The morning sun shone gaily into Rachel's room. She squinted her sleepy eyes against the bright flare from the sun. Sat on the bed, she smiled and thought of the baby, Ahmed. She rubbed her eyes and jumped off the bed, ready to start for the day. She came out of her den and inhaled the fresh air.
Walking towards the watermill, she grabbed the bucket near the door and brought it along with her to the stream.
While she was washing her face in the stream, the jungle animals greeted the queen of the jungle. Rachel noticed they are in a cheerful mood, just like her.
She grabbed the towel around her neck to wipe her face. Out of a sudden, Luffa, jumped in front of Rachel, splashing water on her to wet her clothes.
Rachel glared at Luffa. He chuckled and jumped behind her to hide. She turned her head to look at Luffa and yelled over her shoulder, "You bloody monkey! I just dry myself up!" She ran to chase the monkey, and the monkey ran for his life, laughing!
Spending a thousand years together, they are very close to each other. They just loved teasing each other! They both stop running and panting.
To punish the monkey, she stood up and instructed the monkey to grab the bucket filled with water and bring it to Asuna. "I will forgive you. Help me to carry this. Let us go to visit Asuna and Ahmed."
Luffa glared at Rachel. Is she serious? The bucket filled with water seemed to be heavier than the petite monkey. Anyway, he couldn't argue with the lady. He could never win him. He grabbed the bucket of water and followed Rachel. "Moa is making food for Asuna and her child."
Rachel laughed. She loved it because Luffa can read her mind well. She was about to ask where Moa is. "I was about to ask where Moa is."
The petite monkey is struggling to carry the heavy bucket. He put the bucket down every few steps, panting and cursing at Rachel. She thought it was funny, turned her face to the other side to laugh and increased the speed of her pace.
Luffa watched her running. He put the bucket down, stood still and yelled, "Rachel! Do you have any idea how heavy this bucket is? Wait for me! Slow down!" She ignored and ran faster. "What a wench! Gah!"
Rachel arrived in the front of Asuna's den. She knocked on the door, but nobody was responding. She could hear the baby crying loudly.
A moment later, Luffa arrived. He put the bucket down to the ground and sighed in exhaustion. Luffa yelled towards the door, "Asuna, we are here to bring you some water!"
The sound of a baby crying is getting louder. Rachel and Luffa looked at each other, wondering where Asuna. Rachel grabbed the doorknob and noticed Asuna did not lock the door. She swung the door open, and they glanced through the den.
Asuna is not in the den, the baby is in the crib, crying. She hastened to the crib to carry the baby. Rachel stared at the baby and said, "The child is hungry and he pooped"
They help the baby clean the poop. Luffa said, "Ugh! How can this tiny creature poop like an elephant!" Luffa looked at Rachel. "I will help to clean this. Could you go get some milk from the wolf mother?"
Rachel nodded her head and ran to the wolves' den to look for some milk to feed the baby. It's not much because the wolves cub just had their milk. She took the milk and walked towards Asuna's den. They feed the child, but the baby is still hungry and crying for more milk.
Luffa scratched his head, "Where is Asuna?" Luffa asked. They looked at one another in confusion and they wondered why she left the child alone, hungry, and crying.
They waited in the den for her. Walking in and out of the den. She still has not come back to her den. Rachel thinks about what Asuna had said earlier, "If something happened to me, please make sure my child never leaves the jungle." Her heartbeat is pumping faster, getting her nervous.
"Luffa, I am worried. Remember? She said it happened to her, we will look after Ahmed and never let him leave the jungle." Rachel said.
At this moment, he got distracted and annoyed with the noise of the baby crying. He could not think of Asuna. Instead, he wants to feed the child. That way, the baby will stop crying.
Luffa stared at Rachel's breast. He figured she has no milk for the child. He shook his head, "I tell you what. I will bring this child to get the monkey mummy to feed him some milk." He carried the baby gently from Rachel and carefully walked out from the den.
"I will go look for her around the jungle." Rachel said. She transformed into a wolf and galloped out from the den, touring around the jungle to find Asuna.
Rachel instructed all the jungle animals to look out for her. The jungle animals got shocked to know Asuna is missing. They became panic, spread the news within the jungle to get everyone in the neighbourhood to help. Snakes crawled out around the trees, birds take flights, cat families galloping around, crocodiles diving in the rivers. But none of them had found her.
They lived with Asuna for over a thousand years. They knew Asuna is not the type of person who will abandon her child. She will not abandon the jungle too.
The tigers informed Moa about Asuna. He jumped out from his den and help to look for her. He bumped into Rachel on the midway and called her, "Rachel! Come here!"
She turned and looked after hearing someone calling her name. She recognized it was Moa's voice. She turned her head, "Moa! Help me find Asuna, please!"
"Of course I will, but If she is in the jungle, it's impossible we can't find her," Moa said in frustration. "Remember, we went to the cave yesterday, and she has gone missing today. We all have our instincts and we felt the same. The cave we went with Asuna had uncanny energy. We should not trust the spider queen."
Rachel looked at Moa, "Shall we go back to the cave and look for her there?".
Moa nodded to agree. They instructed a snake to inform Luffa about them going back to the cave to search for Asuna.
Moa transformed into his true form, a tiger. Both the tiger and wolf galloped towards the cave.
When they arrived at the cave, the appearance changed completely. The cave had beautiful scenery earlier. Now, the cave has turned into a dark, cold, and spooky cave. Solaris and her clans have fled away from the cave.
They transformed back into a human being and collapsed to the ground. Sweats are drenching on their faces and bodies.
"I knew it! Even the river is not here anymore!" Rachel sighed.
Moa found some bloodstain on the ground. He sniffed. "Can you sniff at the blood and tell me if you recognized it?" Moa asked.
Rachel pinched the mud with blood on the ground to sniff it. "Asuna! That's her blood." She became nervous.
They walked into the cave to look for her. After wandering for several hours, nobody is responding. They returned to the jungle.
Moa pat on Rachel's shoulder to comfort her. They travelled back to the jungle in despair. They visit Luffa's den. Luffa greeted them and noticed both of them were looking angry.
"We need to find out where the insect's realm is. We saw Asuna's blood on the ground of the cave." Moa said.
Luffa collapsed to the ground, looking at the baby. "Meanwhile, we need to look after the child now and not let him out from the jungle since that is Asuna's request."
Moa said, "I agreed. We should not give up. Let me know the schedule when the tigress should look after the baby."
Luffa made a schedule. They take a turn to look after the child.
They plan to attack the insect realm, but they have no clue where the insects are hiding.
The jungle has turned gloomy ever since Asuna has gone missing. The animals looked after Ahmed like their own children. Mother Nature's prediction is always right. They are getting worried that Ahmed will turn into a demon god in the future. They vowed to watch him grow healthy and never allow him to leave the jungle.
They prayed for the safety of Asuna and hoped for her to return to the jungle soon. Rachel and Moa from time to time leave the jungle to look out for Asuna. They instructed the animals to find out where the insects are hiding, and they prepared to go for war against the insect clans.