"Can we take a break, brother? We have been walking for hours," Lune tiredly asked.
"Not here, I do not like this place," Blanc replied.
"Why? Are there beasts near us?" Celine asked, not seeing an issue with resting a few minutes before continuing.
"No. But this is near the place where I fought the lynx. Who knows what lives in these parts of the forest? So, we walk a bit further." Blanc explained.
"Was it that difficult?" Kael wondered.
Blanc replied, remembering the beast's agility, its intelligence during the fight, and how mighty it seemed in his eyes, "Yes. It was ferocious. And it played with me. The only good thing I had going for me was its greed. And that it underestimated me."
"Do you think there are others near these parts?" Celine asked, recalling the lynx pelt tucked into her bag.
Blanc shook his head. "Not just lynxes. Other beasts, too. We're deep enough in the Golden Forest that I can't say what else is out here. Especially after last night. And the normal ones we passed during the night chose to keep their distance. Braver ones might not offer us that luxury. So until we find a good place to rest, please bear with it a little longer."
"Alright…" muttered Lune, convinced by her older brother's explanation. She surely did not want to see or fight scary beasts.
She trained with the sword but never had the chance to kill something with one. Neither did she wish for that to happen in the near future.
Now, she just wanted to rest, drink water, and go home. None of these, actually achievable at that moment.
But they kept walking, deeper and deeper into the woods, passing within mere feet of the place where Blanc had fought the lynx.
He pointed out the signs of the battle. And the claw scratches on the trees, that the lynx had scratched at trunks to mark its territory.
There were no new scratches. A good sign. But even so, Blanc still heard movement far off in the distance.
He did not see anything moving behind them, but even so, his hearing was way better than his sight.
The movement was soft but heavy. Not the footfalls of rabbits or ground-dwelling birds. Something else. A deer, maybe? No… too many feet for it to be just one.
Just to be safe, once they passed the battle site, Blanc asked them to pick up the pace. He couldn't tell what was trailing them, if anything, but the sound stayed with him.
Eventually, they reached a clearing. A rare sight this deep in the forest. The footsteps he'd heard earlier did not follow them further, so Blanc deemed it safe enough for an hour's rest. Just long enough for food, water, and maybe sleep. If anyone could find it. He certainly felt like needing it.
He groaned as he sat down in the grass, placing his back comfortably on a fallen, dead tree. The pain in his shoulder was bearable, even putting his weight on it or moving it slightly around did not feel as bad as it was before, which gladdened him. Since this was the first good thing to happen in the last few days.
"Eat, drink, rest, and in an hour, we walk," Blanc instructed the twins.
"Okay," nodded Kael, as he turned to speak with his sister.
Blanc, seeing this, left them be and turned to speak with Celine, "My love, how about you?"
"A bit of water and a bit of rest will suffice for me. How about you?" Celine asked.
"I don't know. The same, I guess?" Blanc shrugged.
Celine sighed, "Do you not want to sleep for a bit? Even an hour might help you. I will keep watch in the meantime."
"I'm not sure it might be a good idea," Blanc replied.
"And I'm not sure you can go on like this for too long, so listen to your future wife and rest," Celine ordered.
He did not fight her words, nor complain. He accepted them gracefully, as he felt his shoulders slump, hearing her, "As my Lady commands,"
"Good. I will wake you up when it's time to leave." Celine offered him a smile.
But Blanc was already with his eyes shut, as only a quiet "Mhm" left his lips.
"Sleep well, love," Celine whispered, offering him a kiss on his cheek.
The hour passed quickly, without anything happening.
Kael, Lune, and Celine talked quietly among themselves as they ate and relaxed, speaking about different topics and trying to deepen their relationship that had broken a bit after the battle in which Blanc got wounded, as the twins blamed her for it.
Celine tried her hardest at all times to help or speak with them whenever they could, even if the twins kept their distance at first.
But her aid during the night and her conversations as Blanc slept made them open up a bit. To the point, Lune called her sister once more. Which rejoiced Celine to no end.
But as their conversations died out, Celine woke up Blanc, who, even though he slept uninterrupted, felt maybe even more exhausted than before.
But he paid it no mind, accepting the sleep he had gratefully since nothing bad had happened. So, after he drank some water and woke up properly, they began walking again.
The Omu Mountain was close. They could see it clearly in front of them between the leaves as it blocked the sun.
In an hour or so of walking, they will be near it.
Then the real search will begin. For all the information their father provided, it was that it was a cave on the side of the mountain and that it contained basic necessities.
As for what that was, or which side of the mountain Elion was referring to, it was nought but a mystery for Blanc. Yet, they all depended on it.
What Blanc failed to remember until then, though, was the words Elion used as company to his explanation, "But not as easy to get through as you might think," he said.
It felt easy enough until now. Yes, one could argue that last night had an unfortunate encounter, but besides that, nothing bad really happened.
So, what could make this journey of theirs difficult to achieve?
What stood before them and the mountain that Elion had to mention, but not explain to them before sending them out?
These were the questions Blanc thought about as they walked towards it. Towards the Omu Mountain.