***
With dagger drawn, Sim rushed towards Hans. The months of torture, the loss of profits, and the amount of danger Hans had put Sim through was fresh in his mind. He was ready to end the conflict with one blow. 'A good stab to the beastkin's neck would definitely kill him. Serves him right for acting like he abandoned me only to follow and steal my treasure.' he thought to himself reassuring his action was correct.
In the distance, Hans was still trying to walk out of the herb garden. His eyes were red from the fumes and his vision had blurred as tears began to form in his eyes. Not only was his vision effected, so was his sense of smell as his nostrils began to drip mucous.
In his blurred vision, he could see Sim running towards him from the distance. 'Why's he running?' Hans didn't quite understand as he had just saved his student from being trapped by the intoxicating scent of the herb garden. From his point of view it was quite weird. He continued to walk and was a few steps himself from exiting the garden.
A few seconds later, Hans made it out of the garden. Instantly, the intense effects of the flowers and herbs faded and his vision began to return and his nose began to clear.
In a split moment, Hans fur stood on end and his instincts kicked in. 'Something's wrong' Hans thought, but he couldn't put his finger to it. He looked at his student who was running towards him. Sweat had mixed with Sim's raw skin and it had began to drip down into onto his clothes and the forest floor. Sim how was now a few meters away from Hans.
As Sim ran, rays of sunlight reflected off Sim's blade as he moved. Hans saw this and reacted instantly. Without taking a second to think or to yell for Sim to stop his advance, Hans instead ran towards Sim instead. Using his arm, he slammed into Sims chest. Caught off-guard by the sudden closing of distance between the two and the impact, Sim couldn't react in time. The air was knocked out of his lungs as he landed on the floor once more.
Hans didn't give Sim time to get up as he reached out with his claws and pinned down Sim, knocking his dagger away from him in the process.
"What are you doing!?" Hans yelled from his position above Sims body. Spit flew out of his mouth as he shouted. His jaws were clenched, but his shiny sharp teeth were clearly visible. He was furious.
Hans didn't understand why Sim had turned to attack him. He knew himself that as soon as he had left the herb garden, his symptoms had immediately disappeared. Sim should had recovered even faster.
Hans maintained his grip on Sim as Sim struggled to free himself. The sturdy and large beastkin on top of him weighted quite a bit and it was tough for Sim to move at all. Clenching his teeth, Sim struggled more. He saw his dagger lying on the ground in the distance. He knew that his only chance was to grab it and kill Hans before Hans discovered his motive. Soon Sim stopped his struggle and began talking.
"I thought I saw... there was a monster behind you... I was trying to protect you." Sim spoke through short breathes as he was both in pain and could barely breathe under Hans who had pinned him to the floor.
"There was no monster. You know I have a superb sense of smell and hearing. I would have known before you did. Don't lie to me kid. Why did you try to attack me?"
"No... I'm serious... I thought I saw movement from within the garden..."
Hans didn't believe a single word of Sim's. He maintained in his position and didn't allow for Sim to move. Sim struggled to get free some more. He tried kicking his legs into Hans's body. He tried twisting his upper body in an attempt to throw off Hans. Ultimately, everything he tried had failed and he stopped struggling.
'Maybe if I told him part of the truth. I could trick him?' Sim thought to himself.
"Okay, here's the truth... When I saw you in the garden, I thought you were trying to steal my herbs and flowers. You know I worked hard to find these on my own. I had found them first, and I waited for hours in observation to see if I could safely collect them. When I saw that all my hard work was falling into your hands. I couldn't control myself. You know that I'm impulsive right? This was one of my impulses."
"But why attack me?"
"It was in the heat of the moment. You threw me out of the garden first."
Hans paused. Sim's explanation seemed reasonable to him. But he stayed vigilant just as much as he would in any dangerous situation. Instead of letting Sim go, he continued to firmly pin Sim's body down.
"You idiot. I was trying to save you. You in you stupor rushed into that garden by yourself and became intoxicated with the smell. The garden was THE TRAP! If you walked in, you would have fallen to its intoxicating smells and would have spent a long time there until you fell over and died of hunger and thirst."
