Chapter 9: The Smell

Leah, Gin and Mary set off to return the barrel that Leah found in the woods. At first, Mary suggested that it would probably be best if they consult the grown ups. After all they might know why there's a barrel of Tonic Nectar just casually lying around in the woods… but after Leah begged and sobbed to not tell the grown ups, Mary's heart cracked after seeing the sorry sight of the usually outgoing and cheerful Leah and agreed to carry out their initial plan to return the barrel.

Leah immediately became enthusiastic again and returned to her usual self which greatly dumbfounded Mary. Leah knew Mary would definitely tell his father later she went into the forest again. She won't be able to stop it but she will definitely do anything to stall it. Mary could guess what's going on in the little wild girl's mind and just shook her head before looking at Gin for his opinion. Gin just shrugged his shoulders. 

The group of three then went into the forest. Mary held Leah's hand while Gin gripped his sword. At first they were anxious, especially Mary. This was her first time stepping into the forest again in years. Her father had always been overprotective of her, way before they came to the village. That's why she never went out of the village. Gin was the same as Mary but he recovered fast before he put one hand over his sword. He would occasionally train outside the village with his father in the way of the sword but this was his first time ever venturing into the forest without any adult supervision. His eyes became sharp as he surveyed the surroundings and a calmness that shouldn't be present in any child exuded from him. Leah on the other hand was relaxed and felt at home the most, she was smiling from ear to ear during their travel as she hugged the barrel with one hand, carrying it easily. The group managed to avoid dangerous areas such as the hunting grounds of some animals and some nests or dens thanks to Leah. She really knows her way around the forest, in fact she had already memorized every twist and turns of the forest. Only the boundary of course since even she can't control and fight her natural instinct that's telling her it's too dangerous once she gets too far from the village. Normally she would explore the woods with her twin brother Leo. They both love to explore the outside world but their most favorite activity was hunting small animals. The hunt gave them a never ending feeling of exhilaration especially if the prey was hard to catch. 

During their trip, Leah happily informed the two about the things she found and experienced in the forest. She excitedly shared it not thinking about the consequences of her random blabbering. Like the time a wild wolf-boar chased her and her brother, or the time she almost fell down the cliff. All the things that they've hunted and how they tasted like. She kept on sharing until she noticed the hand that was holding her kept getting tighter and stronger. And that's when she realized how she made a grave mistake. She instantly shut her mouth before sweating profusely as she slowly looked up. 

And there she saw it, Mary's typical sweet and 'kind' smile. Leah's hair stood on ends after seeing that.

-----

 

Back at the tree hole.

"Oh no what are we gonna do?" Asked Noah anxiously as he trembled. 

"..." Luna gave no response as she also doesn't know what to do. 

 

...

 

A few minutes after Leah and the others went off to return the barrel.

"It's not fair I want to go too" complained Little Lu as he gobbled up some star berries. 

"We should wait for everyone before eating" Noah said as he sat there quietly.

"It's fine Big Brother Noah. We can just leave some for them." Little Lu said as he gave Noah a green circle shaped fruit. He placed it on top of Noah's hand.

"I-I guess that makes sense" Noah replied.

'Well it does technically belong to Lu so I guess it's fine if we eat it. He said so himself.' Noah thought as every hesitation from him vanished and he bit the fruit.

Seeing this, Little Lu smiled and diverted his attention to Luna. 

"Luna should also eat a lot so you can grow big. Here, eat this and this, also this, right we also have this, take this one as well." Lu shoved different kinds of food in Luna's small hands. The food ranged from fruits to pastries which easily overwhelmed the tiny Luna and she struggled to say "H-heavy…" before falling down.

"Ah! I'm sorry. Are you hurt?" Little Lu quickly helped Luna up. Luna shook her head while Lu smiled in relief. Old Beth would definitely scold him if she found out he hurt Luna.

After a while Luna was also eating. She was reserved unlike Little Lu. After noticing that everyone was preoccupied by the food Little Lu slowly crawled away. He wanted to follow Leah and the others but his shirt was grabbed.

