A girl with a bun of tied brown hair had a hard time going through the forest, where ferns and vines blocked her way. She pressed on and kept ending with branches whipping her back and hands. Her determination was greater than a few scratches and bruises.
She's almost out when she gets startled by a rustling bush. She stood still and looked around with her frightened brown eyes that scanned the area extensively. Upon locating the bush, the girl walked backwards without disturbing it further.
Tilly was doing well until she stepped on a branch. The creaking sound it produced while breaking agitated the creature behind the thick foliage. She could only let out a dry laugh as she stepped back with her palms, signaling to get down, trying to calm the beast, but the boar wouldn't take it.
It charged straight at her. Its eyes had a red glint on them that caused all the more fear building up in the girl's heart. She would've frozen stiff waiting for the tusks to impale her, but at the last moment, a certain someone's nonchalant face came to mind.
The girl gritted her teeth and forced herself to turn around. Once confirming a firm grip on the ground, she ran with all her might without looking back. She could hear the wild boar's short gruff getting closer.
She couldn't run faster, and the hog gained up on her. It almost drove the tusks in and rip her apart. A thud from behind had the boar squeal as it flew to the side. Dust rose and created a blurry cloud of the creature's body getting dragged in the dirt.
The girl narrowed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief when she saw the boar's shadow immobile. She waited for a few moments to make sure that it wouldn't come after her again.
It didn't take long for Tilly to realize. 'I'm not alone…'
Pretending to be ignorant, the girl turned around to leave. Upon turning, she bumped into someone. Her sudden shriek surprised the bird population, making them flap their wings and fly off in different directions.
In front of her stood a girl with long crimson hair, who put her fingers in her ears to cover the shriek that almost busted her eardrums. With a calm but annoyed voice, she uttered. "You are loud…"
Once she knew she was no longer in danger, Tilly laughed it off. "Sorry about that. You surprised me…"
Tilly took her time to look at the girl in front of her, mesmerized by her beauty. Especially her emerald eyes that sparkled with excitement after her successful kill. She had a quiver strapped to her waist and a bow in hand. From the looks of it, worn from passaging time.
Maybe a family member passed it down to down to her or she got it second handed. She wore the clothes of a commoner like her, making Tilly feel at ease being close to her. A simple long white shirt with no sleeves, and trousers several sizes bigger. Unlike Tilly, she didn't wear a dress.
The red-haired woman smiled. "You are naïve…"
Without giving time to Tilly to respond, she grabbed and pulled her cheeks. "Got you!"
Tilly didn't know how to react, and she simply closed her eyes after flinching. A few seconds passed, but nothing happened. The girl opened one eye discreetly. She saw the green-eyed girl chuckling.
She released Tilly and started laughing.
Tilly pouted and rubbed her reddened cheeks. "You are mean…"
The red-haired girl rubbed the tears from her eyes from laughing too hard and apologized. "I'm sorry, teasing you seemed fun…"
"Lir says the same thing…"
"Your boyfriend?"
Tilly blushed and shook her head. It was as if her hands became separate entities with the way she was shaking them in denial. "No, no… nothing like that! Lir, is..."
The girl with the bun, after explaining her relationship with Lir, sighed from exhaustion. She politely bowed and with a smile introduced herself. "My name is Tilly. Nice to meet you and thank you for saving me earlier…"
The red-haired girl put her hand on Tilly's shoulder and sighed. "My arrow hit the boar. Saving you was a coincidence…"
When she saw Tilly was about to burst into tears, she chuckled and patted her head. "Joke! I'm joking!"
When they both calmed down, she said in a soft-spoken voice. "I'm Elena."
Saying nothing more, Elena approached the boar, took out a knife and skinned the beast in an amazing speed. She pulled out the tusks, washed them with water from her flask, and returned to Tilly. "Here…"
Tilly took the tusks, confused. "What am I supposed to do with these?"
Elena, taken aback by the question she leaned towards her ear and whispered. "You can sell them. You can get a hefty amount from these things!"
Tilly stepped back and put the tusks in Elena's hand. "I can't accept this…"
Elena pondered for a while and raised her shirt high enough to reveal her belly. Tilly blushed when her eyes fell on Elena's pale skin, but that's not the only thing she saw. Elena had a few rows of tusks wrapped around her waist she could easily conceal with her oversized shirt.
Then, once again, the red-haired beauty handed the two expensive ivory materials back to Tilly's hand and smiled with sincerity. "I have enough, and you helped bring it within range, so you can have them!"
"T-Thank you, but… Where can I sell this?"
"Oh, there are many vendors throughout the region, but the most decent ones are in the Royal Capital!"
Tilly's eyes sparkled. She grabbed Elena's hands and exclaimed excitedly. "I'm on my way there now…"
Elena, though reluctant at first, sighed after seeing the twinkling brown eyes of the freckled girl in front of her. She measured the weight of her own materials. "I guess I could exchange mine as well…"
After the ecstatic outburst of Tilly, along with Elena, they travelled together all the way to the Royal Capital. Tilly felt more comfortable in the presence of the strong Elena.
From time to time, she would look at her and blush as soon as their eyes met. And each time it would remind her of Lir waiting back home, something which was thrilling and sad at the same time since he wasn't with her.
Her daydreaming reached its end when Elena's soft voice reached her ears. "We are here! The Royal Capital!"