A Calmday
After getting inside the tree house, everyone went directly to the second floor, since the house had a bigger size on the inside than outside it was very comfortable and casual too, the ground floor was kind of a resting room having only wood-made furniture, then to go up you would climb up a spiral stair made of vines and logs, nothing much special but won't break out of nowhere. The first floor was more like a sports room, we called it test room, better than fight ourselves we would compete here to make things right, always worked, and it really helps to improve my breathing and strength since I help with my dad's farm and all.
Reaching the second floor we all headed to the meeting table, of course the floor wasn't just for that, taking the right from the pathway after climbing up would take you to a dim lighted room, the storage room is there, and a further back is a hardwood-made door with a self-explanatory sign. "Cold-Room." Where we can leave perishable food, nothing too special, everything was made out of wood but with certain expertise anyone could craft a lot of things with it, and thanks to Hector's brothers being really nice pals we got a nice help out.
Then again, going to the main subject, everyone sat around the round table, leaving only three chairs empty, my seat being the nearest to the exit, Joel's at the opposite side, using myself as the main view point, at the left is Tarry, Hector and a empty chair, then at the right, Zellia and two empty chairs making it eight chairs total, I noticed the spider webs at the top corner of the room as well. Better do a cleanup next calm-day. I thought before finally focusing on Joel.
"As you just heard from Hector." He crossed his arms. "For weeks there have been having reports of cattle disappearances. At first we, I mean the guard post, presumed that it was a thief, but recently it has been happening in our village and there are traces of blood left at the scenes." He briefed.
"What could it be then?" Tarry asked. "Maybe an animal?" I added.
"That would be the common thinking, but we found this..." He took a blue-silver turf of fur out of his pouch. "That is." Hector who was half-asleep noticed something.
"There is no animal with fur of this color. Right?" He put it on the table and asked to Zellia. "That's right, then are we… Dealing with a..." She was cut off by the final statement of Joel. "A monster. Yes."
Monsters, they are creatures that differs from animals, unlike animals that were born from the world along with the mindful races, like humans. They are born in other world, a entire world where they are born but not grown, in seek of growth and food they come to our world through places known as Zones, anywhere can become a Zone, and all Zones can be undone if the Zone Core is destroyed, in the past even Mido was a Zone, that's about all I know about monsters. Not that I've seen one before. I thought.
"And what are we going to do about it?" Tarry complained. "How about, we catch it?" Joel confidently asked with a smirk.
"You can't be serious." I said with a sarcastic grin and half-closed eyes.
"I agree." Zellia too.
"Trust me!" Joel buffed his chest. "This isn't about trust!" I complained.
Tarry sighed then meddled in. "Let's hear it then..." Everyone including Joel looked at him. "Your plan it is."
"Before anything else, I need a couple things." He glanced at each one of us before finishing. "Bring me the following..."
After the meeting we all went back home excluding Tarry and Joel who stayed back for something, maybe he had more questions? I don't know, but I will just have to do my job, then I walked back home after passing through the fence.
"You came back early, weren't you going to play all-day long?" Dad asked me.
"We didn't plan anything, it was just a chat." I replied.
"Oh, I see."
"Yeah."
We are just watering the fields, using a silver-plated watering can each, silver-nine can for short, the reason is that they could water a entire 3x3 area with a single strong move, and the magic imbued on it would do the job.
As good as it sounds, the price for one of these was off charts for a mid-sized farm like ours and we have two of them, I don't know how we got them, but I'm not too into knowing about that, it didn't matter to me just yet.
"So, how is it going?" Dad started. "Got used to school already?"
I sighed and looked upward. "Yeah, it's fun..." Then I murmured. "I guess."
With the sun up in the sky, I thought the time now would be nearly two o'clock, it took less than forty minutes to water the entire field with the two of us, mom was doing the lunch and probably dinner also, dad asked me to bring the tools back to the shed, as always. As I put them in their holders, I looked around, a nice variety of tools, scythes and shovels included, lastly I stopped in front of an old and quite rusty hoe, it wouldn't be useful in a fieldwork but if put some strength in it could make an evenly deep hole, so I snatched it away, and locked the shed.
After lunch I went to the back of the shed and got the old hoe, then rushed to the tree house at mido forest, everyday a bell not so big would chime to tell the time, every two hours it would chime a ring more than the last, and before leaving home I heard three, simple enough, I took so much time to finish my homework and eat, that now is six o'clock, nearing the sunset, but I wasn't in a real rush, we didn't really decide in a exact time to meet, he just said. "Sometime by evening." I think.
I feel like, I took my own pace to get there but when I noticed it was already dusk, or to be more precise the sun as already gone for a time, speaking of which―Not that I'm speaking aloud though,―I didn't notice it at the time, but that fur, it seemed kind of familiar to me, might be useless to think about it if I don't really recall anything but, will it change something? Will I not get scared? If something goes wrong― Stop thinking like that! I have to trust Joel just as he trusted me back then. Things won't go wrong and we will catch that monster in one go then take it to the guard post, and all well when it ends well.
Shaking the bad thoughts off his head, Paulie clapped his hands and with them still joined he said out loud. "Alright, no worries."
A few steps later, he was already at the tree house door, and going in, everyone was already there, going up to be more precise, even if they no exact meeting time, he thought that he must be later than they'd expect, nothing wrong with that honestly, everyone has their own way to get there, Paulie's way just happens to be the farthest from his house, he also ascended the stairs and after leaving the not so heavy old hoe in the pseudo storage room, he sat down a chair on the meeting table.
"Thank god, you guys are in to help me," Joel grinned. "I thought I was in for trouble, if someone didn't show up." He finished leaving a relief sigh out.
"No worries." Paulie said while doing a thumbs up.
"If you were going to get worried like that." Zellia started. "You shouldn't've started all this to begin with." And finished with a complaint.
"You might be right, but..." He glanced at both sides of the tables then added. "We have so much to grow and yet we live inside those fences, the more I'm with you guys, the more I understand that with you watching my back, I'm darn safe!" He let's a bright smile out.
Everyone eyes went wide, hearing it lit a fire, a small one in their not so courageous hearts. If, just if they were always with Joel, then maybe, no, they were sure, that nothing could stand in their way. He trusted them, and they trusted him, this mutual trusting kind of friendship, would be the greatest treasure for them all.
"You are right!" Tarry exclaimed, with a smirk to the boot.
"Of course, you can count me in!" Zellia added.
"I won't disappoint you. No, better than that, I will exceed your expectations." Paulie said, totally fired up.
"That's so cool, let's do this!" Hector who was the most silent because of his tiredness, got up right away.
"That's what I like to hear!" Joel also shouted energetically. "Let's catch that monster, Mystery Moon!"
Everyone answered, "Yeah!"
The group, or to be more precise, the party, Mystery Moon is their name, was pumped up to their core, and even though they were all kids, this was most likely, the turning point, the moment that their peaceful lives would do a turn for a unique goal and with their minds set on that, any obstacle in the way was nothing, but it all started here, with this first step. Remember well, the seeds of a entire new story have been sown, how will they sprout, however, is up to their fate to decide.