I had somehow slept peacefully that night. I dreamed of my mundane life back in Yandria. I was nose-deep in recipe books while mixing ingredients and scribbling notes, it was bliss. The sounds of chirping birds grew louder as the morning sun rose higher into the sky. I felt a cool breeze that washed across my face and through my hair.

I woke up with an aching back and a sore neck. To make matters worse, all of my muscles felt fatigued. I hadn't moved around this much before in my life, and I would need to continue exercising like this in the future to gain strength. The cut across my arm still stung. I had also formed a red mark across the back of my neck where the book I slept on dug in throughout the night.

I noticed Aria was no longer lying next to me. I panicked momentarily, wondering why she had woken up before me. My weary core muscles pulled my body into a seated position while my cloak scrunched up in my lap.

Damn it? Where did she go? I bet she got hungry and went for more amberberries.

I peered over to my left, and Aria had set up a circle of stones on arid soil. She had stacked many increasingly larger sticks into a pile. I could tell that Aria had dried out the wood in the sun. She must've used her knife to make tinder. Her survival skills were unmatched, and it made me proud, if not slightly jealous.

"Hey there, sleepyhead." Aria held out a thick, sharpened stick. She was spit-roasting breakfast for both of us atop a roaring campfire. Pierced onto the end of it was a gutted and skinned small critter.

I rubbed my eyes. "Morning… I thought you were too tired to do anything?" I took the cloak and capelet in my lap and pinned them around my neck. "Just felt like getting up early?"

"Twel. We fell asleep at sunset, and it's already far into the morning. You're the sleepy one here." She looked down at my belt with a smug grin. "Also, the amberberries in your belt — are rotting." Aria spun the stick around, ensuring the flame was cooking on all sides evenly.

"Eek —" I noticed a few gnats buzzing around my waist. I swatted them away and emptied the contents of my pouch onto the ground. I stretched my muscles, sat up, and dragged myself to Aria's campfire. "You know. You could've woken me up. I would've helped you make the fire."

Aria shrugged. She took out a second stick to her side and stoked the fire, allowing the charred wood to collapse in on itself.

"Where did you find the critter? Did you go hunting?" I looked over Aria's features. The wound from the attack had turned into a light scar across the left side of her face.

"Something like that. I went to get more amberberries and found this cute little thing having a snack on them." Aria said. She gave a nod and pulled away the stick. Inspecting the center of the meat on the stick, she ensured it was cooked all through.

"Isn't that hot?" The sight of her handling the scorching meat made me wince.

"I'm used to it! If you want to pay me back — you have the first taste, Twel." She beckoned me over with a smile.

I had more faith in her than anyone else when it came to both choosing our meal and preparing it correctly. My legs shifted along the ground. Once I reached her, my arm stretched out, grabbing the skewer off her. Then, I cautiously bit into the most succulent portion of the meat.

"Delicious!" I said while my eyes lit up. I began taking larger and larger bites, and my teeth sunk deep into the chop. It melted in my mouth, and it wasn't too fatty. It had a rich, smokey, umami flavor to it.

"Wait!? It actually tastes good?" With desperation, Aria tackled me and snatched the meat from my grasp. "Let me eat it! I cooked it!"

I mumbled in protest while biting into it. Aria's strength quickly overpowered my fatigued muscles, pulling the meal out of my mouth. She took her turn and took a big mouthful. Her eyes lit up as she began devouring the meal. I watched as Aria ate our breakfast, causing large chunks to disappear in front of me.

"Hey! Give me the energy! I set up a spot to sleep last night!" I tackled her back and bit away at the meat. Like hungry wolves, we fought for every scrap.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Twel! You—you go hunt your own!" Aria mumbled aggressively, pushing my cheek away with one hand.

"No! You said to me to try it first! I'm trying it!" I pouted and grabbed her cheeks.

"No, you dumbass! I wanted you to just take a single bite, not eat the entire thing!" She reciprocated by grabbing my cheeks.

"U-Uhm, are you two alright?" A voice, soft and gentle, called out from the trees.

Aria and I simultaneously turned toward the voice. As we stared, the meat on our skewers tumbled from our mouths to the ground. In front of us stood an elven girl with skin as white as porcelain. She had a look of deep concern etched on her face. She was clad in the attire of a priestess, her snow-white hair neatly concealed under the hood of her robe. Her eyes, a striking shade of orange, sparkled in the ambient light. In front of her, she held a long, white staff, its shaft adorned with a spiraling design. Her grip on it betrayed a hint of nervousness.

