March 17, 2:00 PM – Outskirts of Khura'in – Mountains

It's been two weeks ever since I went on that initial trip to the forest with Datz. While it did provide with food a bit, it only lasted for about four days. At first, we thought we simply hadn't gotten enough food from the forest, but as it turns out, the forest just didn't have enough animals to last for too long. Well, there was the poisonous Genne'ric lizard nest, but both myself and Dhurke didn't want us to risk our lives, and we managed to convince Datz not to. We could also go back to Khura'in, but Dhurke was wanted, and it would be bad for me and Datz to be spotted. Since it was the somewhat reasonable only way to get food, every few days, me and Datz would have to back in the forest to hunt. And to day just so happens to be one of those days.

At the moment, I was sitting outside on the grass, with my eyes closed in order to relax. I heard someone approach me.

"Don't worry, Datz, we'll be leaving soon." I assured, keeping my eyes closed. However, the voice I heard wasn't Datz's.

"Rei'vol, you aren't going anywhere." I opened my eyes to stare at who was talikng. It was Dhurke.

"What do you mean, 'I don't have to go.'? We ran out of food." I asked. Dhurke grinned.

"Oh, that's because I'll be going to the mountains in your place!" Dhurke explained, putting his hands hands to his side.

"Wait, you are? I'm appreciative, but why exactly?" I inquired, rubbing the back of my head with my hand.

"Well, I noticed that you've been coming back from the forest a bit worse for wear as of late. I decided to let you have a bit more time to rest." He said, before quickly punching the air with his fist. "Besides, I'm a pretty good fighter."

"If you're a good fighter, then why haven't you ever gone to the forest?" I asked.

"Well, that's the catch. You see, while I want you to rest, since I'm not here, you'll have to take care of Apollo and Nahyuta. At least, until I come back." Dhurke explained. So, either care of two children for a while, or almost die in a forest...

"Sure, I'll go ahead and take care of them." I answered.

"Alright. Anyways, I need to catch up to Datz. Make sure to take care of Nahyuta and Apollo!" He said, before turning around and walking in the direction of the forest. But, I stopped him and asked him a questio,.

"Hey Dhurke... Did you find any clues on Amara's location?" Although I couldn't see his face, Dhurke clenching his fist answered for him.

"Not yet. I have a couple of friends back in Khura'in, but they haven't anything on where Amara is." Dhurke explained gloomily.

"It might take a while to find some clues, but I'm sure we'll be able to find her! Don't worry about it!" I exclaimed while grinning. Dhurke seemed to have cheered up.

"Yeah, we will. Anyways, I shouldn't keep Datz waiting. Bye!" Dhurke said, before running of to the direction of the forest.

"Alright, bye! Make sure to come back soon, I'm getting kinda hungry!" I yelled back, waving at him. And it seemed Dhurke was as fast as Datz, since he was out of my sight in a few moments. I got up and stretched a bit.

"Well then, it's time to go and take care of the children... Wait! Dhurke didn't even tell me where they were!" I realized. There was no point in yelling to catch Dhurke's attention, since I couldn't even see him anymore. The only thing I could do was go and find them myself.

I ran into the house we were living in. "Nahyuta! Apollo! Where are you!?" I yelled. I checked both upstairs and downstairs, in Dhurke's, Datz and my room, but they weren't there. Frustrated, I ran into the backyard of the house.

"Nahyuta! Apollo!" I yelled. And to my relief, both Apollo and Nahyuta were there. They seemed to be playing tag, as they were running around on the field while laughing. But, there was something a bit out of the ordinary.

They were both naked.

Nahyuta noticed me, waved and ran towards me. Apollo did as well.

"Hello Rei'vol!" Nahyuta greeted. I turned my head to not look at them.

"H-hello Nahyuta, Apollo... Sorry if I distracted you from your game of tag. I didn't know where you were. Do you know that Dhurke isn't here right now?" I asked.

" Dhurke said he would be getting food." Apollo said. He then clapped his hands together. "Rei'vol, do you wanna play with us!?" I shook my head.

"No, it's okay. I'd just make your game boring." I dismissed. But all of a sudden, Nahyuta and Apollo began to tug on my pants.

"Please! Please!" They begged. I looked at them and saw that they were even tearing up a bit.

'I can't say no to those faces...' I thought.

"Okay than. I'll play with you." I caved in.

"Yay!" They cheered.

"Okay, I'll play with you, but can you please put your clothes back on?" I requested, closing my eyes.

"Huh, why? It's funner with no clothes." Apollo questioned.

"Just do it, or I won't play with you." I said. Although they were confused, Nahyuta and Apollo both went back into the house and put on some clothes. They came back out rather quickly.

