"Ahh! Marvelous no! You can't just chuck them into the pot just like that!" Doc groaned in frustration whilst the latter rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"There's literally nothing wrong with what I am doing right now Doc!"
"Everything that you're doing right now is wrong! You're going to mess up the stew!"
"I am not!"
"I can literally smell the burnt smell from here!" Doc screamed as he tries to get up and work on their dinner himself but he was stopped by Ahim's hands that pushed his shoulders back.
"I told you. You're not allowed to move Don-san." Doc was about to retaliate but just the force in Ahim's eyes were enough for him to give up.
"Marvelous is going to destroy our dinner." he sighed.
At that moment Luka walked over to the steaming pot that Marvelous was hovering about. Without a word, she snatched the ladle from the man and took a sip.
It wasn't long before she spit everything out.
"What the- Marvelous! This thing is disgusting. Get your hands off our meal!" Luka shrieked as the male shrink away. Afraid that he'll get hit with ladle in her hands.
"Doc! Fix this! Or we'll starve for the rest of the night! Why did you even let Marvelous of all people to take over cooking duty? We all know he's glutton that have zero idea on how to even cook!"
"I never assign him anything. He took it upon himself to do it! Saying that he's starving and since nobody's doing it, he's going to do it himself!" Doc whined in response whilst trying to brush off the glare that Luka was directing at him. Instead, he choose to look at the only sensible person in the perimeter – Ahim. His eyes practically begging for the woman to help him out.
Noticing the stress signal that was thrown in her direction, she smiled knowingly as she raised her head up to look for Gai. The second that she does and they made eye contact with each other, she motioned towards the disaster of a 'stew'.
Noting what his princess was implying, the knight walked towards the direction on the pot. Without a word, he asked for the ladle from the still nagging Luka and without a second to waste, sipped onto the concoction. The obvious wince flashed in his face says it all.
"Can you save it?" Ahim asked. Gai was looking at the stew sceptically for a few moments before he answered, "It won't be impossible but I need a lot of fresh herbs to even make this edible."
"You're over exaggerating! It's not that bad!" Marvelous screamed in retort which made him receive a whack in the head by none other than Luka.
"What do you need?"
"Some rosemary, Chaga, Reishi, and if possible some edible mushrooms… on second thought… it'd be better if I go and get them myself."
"Nope, nope. You're needed here to fix and make sure this-" Luka motioned to the pot "won't get any worse."
"It's fine. I'll go and get the herbs instead, Gai." Ahim quipped. Knowing full well that she is the only one aside from Doc that actually have an inkling of idea to even look for the herbs and mushrooms that you know… won't kill them in the process. Luka, Marvelous and Doc just nodded but Gai was not going to allow his princess to go off on her own.
"You can't just go alone! I'll go with you." Ahim rolled her eyes in response. This knight of hers is being overprotective again. But even before she could respond, another voice quipped, "I'll go with her."
All 5 pair of eyes turned to the man in the blue jacket. Joe have not said a word since Ahim and Gai appeared so it was rather a surprise for everyone when he volunteered to go.
"Okay then, let's go." Ahim said with finality as she flashed a look at Gai that basically sealed the decision and he was not to argue anymore.
The two walked through the woods in complete silence as the princess was busy keeping her eyes open for the herbs. It was a dense forest and those herbs can easily be confused with the poisonous ones so she had to be fully focused.
Joe, who normally doesn't say a lot was rather comfortable with the silence. There was no need for them to try and start up an awkward conversation with each other.
If he was to be completely honest, he didn't trust the party of two. They came out of nowhere. Though he was grateful to the fact that if they hadn't been there, they would have lost Doc. Still, his experience have taught him to be vigilant and cautious with people. Especially people that he has no idea who they really are.
Since their arrival, it had been an unspoken agreement that they were to not ask each other about who they really are and what business each party have in the forest. In the short amount of time that the two party had met each other, they tried their very best to not interact with one another. Doc being the only exception. Unlike him, Marvelous, and Luka, Doc was a bit more trusting to Ahim and Gai.
Probably due to the fact that the two had basically saved his life and mostly due to the fact that Doc has always been the optimistic one in their group.
Joe eyed the young woman who was still occupied with picking mushrooms. Though he doubt that she would try to harm them with poisonous mushrooms, Joe would still prefer to have Doc examine them one more time. Just in case.
No matter how he look, he still cannot wrap his head around on why such a polished and proper looking young woman that is probably a rich young lady from the way she carries herself, happens to have any business in a forest. He notices the slight stain that looks particularly new on the sleeves of Ahim's gown. Speaking of gowns… though he had to admit the pastel pink, simple on piece dress does indeed suits her… what kind of people even wears a dress and get into a place like this?
