Between the forests

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Wind whizzing between leaves and canopy, dancing around the forest. A melodic song to the ears.

A leaf brush by Yuna's ear startled her from her daydream. The rattle of supplies they have gathered as they prepare and quickly find a path out of this forest.

Even with her tune-up senses, she could not hear or sense anything from the surrounding.

Finally, they stumble upon a dirt path that has been degrading and enshrouded by the surrounding vegetation. They decide to follow the path leading when what seems like hours of walking, a rooftop coming into view which belongs to an abandoned village. The village wooden houses and stone foundations are in good condition as if preserved.

They approach the village, looking around for any clues why the villagers left.

On closer inspection, they find no remanence of any life nearby. Not only carts and shacks are left abandoned it seems as if everyone has suddenly disappeared.

They found clothing, personal belongings such as coins, and other valuables lying seamlessly on the ground.

"The architecture and clothing look elvish," Lisa commented.

"I'm still not sure what type of elves they are, and they could be high elves, but that is unlikely," Lisa added.

"Why?" with looks of confusion asked Rite.

"The high elves have long ago been wiped out by humans and killed most of their people. Most of their elders and their history have been wiped out by the Golden Empire as they cover for their crimes.

(The Golden Empire is an imperial monarchy that stands thousands of years ago. Due to its many instabilities, many military coups have caused it to collapse to rubble.)

While Lisa and Rite spoke, Yuna wandered into a house to find any other clue.

Jumping up to the door handle and pushing the door open with her paw, walking into the house, she felt as if she was intruding into a family home.

She observes the wood stove, beds, and dining tables.

The home looks like it belongs to a family of four. She found that everything was similar to the outside of the village, left still.

While outside Lisa, looking over and seeing an open door. Both Rite and Lisa followed Yuna into the home. They stepped onto the creaking boards of the wood, walking inside a dark but tidy home. Inside the room, four lanterns lay on each wall. The lanterns shattered and were unusable. Lisa walked by the large table in the corner and grazed the tip of some candles on top with her fingers. They lit up the room unveiling a well-cleaned interior with two more doors.

While Yuna had no trouble seeing the environment with low light, she would have difficulty in pitch-black environments.

Inside one of the unveiled doors, Rite searched and found a storage room, and before they moved, they did not find any more food while hunting. Today they also found nothing in the surrounding, including wildlife.

"At this point, we're going to starve to death," Rite said while searching through the shelves only to find weird bottles of unknown liquids, alchemy materials, and many other ingredients to make medicine.

Rite picked some items that seemed safe and set them on the table. Sliding two chairs closer, with Yuna sitting on the table, all three stare at a dotted mushroom, aged jerky, and some wine.

"Are you sure these mushrooms are edible?" Asked Lisa.

"I think?....." Rite replied.

Worried, Yuna looks at Rite, followed by Lisa's stare. (The mushrooms are out of the question.)