Sophia Codache
The blurry sight of the wooden, brownish ceiling was the first thing I saw when I woke up. There were only minimal lights around this small isolated room, which I have no idea where I can locate this place. I yawned while trying to sit. My eyes were half-opened, and my back was too heavy that it wanted to rest more.
I scratched my head and yawned once again. "Ugh, where am I?" I whispered to myself while looking at my surroundings.
I suddenly felt the same feeling I had when I witnessed the deaths of our associates from the 113th expedition we had. By this, the event itself brought me more sick and headaches. I felt my breath a bit hot, like steam coming from my mouth. My head seemed to crack anytime.
"Please... take care of my daughter...." The voice of Flora's father kept bothering my mind. Every time I came to flash that incident, his father's presence always appears. His voice sounded real; it makes me think that he was brought back to life and whispered to my ears.
"Take care of her..."
I covered my ears and condensed myself at the edge of the wall. I closed my eyes as I tried to clear that memory. "Stop!" Damn, these drive me insane.
"Sophia?" Luckily, someone knocked on the door. It was Flora's voice. The interruption stopped the freaking strike of that awful memory I had.
I leaned my back on the wall, relaxed my shoulders, and blew air. "I am awake," I responded in a manner that I felt stable and in control. As soon as the door opened, Flora immediately hopped over the bed. She did not even bother to close the door!
"How are you feeling right now?~" She asked. Her position was comparable to a crawling baby. She had this wide smile on her face, and an enthusiastic attitude of hers surprised me. I mean, she lost her father, wasn't she?
I blinked my eyes about a few times while staring at her. "I-I am good..."
She probably noticed my reaction. Her eyes shrunk, and her smile faded while making herself comfortable as she moved beside me. She placed her elbows beside her knees, squishing her legs towards the stomach. At this point, Flora's liveliness turned serious. I guess she knew the reason for my approach to her.
"I have no choice but to smile." She said. Then, she buried her head between her knees. I can feel the sad emotion she had right now.
I moved closer to her and patted the back of her head. "It's okay, Flora. Time will come, the pain will fade. I am sure your father loves you so much."
"Y-yeah... Even if we do not have enough time with each other." She quickly reacted. Her words struck me for a reason that I cannot resist. It gave me an understanding of family, but I chose not to think about it. I refused my sight from her and looked to the wooden windowpane instead. She also raised her head just enough to visualize the light that passes through it.
When the dim surrounding went bright, I straightened my back and breathed deeply. "It's finally morning. The sun has risen." I commented.
Flora straightened her legs and raised her head while looking at me. "I am hungry.~" She surprisingly said. I laughed in silence when she spoke up those words while pouting at the end. Plus, even though she did that, she still maintained that tearful expression of hers.
I exhaled out loud, blowing air from my mouth. "Let's go! I heard the expedition resumes today."
When Flora saw me smiling at her a little, she smiled back. I can't explain this sense of witnessing her smile even though I already saw her smiling many times. I also cannot understand this feeling of relief when I saw her regaining her cheerfulness once again.
Flora got off the bed and stood beside me. We positioned ourselves a distance nearer to the window to see more of the scenery. Then now, we both were looking at the sunrise together.
-
Our squad got off from our horses by the time we found a spot to rest. As Larch being our squad leader, he headed first to the area to check for possible threats. He walked around the trees, bushes, and any growing plants to see if they were from the tree of Snaedis or not. Although its location is still unknown, the people here in Pag-asa believe that those tree monsters connect from that Snaedis tree roots.
Later on, Larch came back. He faced the squad with her agreeable eyes and calm expression. "Everyone," He started, looking at each of us. "It's safe."
The whole squad jumped and yelled in happiness.
"Yes! We can finally rest peacefully!" A man named Jarius Asnee shouted, running towards her closest friend, Eva Patriarch.
Eva did the same thing towards him, shouting, "Yoohoo!" while raising both of her arms in the air. Then, both of them embraced each other, moving around like they were dancing.
Other than them, which the least persons I knew, I heard more expressions from my squadmates.
"Alright! Time for fruit hunting. I need vitamins."
"Bruh, I'm tired. Come on, let us rest immediately."
"Ok."
They were celebrating and filled with excitement. And it seemed that all the worries they have had taken away. Even one of our male comrades, Vince Ski, slightly punched Nover's left shoulder. His eyes were closed, but there was no trace of sadness at all.
"Come with us! Ethan and I are going for fruit hunting!" Vince said, expressing excitement at the end and a gesture to convince Nover. But, Nover seemed uninterested.
Anyway, hunting isn't part of our tasks. Ah, nevermind.
"Hey!" Nover complained while scratching the area where Vince punched him. He looked pissed, but I believe he can handle it anyway. "Clumsy, freak." He added, but he should be thankful that only me who heard that.
But, even though Nover acted that way, Vince was determined to convince him. Vince kept disturbing Nover's attention by continuously shaking his shoulders. It ended Nover with no choice but to agree.
"So? You'll join us?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just take off that hand of yours!"
In between this crowd, Flora hugged me from the back that almost made me lose my balance. "Sophia!~"
Startled by what she did, I pulled her arms away from my neck. "Er, Flora, you're heavy." I teased her even though she was not, but of course, I made sure that I sounded serious, giving the text more depth. However, it was ineffective. She hugged me back, but at this time, she targeted my shoulders. Yes, she embraced me from the back.
"I want to go fruit hunting! I want to join Ethan!~"
"Who's stopping you from doing that?"
She suddenly stopped moving, and her head leaned closer to mine to check my reaction. "You aren't going with us?~"
"You-" I wanted to tell her that she's annoying, but I might hurt her intentions. I bit my lips and swallowed my words. "Fine."
"Yay!~" She hopped fast in front of me while showing a glad face.
Heh! Why do they want to go somewhere when the purpose we dropped by is to rest?!
-
Flora and I were looking for a tree with the richest fruit-bearing while Ethan, Nover, and Vince were already eating theirs. When everyone was busy making themselves comfortable with nature, especially with Jarius and Eva, who played around the garden of flowers, Larch suddenly caught my attention. He was walking towards a tree, quite wide in diameter.
Hm, what was he thinking?
"Welp, Larch likes Narra trees." Sophia intervened between my thoughts while also looking at Larch. I was a little bit surprised since I thought she was there raising her heads, looking for those towering fruit trees. She also picked some random lilac flowers to smell their fragrance.
I faced her and said, "No question. Narra tree is one of the wonderful trees created in the world."
But, Flora's lips curved down a bit after hearing my words to her. It brought me bewildered and concerned about the words I used. "...It is also dreadful..." She whispered to herself like she accidentally said it, but unfortunately for her, I heard it. I looked back to Larch, who was now touching the Narra trees' trunk. I cannot see his face, so I did not know or speculate about his possible reasons.
I felt that there was something that I do not understand about it. And so, I leaned forward to Flora and asked.
"Is there something that I need to know?"
She quickly shook her head. "N-No! I-It's not that a big deal. Hehe.~"
"Your expression does not match with your words."
She froze and shut up for a couple of seconds while looking down at the grasses. After which, she began to speak again, and her voice was hesitant to spill out. "Not all Narra trees are wonderful. Some were bearing prosperity while others have no peace inside." She explained, but I still did not fully get what she was trying to imply.
I was about to ask her for clarifications, but she spoke once again. "Larch's mother was eaten by a Narra tree."