Boy In The Woods(3)

Gales of motile wind whipped fiercely as we dashed through the thick blue leaves of the trees. Our surroundings looked blurred like we were in a speeding car with no breaks. Briefly, I glanced at the boy on my back.

'I wonder how he's holding up? Those injuries must hurt with the amount of force he's putting on them' I thought silently. I could not see the boy's face, as he buried his head in my shoulder. His hair flipped wildly due to the wind's force.

'Hm? Is he scared of heights? Don't tell me he's one of those weirdos that go on rollercoasters but close their eyes partway through!! Wait there aren't roller coasters here ahaha!' I chuckled silently to myself.

'But still, for a future hero, he's quite a weirdo though' I thought. The clustered trees started to slowly part open like a wave, revealing a beautiful waterfall that splashed in a clear pond. The pond itself was quite large, almost the size of a lake, but it was rather shallow, not too deep. I knew solely due to me diving for Crib shells when I craved something akin to fish.

I landed on the small sediment of pebbles that surrounded the pond. The boy promptly slid off my back and looked around. 'Oooh, he likes it! Well this place is beautiful, it's another one of my secret locations haha'

This place was at the heart of the Moon Forest, it is essentially where the forests get it's name. During the hour of the full moon, the moon's light would shine directly on the pond, causing it to glow a mysterious blue, the misty air of the waterfall would sparkle like diamonds. This entire area would look mystical, like something out of a fairytale. Mom would say that in ancient times, this place, which has remained unchanged for all time, was used for healing. I guess the forest is quite old, for it to have such a purpose.

As the moon reached its peak, the once stagnant atmosphere softened, and the area was alight a pale hue. The waterfall flowed softly, mist sparkling like silver. The pond began to glow beautifully. Small buds that surrounded the pond began to bloom, revealing pure white flowers that shone gently.

' I'm glad we made it in time' I thought. I prompted the boy to wait patiently. Walking over, I gently started to collect the Chamo-Mila flowers. The Chamo-Mila( Cam-O-Mee-la)flower was unlike other flowers. The seeds were not a part of the flower-like most normal plants, instead, the seed would be inside the stem and reform from there. The flower held certain healing properties. In this case, it was for redness and swelling, which our cutie main character is suffering from. It also helps alleviate pain.

I had to make sure that I uprooted only the flower and not the stem, this was due to most of the healing essence being primarily in the flower's petals. If I uprooted the entire thing, the flower itself would never grow again. It was best to preserve the stem for future use.

Of course, If I had healing magic, I'd use that. But, light affinities are pretty rare in this world. Even then, there are certain limitations to having light affinity.

'Hmm, I need to soak the flowers in order to make it easier to ground them up, but I don't have any tools. Oh boo, I left all the mixing instruments at the shack.' I glanced behind at the boy, his large eyes watching my every move. He looked a little anxious, and a bit suspicious. Though I couldn't speak, the boy himself hasn't said a word either.

'Shouldn't he be more curious? Ya know, asking questions and stuff? Instead, he's practically boring holes in me.' I thought nervously. I tried to ignore his probing gaze and settled on the task at hand. Dipping the petals in the pond, I squeezed the essence on the boy's wounds.

Though it's not as quick as healing magic, it takes effect after about a couple of minutes. Time passed and the redness slowly died down, the swelling began to go down as well, even his cuts were gradually closing.

'AHAHA, I did it, treating the boy's wounds is complete!!'

I was so busy cheering internally, that I didn't notice the boy peering at my face. When I finally did notice, I flinched and shield my eyes 'OMG THE CUTENESS!!!' His large green eyes looked just like an amazed puppy, eyes sparkling like he saw an interesting toy to play with.

"Um…" the boy finally spoke, his voice small but stable. I peeked behind my shielded hands, I tried not to appear shocked but I couldn't help it, the boy was talking!

