Uchronia and Maple led the way again, while Alwin and Gus trailed behind once more. Gus had fought off the ensuing food coma and was now shoveling muffins into his mouth... again. Alwin continued planning for his future, which meant that he was imagining scenario after scenario about how he would confront Uchronia after she had confronted him. There was a small off chance that she might never even confront him in the first place, but he would have to factor that into the simulations he was running in his head.

After numerous internal debates between him and the fake Uchronia in his head, punctuated by some occasional hopping to keep up with the group, they finally arrived at Maple's home. The only reason why Alwin wasn't still stuck arguing with the imaginary version of Uchronia was because when Maple had hopped off in a hurry, it prompted Uchronia to shout after her. This unexpected interruption confused him; those weren't part of the script he had so graciously prepared for the imaginary version of her.

Uchronia chased after Maple, while Alwin and Gus chased after Uchronia. As they ran he couldn't help but take in his surroundings, which for once wasn't just a bunch of trees. Now it was a bunch of other monsters surrounded by trees. They ran through the village, running past houses built into the trunks of trees and dodging all the curious monsters who were wondering what all the hubbub was.

Alwin could recognize Leaflings, but among them were other species of monsters that he had no idea existed. That's not to say that they were some rare ancient species or even a brand new species of monsters, Alwin was just uneducated when it came to these sorts of things. All he could do was mentally shake a fist at Milvus for not teaching this in class, and if Milvus did cover this during one of his lectures then he was still going to blame Milvus for not making him pay attention in class. The latter made him sound like a spoiled brat, but in his defense, he was just a child not even a year old. Could you really blame Alwin for having the attention span of a baby?

There were monsters that looked like caterpillars, but not the tiny things barely bigger than a human finger. The monsters he was referencing were maybe ten or twenty times bigger than the average caterpillar. Emphasis on maybe because math wasn't his strong suit and estimation was actually hard to do when you're on the run. These oversized caterpillars sported enormous antler-like horns jutting from their heads, making them look like nature’s most bizarre mix-up.

As Alwin dashed by, his eyes snagged on a bizarre creature that looked like a snake and a snail had a wild night together. He couldn't tell if it was more snail or more snake. It had the iconic snail shell, the one with the spiral design, but possessed a snake-like body, complete with a rattle at the end of its tail. Two large fangs poked out of their mouth whenever they spoke—maybe it was part vampire too.

Then Alwin spotted what had to be the most generic monster he’d seen so far—a rabbit. What set it apart from the regular non-monster rabbit was the single horn on its head. That and its vibrant green of freshly cut grass that doubled as its fur.

A myriad of monster species bustled through the small village, each more bizarre than the last. But that wasn't the focus anymore. Right now he had to stop himself from crashing into Uchronia. He had been so busy taking in the sights and sounds of the bustling village that he didn't realize that Maple and Uchronia had stopped in front of a tree until it was too late.

Alwin veered to the right, trying his best to avoid her, but that resulted in him running face-first into the tree. Stars exploded in his vision. It's okay. This kind of pain was a fleeting thing… probably. He was just saying stuff to make himself feel better. Sometimes tricking the brain works. Sometimes.

"Are you okayie?" asked Maple.

"No, I'm Alwin."

Maple giggled as Alwin picked himself up. Uchronia did what she did best—glare at him.

"Hey, wait up guys," panted Gus.

He had been trailing behind Alwin and Uchronia and had finally caught up.

"I'm so tired," he panted, collapsing onto the ground. His tongue lolled out as he tried his best to catch his breath. Unfortunately, his best wasn't good enough, so he lay on the ground panting while the three of them stared at him—well, Uchronia was more glaring than staring, but same difference.

"MOMMY! I'm HOME!" shouted Maple.

Maple bounced into the giant tree that she called her home. The door was an arch carved into the bark. The windows, also carved out, had plus-shaped grids formed from the remaining bits of bark.

The squad followed Maple into her home, Alwin huffing as he pushed Gus like the big boulder he was. The inside of her home was mainly made out of wood. Who would've guessed? There were wooden tables, wooden chairs, and even a wooden pot with a cute little flower sprouting out. So this was what a proper home looks like. Now he wondered what other homes looked like too. Maybe they wouldn't be so woody. Maybe some would've been stony!

