Zain left the forest and headed to a big tree near the village. He decided to lie down, his hands on his head and looking in the sky.
He took a nap for a few moments until someone came to find him there.
"Mister."
The voice of a young girl was heard. Zain opened his eyes and realise it was the girl who was picking herbs with her mother this morning.
"Mister, I came to tell you something."
The girl said to Zain when she realised Zain was looking at her.
_____
Early in the morning on the same day.
On a village, in a small house. A woman could be seen preparing to go out. The woman was dressed in ragged long dress and a worn out slippers.
A 7-10 year old child could seen lying on a make bed on the corner. The house only has one room, it'll be more fitting to call it a hut.
The child woke up and saw her mother preparing.
"Mom, let me help you today."
"Seren, you don't have to."
"Mom,please let me help you today."
"Seren no."
"Mom please."
"Play with other kids."
"But Mom..."
"Stop Seren. Be a kid and play with other kids."
"But mom. I want to help you."
The mother realised that they're going to go back and forth with this conversation. She reluctantly gave up.
"Okay but you have to listen to me."
A smile appeared on Seren's face. The mother took her daughter and headed to the field. Since this is a small Village, everybody knows each other.
The people saw the mother walking with her daughter and asked if she's taking her out on the field. The mother greeted everyone as she passed by.
If an affair or a murder happened in the village, every villager would know include a kid that was born yesterday.
They reached the field and began picking herbs. The mother instructed her daughter on how to pick the herbs. They picked the herbs and Seren only picked the herbs that her mother pointed. The process was not fast or slow because the mother would stop midway to correct her and when her daughter understands, the process would become fast.
Seren picked up a herb that was poisonous and her mother stopped her immediately.
"Be careful with that one Seren. It's poisonous."
Seren immediately stopped and worry began to be visible on her face.
"I'm sorry Mom. I didn't know."
"Of course you didn't, you're just learning on how to harvest some herbs. That's why I'm here to teach you."
The mother told her daughter in soft and caring voice. Seren thought of something.
"Okay Mom. Why don't we look for herbs inside a forest Mom?"
"NO SEREN!! Whatever you do, don't enter the forest. Monsters live in there and they eat children."
The mother said out loud in fear but her tone came back to the caring and soft tone.
They continued to pick herbs and they didn't notice when a man was coming towards them. The man passed them and that's when the mother noticed when the man was infront of her and instinctively protected Seren as quick as possible.
"Who are you?"
The mother asked in fear and worry when he looked at her the man. She was trembling with fear and worry. Her body was tense. The fear she felt was not toward the man but toward her daughter.
A fear of a mother witness her daughters death without being able to do anything. A fear of a mother dying the same time without protecting her daughter. A fear of a mother dying without being able to see her child grow up.
What she felt was A Mother's Fears.
The mother saw a beast coming out of the forest and heading towards them.
*Regal Force*
Before it can reach the man, the beast fell to the ground and slid towards the man's feet.
'How? Why did it fell? Who attacked it? Wasn't it poison or what? Are we next? No we don't want to die.' The mother thought to herself.
She had the man taking out loud to the other guys since they were far apart. It looks like they're having miscommunication with one another but the more the man tries to explain himself, the more miscommunication happen. So he just gave up and asked them to check the beast.
Apparently the beast was not dead and Tuck came forward to check the beast. He killed the beast when he realised that it was still alive.
The mother and daughter picked up the harvested herbs and put them in a basket. The man picked up the dead beast and put it on his shoulder. The blood of the beast was dripping all over the man.
The man walked foward the group towards the village. The other men were talking about the hunt and the feast tonight. The man stopped at the entrance and turned around to say.
"I just realised. I don't know were I'm supposed to take this. So can someone lead the way."
Tuck came forward to lead the man to Noll. The mother and daughter headed to their home while staring at the man.
They arrived home and put the herbs on the table to sort them out. The mother realised something, that she never thanked the man for saving their lives.
Seren told her mother that she was going to play outside and she agreed. While the mother was sorting and cleaning the herbs, Seren went out to look for that man.
She asked around and heard that the man played with some kids at the playground after he left the butcher. People were afraid of the man because he was walking around covered in blood but the next second he was so clean like he just took a bath out of nowhere and decided to play with kids.
The man left after playing with kids and went somewhere. Seren asked around but nobody knew where the man went but they saw him headed towards the forest.
Seren thought about her mother's words and decided to go to the place where she can see the man coming out of the forest. She waited for minutes until he saw the man coming out of the forest.
She was about to go to him and realise that he was annoyed by what happened in the forest. The man went to the big tree and decided to lie down.
Seren was indecisive about her decision on whether she should go to them man or not but after half an hour, she decided to go to him.
She arrived at the man's location and called out to him.
"Mister."
The Man opened his eyes and looked at Seren. The man seemed to have cooled down from his anger.
"Mister, I came to tell you something."
Seren said to Zain.