“Are you ready?”

“Ah, give me a moment.” Lexi scrambled around the room trying to grab her books, almost tripping in the process. She eventually finished and stood in front of Saxa. Her shoulder-length hair in messy curls and cloak wrinkled.

“Now I’m ready.”

Saxa took a look at Lexi, glancing at the books in her hand. “You should take less. We’re just going to the woods for a little while. If you take too much, you’ll have a harder time later.”

“Really? What should I take?”

“Take this.” Saxa handed over a dagger. “Sister Alena says that we should carry weapons when we go to the woods. And you don’t need books. They’ll just slow you down.”

Lexi took the dagger and regarded the books. After a moment of pondering, she put down her journal and the medical recipes. “Then, I’ll just take the field guide.”

“I guess you could use that to identify herbs.” Saxa stood in the doorway with her arms crossed. Two daggers and a cloth bag were tied to her belt. “Let’s get going.”

As the pair exited the church, they passed Priestess Gwyneth and Nun Frida. They were carrying stacks of books and papers towards the library, probably Nun Lena’s.

“Hey, you two! Are you heading out?” exclaimed Gwyneth. She was a large half-orc with magical circles tattooed on her left arm..

Saxa nodded. “We’re going to the woods. Lexi wanted to find some herbs.”

Lexi tugged on her cloak, pulling her hood slightly over her head.

“Then have fun, you guys. Make sure to stay safe,” Gwyneth replied, and both of them left the hall.

Saxa clutched Lexi’s arm and dragged her towards the outside door. “Come on! We have to be back before nightfall, so we need to hurry.”

The two ran outside and towards the woods. As they approached, they could see the forest in the distance. The trees were full of deep green leaves, and footprints littered the ground. They were left behind by travelers and the many children who came to play.

Saxa dashed through the forest, jumping from place to place. She ran a hand across the tree trunks and marked their path. Branches and leaves brushed against her scales as Saxa scanned the area. When she glanced back, she didn’t see Lexi. It took Saxa a bit before she realized that Lexi was left behind.

When Saxa sprinted ahead, Lexi kept on tripping and getting distracted by the greenery. When she caught up, some new scratches marred her arms and legs. A couple of leaves were tangled in her hair, and she was panting heavily.

Saxa turned back, following her marks. She eventually found Lexi sitting by a patch of grass. Lexi was smiling brightly with some bunches of herbs in her arms. “Look! I found some yarrow and plantain leaves. I also heard running water in that direction. Maybe there are cattails.”

Saxa stopped and stared at her. She placed a hand on her head before slightly shaking it. “Got it.”

As Lexi placed the herbs into a bag, Saxa observed the area, trying to find signs of wild animals, After searching for a while, “Follow me. It should be safe if we go this way.”

This time, the two held hands as they traversed through the forest and toward the water. Whenever Lexi tried to pick some herbs, Saxa would pull her back. “We’ll get lost if we get distracted.”

After walking for a bit, they reach a small pond. A deer and its fawn sprinted away as they approached. Saxa sat down by the edge of the pond and stretched out on the grass. She dipped a hand into the water, splashing it towards Lexi.

“Come on Lexi. Give it a rest.”

Lexi was running around the pond with the field guide in hand. “But I want to prepare for my next class, and this is a good opportunity.”

“You can do it later. Just lay down and enjoy the woods for a moment.”

With a sigh, Lexi put the book down and sat next to Saxa. They watched fish swimming around the pond, squirrels jumping between branches, and birds chirping with the wind.

Then, there was a rustle from a nearby bush.

Stolen story; please report.

A wild boar snorted and stomped towards the pond. When it noticed the pair lying in the grass, it hoofed the ground, preparing to attack.

“Look out!” Saxa was the first to notice the boar. She quickly stood up and pushed Lexi to the side. Afterward, she grabbed a dagger from her side and faced the boar. “Go climb a tree. Boars usually give up if they can’t reach you.”

Lexi nodded and dashed towards the nearest tree. When she ran, she attracted the boar’s attention. It turned its head towards Lexi and chased after her.

“Shoot.” Saxa ran after with a dagger in hand. Lexi was halfway up when the boar rammed into the truck. It shook both the tree and Lexi, almost causing her to fall.

Just as it prepared to attack again, Saxa stabbed a dagger into the boar’s back. She pierced through its thick hide, drawing blood in the process. The boar cried in pain and turned around.

