It only took a week and a half for Ren to return, but it felt like months. The days dragged on without end, the boredom mind-numbing in its intensity. Even the frequent fights weren’t enough to break the oppressive feeling of quiet and alone-ness that mired the days.

I’d gotten so used to having Ren around, it took me a few days to learn that he wasn’t anymore. More than once, I made a remark aloud and waited for a response for a few seconds, before realizing that no one was around to hear me. It was jarring, especially the first few times. But it did make me realize how lucky I was to have had someone around for the experience. I’d probably have lost my mind by this point if I didn’t have someone to talk to for the months I'd been in the forest.

Thankfully, the solitude didn’t last long. Exactly eleven days after he left, Ren reappeared in the most characteristic way possible – which was to say, the most confusing way possible.

I woke up the day to find Ren sleeping in the branch above me, as if he’d never even left. And yet, jarring as that was, far more startling was the little girl who slept cuddled in his arms. The pair slept so soundly it was like they were family, and they would’ve made for a heartwarming scene if it wasn’t so bizarre. I had to pinch myself a couple of times before I could believe that what I was seeing was even real.

Eventually, though, I shook off the shock and went about my morning routine. My life was just one strange occurrence after another, after all. It was embarrassing for something like this to throw me off. A little girl randomly appearing in Ren’s arms was hardly the weirdest thing to happen to me.

The little girl herself seemed to be maybe five years old, with chubby round cheeks and short, shoulder-length hair adorned with colourful wooden beads. She wore a full-length brown dress with ribbons tied to the hems, and intricate beadwork decorating the rest of it.

I couldn’t imagine where Ren managed to pick her up from, but she looked exactly how I imagined someone living in a forest would dress.

It was the smell of cooking meat that finally roused the pair from their sleep. Ren leapt down from his branch, the little girl swept up in his arms still. She was adorable in her bleary-eyed state, her entire focus on the three cuts of meat hanging over the fire. She hardly even seemed to notice I was there.

Ren smiled as he saw her unerring focus on the food, and there was a genuine warmth on his face that I’d never seen before as he set her down on the log across from me. Ren sat down next to her before finally looking up at me, his arm slung around the little girl.

“So,” he started, “anything interesting happen while I was gone?”

A smile crept up on my face at his question. “Oh yeah, a whole buncha stuff. Too much stuff, honestly,” I answered dryly. “Anything happen with you?”

Ren shrugged. “Nah, not really. Found this little girl,” he shook the girl gently as he spoke, who still hadn’t torn her eyes away from the meat in front of her, “but not much else, really.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Really, Ren?” I asked, disappointed.

Ren burst out in a chuckle at my reaction. “I mean it,” he said defensively. “It was a pretty boring week for me. I only met little Maya here a few days ago, while I was hunting.”

I nodded slowly. “So you found the little girl in the forest, and just decided you’re going to adopt her?”

Maya finally tore her eyes away from the food then, as if finally realizing we were talking about her. And realizing that I was even there.

“No no, I’m returning her to her village,” Ren answered. “She got lost after getting separated from her friends.”

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I nodded again, before turning my attention to Maya, a mischievous glint in my eye. “Is he telling the truth?” I asked her in a conspiratorial whisper. “Blink once if he kidnapped you.”

“Ruby!” Ren exclaimed just as the little girl blinked at me, the same glint of mischief in her bright eyes.

With a laugh, I pointed at Ren and yelled out, “Kidnapper!” As I did, the fire cooking the meat flared up, a small part of it rising and coalescing in the form of a small cone. Ren dove out of the way just a second before the flames shot past him. Maya giggled an adorable giggle as Ren landed in the dirt, her face losing the severity it’d carried since she’d woken up as she ran around the fire to my side.

“Kidnapper!” she yelled out in her tiny voice, pointing her stubby little finger at Ren. A laugh bubbled out of me as she did – I hadn’t been expecting her to play along with me, given how serious and quiet she’d been since she’d gotten up.

“Maya!” Ren called out in overly exaggerated betrayal, a hand clutching his chest.

His reaction elicited another adorable giggle from Maya, and a smile from me. I picked up the little girl and placed her on my lap, tickling her sides a little as I turned to Ren and asked again, “Seriously though, what’s the story?”

Ren smiled in a way that told me he was going to make another joke, but I nipped it in the bud with a quick glare.

“Fine fine,” Ren quickly relented, heaving a sigh as he made his way back to the log. “I found the girl in the forest as I was making my way back, actually. She was in a spot of trouble, let’s say, and I saved her. She told me she’s from a village nearby, and I promised her that I’d escort her back, but first we had to find you. I caught up with you last night, after you were already asleep, and I didn’t wanna wake you, so we just went to sleep above you.”

“And where is this village? Does the girl-” I stopped there, realizing I was holding said girl in my lap, and I could simply ask her instead. Turning to Maya, I asked, “Do you know where your village is, exactly? Could you find it from here?”

Maya looked up at me, her big round eyes bright and her peachy face utterly blank as she whispered, “No.”

My face broke into a wry smile at her response. “Well, that makes things a tad bit more tricky, doesn’t it?” I asked, looking back up at Ren.

Ren gave a smile at my question, as worry-free and self-assured as always. “Eh, you’ll figure it out.”

“I’ll figure it out?” I repeated. “You’re the one who made the promise.”

“I made the promise under your name,” Ren shot back shamelessly. “I was acting as lieutenant of Rosefire when I did.”

I scoffed at that. “How long are you going to keep using that card?”

Ren grinned. “As long as it keeps helping me get out of things I don’t wanna do.”

Shaking my head, I heaved another sigh and hung my head down, only to find Maya still peering up at me with her usual blank look.

“Can you believe this guy?” I asked her in exasperation.

Maya shook her head, serious as always, and I couldn’t help the burst of laughter that escaped me at her reaction.

“Me neither,” I said, chuckling. “Me neither.”

Ren shook his head from where he sat, his face comically heavy with betrayal.

Ignoring him, I moved on to more practical topics. “Well, if we have no idea how to get to the village from here,” I started, “I think our best bet is to just keep following the map, find an actual city, and see if anyone there can give us directions to your village.” I looked at the two to see if they had anything to add to my plan.

Maya’s face was as blank as ever, and Ren seemed smug as he turned to the little girl in my arms. “See, Maya,” he said, “I told you she’d figure something out.”

I shook my head again at him, not bothering to respond to that. “Well then,” I said instead, ruffling Maya’s hair. “I guess that means you’re stuck with us until then, huh.”

Maya, surprisingly, actually had a reaction to that. Her small lips curved just slightly, and she leaned into my chest in a way that sparked a protectiveness in me I never knew I had.

“Y’know, even though I just met you today,” I said, looking down at the little girl’s eyes, “I’d burn someone’s face off if they tried to hurt you.”

Ren’s cackle echoed in the forest around us, and I smiled at the teasing joke that followed, because I could tell that behind the carefree attitude, he felt exactly the same way.