"Maple? MAPLE!" a voice called out from further inside the house.

A huge flurry of hops resounded through the whole house as someone quickly approached the living room. A second later a lady, who was also a Leafling—obviously—burst into the living room. But she was much larger than Maple, maybe one and a half times bigger. Again, size estimation wasn't Alwin's strong suit so take it with a grain of salt—and add a little pepper too for extra flavor.

"Oh, Maple. Where have you been? I've been worried sick!"

The leafling mom bent down and nuzzled her daughter, but before she could cry a single tear, Maple interrupted her.

"Mommy I got the Forest Glimmer. Now you won't be sickies anymore"

Maple pulled out the flower that she had so desperately searched for. Her mom gingerly took it from her tail and stared at it for a moment.

"Oh, Maple. You didn't have to go to the Apothecary. We have plenty of Forest Glimmers at home."

"But, I didn't go to the Apothecary. I went outsidie to get the freshest planties for Mommy! This way you'll get bettie faster."

"YOU WHAT? YOU WENT OUTSIDE THE VILLAGE? OH, DEAR. MY BABY," she started cradling Maple with her tail then a second later started lashing out at her, "I TOLD YOU NEVER TO GO OUTSIDE ALONE! YOU COULD'VE BEEN HURT!"

Maple had begun to sprout tears. Big, fat tears. The kind of tears that made Gus and Alwin's heartache. Even Uchronia couldn't help but frown at the scene playing out before them.

Stolen novel; please report.

"I-I—" cried Maple, "—Wanted to-to hel-help mommy get-get better!"

"Maple. Oh, dear Maple. Mommy's sorry. Shhh shhhh, it's going to be fine. Everything is alright. Mommy's fine now. Don't cry. I love you, Maple, but please, please listen to me. Don't go outside alone."

"But-but I wasn't alonie. I had other people with me."

Maple's mother glanced up, her eyes widening as she finally took in Alwin and the others standing in her living room, watching everything unfold before them.

"Oh, Maple. Darling, you can't go and bring other kids outside the village too. It's dangerous. Their parents must be worried sick," she said to Maple, then looked up to address Alwin and his squad, "Kids, thank you for going with Maple. I'm sorry that she brought you out of the forest, please go home and let your parents know you're okay."

"We have parents?" asked Gus, looking at Alwin and Uchronia.

Uchronia opened her mouth ready to lecture Gus about... something. Alwin wasn't a mind reader, but if he had to guess he'd say that she was going to chide him about not knowing who his parents were. Then she paused, probably realizing that she didn't know who her parents were or even where her home was for that matter, unless you considered the dorms as their home.

Meanwhile, Alwin did what he did best: stared off into the distance, passively watching everything unfold while continuing to imagine scenarios about him and Uchronia arguing, with the occasional sprinkling of him wailing on some humans that happened to infiltrate his scenarios for no other reason than to make him look good.

"Oh kids, are you from the orphanage? I'm sorry it was rude of me to assume. You kids can stay here and play with Maple, but you'll have to go back before sundown."

"Thank you for the offer Maple's mom, but we have other issues to attend to," said Uchronia.

"My, you're such an articulate young girl. But what do you need to do? I might be able to help."

"We've been tasked with getting rid of some of the humans lurking about in the Forest."

Maple's mother chuckled, "What a great imagination you kids have. Just don't be too rough when you're playing."

"We're not joking. This is serious business," said Uchronia. "We need the humans for their essence then we have to head back to camp before sundown."

"Camp? You mean the Human Hunter Camp?"

"Exactly," said Uchronia. Gus and Alwin both nodded along in agreement.

"You kids can't be serious. You're just kids! Why are they sending out kids to deal with humans?" She paused to collect herself before continuing," Oh you kids got me. It's great to have such a vivid imagination. Just don't let your imagination run too wild and play nice, alright? I'm going to make some snacks."

Maple's mom hopped towards the kitchen, then momentarily popped her head out to say something, "Maple, dear. Please promise Mommy that you won't ever leave the village alone again."

"Yes, mommy," sniffled Maple.

"Why did she think we were lying?" asked Gus.

"No idea," replied Alwin.

Uchronia was fuming, she curled and uncurled her leaf tail over and over again.