Saxa sprinted away after a successful hit, and the sight angered the boar. With a growl, it charged at Saxa. She rolled to the left, narrowly dodging the first attack. She countered, managing to slash its side.

“Be careful! There’s no space,” yelled Lexi as she watched the confrontation.

“That’s more cover for me.” She jumped into some bushes, obstructing the boar’s view.

It wildly charged towards her voice, almost crashing into a tree. Saxa took the opportunity to attack again.

Lexi chewed her lip as she observed the situation from a high branch. In her hand was the dagger Saxa gave her earlier. It trembled as she tried to aim at the boar.

The reptilian and boar circled each other for what felt like an eternity. It would charge, and she would dodge. Occasionally, an attack would graze Saxa, or she would slash it.

As the battle continued, both sides became sluggish and tired. Although the boar took more damage, Saxa’s stamina was quickly draining. Her stance was unsteady as she tried to dodge. Eventually, the boar managed to make direct contact. It rammed straight into Saxa’s side, knocking her off her feet.

“Saxa!”

At that moment, Lexi threw the knife, and it miraculously made contact. It stabbed straight into the boar’s side, and the boar wobbled. Saxa took advantage of the boar’s brief loss of focus and ducked into some bushes.

With a snort, the boar turned around and darted into the forest. After it left, Saxa and Lexi were quiet, waiting to see if the boar would return. Eventually, both decided it was safe, and Saxa came out of the bush.

She stumbled out. Her legs and arms were shaky. Her mind exhausted by the encounter. Saxa collapsed onto the grass and breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank god that’s over now.”

“You’re telling me! Do you know how worried I was?” Lexi shouted as she scrambled down the tree. She held Saxa’s arm, examining the wounds. “Why didn’t you climb up?”

“I couldn’t. It was focused on me.” Saxa stared up into the sky. Her eyes were dazed. “I also wanted to test myself.”

Lexi responded with an unamused expression.

“What? You’ve been excitedly looking at plants since we got here. I wanted to test my training.”

With a sigh, Lexi looked at the sky. “Should we leave soon? It’s almost dark.”

“Yeah.”

Lexi searched around the pond. She used the field guide to find some herbs with healing properties. After double-checking their uses, she crushed a few onto Saxa’s wounds.

“Even though I wasn’t fighting, you still scared me to death,” mumbled Lexi, “What if you were seriously hurt or even killed?”

Saxa patted her head, attempting to console her.

They grabbed some cattails from the pond and started treading home.

“You know… Today was scary but also fun,” remarked Lexi.

Saxa smirked. “I know right? You wanna come back?”

“After we train and practice some more.” Lexi gently pushed Saxa. “It was horrible when you were fighting the boar.”

“Got it.”

“Also, don’t put yourself in danger like today.”

“Sure.”

------

When they got back to the church, Nun Frida lectured Saxa.

“I know you were trying to protect Lexi, but you should also protect yourself.” She pointed to Saxa’s side. “You shouldn’t underestimate wild animals. They can kill.”

Saxa and Lexi stood there, taking the scolding. Although neither blamed Lexi, she still felt bad about the whole situation. Saxa needed to fight alone and with a burden because she couldn’t protect herself.

Afterward, the two went back to their room.

“Should we invite Inu next time? He’ll probably be excited to fight,” suggested Saxa.

Lexi nodded. She thought that he would probably be excited to test out his training. In fact, Saxa and Inu had similar personalities and would probably enjoy fighting each other.

When they reached their room, Lexi got out her journal and the field guide. She sketched cattails, chamomiles, and the other herbs she found in her journal. Then, she found them in the field guide and copied the information. Next to those pages, she began recording her adventures.

------

Today, I started taking herbalism classes. It was fun to learn about different plants, but the herbal journals were more interesting. I want my journal to be like the ones I saw.

In the afternoon, I went to the woods with Saxa. We found so many herbs. They were very pretty. We fought a boar in the woods, and it was terrifying. Saxa had to fight the boar and protect me. I felt bad. I need to get stronger, so I can help next time. We’ll go again in the future, so I need to get stronger before then. Next time, I’ll ask Inu to come too.

When we came back, I gave Nun Rose the cattails. She was surprised but also seemed happy. She says that she plans on making something delicious with them. I can’t wait.