Vince Ski and Cherish Annagesini ran with their horse towards the spot where the rest of their squadmates were resting, including their squad leader Larch Laverens. When they heard a huge commotion that happened in the direction from the horizon, they immediately went back to their ways. Nover was the first one to notice the incident. So, he went a few distances ahead from the two.
"Nover, what do you think that was?" Cherish asked in the middle of accelerating their speed. Cherish is also part of them. She has round almond brown eyes, curly tips hair in a ponytail, slightly straight eyebrows, and peach lips. She appeared while also wandering around the woods.
"The sounds of the arrows, bows, chains, swords, and strings came from that direction. The splashing of woods and the direction of the wind are different. I am unsure about this, but those things I observed were exactly the same sounds I heard every time the graduated forces fought with the monster trees." Nover answered in a fast manner without glancing at them. Perhaps, he was focusing his attention along the roads full of grasses and stones. He was also thought too much about the commotion he heard as his forehead furrowed.
On one side of the conversation, Vince was still eating the citrus fruit in rounded orange using his right hand. While the other left was used to operate the movement of his horse. His eyes roamed around the food that he was eating, and it seemed that he looked uninterested about what was happening around him after all. Cherish happened to notice Vince's reaction. But rather than giving a damn to him, Cherish chose to let out the air. She looked away when her eyes locked towards the fruit that Vince was chewing on his mouth.
"Eating food while riding a horse, eh?" Cherish asked in sarcasm while looking at her right where Vince was no longer at her sight.
Suddenly, when they were getting closer to their fellow trainees' direction, a green butterfly with fascinating, huge wings, came across at the top of her horse's head right in front of her. Cherish's eyes shivered in irritation as she bit the lower portion of her mouth.
She swayed his elbows in front of her to make the butterfly disappear and puffed, "Hey! Sho!" However, the butterfly looked unbothered by what she did.
When the butterfly struck its wings twice, she got diverted. Cherish's mood changed to softness. Her eyes went smaller, and her lips curved upwards. The beauty of this butterfly made her eyes twinkled in the delight of seeing this unique creature. She does saw butterflies before, but this one has a different size, color, and patterns on its wings. And because she got distracted by the butterfly, this made Cherish unaware of where her horse brought her.
When one of the horse's legs hit a medium-sized stone, Cherish got back to his consciousness. This was the time she realized that she wasn't on her full self. It made her and the horse both fell to the ground.
"Aahhh!" She screamed, closing her eyes as the horse fell beside him. She rolled his body closed to her knees while laying down on the ground. She also held her forehead as it bleeds when it banged into a stone.
"My Cherish, what were you thinking?" Vince stopped in front of her. Cherish slowly opened his eyes, and saw Vince going down from his horse. She neglected the first two words that he said. She's used to it anyway.
Cherish did not bother to respond. Her head damn hurts!
"Hm... Were you thinking about this citrus fruit that I am eating?" Vince asked while showing Cherish the fruit that he was holding.
"Shut up! Who cares about that?!" Cherish immediately shouted at him. Vince leaned back and threw the fruit away.
"There! It's lost now!" Vince exclaimed. He believed that Cherish got distracted by him chewing something on his mouth while riding a horse.
Cherish pondered. The hell? Why would he even react that way? Cherish paused after she saw the fruit landed at the back of a tree. If only she had a chance to pick it up and give it to Ethan later.
But the most confusing thing was, why did Vince throw it away? It's his goddam favorite fruit, isn't it?! Cherish did not bother to consult since there was nothing to wonder upon. Maybe?
When Cherish was able to lift his back, Vince lent his hand to help her stand. Cherish fixed his self by wiping all the grasses away from her trainee uniform. Vince, on one side, went towards her horse and fixed the ropes around it. He then grabbed the horse towards Cherish.
"Thank you, Vince." Cherish acknowledged in a monotone voice while taking the rope from Vince's as soon as Vince gave it to her.
After which, she suddenly noticed that Nover was not around them anymore. She looked around, but couldn't find him.