"I understand my mistake. Now... could you let me go?"
Hans paused for a bit and thought about the situation. Sim seemed to be sincere, but he couldn't quite trust him anymore. The trust that Hans had developed in Sim had been broken.
"Why didn't you trust in me? Why as your first reaction that I was stealing from you." Hans continued as he wanted answers to doubts.
"Why don't... don't you trust in me? For once you... you should have trusted in my decision to find the treasure I felt from my... sixth sense. Look at the expansive garden... in front of us. And look, it's not even protected... by a strong monster or beast..."
'Maybe I was too harsh on the kid. Maybe I was at fault as well.' Hans thought to himself. He slowly released his grip on Sim and stood up.
"Get up Sim. How about we just both forget about this situation. Let's just act as in nothing had happened."
Turning back towards the garden, Hans turned gestured with his body toward the garden. Hans decided to be the better man and try to mend the tear that had formed between him and Sim.
"Now that we know the only danger are the herbs themselves, we will do was you wanted and collect them."
Hans tried to act mature in this situation. He was reluctant to forgive Sim so easily, but he knew it wouldn't do him any good if they were on odds with each other; especially, since danger may just be around the corner and he may need Sim's help during his journey back to the guild. But by no means would he offer Sim help in getting up. This was his warning to Sim.
Sim got up from his position. He new that he had lost he element of surprise now. 'Hans should still be on high alert.' he thought to himself. He stood and brushed off the dirt that had thoroughly covered his body. Slowly, he went up to pick up his dagger that was a few meters away from him and returned it to his sheathe. 'I'll find another opportunity to get him. I really shouldn't underestimate the dumb mutts reflexes.'
Hans had his back turned to Sim now and appeared to slowly walk towards the garden once more. Although he looked like he was acting normal, he was still on high alert. All his senses were focused on Sim's actions. When he heard Sim sheathe his blade, Hans sighed internally. 'I guess he really did act on his impulses.'
After Sim had sheathed his dagger, he took out a bottle of ointment from one of his pockets. Luckily it had not shattered during the whole ordeal. He rubbed the ointment into his wounds and his wounds began to slowly heal. Putting the ointment back into his pocket, Sim limped to catch up with Hans who was now at the edge of the garden.
Although his heart was still pounding from his ability to sense treasure and the pull he felt was still as strong as before, he remained in control of his body this time. Since Hans was here he knew he had to remain in control.
Hans stared at Sim and pointed to the garden.
"Look at what you had done. You really tore up the place. You destroyed almost a quarter of the herbs and flowers."
Sim looked at the garden. Like what Hans described, the plants there were ruined. The amount of money that was lost was very apparent to him as he noticed it as well. 'I don't remember doing all this! I don't even remember stepping into the garden. Hans... did Hans do this to blame it on me?' Sim took Hans's words in with a lot of bias. 'I'll definitely kill you.'
Instead of saying what he thought, Sim tried to fake his emotions. He looked down towards his feet and didn't say a word in response to Hans.
Seeing how Sim looked, he decided to stop tearing at his student with his words. Instead he patted Sim on the back.
"Look it's alright. We all make mistakes. There's still three quarters of the garden that still have flowers and herbs remaining in them. Let's collect what we can to fill our packs and come back for the rest of them in the future. By that time, some of them would have grown back."
And so, the two began to slowly work their way from the edge of the garden towards the center. This time, they made sure to stay away from the areas where the herbs were dense. They picked the herbs gently and diligently, making sure each one was picked the correct way with the utmost care. There were many herbs that Sim didn't recognize in the garden and he knew that he shouldn't pick them. He left the unidentifiable ones to Hans instead who was more experienced. Hans who knew how to pick them would fulfill his duty as a mentor. He explained their characteristics, their market prices and most importantly how they should be picked.
Hours passed by as they picked. Although the scene was currently peaceful, the two were still on high alert. especially Hans. They knew that a beast could come at any moment and they would need to either fight it or run away.
***