Tears for Fears [Mine]

"..."

How was he going to break it to this girl that Enkidu couldn't perform magic?

She looks so excited too... Richard thought.

A bead of sweat trailed down his temple as he tried to think of how to best explain it to him. However, Mine was quick to flip into paranoia when he guessed correctly that she was a mainland Enkidu.

"N-no, no! It's nothing like that," he said raising his arms in defense. "I just guessed considering you don't know much about magic and monsters. You..."

Richard sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"Most Enkidu already know about Carta, corrupted beasts, and Cantus..." he said. "They would having lived in Esterelf. So I made the connection. I promise I'm not going to kidnap you. You can even keep your crossbow on me if you're worried."

Wait, was that a good idea? The girl was so nervous, he wouldn't be surprised if she accidentally shot him.


...scheisse.

Richard waved his hands frantically.

"N-not that you have to take me up on that offer! Really, I just want to make sure you and your friend are safe. Ohhh, whaddya know there's that path leading to the lake area!"

Richard swiftly pointed to the path, hoping Mine's short attention span would be something he could count on.

"Has this place started looking familiar yet?"

Mine stared blankly at the man for more than a few seconds as he explained himself. Her eyes searched him for several moments before she spoke once again. "I know of monsters." There was an almost grave tone in her voice, but it quickly disappeared as she straightened up once more. Her hands moved to her pack and hid the flower away.

"Shio says to only point my crossbow at things I'm likely to kill or injure. Says my finger's too shaky for threatening." She muttered, placing her hands on her hips. "However." There was an audible shing as she drew a small dagger hidden on the back of her belt. "I'm sure I can't accidentally stab you!" She chirped before holding out the blade with a serious expression.

The dagger lowered as Richard quickly pointed out a path. Her eyes whipped around, staring at the ground for a solid few seconds before sighing. "No...Not yet. Let's keep going?" She looked up at Richard, a mix of fear and sadness shining in her eyes.

Richard had actually stepped back when Mine took out an adorably small knife threatening to stab him if he tried anything. He quickly covered his mouth, holding back a laugh in order to not hurt her feelings. There was just something very amusing about her enthusiasm.

"Very well, you're more than free to stab me if I try anything funny," he said reassuringly.

He sure hoped he didn't regret those words.

Whatever the case, Mine was distracted by the path. Still not recognizing it, however, she'd still need more guidance.

"Well, it shouldn't be too far down," he said comfortingly. "We'll get there in no time, alright? On the bright side, I still have food if you're hungry."

Richard reached into his pouch carefully (she was still holding a knife after all) and pulled out a square wrapped in what looked like gold foil and a ribbon. He'd snap it in half, causing the foil to rustle and reveal a dark brown exterior. He'd toss one half to Mine while he placed the other in his mouth, letting the bar dangle between his teeth.

"I haa a sthweeyus pahbm whe ee comes to sthweet things," he said before snapping off a bit of the chocolate and chewing. "But you're a kid. It should be fine if you eat sweets a lot. Just brush your teeth before going to bed."

He offered her a small smile before biting it again and swallowing another piece.

"Nh!" Mine nodded, holding the knife up once more as she was given permission to stab Richard (if he did anything funny.)

She let him lead on as they began to walk, her eyes nervously darting back and forth as she tried to collect a piece of familiarity from her surroundings. Sometimes she really missed Sakigake, she was so at home in those forests...she'd never get lost there.

But she had to make due with what she had now! She'd get back to Shio! She would!

Mine was snapped out of her own thoughts as Richard suddenly produced a piece of chocolate. Her eyes sparkled as she held it up. She almost stuffed it in her mouth immediately, only being stopped by Richard speaking with his mouth full. Mine stared at him for a moment. "I don't know what you just said, but thanks!" She chirped, stuffing the chocolate into her mouth. It was gone just as fast as it came and she was quick to look to Richard again, he would see she was expecting more already.

Then, her eyes widened.

"Oh! I recognize this path!" Without thinking, Mine began to rush forward. "Shio should be close I think!!!!" Mine had the brightest smile on her face as she rushed forward. If her memory served it should be a little ways off the path soon.

Thank the GODS.

"H-hey! Wait, don't run on ahead!" Richard called out as Mine ran forward.

When Mine continued regardless, Richard gave in with a sigh and jogged after her.

Mine would find herself going deeper into the thicket of trees before they gave way to the lake area. What she would fine was...chaos.

What looked like large hoofed prints had trampled all over the campsite, tearing down the tent that had been once standing there and the fireplace stamped out into a crater. There seemed to be no sign of Shio, and there were also distinct claw marks that had torn into the tent as well. Whatever the case, it was obvious an attack had happened here.

Mine's excitement reached a peak as she pushed through the brush to their campsite. She would finally be back with Shio! Back to safety! Shio might be mad at first, but she always forgave her for her stupid mistakes! Thats why s-

...

As Mine took in the scene around her, her heart sank into her chest. Her eyes searched around the camp, her body beginning to shake as she saw the destruction. She shook her head, dropping the knife and placing her hands over her mouth as she tried to keep back tears. Her mind immediately going to the worst case scenario.

After a moment, she feel to her knees, breathing heavily.

