5. Ranger's Hideout

Once the smoke covered the whole area, they escaped to the nearby forest.

They kept an eye on the village from a distance. It didn't calm down and Nashiro wished he could have done something.

"Let's go," the girl said calmly.

If he had any common sense, he would be suspicious of this stranger but due to her saving him from that madman, he just had to put his trust into her.

He followed her closely. As they walked through it, the sun was gradually coming down and the forest gained an apricot colour to the mostly green surface, which was a great view to see.

Nashor was looking down at the ground, thinking about what to say. However you look at it, she risked her own life to save him and if she didn't he could have ended up dead.

'How do I say this without making it weird...'

He tripped against a stump's root which made him bump into her back.

"Careful! Keep your eyes on the trail," she turned around and shouted.

"I didn't see it," he said and stepped back a little.

"We're close so don't freak out when you see this," she warned him.

They continued.

'Freak out?'

He worried. Did he make a mistake by trusting her?

No. She is just telling him as a precaution. It can't be anything else. They walked for another 15 minutes until they reached a cliff.

"Hey, that's a cliff!" he shouted as he reached out a hand.

"Are you sure about that?" she snickered and went to the edge and then disappeared.

Nashiro's was in shock. She just disappeared in front of him. He confusingly looked around but she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"You coming?" she popped out, "Just walk through it." she disappeared again.

He stopped just in front of it and touched it.

It sounded like you were touching water and it made that sort of sound. Placing his hands through, he moved through it with his eyes closed. Once he opened them, he was astonished by the scene.

"Welcome to our hideout," she said.

It was a large tree. A tree big enough that it would be seen from the heavens. The roots were bigger than a three-story house and it had multiple branches and sub-branches. One might wonder how this natural phenomenon came to be. Nashiro was curious but he didn't want to start questioning the girl, who politely brought him here. He went after her as she opened the door on this humongous tree.

Inside, a boy was making a tower of cards, only for it to be destroyed by the incoming wind from the door.

"I'm back," she said and the boy noticed.

"Oh, so you are..." he nodded and stood up, "Thank goodness, I was getting bored out of my mind here."

"You've done your choirs, right?"

He instantly froze and chuckled,

"Of course, I did. What do you think I am? A slob?"

She eyed him quite annoyed by his behaviour.

"Oh, good to hear," she walked across the room, "What's this? A dusty table?" She showed him her two dusty fingers.

"Oh and what about the sink? I still see dishes from 5 days ago." she turned around towards him, "And I'm guessing you didn't even do the laundry either."

"Alright fine! I didn't do any of the choirs. I was prolonging it too long." he admitted and gazed away from her.

She sighed with disappointment in her breath.

"Just because I am a girl, doesn't mean that I have to do everything. This place is huge and maintaining it is difficult for just one person. You may be older but I have a higher rank in the squad so you better get your gears in motion otherwise I'm going to report you to the captain."

"Okay, I'll get all my work done by tomorrow," he said, "Who's this then?" He pointed at Nashiro.

"Oh, um... Hi, I'm Nashiro..." he waved gently.

"I saved him from the raiding party in the village. Unfortunately, there was too many of them and I couldn't get through to free the rest of the villagers, " she shook her head sadly.

"I sent a letter to the King's Royal Guardians a few days ago but no response."

"Strange... I wonder where the captain is."

"Yeah," he turned towards Nashiro, "Well, you're welcome here until our captain comes back. What did you say your name was?"

"It's Nashiro."

"Nash-iro? That's a unique name... I'm Damien. Where are you from?"

"I don't know..."

"You don't know? That bruise on your head must have caused some damage."

"You can talk with him more later. Finish your choirs," she stated, "Oh, you can do the laundry tonight, it's your turn to patrol the forest."

"Seriously?!"

"No moaning. I've been gone for the past week and you expect me to go out there again? You are such a lazy person!" she turned her head away in disgust.

"Fine, fine... I'll go. See you in a few hours," he grabbed his bow and quiver and left.

"As for you," she called, "Follow me. I'll show you where you'll be staying."

They stepped into a small area covered with wines and wood. Rotating a lever, the place started to move upwards like a lift.

'Whoa!' he thought as it suddenly moved. About halfway up, she got tired and stopped to take a breath.

"Want me to take over?"

"Are you sure you're strong enough?" she looked at him.

"I can try but if you see that I'm struggling, feel free to take control again," he stepped to the lever and continued.

It wasn't too hard to move the lever in a circle. His arms had enough strength to move it and it wasn't too demanding on his muscles.

"Thanks, I could have done it myself but I'm just tired," she said.

They made it to the second floor and went down the hallway to the door at the end of it. Opening it, it revealed a decently sized room. It had a comfy bed on one side, a table and a chair on the other and above it a bookshelf with a few books. The room had a small window as the sun's rays lit up the place.

"This will be your room for the moment. I hope it's to your liking."

"Uh, yeah, it's fine. I like it really..." he entered the room and sat on the bed.

"Wait here for a moment, I'm gonna go get something," she went up some twirling stairs to the floor above. A couple of minutes later, he heard her coming down and she brought some form of medication. She opened the box and got some cotton out and placed a few drops of alcohol on it.

"Don't move too much," she said as he looked at her confused. Once she touched his wound, it was clear to him why she said that.

"Ow!" he moved away.

"I told you not to move!" she pulled his arm and gently tapped the cotton on his head wound which was already showing to be a shade of blue.

"You're lucky it isn't as bad as I first thought. It's just a little swollen."

"That guy had a metal fist for a punch... What did you think would happen?"

"You must have a rock for a head then," she snickered to the joke.

"Haha, very funny," he rolled his eyes.

She finished up and glued a small bandage on his head to cover it up.

"There, all done."

She closed the box and stood up. There was something on her mind that was bothering her. She had to ask before leaving.

"Can I ask you something? I won't tell anyone if you're honest with me. I'm just curious and I would like to know for my sake," she frowned and turned towards him, "Are you sure that you don't remember anything because of the concussion? Or is there another factor you're not telling me?"