Present.

Khiva’s gate was a checkpoint that must be passed to venture into the forest. There, Latla—reluctantly—placed her hand on a crystal ball, a mana measuring tool. And, no surprise to her, there was no shine whatsoever to be observed.

‘Is this thing broken?’ the guard asked himself.

Latla rolled her eyes. Same response every single time, she thought.

‘Ah, wait a moment, are you—‘ he snapped his fingers a few times, believing that the gesture would help, ‘yeah, sorry, can’t remember your name—but are you the manaless? The one who beat a traditional mage from Shadow Wolf guild?’

‘Yes,’ Latla answered, slightly surprised. ‘That would be me.’ A gate guard, someone stationed at the edge of the city, had heard of her feat. ‘How did you hear about that?’

‘There’s a tavern I regularly go to. Many stories are shared there; yours among them. Short, but interesting and memorable.’ He nodded, then—reminded of his duty—shook his head. ‘Anyway, there’s no problem, you going to the forest. But are you sure you’re bringing the boy?’ He meant Cirrus. He was standing beside her, cat atop his head. ‘The forest is no place for a child.’

‘I’ll be fine!’ Cirrus said.

‘We need an herb from the forest. He knows where it is, and I’m here to look after him. If he can read and point at a map for the location of the herb, then I would’ve already tied him up and left him behind.’

‘I wouldn’t like that!’

‘I would. Nevertheless,’ she addressed the guard, ‘since there’s no problem, can we go now?’

‘Please.’ He stepped aside, making way. ‘Ah, manaless—’

‘Latla,’ she corrected.

‘—Latla, I know you’re capable, but take care out there,’ he said, weight in his words. ‘Now, I don’t mean to scare you, but it’s best that you know: we don’t normally do mana checks for people going into the forest.’

‘I’m not sure I understand what you’re implying.’

‘The forest has been awful lately. The reason we’re conducting mana checks is to make sure that only capable mages venture there. And there are rumors that an unlisted monster roams there.’

That’s bothersome, Latla thought. ‘I’ll keep that in mind. We’ll be careful. Thank you for the information.’

‘All the best.’ The guard saluted.

Latla, Cirrus, and Noir went through the gate.

‘Latla,’ Cirrus asked, ‘what’s an unlisted monster?’

‘You don’t have to worry about it.’

***

Khiva’s Forest.

The forest was—contrary to its dangers—a place that looked safe. The trees were moderate in quantity, well-spaced. Their canopies were wide but thin, sunlight could pass through fine. The leaf covered ground was solid and mostly leveled. Visibility and mobility were good there.

Advantages that go both ways, Latla thought.

With good visibility and mobility, she could see and avoid threats better. However, the same was true for the threats; they could spot and hunt her better.

‘Meow.’ Latla heard Noir, noticed the cat pawing Cirrus’s head.

‘Mm? Left!’ Cirrus translated.

Inside this forest, Latla had been following Cirrus’s lead—or to be more exact—Noir’s.

“Noir speaks whatever Syr wants her to,” Scarlet had said. Latla wondered if that was true. Because it seemed to her that the cat was truly guiding them.

Whenever Noir pawed Cirrus’s head and meowed, he would change directions; thus far, according to Latla’s bearing, the cat’s guidance was accurate—as they were indeed heading deeper into the forest.

She knew that certain creatures could find directions when trained: carrier pigeons could send letters, dogs could hunt prey, and will o’ wisps could track their kind. Perhaps Noir was a trained cat who could find herbs. Didn’t sound impossible.

‘Syr, what kind of cat is she?’

‘Mm? What kind of cat are you, Noir?’

‘Meow.’

‘She doesn’t want to say.’

Maybe it’s both: Noir speaks whatever Syr wants her to and she’s a trained cat, Latla concluded. She asked no further.

***

Deeper into the forest, Latla spotted and recognized a mushroom.