"I believe you would not simply accept it if I were to tell you that Gai and I are just a pair of brother and sister that are just on our way to the closest city would you?" asked Ahim without taking her eyes of hands off her current task.
Joe was stunned. Well, he have to admit he was not being very discreet about staring but for her to be able to read him like that just from the corner of her eyes… is rather impressive… and slightly alarming. Considering that even though they've been together as a unit for years, Luka and Doc has yet been able to read him at all and Marvelous can only do so to a very minimal degree.
"No, I wouldn't. And the same goes for the others." He saw that Ahim just nodded. "But you already knew that."
With a grunt, she finally stood up with a bountiful picks of mushrooms and a smile on her face. "It's a preposterous story if I might say so myself. But, Gai insists on it. Regardless of how many times I've told him that nobody in their right mind would ever buy it."
"And you're telling me this because…"
"Because at least now we both won't have to hide behind the false pretence that neither of us believe in, mister merchant." Ahim finished with a knowing grin. One that brought a simple smirk from the male.
Joe remembered that when Marvelous first introduced themselves to Ahim and Gai as a couple of travelling merchants, he almost face-palmed himself at the blatant cover-up. The group can never pass as merchants. They have no steads, no goods in hand, and the fact that the first reaction they had when they first met was to draw their weapons – a merchant would probably just shiver on their feet. "Fair enough, miss Ahim."
"I'm glad we finally can be slightly civil to one another now, mister Joe. Now, I believe we have enough." Joe nodded and without a word, he moved closer to Ahim's side. Motioning for her to transfer some of her load onto him.
With a grateful smile, she did.
Whilst she was doing so, Joe can't help but catch the faint glint from her hair that was tied into a ponytail with a simple pink ribbon. Because he was taller than her, from his vantage point he was able to make clear of the silver locket that was wrapped under the ribbon. He also caught the emblem that was carved onto it. Slowly, the realisation sets in.
"Alright, let's go." yet he said nothing as he trailed after the woman back to their camp site.
Maybe Gai was a miracle worker. That was the single thought that was shared between Luka and Doc. The concoction that they have deemed unsalvageable thanks to Marvelous's antics was not edible. And it was delicious even. The stew was cleared off within seconds and Marvelous who is always easily won over with food had begun to be slightly friendlier towards the male.
Everything was rather tranquil and calm as everyone was scattered around the place. Ahim was next to Doc as she administer another new dose of antidote. Joe placed himself onto one of the branches of the tree that Doc and Ahim were under.
Luka was sitting next to Marvelous, resting her head comfortably on his right shoulder as the male was poking at the fire. Tossing new firewood as he sees the fire was dying out. Gai on the other hand was sitting opposite to the pair. Saying nothing as his eyes were glued to Ahim.
It wasn't until they all heard the loud rustling sound. Indicating there are multiple people are rushing in their direction that they immediately stood up and took a more defensive stance. It all happened a little too fast that it was almost blurry.
There were about 10 aggressors in the next second, Marvelous was cutting them down with his sword, his back against Luka who was finishing the attackers with her whip. Gai too was too busy parrying the attacks that were directing at him. Cursing the fact that he was trapped that he is unable to get to Ahim's side. But from the corner of his eyes, he saw that Joe who was wielding his double swords was efficiently parrying and slashing all of the men that was trying to get to Ahim and Doc.
The chaos ensued for a whole hour before everything died down as the group defeated all of the attackers. All of them survived the whole ordeal with only some minor scratches. Luka was cussing at the fact that there was a huge slit at her favourite jacket while Ahim went around to check on each and every single one of them with a bandage in her hands.
"Ah! Mou! What's the big deal with these idiots? They're dressed like bandits but their weapons are way too well-made! And their form shows that they're well-trained! No bandits have those type of perfect form while swinging a sword!"
"Maybe you two can enlighten us?" Marvelous quipped.
"What are you-" Gai was about to retaliate but the man in the red coat cut him off.
"Well, would you please clarify on why some of the elite soldiers of Shion who happens to be dressed as bandits… are out to get you Princess?"
Luka, Doc and Gai's jaw was about hit the ground at how casual Marvelous was using the title to refer to Ahim. Joe didn't look any different since he pieced the puzzle a whole lot earlier but Ahim who was trying to project her image of calm just looked at Marvelous stoically.
But Joe saw the flicker of horror and surprise that flashed in her eyes for a few seconds before she masked it away.
A/N: hello, I'm back with another short update! do leave some comments!Love Nana