"You ready to go?"
In the crisp morning wind, with the sun tilted down on them, while the village stood behind them. Callie, Robin and Fishy all waited by the village's borders, about to start their journey to the city of Va.
"I think so…" Robin said as she held her sister's hand, pulling her out of the village.
"We wish you safe travels on your journey." The elder said as he handed the two young girls a basket of apples for them to take with them.
"I shall do my best to keep this city under control and have everything exactly the same for when you come back!" Ziu saluted. His enthusiasm came out as the nerves started to take over his mind.
"I'm sure you'll be fine." Fishy said, "I'll be back!"
The village waved as the three of them walked into the forest. The journey to Va was going to be long and tiring. Without horses the three of them would need to walk for many miles, spanning over several days.
The forest was as dry as it always was. It rained very little around this area and was constantly baking in the sun. But despite the lack of water, the trees never died. This was actually due to the Destroyer nest that was next to the forest. When the villagers first went mining they discovered an underwater oasis. Filled with crystals and tree routes dipping in from up above, savouring every drop of the golden oasis underneath.
"It's a nice little forest," Fishy tried to make conversation with the sun poking his eyes as it squirmed through the gaps in the shaking leaves.
"It's like every other forest we've walked through." Robin didn't hold back with her tongue.
"Right…" Fishy attempted to keep the flow going but couldn't. He walked in front of Robin and Callie, holding their one bag that had very little clothing and food that they had always carried with them. He gently looked behind him at the sister's tight grip on each other's hands. They walked with their steps in sync, with nothing but silence. It could only make Fishy wonder if this was how they always walked.
"So why did you want to walk so much? You could have gotten to your dad much quicker with a horse."
"We prefer to walk. We've been doing it for so long already that we just enjoy taking in the scenery."
"What about your dad? What's he like?"
Callie was about to answer Fishy's question. But before she even said the first word, Robin interrupted,
"He's strong. He is far stronger than anyone I've seen. He was in Va to meet the king. Said he had some business."
"Ugh… I remember meeting King Dean." Fishy's mood turned sour at the memories of the king that wanted to steal his land. "But I guess your dad must be important if he is meeting with the king."
"Very important," Callie spoke without Robin jumping in. Robin almost slamming Callie's mouth back shut worried she'd say something she shouldn't.
"Is that right... I guess I'll get to meet him soon."
They continued walking as silence washed over them again. Callie turned to Robin and squeezed her hand tighter, as she kept her mouth shut.
"Do you want to rest?" Robin whispered to Callie who was tugging at Robin's arm.
"We can turn around."
"No, we can't. I'm sorry… there's no other way."
The two of them stopped whispering as Robin sped up, dragging Callie along with her. Robin took hold of Fishy's hand. He made it his mission not to react and not get insulted for being embarrassed, but his worries went away when Callie grabbed his other hand. Letting go from her sister, and holding onto Fishy.
"Everything ok?" Fishy could only ask.
"Everything is fine… just nervous…" Robin spoke. Her heart was beating out of her chest, as was Callie's. The two of them didn't want to go to Va, but with every step, they were getting closer and closer. They had to keep walking.
They walked throughout the day and stopped for lunch, but quickly continued. Eventually, the sun started to fall. As they were about to set up camp, the sound of footsteps echoed in the forest. Rustling leaves being crushed alerted them that they were not alone.
"Stay behind me." Fishy carefully approached the noise with silent steps. He brushed passed the branches and got closer into the darkness of the forest. As it got darker, he noticed torches were set up along with several tents in the middle of a glade.
"A camp?" Fishy's eyes looked around at the people that seemed to be unarmed. They all sat around a fire and spoke to each, eventually, Fishy could only step forward and make himself known.
They all turned their faces to look at the three new arrivals, but none of them said anything, except for one person. A strange man who was unlike the others, his face and body were that of a dog but the way he moved was like that of a human.
"What do we have here, woof?" The demi-human spoke. "Are you guys also adventurers?"
Callie and Robin stood behind Fishy as the demi-human approached. His rough dogface would scare most, but his coarse voice was surprisingly friendly.
"Don't be alarmed, woof. The name's Kane, nice to meet ya!"
"Even in this world furries exist..." Fishy said to himself, walking forward with caution.
"We don't bite! Hahahaha…"
Fishy, Robin and Callie all laughed at the strange attempt at humour. As Kane approached to shake Fishy's hand he noticed the two behind him step out, getting up in their faces to smell them.
"You two smell familiar? Have I met you two before?"
"I don't think so." Robin protected Callie behind her.
"You're right! I'm sure two humans would remember a demi-human like me. Come on, stay the night with us! We'll make sure to protect you!"
"Something doesn't seem right." Lilith, the young vampire that lives in Fishy's shadow, spoke to him through thought communication. "This guy gives me a bad feeling. Something about this tent makes me wonder if it was truly random that we came across them.��
"Well, it's not like we have a choice." Fishy responded. "I wish as much as you that we could avoid others, but it appears we went wrong somewhere."