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Sora paused by a tree to wipe some sweat off her forehead.
The late afternoon was on the warm side even with all the tree coverage. She pulled out her water sack for a drink. After considering the sack for a moment, she shrugged and poured some on her head. She shook her head briefly, her colorful hair whipping around in a wild, artful kind of way. Her hair fell down mid-back—some hairs stuck out and her bangs were all over the place.
She loved it.
Back in the castle all maids and man-servants were required to have their hair tied back. While fairy aides are not servants, they ended up adopting similar dress codes as the serving members of the castle.
They had their own gowns but made sure that the dress skirts were long enough to cover most of their feet with the collars high up and hair pulled back.
She ran a hand through her hair. "It's been a while since I've had my hair down for so long." Her mentor would be fuming through her nose and ears at her "lack of propriety."
Her mentor was insistent that she put her hair in a bun. If Sora tried to do a ponytail or braid her mentor would undo it and make it up into a bun so tight that it gave her a headache.
Sora huffed.
"She's too strict for her own good. If her bun is as tight as the bun she does for my hair, that's probably why she's constantly grumpy."
Thoughts of her mentor inevitably led her to Layla.
'I wonder how she's doing. And Yuri too.' Her face drooped slightly before she stopped herself from continuing. 'I'm already in the middle of doing something to fix this. Berating myself even further will get me nowhere.'
With a sigh, Sora took a sip of water before putting her sack away.
All this walking allowed her to think and consider her options. Upon further thought, Sora had decided it would be better to save the bread and cheese for an emergency when food cannot be found, especially since her magic will keep it fresh for a while longer.
Her eyes darted about the trees and bushes, looking for something to eat.
"Ahah! An apple tree!"
Delighted with her find, she picked a few ripe and unripe ones—some for now and the others for later. Sora placed the small apples together on the ground to deworm them with her wand when she felt a slight prickling of her instincts.
She looked around and spotted nothing amiss.
She shrugged and waved her wand.
As the apples glowed, the prickling sharpened. Abruptly, she whirled around, wand at the ready...
...Only to meet air.
She nervously laughed it off. 'It's just my tired mind playing tricks. It has been a while since I've eaten.'
Sora would have believed her own reassurances if it wasn't for the fact that, when she turned back to get the apples, a few of them were missing.
Her fear rushed back and then slightly abated with the thought that it could have been a hungry squirrel. 'Or maybe a deer came by.'
'Though I'm sure I would have heard if an animal came by, especially if it was a deer…' Sora shook her head to rid her fear.
"It was just a squirrel or something. They're pretty fast critters you know. Or maybe it was a raccoon. Yeah, a raccoon! They even look like bandits, with their black markings around the eyes. Just like a mask! Crafty, sneaky little guys!"
As she rambled on, she picked up the rest of the apples in a rush, completely missing the amused eyes in a nearby tree.
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It was nearing nightfall when Sora felt it again.
She was in the middle of setting up camp; the wood piled and ready for lighting. She pulled out her wand to start the fire when her instincts made her straighten her spine.
When she cleaned the apples earlier, she felt like she was being monitored in the same manner a wolf considers a fox.
'It wasn't exactly a "predator lurking after prey" feeling, but like the wolf was…unsure of the fox's presence.'
While the feeling now wasn't the sharp prickling sensation from earlier, it was still unsettling to think that something was here again.
'Though now, the gaze feels more watchful, considering, and…curious.'
To be truthful, she had felt there was something watching her all day, especially after the apples incident, but the sensation was barely there. Though, with her wand out, the gaze seemed more focused and intense.
Her wand hand shook slightly, internally debating what to do.
'Whoever or whatever it is hasn't attacked me yet, so it couldn't be harmful…but why would its gaze sharpen when my wand is out? Does it want it? Or has it simply not seen a fairy aide before?'
As far as she knew, forest fairies don't carry wands.
Wands focused magic into a narrow conduit without having to worry about accidentally releasing too much. The wands are not necessary to do magic. It just made it easier for the fairy aides to work with magic. Hence, some consider fairy aides to be one of the lower fairies because they do not learn how to fully manipulate their magic sans wand.
'If it hasn't seen a fairy aide before, that would explain why its gaze carries some curiosity.'
With that explanation, coupled with the fact that she hasn't sensed any malice or evil foreboding feelings from it, she came to a decision with a decisive nod.
Turning her head in the direction of the gaze, she called out to it.