"Lulu….stay" said by the timid Luna as she held onto his shirt. 

"Big Sis Mary will be angry at you if you follow them Lu" Said Noah. 

"B-but, I-I need to pee!" Said by Little Lu as he stood up. He was already by the exit when Noah spoke. "Lying is bad Lu. Big Sis said to stay, so we should stay." 

"I'm not lying. I really need to pee" said Little Lu as he slightly jumped up and down. It seems like he really can't hold it anymore.

".... Luna, go with Lu. Don't let him escape." Said Noah after some contemplation. Ideally he should be the one to keep watch on Little Lu but he can't see and he's also not a fast runner. He won't be able to catch up but Luna can. Elves are known for being agile and fast. They are very athletic. Of the group of children, Luna was the fastest. Even faster than Leah and Leo but in terms of strength Leah and Leo are definitely above Luna. 

"Eh? Luna is busy eating. I can go by myself. I can't hold it anymore!" Little Lu was about to go when suddenly...

"..." Luna obediently followed and stood beside Little Lu while munching on a fruit. 

Little couldn't think of any more excuses because his bladder was really about to explode. He just let Luna follow him. He climbed down the hole using a vine and immediately ran towards the nearest bush. 

Luna quickly followed, she bit the fruit with her teeth to keep it from falling down as she used her free hands to grab the nearest vine. Unlike Little Lu who climbed down using the vine, Luna used the vine like a pole to slide down and caught up with Little Lu. 

Little Lu quickly pulled down his pants almost showing his plump butt to Luna who was behind him. Luckily, Luna turned away immediately. She was slightly blushing as she continued to eat the fruit.

"Whew! I'm done. Come on Luna let's go back." Little Lu said as he felt relieved. He then ran back to the tree while Luna ran beside him still eating the fruit.

While he was running he dropped something from his pocket. It was circular and gold. It was the gold coin that Auntie Jane gave him earlier. "Ah!" When he was at the foot of the tree he gestured for Luna to go first. "I dropped the coin Auntie Jane gave me. You can go up first Luna. I'll catch up." said Little Lu as he ran back to get the gold coin. Luna nodded her head. She climbed the vine halfway and looked at Little Lu. She saw him picking up the gold coin and waving it at her. Her eyes also sparkled after seeing the shiny coin. She watched Little Lu reach the bottom of the tree and saw him also climbing the vine. Luna then proceeded to climb until she was in the hole. Hearing someone climb back up, Noah asked "Luna is that you?" 

"Un" Luna answered quietly but Noah was still able to hear it. "Where's Little Lu?" He followed.

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"...climbing" said Luna quietly again.

"..." 

"..."

The two waited quietly but no one came up. Luna then decided to check, she peeked down from the hole and saw that no one was there.

"Lulu...gone" she uttered softly but Noah heard it.

"Wha- Where is he?" Asked Noah, surprised at the unexpected turn of events. Actually he already expected this to happen but that's why she tasked Luna to guard Little Lu. She wasn't called the fastest for nothing. Even without Noah telling her, Luna had already jumped down from the tree. She grabbed the nearest vine and surveyed the surrounding simultaneously. She looked for clues where Little Lu might have gone. She knew Little Lu would follow Mary and the others but she didn't see which direction they went so she didn't know where to start. While in mid air, she spotted something on the corner of her bright green eyes, it sparkled for a moment but her eyes caught it. She landed on the tree's side bark while holding onto the vine and then proceeded to run horizontally towards the sparkling objects direction. She then sprang forth and caught a smaller vine, she used the momentum she created by jumping forward to swing towards the sparkling object's direction but since the vine was short her only option now was to let go of the vine. And so she did, after letting go of the vine the propulsion from the swing catapulted her in the air. She then somersaulted and rolled as she landed exactly beside the shiny object she spotted. She picked it up and sure enough, it was Little Lu's gold coin. Luna looked towards the direction it was left and then proceeded to run at full speed.

