within it as it knocks into my blade strapped to my waist. Hidiku takes it and looks at me with a troubled expression to which I reply with a curious look. “Doesn’t it feel a bit too light?” he asks. “Does it? Surely we haven’t eaten that much. Maybe it’s just too light in general for your overgrown body.” A smug expression appears on my face as I answer him, but that smug turns to a panicked face pretty fast as Hidiku lifts the backpack higher and a hole in its rear is revealed. We made a deal that each day someone else would carry the backpack as it could get tiring and all three of us know very well that it was in one piece when Hidiku gave it to me after the first day.

“Yuuna…..” Hidiku stares at me with displeasure. Droplets of sweat begin to emerge on my face as Hidiku slowly approaches me, led by his starving stomach. “H-Hey…what are you doing?” I slowly backup, unaware of his intentions. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m starving…..and my best option to fill my stomach is now out of the window….so, I’m going after the second-best option.”, he extends his arms. With fear I direct my view to the Mistress standing a bit further behind him. “Mistress, do something about him!”. The Mistress looks away, keeping her head in position. “I’m sorry, Yuuna, but someone has to be sacrificed.” They are insane! I swiftly tilt downwards, bellow Hidiku’s arms and run past him as I make a break for it, in the direction of our destination. “Do you two take cannibalism as the best option?!” I yell while widening the gap between us.

———

Exhausted from running and unaware of my surroundings, I sit down by a nearby tree. “I think I got myself a big enough lead, hopefully Hidiku will come to his senses by the time they get here.” Though….why is the sky so purple-ish from here? Not to mention all the trees, they look so dead. Then my stomach begins to growl, “I’ve starved myself with that swift escape from earlier and this forest looks too dead to have any anima-” just as I’m about to finish my sentence, a huge furry creature soars above my head, it almost looks like a bat with fur! This could be my best chance of getting something to eat around here and as I hold on to that thought I get up and rush towards the animal. The creature is fast in the sky and I’m barely keeping up, but what I didn’t think through is how I am going to get it down from there.

As I’m chasing it down, I notice a few rocks on the ground and grab them on the way, then make a full stop and prepare to throw them all at once. With a step forward, as if soaked in gas with a single flash of a spark, the rocks set ablaze. “Give me food you overgrown furry mammal!” I then toss my homemade fireballs right at it and hit the mark. The bird thing immediately reacts with irritation and its gaze lands directly on me. I turn my back to it with a smug expression on my face as words of provocation escape my lips. “That’s right furry rat, try to catch me.” And so it begins to chase me down. I begin to run in the direction I originally came from, expecting the two lunatics I left behind to arrive soon. I can’t do much about it when it’s airborne so either I will have Hidiku shoot it down or-

I’ve been cut off by a sudden shock wave from a rapid blast that flew by in the form of an arrow, zooming through between me and the beast. I know that energy all too well…..so they have caught up. Honestly, I couldn’t tell if it was aimed at the beast or myself and Hidiku’s expression of absolute grief fueled by his hunger didn’t make it any better. I can almost feel the aura pouring out of his body as he passes by, but when I think I’m in the clear, and let out a deep sigh, his eyes instantly spring to my position and an “eek” exits my lips. “Yuuna.…you don’t mind if we have a talk later….do you? He asks with a stare of death piercing my soul. In response I rapidly shake my head from one side to the other, he then continues his march.

Crap, crap, crap, crap, I need to run….I’ve never seen Hidiku this mad before. He wouldn’t do anything to me…right? Hidiku halts and lets out a big amount of air from his lungs, making an obvious sigh, then removes his longbow from his back and takes aim at the furry beast hovering above us. Though, he doesn’t get the chance to fire his shot right away as the beast is the first to attack, diving down straight at him. The force of its crash-landing creates a miniature shock have and launches parts of the ground into the air, but Hidiku is unfazed, he didn’t move an inch when the beast followed up with a high-pitched roar. I cover my ears, almost sure my eardrums would rapture otherwise. “Are you done?” That’s the first thing Hidiku says once the overgrown rat is done roaring, but it’s slowly starting to look….worried, almost scared. Wait…don’t tell me that’s all it had. A monster this big and scary, surely it can do more than just attempt to scare us away. Hidiku starts yelling, almost with laughter as he gets ready to finally unleash his arrow. “Good, because right now my stomach has enough room for everything you have to offer!” He lets go. The frightened monster stumbles to the side, barely avoiding the shot, but it doesn’t matter as it has nowhere to run.