"Micheala?!"

"M-Miss Micheala?"

The two girls gasped, the last thing they would ever expect to be played out infront of them. But Michaela didn't respond to either of them, and instead pushed Clarith backwards and away from Chelsea, protectively wrapping her arms around the girl and facing her attacker. Clarith stared awestruck at her back, confused yet amazed by her bravery. But even she could she the way the girl was shaking in fear. Chelsea's face reddened and morphed back into a glare that might've been even more frightening than the one she wore previously.

"Why... You-!" She spat, and her arms tensed as if she were going to try and attack again. Michela yelped and grabbed Clarith's hand as she began to run. They were headed towards the Mienium forest, reckon it was far from where Held lay sleeping up on the hill. Clarith could hear Chelsea's enraged yelling behind them as they traveled farther and farther away from the village, and she closed her eyes to try and force them away. It didn't work, of course, but as the two traveled deeper into the forest it began to fade. Finally, when there was silence, Micheala had stopped running. They stopped in a small clearing of trees. Dry, flattened grass that looked almost yellow with flowers scattered through it and some leaves that had begun to face from the trees were the only things there besides them. Micheala let go of Clarith's hand and breathed a sigh of relief, Both from being away from the village, and because she hadn't heard silence in such a very long time. It was always silent in the forest, and suddenly going to such a busy and animated town so quickly made her miss the pleasant forest dearly. Clarith then suddenly dropped to her knees behind her, snapping the Elphe out of the daydream and making her turn around to see what's wrong.

"Clarith?" She asked, reaching out to try and help her up. Clarith was crouched over, her face in her hands as she knelt in the dirt, ruining the gray and black dress she was wearing. Her shoulders we're shaking a bit, muffled sobbing noises coming from her direction. Michaela's eyes widened.

"You're... Crying?" She asked, then knelt down infront of the girl. Clarith didn't respond to the question. So she put a hand on her shoulder and smiled gently, but a worried express still hung on her face."Hey hey, it's ok now." She said, trying to comfort her. "You're away from there right now, you're safe ok?" Clarith tensed even more from her words. Her crying seemed to have stopped, but when Micheala tried to pry her hands away from her shielded face the girl pushed her away and turned her head to the side. Her comforting didn't seem to work, then. Micheala opened her mouth to try and say something again, but stopped when Clarith began to speak.

"Why..?" Came her shaking voice, it no longer muffled by her hands which had now been wrapped around her waist. Her head was down facing towards the ground, refusing to look Micheala in the eye. "Why are..." She started again. "Why are you so nice to me...?" Her voice broke again on the last word, and she could see tears starting to fill up her bloodshot eyes again. She finally looked Micheala in the eyes after saying this, and her heart sank when she saw the almost broken and sorrowful look on her face. "Aren't you just pitying me because I'm so inferior to you?" Her voice cracked as she asked this, but her gaze never faltered. Micheala was shocked for a moment, but then she smiled gently at her as she realized those ideas were probably put into her head by someone else. Clarith looked hurt, but she just shook her head slowly and kept smiling at her.

"No no, not at all." She said with a soothing voice, pulling her into a hug. "I would never do something that cruel."

The girl tried to push herself away from the embrace however, refusing to accept that as reality when it was so far from anything that could ever be possible. She lightly pounded a fist on the girl's shoulder and shook her head.

"But why did you save me? Why do you like me, why don't you hate me?!" Clarith cried. Micheala pulled her close to her once again and put a hand on her head, and the girl didn't protest.

"Because you're the most wonderful person I've ever met in my entire life," She said, and Clarith cried in her arms. But except this time, she could see her smiling. She couldn't help but smile too as she tightened her grip on the girl and it grew even larger when the Netsuma began to hug her back.

Yes, she thought, you're the most wonderful person in the world. Her eyes narrowed and she gave a determined look out into the forest's clearing. I swear. She began. Even if everyone mocks and hurts you, I will protect you. So always smile.

It was nighttime now. Clarith had tossed and turned in her bed for a few hours unable to get to sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about Micheala, about what she had said. Eventually she wandered outside of her little cottage and into the woods again, finding a patch of grass on a ledge just outside of it overlooking all of Yatski village from far above. She sat down, ignoring the dew from the bright green grass that was soaking through and staining her dress, and let her feet dangle over the side. A breeze began to flow through her hair, so Clarith closed her eyes and let it surround her for a while. I'm wonderful. She thought. I'm wonderful! Micheala thinks I'm wonderful. She grinned. She's the wonderful one. Suddenly she could hear leaves crunching behind her, and she turned around to see the very person she was thinking about walking up to her, rubbing her eyes and letting out a long yawn.

"Really..." Micheala said sleepily. "If you're going to sneak out in the middle of the night you should at least tell me before you do so."

"I'm sorry, Miss Micheala" Clarith replied. Micheala shook her head and bounded over to her suddenly full of energy, plopping down next to her on the ledge with her yellow nightdress fanning out in every direction.

"Quit it already with this 'Miss' stuff, alright? We're friends so you don't have to be so proper." She said while grinning wildly at Clarith, who at the moment was in a stunned silence for a few seconds.

Friends? "We're...?" She gasped. This isn't possible, it isn't. But then her face slowly morphed into a grin and she laughed softly at the ground, bringing her arms up to wipe the tears beginning to swell up from her eyes. "Yes." Clarith breathed, her voice cracking slightly. "You're right. You're my friend," Micheala smiled too and scooted closer to her, resting her head on Clarith's shoulder. Thank you. The Netsuma thought, closing her eyes and wishing for this scene to play on forever. Thank you so much.

The two stayed like that for a while, letting the cool breeze, crickets, and each other's warmth engulf them for what they wished was an eternity. But then they could hear a new noise from the village beneath them. What sounded like shouting woke them up from their trance and they both opened their eyes and sat up alertly to the commotion. They could see a person running in the direction of their cottage and shouting, and the more they got closer the better the two recognized his voice and face.

"Isn't that...?" Started Micheala, and Clarith finished her off.

"Ayn." They both stood up. Ayn had gotten to the tiny house and was pounding on the door, shouting something they couldn't hear whilst taking paranoid glances behind him. Micheala worriedly turned to Clarith with a panicked expression and grabbed onto her sleeve.

"Clarith? What's happening? What do we do?" She asked, and the girl grabbed her hand and began running back towards the house.

"I don't know."

The trees flew past them as they ran, both of them stumbling over the uneven forest floor and almost tripping a few times before they finally got back to the cottage. Ayn was still pounding on the wooden door frantically when they got there and Micheala put a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down, which made him jump and even almost hit her in his panicked state.

"Micheala, Clarith!" He yelped, looking back and forth at the two and grabbing both their arms to pull them closer. "Chelsea's just been killed." Both of them gasped and Micheala immediately put her hands over her mouth, her eyes beginning to swell. But Ayn brushed off their reactions and looked directly at Clarith with a serious look. "They're blaming you. There isn't much time before they come to kill you. We need to leave. Now."