Its color was plain brown, looked harmless, but was poisonous. While most poisonous mushrooms would take vibrant colors to declare their toxicity to avoid being eaten, this particular mushroom had chosen to conceal its toxicity for the sake of being eaten. If someone ate it, they would die in a matter of minutes, and their corpse would fertilize the soil; allowing more of that mushroom to grow.

Awful type, that one.

‘Mm?’ Cirrus responded to Noir’s paw. The cat didn’t meow this time. He then whispered, ‘Latla, hide behind this tree!’

Latla hid with Cirrus and Noir behind a tree, whispered back, ‘What are we hiding from?’

‘Something!’

A minute passed, nothing eventful happened. Before hiding, Latla hadn’t spotted any threats; now, she wondered if this was a false alarm. ‘Are you sure—’

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Latla felt a slight tremor coming from the earth. Thought, for a second, that she was imagining this due to her head’s stinging pain. Not likely, for she observed nearby pebbles quivering from the tremor. This tremor had a slow thumping rhythm, gradually rising in intensity. That of a creature’s gait, nearing.

Acknowledging the threat, their safety being her main priority, Latla reached into her waist bag and pulled out a ring.

Eventually, the creature was passing the tree which they hid behind. Its shadow, cast on the ground, was large enough that it enveloped them in a makeshift darkness. Latla wore her ring.

The creature seems slow and huge, she analyzed. An easy target for my fireball.

She was ready should a fight occur.

The creature noticed them—not. It was never aware of their presence behind the tree and passed by. Just like that.

… I should keep the ring on until we’re out of the forest, Latla thought.

‘Meow.’

‘We’re safe now!’ Cirrus said.

I don’t know how, but— Latla eyed the cat— the cat is good at detecting danger. ‘Syr, does she always guide you through the forest?’

‘Mm!’ He nodded.

She’s the reason he’s been through this forest unharmed countless times, Latla understood. ‘Scarlet would’ve been less worried if you told her about Noir.’

‘I have told Sis! Countless times! But Sis doesn’t believe me!’

Fair. If a boy tells me that a cat can guide him reliably through the forest, then I wouldn’t believe him either.

‘Sometimes I…’ Cirrus said. He let his words trail off and left it there.

‘Sometimes you what?’ Latla prodded.

‘Nothing…’ He had a sad look on his face. She didn’t miss that.

‘It’s not nothing, Syr.’ Latla crouched down, then looked into Cirrus’s eyes. She didn’t push him, didn’t force him to speak. Instead, she allowed the forest’s silence to reign, as if telling him: You can share your troubles with me if you want to.

‘Sometimes I… wonder why Sis doesn’t believe in me… She doesn’t believe me when I said I’ll be fine here…’

‘She’s worried about you.’

‘She wouldn’t worry if she believes in me.’

I see. ‘Syr, come here,’ Latla beckoned. She placed her warm hands on his cheeks and—pinched him hard.

‘Mm!? Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!’ The pain was bringing Cirrus to tears.

‘Meow!’ Noir disliked what Latla was doing to Cirrus, clawed her, but she didn’t care.

‘You’re being selfish, you know that?’ She raised her voice, enraged. ‘“She wouldn’t worry if she believes in me,” you said. Don’t give me that nonsense!

‘When Scarlet started her first day working for me, didn’t you follow her into the café? Weren’t you worrying about her? So? You don’t believe in her either!’ She pinched him harder.

‘That’s…’ Cirrus gave his best to talk through the pain. ‘That’s different! She has a weak body! I was worried!’

‘Same thing! You have a child’s body. She’s worried! How is that any different?’

Cirrus couldn’t say a word.

‘I heard the argument at the café. You had called her stubborn, overprotective, and selfish. You’re. The. Same!’

‘I… I was…’

‘You had said those words. And it hurt her!’

‘I didn’t… I didn’t mean to!’ Cirrus cried. He wailed, partly because of the pain, mostly because of the realization that he had hurt his sister.

Hearing his cries angered Latla even more. Wouldn’t it be easy if his tears could somehow miraculously fix his problems? Her initial urge, born from rage, was to give him a slap, but then she realized upon looking at his reddened cheeks that—having lost herself to her emotions—she had physically hurt him. She let go of her pinch. Then noticed the back of her palm bloodied from Noir’s scratches. I guess I deserve that...