"Oh, let's play tag!" Nahyuta exclaimed.

"Yeah, tag!" Apollo agreed. Then, they both stared up at me in expectation. I sighed.

"Sure. We'll play tag." I said.

"Okay! You'll be the tag!" Apollo said. I shrugged.

"Okay then.''

"Alright, let's start now!" They both yelled in unison, before they ran away from me in different directions. I sighed one last time, before I ran after them as fast as I could.

March 17, 3:20 PM – Outskirts of Khura'in – Mountains

It's been a full hour since Apollo and Nahyuta invited me to their little game of tag. Despite being children, they were probably two times faster than me. Either that, or I was just incredibly tired and sluggish because of numerous times I've had to go into the forest, because I didn't manage to tag them once in that game. In retrospect, it was less a game of tag or more a game of chase. In the end, I lying down on the ground in exhaustion, struggling to move while Apollo and Nahyuta stood over me.

"Uh, does this mean we win?" Nahyuta asked innocently, unaware of the suffering I was currently going through.

"Yes... yes you won..." I said.

"But we're still bored." Apollo told me.

"Well, I can't move right now, so you can go and play the riverside over there. I'll catch up with you later" I said, weakly pointing towards the riverside. They nodded and went over to play there. To be honest, the game of tag they had made me play had tired me out. Not only that, but Apollo and Nahyuta seemed to be distracted in their game, so I ended up just watching them play. Suddenly, both Apollo and Nahyuta got swept up by the river rapids.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" They cried out in fear, desperately trying to keep themselves afloat. Despite their efforts, they sunk into the water.

"Nahyuta! Apollo!" I screamed. I tried to get up, but immediately collapsed back. I too weak from the constant running I just did. That didn't stop me, though. I started to crawl towards the riverside as fast as I could. However, just as I neared the river, someone yelled:

"Nahyuta! Apollo! Hold on! I'm coming!" I could recognize that voice from anywhere. It was Dhurke! I looked behind me to see the man in question running towards the river. When he neared it, Dhurke nodded at me and dove into the river.

"Dhurke! Are you okay!?" I said, trying once more to get up. But, my efforts were once again futile, as I collapsed onto the grass.

"Dang it!" I said to myself. Then, I heard Datz, who came with Dhurke, say:

"Don't beat yourself over it, it took us a while to be able to run this fast and for so long." Datz grabbed me and pulled me up to my feet. It was pretty hard to keep my balance.

"Yeah, I know I shouldn't, but..." I trailed off, looking at my reflection emerged from the river. Suddenly, Dhurke emerged with Apollo and Nahyuta in his arms.

"Datz, Rei'vol! Help me out of here!" Dhurke yelled, putting his hands near the riverside. Myself and Datz crouched down, grabbed his hand and pulled as hard as we can. We were both weak, Datz from the hunting and myself from the running, so we had to pour all of our strength into getting Dhurke out of there. And luckily, those efforts weren't wasted, as we managed to pull both him and his sons out of the river.

"*sniffle* *sniffle* *sniffle*" The two children were tearing up. It seemed like they were trying to stay strong, but not Apollo or Nahyuta could remain silent.

"Wahhhh!!" They both burst into tears and started to sob.

"Hah-ha ha ha ha ha! That was a close one! Thought I'd lost you two!" Dhurke exclaimed, bringing both sons close to him and hugging them.

"I-I'm sorry, Dhuuuuuuuurke!" Apollo cried out.

"All right, that's enough now. Didn't I teach you that boys don't cry?" Dhurke reminded. While he did stop the sobbing, it couldn't stop the crying completely.

"...Thank you, Father." Nahyuta said, trying to wipe his tears away.

"*sniffle* *hiccup* *hiccup*" Apollo still hadn't completely recovered.

"You... You could've been killed..." Nahyuta said. "But you risked your life... to save us... Why?" He asked.

"What a silly question." Dhurke replied simply. "What father wouldn't risk his life to save his own children?"

"Nahyuta, Apollo... Don't you ever hesitate to call when you need me. Understand?" Dhurke requested. They both nodded.

I went on my knees in front them. "I'm sorry, Dhurke. You nearly died because of my incompetence."

"Oh, that's nonsense! Besides, why do you think I always take care of Apollo and Nahyuta when you go hunting? It's because it's the most dangerous job of all! Hah-ha ha ha ha!" He laughed.

'I... I feel like I've been duped...' I thought in annoyance. All of a sudden, a voice pierced the air.

"REI'VOL!" I turned around to see whoever called my name. And the person who called me name was...

"Frie'nd!?"