They were making their way through Sinfell forest, a forest which is said to be full of monsters. No one would usually go through it without a few guards, but these two thought they could make it through by themselves. They were now on an abandoned road, going through without any sign of life. The trees were just getting thicker and thicker, taller and taller.

"Look Ray, it's some oraleaf!"

Aqua seemed excited while kneeling down, then she started stuffing some into her bag.

"I've heard of the stuff used in potions before. You can't get this easily in town, I guess we're quite deep in the forest already to see it naturally growing.

"True… It 's getting quite dark…"

"We should probably call it a night."

"Should we make a fire?"

"Yeah, let's go gather some firewood together, in case anything happens. The later it is the more monsters usually come out. It's just luck we haven't seen any so far."

"Is that?-”

A wolf showed its face in a nearby clearing but it seemed to not realise it was being watched. In the moonlight its fur glowed white.

"A haunted wolf…"

Ray's sudden whispering made Aqua know the danger of the situation.

"A haunted w-what?"

"Haunted wolf. If there's one… there's always the rest of its pack."

"What should we do?"

"Best case we hide and aren't seen."

After hiding in the bushes for a while it wandered off at the sound of another howling in the distance.

"How many times have you done this before?"

"Too many."

The two resumed collecting firewood, and put it together by a fallen tree. Ray then lit it just by holding his hand near.

"Was that?"

"-Fire magic, I know a few tricks, good for things like this."

"Wow, I can only use water magic myself. Which elements can you use?"

"All of them."

"All of them?!? How did you ever get the time to learn all 6?"

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"It's not like I ever figured out how to do any real spells with them though… Only thing I can do is hit an axe a little harder than the rest."

"No no no, that's still amazingly impressive. I think I'm back to square one in terms of guessing who you are, I have no clue anymore."

She laughed and started to lie down against the tree, which Ray followed suit on the other side.

"Goodnight Ray."

"Night Aqua."

Only the silent breeze of the forest could be heard. The sun was now far past the horizon.

"Are you awake?"

"Yeah… What's up?"

"What if… What if something comes to attack us?"

"Don't worry, after a few years of doing this kinda thing, you kind of get a sense for anything that might be out to hurt you. I'll wake you up if anything happens."

"Thanks, Ray, for everything."

"You don't have to thank me, It's my fault you're in this situation anyways…"

"I don't believe it. If you're this kind… it couldn't be your fault..."

Sinfell fell back into silence for the night. When morning rose, Aqua opened her eyes to find Ray was already cooking something at the fire.

"Morning.”

"Morning…”

She was still rubbing her eyes.

“What are you cooking?"

"A rabbit I caught earlier, it just happened to be hopping by."

"Here, let me."

"What are you a master chef or something?"

"I wouldn't say that."

She smirked like Ray complimented her. Aqua then swapped places with him and tied on a headband to keep her hair back. She then picked up the knife and intricately cut the rabbit in such a way that it cooked evenly. She took the leaves she put away earlier and started chopping them up evenly.

"What are you?-"

"Not many people know this, but instead of potions, you can actually make a good garnish out of oraleaf."

"I couldn't have guessed…"

She proceeded to make a single rabbit look like a world class gourmet meal. It seemed to shine at just how happy it was to be cooked so well.

"How's that?"

Aqua handed him some on a stick. He bit into it…

"…It's delicious!"

"Isn't it."

She put on an approving nod.

"Amazing. I never would've guessed you could cook it like that. Where did you learn to make so much out of so little?"

"My mother showed me some of her secrets to cooking when I was younger. What can I say?"

After their breakfast… They went back to finding their way through the woods. As they were walking Ray suddenly stopped without a word.

"We're being followed."

"By who?"

"Almost definitely those haunted wolves from last night, we're still in their territory after all."

"What are our options?"

"Fight, or get eaten. Simple."

He put his hand on the previously bought platinum sword on his waist while leaving the golden axe at his back untouched.

"I'll take the front."

"I'll try to cover you."