Vince noticed the blood slowly going down to the side of her eye. He reached his fingers to wiped it, but Cherish moved away intentionally.
Cherish, instead, faced Vince and asked with her forehead being narrowed, "Have you seen Nover?"
Vince, who turned back and pretend that he was rubbing the head of his horse, did not give any obvious reaction that would make Cherish see that he as well, have no idea where Nover was. Of course, he doesn't want to disappoint Cherish. "He went ahead without even glancing at us." He said, but there was a trace of bitterness on his voice, and Cherish can clearly hear it.
Cherish went up again to his horse while her eyes were looking in the direction where Nover headed. "I see..." She whispered after he positioned himself in comfort. Cherish was trying to comprehend Nover's action, but she otherwise believed that it means nothing else. Vince positioned his horse closer to her as they were about to go.
"He was just being himself," Cherish added as she glanced at Vince. Then, she went ahead, leaving Vince unwanted of what she was saying.
"What was that?" It was Vince. He could not understand the reason for being in a hurry. He was even startled by how Nover reacted when hearing those noises that he doesn't think that's a big deal.
'The sounds of the arrows, bows, chains, swords, and strings' what?
-
When Cherish, Nover, and Vince arrived at the spot, Nover quickly got off from his horse and went straight to Larch Laverens. Cherish and Vince followed him after a couple of seconds.
When Nover found Larch talking with the rest of their squad members especially Sophia, he did not give any excuses to not interrupt them even if he saw smiles and laughter on their faces.
"Imagine, I wasn't able to notice that there was a tree behind me, but thanks to my big sister, she saved me from that tree monster.~" It was Flora's voice that Nover heard.
He broke the moment by appearing randomly in front of their faces. The members who were sitting down forming a circle, instantly turned their heads on him.
"Nover?" It was Sophia. Nover glanced at her, but he quickly switched at facing Larch.
"Squad leader, I heard a commotion from the west." Nover looked around him, and he saw the faces of his future comrades turning into a curiosity. He faced back to Larch and continued. At this time, Larch's smile faded, and his eyes can tell how serious he was as he listened to Nover.
"The sounds of the arrows, bows, chains, swords, and strings came from that direction. I believe that this has something to do with Anito." He continued. The rest of the members stood up and went towards him. Their eyes were full of interest and urged to know more.
Vince wandered his eyes around them to check if everyone else was present. He somehow understood the point of Nover's sudden rush to inform their squad leader. When he noticed that Eva, Jarius, and Ethan weren't around them even though he knew Ethan left them saying he was going to hunt for more fruits, he inserted the conversation.
"Where are the others? Eva, Jarius, and Ethan aren't here yet."
"Maybe Ethan is still hunting for fruits right now." Cherish chipped in.
"Wew, it took him that long?" Vince quickly argued.
Cherish shrugged her shoulders twice, and smiled at him. "Well, he's a dedicated fruit eater."
Vince doesn't know what he must feel at the very moment. Cherish did let out a sweet smile, but she was defending Ethan.
"Wait, are you saying that Ethan left you guys alone?" Now, it was Sophia who was speaking. She went beside Larch, facing the three of them. Nover at the front, and Cherish and Vince standing close to each other.
"Yes." Nover, Vince, and Cherish answered in chorus.
"Jarius and Eva aren't here too. We haven't seen them lately." Vince appended.
Sophia looked away from them as she was trying to analyze the situation. She pressed the joints on her fingers while gradually switching her position from Larch's right side to left. "If Ethan left the three of you, and you haven't seen Jarius and Eva. Then Nover said he heard a commotion from the east. Is it possible that they also got involved with-"
Nover was thinking all the time, looking down while feeling the heaviness of his thoughts until he also realized something. So he cut off Sophia's words by saying, "Wait!"
"Wh-what?"
"It is not possible. Those three were really involved. Eva was the only person I knew who is using a bow and arrow as her weapon. Jarius is probably the one using a chain and arrow, and Ethan uses cable strings and double swords." He explained.
When all of them made their minds parallel to what Nover said, they turned their heads to Larch, asking for action that they need to do.