A harpy and a child
"D*mnit! How could something like this happen?"
The old Shaman was loudly cursing as he hurriedly made his way through the forest. He was fast and strong such that none of the beasts dared to attack him. However, compared to Angela, he could not fly and had to constantly avoid the obstacles around him and maneuver his way through the dense forest.
"Strange... What is a monster like that doing here? There should only be beasts in the forest..." While running, the Shaman was assessing the situation. It was the first time he was seeing such a monster and was trying to recall if anything was mentioned in the records of the tribe about a winged woman with silver hair.
Unfortunately, as much as he was racking his brain, he was still unable to identify the monster. The one thing the Shaman deduced was that the monster most probably came from the dungeon. A dungeon could replicate any natural environment and house a variety of monsters. Now that an unknown monster, which was clearly not adapted to the forest, has appeared, it was most likely to come from that place.
The Shaman looked up to the sky to locate the kidnapper. Despite being forced to take several bad turns, the Shaman was easily keeping up with the shadow's pace. However, this would not last for long; his buffs would soon expire and he would turn back into an ordinary old man and would be unable to give chase.
At last, the duration of [Haste] came to an end, significantly reducing the old man's speed.
"D*mnit!" In the distance, the black figure was slowly becoming smaller and smaller meaning that it was getting further away from the shaman but there was nothing he could do. The Shaman's heart sank; this happened only because he had been overconfident and did not properly protect his granddaughter.
Looking at the disappearing figure, the old man clenched his fist as he changed direction and ran toward the village. It was just as he expected; the flying figure was effectively flying toward the waterfall where the dungeon was located. While there was no definite proof, it was the only thing he could think of and as it was his own granddaughter that was kidnapped, he would leave no stones unturned.
Regardless of the dangers hiding at that place, it was time to thoroughly explore the dungeon!
...
"Aaaaagh!" Mira screamed in fear as she suddenly felt a pair of arms lift her up the ground. The strange feeling of weightlessness took her off guard as she instinctively closed her eyes and tried to grab something for support.
Angela looked at the trembling little girl in her arms. She still did not understand why she saved the young human but her heart was at ease. She was initially surprised when the young human screamed and hugged her waist but seeing how scared she was, Angela did not stop her as it would not hinder her flight; instead, she tried to reassure her.
"Are you alright? Don't be scared... The big bad tigers are gone... You are safe now." Trying to sound as gentle as possible, Angela quietly murmured at the young girl.
Unfortunately, a language barrier existed between the two. Mira was trembling in fear as she heard her kidnapper speak. At first, she did not understand anything and thought that Angela was threatening her but after calming down, she noticed that she was already hugging her kidnapper and that the latter was murmuring at her ears with a sweet gentle tone. The words made no sense but the tone was just like a mother trying to console her child.
Mira waited for a moment as her heart was calming down. She could feel the wind blowing over her face and the warmth of her kidnapper's body. Guessing that her kidnapper meant her no harm, Mira tentatively opened her eyes and was greeted by a beautiful face and a warm smile.
"You... Who are you? Why did you do that?" said Mira while trembling.
Angela continued to smile; it seemed that the child was fine, "I am Angela... Everything is fine now... I suppose you come from the Barbarian's village... I will bring you there..."
"I am sorry but I don't understand what you are saying... Can you put me back on the ground?" asked Mira.
Confused, the harpy blinked her beautiful eyes; it seemed that the child was not understanding her but she could understand the child. The monsters usually communicated in the Demon Language while humans used the Human Language. However, after years of war, the demons slowly began to get an understanding of the Human Language; they could understand the language but unfortunately could not speak it.
After all, humans once represented the largest population of species on Zero before war occurred; understanding their language was of utmost importance for trading. While humans were proud of themselves, this slowly turned into one of their major weaknesses; all the different races could communicate among each other without being understood by others except for humans who were understood by all. While this was seemingly benign, it later proved fatal as it was much easier for the other races to infiltrate them.
"I can't let you down now... There are a lot of dangerous beasts... Let me carry you a bit further..." Angela did not know how to communicate with the child and could only continue to speak. She clearly could not abide by the child's request; how could she leave an eight-year-old child alone in the middle of the forest?
...
As time went by, Mira kept trying to communicate with Angela. As she saw that Angela was not willing to let her down, she gradually stopped asking for it and instead enjoyed the scenery. It was the first time she was flying and although it was scary at first, it was a unique experience to view the forest from above. As they spoke, they eventually learned each other's name but that was all Mira was able to understand.
"You know... I think that you are able to understand me. Thank you for saving me but you did not really need to. My teacher gave me this powder to use in case I was surrounded by beasts. He just told me to only use it when absolutely necessary since it is precious." As she spoke, Mira reached for a small pouch at her side and showed it to Angela.
The latter finally understood why this young child was wandering in the forest at night by herself. It seemed that she was already prepared. However, she could not just put her back down and chose to continue to fly toward the village. She was already tired but since it was not very far, Angela pushed herself a little more.
Seeing her saddened expression, Mira continued, "You know, I am grateful that you are here. It was pretty scary to walk like that in the forest but soon, I will become a great Shaman. Tonight was my first task but it is too late now, I have failed it. If only I grabbed that Moon Grass before running, everything would have been fine... At least, this created the opportunity to meet you! I did not know that people could fly. Would you mind if I touch your wings?"
The innocent little girl was just trying to cheer themselves up and did not notice that the harpy felt troubled. For once, Angela was glad that she could not properly communicate with Mira, or else, how was she supposed to explain that it was rude to touch her wings? That was the job of her parents!
...
A few minutes later, Angela finally could not hold for much longer. She slowly landed at the edge of the forest, not very far from the village. Understanding the situation, Mira quickly jumped on the ground with some reluctance and turned to face the harpy.
"Thank you very much! I really like it but now, I have to return to the village quickly. The Shaman is probably worried, I need to reassure him and submit my herbs..."
Angela was not oblivious to the young girl's disappointment and so, she quickly looked through her 'bag'.
"This is for you," said Angela while showing a small herb to Mira.
The latter widely opened her eyes. She could not understand what the harpy just said but she immediately recognized the herb. "Moon Grass? How do you have some on you?" Mira was surprised and confused but she instinctively opened her hand to receive the herb.
Before she could stop, Angela quickly shoved it into her tiny hands, not giving her the chance to refuse. She gently smiled as she explained: "Take it. With that, you can complete your task and you won't be punished."
"This..." Mira did not know how to react. She felt touched that her newly made friend cared about her and gave her a Moon Grass. While it was not very rare, the darkness of the night was not an ideal environment to find it. Mira was naturally tempted but she knew that it was wrong to accept gifts like that and so, she quickly reached for her pouch.
"There, take these with you. We can count it as a trade." Mira opened the pouch and took out 2 small herbs. Her task consisted only of bringing back 10 kinds of herbs but as she was collecting them, the herbs would often grow in a group resulting in Mira collecting some duplicates. She had no use for them but at least, she could trade with the harpy.
Understand the situation, Angela gratefully took the herb and placed it in her bag. She initially wanted to refuse but when she saw the expectant look of the young girl, she did not have the heart to.
It was time to say goodbye but it was clear that Mira would not understand her. Angela gently patted the young girl on her hand while murmuring some words of encouragement. Without waiting for an answer, Angela quickly flapped her wings and left the area.
Left behind, Mira watched at the departing figure of the harpy. Her eyes sparkled as she remembered the incredible experience she just had; to her, flying had been an unattainable dream until now. "I hope we meet again Angela!" Mira loudly shouted. She quietly watched as Angela disappeared in the sky before quickly making her way back home.