‘Syr,’ Latla said, ‘listen to me: you can’t change the past. What’s done been done; and as much as you wish it can be undone, it can’t. What you can change is the future. You can continue crying and get nothing done, or you can apologize to your sister and make things right. Apologize to her when we return; and make sure it’s settled. Understand?’

‘Mm.’ Cirrus nodded. His cries had lessened to sniffles after listening to her. ‘I will a-pollo-gi-ez when we return.’

‘… You don’t even know what the word means, do you?’

‘No… But I know it’ll make things right.’

‘It means that you’ll have to say sorry to your sister for having hurt her.’ Latla patted Cirrus’s head. Noir no longer hostile. ‘I should too, to you.’ His cheeks were still red from her pinching. ‘Syr, I’m sorry that I’ve hurt you.’

‘… It’s alright.’

‘No, it’s not alright. I have issues with my short temper—’ and that short temper angered her further every time— ‘but that’s no excuse for me to hurt you. I’ll make it up to you after this is over. I promise.’

Cirrus shook his head. ‘It’s alright. I forgive you. Let’s… go back to getting the herbs?’

‘Let’s.’

***

Venturing deeper into the forest, following Cirrus and Noir’s lead, Latla wondered if she had stepped out of line when she had intervened and scolded him. After all, it was a family problem between him and his sister, and she supposedly had no place in it as an outsider.

It wasn’t my place to scold him, Latla thought, but I would’ve been disappointed in myself if I didn’t intervene.

‘Meow.’

‘There it is!’ Cirrus whispered. He had mostly returned to his usual carefree and nonchalant character. His eyes were still weary from tears and his cheeks were still red from having been pinched.

Latla looked at where Cirrus was pointing at: a spot on the ground shaded by a big tree. She could see a small plant with two leaves on its ends, its color being not green but blue.

‘That’s the herb?’ Latla whispered back.

‘Mm!’ He nodded.

‘Meow.’

‘What does she say?’

‘Noir says that we need to be careful. But it’s safe as long as we’re quiet!’

It’s safe as long as we’re quiet? Does that mean there’s a threat nearby? Latla looked around, analyzed her surroundings. No matter how hard she searched, she couldn’t spot any threat.

In any other situation, she wouldn’t believe in a cat, but the cat had—not long ago—spotted a monster before she could. Additionally, she had the knowledge that creatures liked to lurk around precious herbs. Because they knew that people—preys—would gather after it. Saved the creatures the effort from having to move around and hunt.

I’ll trust the cat. ‘Let’s go.’

On cue, Cirrus was about to tiptoe. The trouble with tiptoe, to Latla, was that although the steps were quiet, the balance was poor. Not trusting him enough, she carried him—and Noir too, accordingly—on the side. She then walked silently toward the herb, made sure to look at the ground, because in such a quiet forest like this, stepping on a twig could make a lot of noise. She avoided all the twigs though.

‘Alright,’ Latla whispered, dropped Cirrus near the herb. ‘You deal with that. I’ll keep watch.’

‘Okay!’

Latla analyzed the surrounding once more, alert. Still, she spotted no threat. At this rate, they would successfully get the herb without—

Brug! Snap!

—any trouble…

Cirrus had used too much force and lost his balance when the herb was pulled out. It just so happened that he then fell onto a spot where there were lots of brittle twigs, making a loud noise.

You must be joking me, Latla thought.

Remembering the cat’s warning, Latla became more alert. If Noir was right, then a threat would come. Immediately, nothing… happened…

… False alarm? Latla thought—

The ground shook. The same intensity as a massive earthquake. The earth tilted, the trees trembled, and the leaves scattered.

Woods sprouted from the ground beneath, surrounding Latla, Cirrus, and Noir. Their shapes were sharp like fangs; this sudden entrapment seemed similar to a giant jaw about to snap shut.

No. Latla thought. Perhaps it is a giant jaw about to snap shut.