She couldn't do this, not again, not without Shio. She wasn't here. There was destruction. Her body wasn't anywhere visible, but even if it wasn't where could she have gone? It was like before...Already it was like before...

She called out for Shio, grabbing her knife was again as she slowly began to push herself up. She had to try to find her at least...

Richard quickly followed after Mine, only to see the ruins of the camp as well. The tracks itself told him it was a corrupted beast attack, and his heart fell for a moment. When Mine fell to her knees, he quickly tried to approach her.

"H-hey, are you alright?"

The expression on Mine's face was one of pure horror. It wasn't just shock. No, Richard had seen this face on others before. This was the face of someone who was reliving something terrible all over again. As she tried to get up, he nimbly attempted to support her if she'd let him. Richard's eyes surveyed the area a little more, however, narrowing his eyes.

"There's no blood or signs of injury," Richard maintained. "She might have just fled the scene. I just need to get a better direction of where she might have went."

Richard moved forward to examine the damage. The corrupted beast prints looked similar to that of a Kargdan--an expected beast in these kinds of forests. It rammed through things, but being on all fours and having a small mouth, it would have only managed to carry a person away if it speared them on their horn--and there was no blood so that wasn't the case. What was more likely was the girl had gone in a different direction. He looked perpendicular to the tracks and noticed a little ways off a small winded box. A toy of some sorts?

"Hang on," he said.

He moved over to the toy box, picking it up, inspecting it and the path ahead. Some parts of grass had flattened.

"She might have gone this way," Richard said. "Chances are she escaped the beast unscathed and--"

The sound of music started playing. It was the machinations of a music box and when Richard examined what he was holding, the winding lever had started rotating.

"What on..."

The flap opened and a flurry of colorful spring toy snakes burst from the box and right into Richard's face.

"GAH!!!"

Richard tried to shield his face, but as he did, he stumbled backwards and onto the ground. He quickly tossed the box and shattered it.

"WHAT THE HECK!?"

Mine just didn't have the strength to wriggle away from Richard as he went to support her. She numbly felt his hands around her as he assisted in getting her to her feet. He was talking, but she didn't hear him. She began to move forward, her ears pulling back as she looked around. She was horrified to find anything, but the alternative could be bad as well.

What if she never found Shio again?

The thought alone made her want to curl up into a ball and start crying.

Still she moved forward, seeing the tracks, the lack of blood...The box. Suddenly, snakes sprung from the box, Mine tensed, expecting something horrible to happen. It took a moment to realize that it had just been one of Shio's prank boxes...Did that me-

"Ahhh!!!" She yelled out suddenly. Quickly diving for the box. She missed it by inches and it shattered on the ground. Suddenly, an angry look took her features, her hair bristling slightly as she glared at Richard. "You dumb dumb dummy! This was Shio's!" She hissed, quickly trying to gather the pieces. Despite her seeming anger, tears were already swimming in her eyes. "This...This was all...y-you can't just break her things. She'll be upset." She began to shakily try to put the broken pieces back together. "What do I do...What do I do?" She began to mutter, a panic slowly growing inside her.

Richard's developed paranoia of danger took him a moment to register that what he had just smashed was a prank toy box. It quickly made him feel mortified, however, and he felt even WORSE when Mine became extremely upset about what he had done. Richard stood there awkwardly for a moment, watching as she cried and tried to put the toy box back together. He raised a hand.

"Oh Padraig, I'm so sorry!" he said in a panicked murmur. "Hang on...if you let me look at it, I can fix it and---"

Richard paused, quickly turning around and then running towards Mine.

"Move!" he shouted.

Richard would quickly pick up Mine as silver darts shot forward and stabbed at the ground.

"Unhand her at once!"

A blunt, but monotone voice echoed from high in the treetops. As Richard looked upward, Cartic marks ready in his hand, he and Mine would see a silhouette standing at the branch of one of the trees. The person in question was a short young woman, paper-white in complexion with silvery white hair short at the back, but tied in braids at the front. Her chinchilla ears were folded forward in anger, and a tail brushed from the behind of a blue cloth skirt. She wore a sleeveless wrap-around robe and long accessory sleeves tied with ribbons at her elbows. Eyes the color of light caramel glared at him.

"Who are you?" Richard demanded. "What do you want?"

From the shadows of the tree, the girl's eyes shone.

"I want you to unhand my betrothed at once," the voice demanded.

"Betrothed?" Richard asked in confusion.

He looked down at Mine and blinked.

I'm pretty sure this girl is underaged...

Mine was INCREDIBLY surprised as Richard dashed towards her, scooping her up and backing away. For a moment, Mine thought he was about to kidnap her. She struggled, trying to worm her way out of his grip.

Of course, Shio's voice froze her in place.

She looked up, wide eyed as she caught sight of her. She let out a small shuddery breath, a small blush managing to still appear on her face at Shio's words. She wiggled further, slipping out of Richard's grip and quickly making her way towards the tree. By the time she got close, tears were already streaming down her face.

"Shio, y-y-you're alive!" She sniffled, holding up her arms, her eyes pleading for the girl to come down. Honestly if she didn't, Mine would climb up herself. "Are you hurt? Was this a prank? That's Richard, he's okay. He
gave me candy. Can you come down? Please? Pretty please?"