"Hello! My name's Sora! Would you like to join me over here?"
The sky darkened some more. Sora quickly waved her wand over the wood and a fire began to grow. She felt the gaze focus when she did magic, but she had prepared herself for it.
It wasn't as discomforting this time.
She put her wand away before turning back to the mysterious watcher.
"There's a nice, warm fire over here. It can get pretty cold at night, so you're welcome to sit by it!"
Silence.
She stared up at the trees for a while, trying to catch a glimpse of clothes, hair, fur, or something. Realizing that maybe it was shy, she decided to give it some time to come out and went about setting her sleeping mat down. With that done she grabbed a towel and some scented soap, intent on washing a bit.
Before leaving the small campsite, she left an apple out for the being in the trees. 'Maybe this will entice it to come out.'
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Sora came back into camp slowly, not wanting to frighten the being that may be sitting by the fire.
She scanned the area, seeing no one in sight.
Her shoulders slumped and she couldn't help the pout that appeared on her face.
"Troll's feet! Maybe I came too soon…"
She continued muttering to herself as she put away her bathing materials. Before she left her bag, she checked to see that her wand wasn't missing just in case the being came only for her wand. Feeling its presence, she left her bag back by her mat and walked closer to the makeshift pit.
Upon reaching the fire she settled down on a fallen log. Hunger hit her stomach. With a sigh, she turned to grab the apple she placed out on the log.
"Wha—It's gone!"
Shock quickly switched to glee. She immediately perked up, a smile appearing on her face. 'It came out!'
Her eyes focused on the missing apple while her nose brought the attention of a something that was not burning wood. It smelled delicious, making her stomach growl with approval. She sniffed some more.
'It smells like…fish.'
Her gaze went to her left, finding three fish skewered by the fire. Though small in size, Sora felt like she was just given a king's meal.
She giggled out of pure happiness, her eyes shining with gratitude.
With all the chaos and stress of Layla's disappearance and now the weight of the curse, Sora felt like she could breathe a little better. Warmth spread from within as the small act of kindness touched her heart and revitalized it.
Her smile, if possible, grew wider.
Unable to stay seated, she shot straight up from her seat on the log and turned in the direction of the gaze. Waving her hand like a fool, she shouted with happy laughter highlighting her voice.
"Thank you very much!"
She plopped right back down, rotating the fish before one side got too crispy. Sora hummed a little tune with her grin still in place. The atmosphere was lighter as the gaze softened its intensity.
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The figure in the trees watched the girl happily munch on her fish for a bit.
He shook his head with the faintest upturn of his lips.
'It will be hard to stay suspicious of her after this incident.'
While he had no personal qualms with her he was initially very wary of her. When he first saw her do magic, he tensed.
He knew that she was not the witch woman he was looking for, but that didn't mean that this girl wasn't an enemy of his. She could be an ally of the witch, one could never be certain of such things. Upon seeing her wand he guessed that she was either a fairy of some sort or a magic user like a sorcerer-sorcerers were known to use wands from time to time. He saw no wings, but he had seen some forest fairies make them disappear.
He had seen that her magic was a light color, not a tainted dark color like the witch's, and it carried the warm sensation of the sun's ray and not discomforting coldness like the witch's.
When she turned around, he took advantage of her distraction to examine the apples she cast a spell on.
He could not see any negative marks on the apples. He only saw that they looked more colorful and still carried a little warmth from the spell. Venturing a bite, he found that it tasted sweeter than it should be.
'Definitely not the workings of a malevolent being.'
Though, looks could be deceiving. 'It could be part of an act, one that she plays out even all alone in the woods.'
Her calling out to him was a surprise, as was the fact that she told him her name.
He deemed her actions ridiculous, for names carry power. Off the top of his head, he could think of a few spells that required the victim's name. Though careless, her actions also made him relax around her a bit.
The fact that she gave it out so readily shows that she is placing trust in him, a blind trust that he found incredibly naïve and yet…admirable.
It was flattering, really, for she believed him to be good; and humbling, for how could she trust him so soon?
He let his thoughts sink into him and the feelings that they brought. A few moments more and he breathed out, clearing his mind.
'These thoughts are not for now.'
Finding a sturdy set of branches he settled down, making sure he was secure enough that he wouldn't fall off in the middle of the night. He closed his eyes, seeing her huge smile in his mind's eye.
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End of chapter.