"T-thank you," he said, his slightly chubby face reddened as if embarrassed. I felt my heart explode "AAAHAHAHA, WHAT DO I DO, A CUTE ANGEL HAS DESCENDED UPON ME' I nodded my head and smiled, but I think my smile scared him, as he flinched a little.

" u-um, may...I ask for your name…" The boy's face turned full scarlet. I closed my eyes tightly at the sight 'curse you author for making such a cute angel...but wait, he asked for my name' I fidgeted a little, ' it's not so bad, it's just your name Yuiji' I opened my mouth but nothing came out. It felt like something was caught in my throat.

[Mono 1]: DARN IT!! THE MALE LEAD'S LOOKING AT YOU FUNNY!!!

I couldn't help it, not talking to humans really put me in a bind. I wasn't even talkative in my past life. Besides, how was I supposed to know a cute angel would descend in these woods?

I took a deep breath and let it out. I did this repeatedly like I was getting ready to do a big presentation. 'Ok ok ok, we'll try again, 1...2...3!" I opened my mouth to speak but then.

*GROOOOOOOOOWL*

"!?!?!?!?"

".....!"

This time, my face flushed red in embarrassment. My stomach decided now was the time to make its voice heard.

"Pfft, haha"

The boy laughed, yet I couldn't look him in the face.

[Mono 1]: Way to make an impression Yuiji, now he thinks you're a glutton!

'Oooooh man' The first-hand embarrassment was too real, I haven't felt this way in a while. Even though he was younger than me, he was still a boy, and I was never good at talking to boys...well talking in general.

'…..AAACK WHATEVER!! I'm sure he's hungry too but...what do humans eat again?' I tilted my head left and right, my cheeks puffed out. Frankly, my father and I eat at different times, sometimes my father wouldn't even eat some days. I looked at the boy, if he was a farm boy then he'd probably eat home-cooked meals with fresh and authentic ingredients.

The Moon Forest isn't exactly all fresh and healthy. Most were poisonous, others were bitter, and some could kill you instantly. Very rarely, would you find something fresh and edible here. I only eat monster meat but I doubt the boy here can ingest it. Even if he's the future hero, he's still human.

I looked around the perimeter.

'Let's see...poison...poison...not edible...poison...ooooh!...nope never mind poison..' Everywhere I looked wasn't something a small child could eat. 'Come on Moon Forest, you're making me embarrassed here!' I thought with frustration.

I mean, if you're entertaining guests in your home, you'd think you'll have all the necessary things on hand.

My eyes then spotted a small berry bush at the top of the waterfall.

'OOOOH, DUM BERRIES!!!' I cried internally. Dum berries were one of the rare cases where it was fresh and edible, however, they grew only at the peak of the warm seasons, so they were pretty rare and hard to come across. It's so sweet like candy, I'm surprised they don't give you cavities.

I quickly jumped up and hopped across the pond. "H-HEY IT'S DANGEROUS" the boy cried out, But I wasn't paying attention. I scaled the wall quickly and ripped the entire bush from its roots. The ground split and from the distance, a tree fell, but I paid no heed.

' oooh it's about 80 of them, I can split it with Mr shy boy!….hmmm maybe I can negotiate a 60:40 split….no no, stop being a glutton! I shook my head.

I jumped down and landed in front of the boy grinning triumphantly. The boy looked awestruck. 'Hey what's with that face, you're looking at me like I'm some wild animal!' I protruded my lips. I sat down in a huff, my legs crossed, and proceeded to eat the berries.

'Oooh it's still so sweet' I happily ate some more. However, the boy beside me wasn't eating anything.

I motioned for the boy to eat.

'It's not poisonous or anything. Were we always so weird? Humans I mean. Maybe it's just him'

Hesitantly, he took a berry from the bush and with his eyes tightly closed, put it into his mouth. Like an explosion, his face turned bright with wonder as he chewed. I smiled proudly and popped another berry in my mouth.

Just like that, the boy and I sat near the beautiful pond and ate dum berries, watching the waterfall.