Traversing the other side of the river, the two young men and two little animals found a place to camp around an hour later. It was under a massive acacia tree.
Vince gathered dry woods and made a fire while prince Aiji picked yams and ripe bananas.
After roasting the yam, the prince grabbed a burning wood and went to the water. Using his spear, he caught two huge carps that were attracted to the fire. They roasted it too.
It was a long and challenging day. After dinner, they fell asleep.
A fresh, morning breeze blew at Vince's face. It was very refreshing. The sun didn't emerge yet making the sky painted with red and golden hues.
Vince got up after smelling an appetizing aroma.
"You're awake." A gentle voice greeted him. Turning to the side, he saw the handsome face roasting their breakfast. Little Red was eating ripe bananas while Gorgeous was grazing on the side. Wild birds kept singing all over. There were also wild orchids dangling on the tree branches bearing colorful flowers.
"Mmm... It's a beautiful morning!" Vince said, but his eyes lingered to the side where a handsome prince was busy cooking breakfast.
"It was indeed a beautiful morning..."
"Yes. The weather is good today, so the morning is wonderful."
Vince's lips curved up. The morning was indeed beautiful, but in his crooked eyes, someone was more beautiful.
After breakfast, the two gathered their things, ready to set off another journey.
"This side is better than the other. There are no thick bushes and vines." Vince said.
"Yes, it's better here. I just hope we'll be able to reach the sea soon. I want us to get out of this island as soon as possible."
"Prince Aiji, don't worry, we'll be there soon."
Vince assured the prince. He was confident that they would reach the sea soon, there are no other bigger islands in the Philippines except for Luzon and Mindanao. Based on Prince Aiji's dialect and culture, Vince was certain that he is in the Visayas area, so reaching the sea won't take too long.
"I hope so..." The soft voice was hopeful and eager.
They resumed their journey following the water flow on the opposite side, with the prince leading the way as before and Vince with the little horse behind.
"Prince Aiji, do people here have religions?"
While they were hiking in the woods, Vince thought of this question. While looking at the prince's back, a sudden desire to know more about this ancient place came to his senses.
At first, he wasn't curious about this place since he was still adjusting and his emotions weren't stable yet. This place is strange and unbelievable, but after spending more than half a month with Prince Aiji, he wanted to know everything to fully adapt. He had no idea how to come back to the modern world and living with Prince Aiji wasn't bad at all. Well, that was what his distorted mind was telling and his crooked heart said.
Prince Aiji's steps were halted. "What do you mean religions?"
"Ah... I mean beliefs, like believing in a certain God."
"Did you find this word in your dreams too?" The prince curiously asked.
"Ah...yes! I dreamed many things... many things different from what we have now. These dreams are the only things I remember except the things we did and experienced after I woke up."
The prince continued his steps.
"There are many beliefs on this island. In a single tribe, there are countless gods and spirits that people worship, and there is no certain God. People believed in different kinds of spirits, from the spirit of the sun, moon, rivers, caves, trees, even huge boulders, and many others. Some people carved different creatures and worshipped them at home while others went to certain places to worship. A trader told us before that there are also people in the southern islands who worship animals..."
"If there are many beliefs, it might be chaotic. People often fight with others who have different beliefs from theirs, right?"
"No. On our island, people are free to worship what they believe in. They only fight if they have personal interests and grudges to others."
It was surprising for Vince. In the world's history, most famous religions weren't harmonious, some even resulted in a bloody war.
"I guess it's better this way, everyone is free to choose their beliefs."
"Yes, but others went wrong in choosing too. Like the human-eater tribe and the wicked witches. They chose to believe and worship evil powers that harmed the innocents." The prince said.
The two kept on chatting while hiking the woods. Noon came and they stopped to cook their lunch. They roasted purple yams and wild chicken the prince hunted.
They rested for a while after lunch and moved forward again.
"Prince Aiji, do you have your beliefs too?"
Vince was indeed curious. He had bombarded the prince with questions the whole morning but he wasn't done yet.
"You and I decided not to worship anything. Although we have things that help us become stronger, like the cloth that repels the human-eater's evil power that your father left you. We decided to improve our fighting skills, not relying too much on spiritual powers. It's because some beliefs restrict certain things, like those who worship animals cannot eat these animals' meat. Some beliefs will also restrict you from doing the things that you are used to doing. The common thing of these beliefs is that it requires sufficient devotion and therefore consumes much time. That's the reason why we decided to be free people and just focus on enhancing our innate skills. We discovered a few years ago that you were born with natural strength, perhaps you inherited your father's powerful blood, so you kept practicing different fighting skills. Our tribe healer said that my hands are good at treating people so I decided to study different healing herbs. That's the reason why my skills are not as good as yours." Prince Aiji told.
The two enjoyed chatting and didn't notice that the sun was already hiding beyond the horizon.
"Prince Aiji, it will be nightbreak soon."
"Mmm. We need to find a place to rest for the night."
They moved forward to find a safe place, but suddenly, they heard a scream.
The two ran forward and found a young woman drowning in the river.