Anise found Solana at the forest's entrance with the two children sitting restlessly. The children rushed over to the young lady with snot flying from their nose.

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The twins cried.

The boy tried to keep his tears in but could not and resorted to wiping his messy face with his sleeves. The girl kept bowing.

Anise smiled and took the two's hands. She knelt down and embraced their small bodies.

"It is alright now," she whispered gently. "Do you two know where the nearest apothecary is? We got to get you fixed up before sending you two home."

The two children had scratches all over their body. Their cloth did not protect much and had rips, especially around the arms. The strenuous activities of the early morning had cause some of the old stitches around the patches of cloth to open which revealed the emerging swelling of bruises.

The girl's eyes lit up. "Boo's that way!"

The boy also smiled. He even did a little hop and clap. "We wannit go to Boo's! Boo knows everything."

"He'll know where a pot carry is," the two young children said in happy unison.

The colors returned to Anise as she laughed.

The two children grew angry. "Hey, whatcha laughin' for! Boo knows everything! He does! He Does!"

"Is this Boo of yours, much like the stalk of a white lily, very slender? So slender that he could pass off as a girl if he had bigger hips?" With a smirk, she asked. Solana snorted also.

Tilted their heads, the twins did. The boy looked at the girl; the girl looked back at Anise. The girl nodded suspiciously.

"His hair covers his entire face? He speaks as if he is an old man even though he is barely an adult? The type of man who would prefer staying indoors even as the flowers bloom and fruits ripen?"

With each question, the twins nodded in confirmation. Then the two excitedly cried, "You know Boo too!"

"Yes, I do," the young lady said with a cheeky smile while Solana shook her mane in exasperation. "I was the one who gave him that nickname."

"No!" The two children shouted angrily. "Boo is ours nickname!"

Anise pinched the two children's cheeks.

"What was that," she asked with a smile. "Boo is mine, yes?"

The two nodded furiously. Anise smiled and let the two go. 

The girl rubbed her cheeks and asked, "Boo will know where a pot carry is?"

"Boo is an apothecary. Apothecaries make and sell medicine. His cottage stinks of herbs right?"

"Mm," the boy nodded and clenched his nose. "Dizzying."

"I actually do not know where Boo's cottage is, so I need you two to be good guides." She said as she helped the children up Solana's back. The three sat so Anise held the reins with the children nestled between her laps. The children briefly explained the route. It was a simple straight line with only minor turns at very obvious landmarks.

The boy was a bit nervous as the mare began its trot. The girl's eyes lit up. The girl turned around and asked, "Why do you not know Boo's home?"

Anise rolled her eyes. "It is a long story. Simply put, Boo is an idiot. He leaves his childhood friend and bestest friend behind and doesn't tell her where he went."

"Boo ain't an idiot!" The girl exclaimed with a frown. She would make many swoon with that frown of hers in the future.

Anise smiled mischievously. "Do you like Boo?"

"I love Boo," the girl said proudly. Her brother rolled his eyes as he held on tighter to his sister. His face turned greener still. The girl then grew cautious; she pulled back a little. "Do you love Boo?"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Anise laughed. "No, Boo is Boo. I like him, but love?" She laughed again.

"Hey! Don'tcha make fun of Boo!" The young girl huffed angrily. Meanwhile, her brother has passed out from the movement of the horse.

"Should you not be happy that I do not love Boo?"

"Mmm, uh," the innocent girl tried to find an answer to no avail. Smoke seemed to come her head. Finally, she gave up and changed the topic. "What is ya name?"

"Anise, but you can call me Ane."

"I'm Morg. That's Mel." The girl frowned. "Ain't Morg an ugly name? I hate it."

"Your parents gave you that name. No matter what the name may be, it is beautiful."

The girl grew quiet, and a bit sad. She softly mumbled, "Yeah."

"So what were you doing in the forest so early?" The young lady asked, though she had a clue judging by the girl's quiet response earlier.

"What were you doin' in the forest?" Morg asked in response.

"I was training. I want to become an adventurer. Though, today's training was a bit more exciting than I had prepared."

"Sorry," Morg replied sheepishly. Then she sat up straight and said, "I still ain't gonna tell you!"

"Fine. You will have to tell Boo, yes?"

Morg nodded. She looked down and asked softly, "Ane, you think Boo will hate me? For being troublesome?"

"No, Boo is very nice. One of his only good points, I say."

"Boo has many good points," the young girl yawned. The rhythmic trot of Solana in concurrence with this morning's events quickly lulled the girl into deep sleep.

Once she made certain both the twins were truly asleep, Anise detailed her first real fight to Solana. The mare listened patiently to her mistress. Solana had done exactly so since she was bought: listened, and only listened.

"I fought poorly against the beast. Though only because it was an inanis. If it didn't have human faces—it isn't like I will fight humans—, I would not have fought so badly. I would have finished it off, because I am going to be adventurer. Afterall, adventurers fight monsters." The girl finished off confidently. She gripped the reins tightly. "Right. I will be fine, I will definitely be fine. I will slay monsters and demons—just not humans. Those, those are left for the mercenaries and the bounty hunters. I will be fine. Truly, I shall be fine. I had even trained myself to no longer flinch. If I simply keep my eyes open, I will be fine. Absolutely fine."

The girl returned to silence. Solana continued to go in a straight line.

"Hey, Solana, do you think the face I stabbed, do you think his family are still alive? I mean, he was young, so young. Inanes can preserve the faces for eternity, but I can't help but wonder. Was what I did right? What if he was one of the rare ones—the strong ones—who was still alive?"

The mare offered no response, though she did pick up speed and woke Morg up.

"We there yet?" The girl yawned.

"No, not yet," Anise replied.

"Mm, Ane, let's play a game then," Morg asked sleepily. Anise nodded. The girl nudged at Mel and woke him up.

The three played a word game for the remainder of the trip.

Author's Note: A shorter chapter this time around. How are you feeling about the characters so far? Feedback is greatly desired. I personally feel the last few parts of the chapter, where she consulted with her mare, to be cringey to read. I tried to write it in a way that felt more natural and less disjointed from the rest of the chapter. If you have suggestions on how to fix or improve that scene, then tell me please.