At the opposite side of the direction that Luna ran to. A small bush could be seen swaying and if you look closely you'd be able to see some bright amber eyes. They were watching Luna as she ran further and further away. After Luna disappeared from sight the bush heavily vibrated and a head full of red hair paired with clear ambers eyes popped out. 

"Hehehe. It worked!" Little Lu laughed and said mischievously.

 

...

 

Back to the present.

 

Luna had already arrived back at the hole a moment ago after not finding Little Lu. She did her best but she still couldn't find him. She could keep looking but she was still after all just a child. If she were to advance more, then she might lose sight of the village. She became scared at the thought of being lost and that made her more concerned about Little Lu. 'What if he's lost?' She thought. So she went back to ask for help from Noah. He might not look like it but Noah's very smart. Surely he would know what to do. 

*sigh Noah sighed and thought 'Looks like we have to to really tell the grown ups now. Mary and the others should be fine. Leah's with them after all.But Lu...Lu's alone…also what is this heavy feeling in my chest?'

"Luna" Noah called out. "Help me look for Aunt-

Before he could finish his sentence, his head suddenly ached! It ached so bad that it felt like tiny needles were being embedded in his mind. "AHHH!" He screamed in pain as he knelt down and he clutched his head! 

"AHHHH!" Another scream followed as he completely fell down and convulsed non-stop. "IT HURTS!" He exclaimed loudly! "MAKE IT STOP! P-LEASE! IT H-HUR-TS!" 

Luna was caught off guard! She didn't know what to do. 

"...N-Noah!" Luna said, her eyes were teary as she pulled on Noah's clothes. She could see that he was feeling a lot of pain at the moment. But she didn't know what to do. She was after all just a child that's less than 5 years old.

After feeling that this might go on for much longer, Luna immediately ran and jumped down the tree, she almost didn't manage to grab the vine. But she did, and she slid down fast but her landing wasn't smooth as she fell down on her bottom. She didn't mind the pain and proceeded to run towards the village at full speed. She stumbled a bit but she kept on running.

-----

"Are we there yet?" Asked Gin in a complaining tone as he wiped the sweat on his forehead. They've been walking for about an hour now. At first they thought they were lost but it turns out, Leah just went too deep in the forest that's why their destination was too far. They already considered going back but thinking of how far they had already walked 'Might as well continue' they thought.

Mary kept on scolding Leah while they walked, telling her how dangerous it was to go here alone. She also told Leah to stop being so reckless because something might happen to her here and nobody would be around to help her.

Leah just kept her head low. Now that she was going back to where she found the barrel she now realized that she really did go too far.

"Do you go this far everytime you sneak out?" Asked Mary. "N-No of course not! Leo and I only played at the boundary we never went past that" Leah defended but Marry just stared at her. "Really? Then why are we already past the boundary?"

"..."

"Tell me, how did you find that barrel?" Asked Mary after hearing no more excuses from Leah.

"Y-You see, this is how it happened" Leah told Mary and Gin quietly listened to her story. 

"At first I was only going to fetch some water." Leah began. This has been her and her brother's duty whenever Little Lu would bring food to the tree hole. But since her brother was recovering she had to do it alone. "I went to the village well to fetch water as usual." By the way the well was inscripted with a formation that could filter and purify water. "So there I was fetching some water when suddenly my nose caught a whiff of something, something sweet." Remember it was the season between fall and winter so the breeze was quite strong. "The smell was faint but I smelled it nonetheless. I was too familiar with that smell to ignore it so I tracked it down. And as I was getting closer and closer to the source the smell became stronger, excitement got the best of me and I just went straight to it at full speed. It took me awhile but I managed to find it and it felt like I found a priceless treasure. I was so happy that I immediately brought it back without checking the surroundings."

How she managed to return without getting lost was easy, she just retraced her steps. She and her brother had this habit of leaving scratch marks on trees. They use it to find their way back and also to make a mind map of the area they have been through. They were born adventurers so even though Leah was dazed she still left scratch mark unconsciously.

Mary and Gin just wordless stared at the little wild girl.

"Tehee!" 

Veins popped on Mary's forehead. To think this little girl was more reckless than she thought. She really had to keep a close eye on her.

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