"Uhm, I saw the smoke in the distance…" With one hand holding the other, she lowered her gaze, her long elf ears pricking up. "You two aren't from Whitcall… are you?"

Aria sprung up and threw her hands over her head. "Oh, thank heavens, another human!" Aria gestured to me while my hand hovered over the dropped skewer. "We need water, we're injured, and I won't lie: I desperately need a bath."

"A-Ah! I can tell you two are injured. You poor things must be so hungry." She cast her eyes downward to the fluffy pelt of the recently butchered creature. "Oh, my… you even resorted to eating a cloudtail! Y-you're going to be awfully ill…"

Using one hand, I pushed the skewer aside. My desire to eat vanished. "Cloudtail?"

"Yes? A cloudtail, that's what you just ate, isn't it? It tastes surprisingly good… despite its ability to upset the stomach," she said, her face contorting with past recollections.

"We're not… from around here. We don't really know the local wildlife," Aria stumbled.

"Oh… it's okay… I can see you're not elves. Were you two trying to reach Whitcall and got lost?"

"Well, not exactly—" I explained. Aria shot me a glare of disapproval, and I promptly stopped mid-sentence.

"No, that's right. Could you lead us there? I'm Aria, and this is my little sister, Twel." I gave a small wave on the floor.

"A-Ah! Okay… I guess. You can call me Liora…" Liora walked up to me and Aria and checked over our wounds. Once we gathered all our possessions and put out the fire. We walked out of the clearing with her. She stayed by our side and led us through the thick forest.

"Have you heard of any news from Yandria?" I stared at Liora's ears, noticing how they'd flick occasionally. Did they have a mind of their own?

"Yandria?" Liora blinked, "Where's that?"

"The highlands. No? It's the capital," I said.

Liora stopped in her tracks for a moment and tilted her head. "The highlands? Uhm… I've heard of it… but I wouldn't know of any news from another continent." She trails off with her sentence.

"Wait, we're not in Orenia!?" I shouted, my eyes widening.

Liora stopped and turned around to us. A bead of sweat dropped from her forehead. "W-What? Orenia is in the far east. This is Jiras… land of the genuine spirit." Liora gave me an expression of deep concern.

If we weren't in Orenia, that would put any plans of returning to Yandria on the back burner.

"Sorry, Twel has memory issues." Aria wrapped an arm around Liora. In turn, the priestess let out a nervous laugh.

Aria, please! If you put me down one more time to save face, I am going to bite you.

We finally reached the river. The freshwater stream was crystal clear. There was a wooden bridge built over the river and its style of construction was like nothing I'd seen in Yandria. The wood was expertly engraved with beautiful patterns. Aria and I sprinted eagerly toward the glistening river, our eyes fixated on its shimmering surface. With a sense of urgency, we reached the water's edge and voraciously quenched our thirst. I felt the coolness of the liquid as it rushed down our parched throats.

"Y-You two must be desperate… The town is only a few minutes from here." Liora nervously smiled.

"It's that close? I didn't see it from above," Aria asked and sat up after a refreshing gulp.

"Mhm. We live under the shade of the tree of the circle. I would imagine it blends in well," Liora replied.

Once we finished our drink, we walked across the bridge, the wooden planks under our feet squeaking. The grass turned to dirt, and a meandering path began before us. "Why were you out here?" I asked Liora.

"There's a shrine I pray at deep in the forest. I-It's dangerous across the river, but I saw the smoke and thought it could be a stranded villager sending a signal." Liora fiddled with her staff, spinning it around and admiring the white orb on top.

After a solid bout of walking, we arrived. A massive tree that spanned meters across had a large wooden gate in the center. It was those same trees we saw from the plateau. Liora tapped her staff on the gate with a steady rhythm; the three taps gently echoed in the forest. The gate rose into the air with a rumbling sound, revealing what was inside.

"Uhm… welcome to Whitfall! Now… let's get you two sorted out." Liora said with nervous warmth. She smiled and turned around, gesturing behind her. There was a vibrant scene of various Elven folk moving between homes integrated with nature, their mossy walls blending in with the surrounding trees. The town's borders were lined with trees, while the houses were built at progressively higher altitudes. People strolled along mossy pathways connecting different districts. It was nothing like Yandria.

So this is Whitfall?