"Are you okay?" asked Gus.

"Obviously not. Why would she think we're lying and that it's all part of our imagination? We've all worked so hard to pass that trial, and now we get to go out and do good in this world, but she thinks we're lying just because we're kids. And why are we kids anyway? Who are our parents? What is the school not telling us?" ranted Uchronia.

Alwin couldn't tell if she was mad about Maple's mom looking down on her or because she had finally started questioning her origins. It was kind of weird how Alwin and the others were literally just born into the world with a bunch of information dumped into their head. One moment they were in a simulation fighting humans, and the next, they were spending all their time training to fight humans. It was a normal part of life for them, but that's because that was all they've ever known. No wonder the other monsters at the academy were all larger than them, and always gave them a weird look. They just weren't normal. Can't believe it took Uchronia that long to piece things together. Amidst all of the thinking and daydreaming that he always did, the thought about who his parents were had crossed his mind countless of times, but it always felt like something was pushing against that thought, and the next thing he knew he was thinking about something else. Something like, if a cookie was baked why wasn't it called a bakie?

"Who knows?" replied Alwin.

"Mr. Milvus knows."

"First thing tomorrow we're going to confront him."

"Could we do it after breakfast?" asked Gus.

Uchronia shot him another glare and sighed, "Fine."

"Um, are you okayie?" asked Maple.

The trio had momentarily forgotten about Maple and the fact that they were in her home. Maple's face was still stained with tears and snot after all the shouting her mother had done.

"I'm fine," said Uchronia.

"I'm hungry," said Gus.

Uchronia wanted to glare at Gus, Alwin could tell by the twitching in her face, but she chose to look at Maple with the softest look she could muster.

"We're all okay, Maple," Uchronia said, passing her a piece of tissue. "Tell your mom that we'll be going now. Be safe, okay?"

"Don't you want snackies?" asked Maple. "Mommy makes the best snackies!"

"I want snackies," said Gus.

"Same here," said Alwin.

This time she did shoot both of them a glare, but her expression softened when she turned back to Maple.

"That's not it Maple. We're in a rush right now, so we have to leave."

Maple drooped her head and tail in disappointment.

"Okayie. Thankie you for bringing me backie home," sniffed Maple.

Once the trio exited Maple's humble abode, a monster—a green-furred rabbit with a horn on its head— came running through the village shouting at the top of her lungs.

"Humans! Humans are coming!"

All the houses slammed their doors and windows shut, transforming back into ordinary-looking trees. It was nigh impossible to tell that there was someone living inside of the tree. The windows and doors were flush with the tree's surface. The pattern and texture of the bark appeared unbroken. The only way anyone could tell that there was actually a house inside of the tree was if you knew where the door was and if you tried pushing on it.

Maple's mother came rushing through the door shouting, "Kids, quick! Come inside!"

"We can't. This is our purpose. To get rid of those humans," said Uchronia. She didn't even turn back to talk to her, instead, she stared in the direction the rabbit monster had come from.

"Don't be silly, kids. You can't fight those humans, you kids were just playing pretend!"

Uchronia ignored her pleas, focusing on the approaching danger. The sounds of horses galloping echoed through the village. When she didn't reply, Alwin chose to say something, both out of decency and a chance of getting some agency back after being dictated by Uchronia. In her defense, she had the best interest in them, but she was just a bit loony about things going her way or else.

"Look after Maple, Mrs. Maple's mother," said Alwin.

He summoned out a pair of Spirit Hands and used them to shove her back into her house in the nicest way possible.

She stared at them slack-jawed, gears turning in her head until she finally processed just enough to say, "Oh Cor... That's magic. You kids really are from the Human Hunter Corps. What are they doing drafting kids into the war."

"No idea, we'd like to know too. Right now we have something important to handle. Once we're done we'll probably come back for some snackies." Alwin looked at Uchronia, but she didn't protest or give the slightest glare towards him, she was probably formulating different types of scenarios and strategies in her head before the incoming battle. That meant he was in charge! Probably. "Okay, we're definitely coming back for some snackies!"

"Be safe children," Maple's mother said, before she slammed the door and windows shut, transforming her house into an ordinary giant tree trunk.

"They're here..." muttered Uchronia.