Sana had trouble sleeping, she kept thinking about what her mother told her. She never even thought about questioning her feelings before.
All throughout 'breakfast' Sana didn't say a word, lost in her thoughts. Thankfully, whenever she was overcome with worry, she could look at her mother, who calmed her down with a comforting smile.
About two hours into their continued journey along the river, Sana finally asked, "What about Father? Does he know?"
Aria looked over and met her daughter's eyes. "Your father knows about me and my family. I don't think he ever considered the possibility. Despite everything, your father is quite the idealist. We don't have to tell him anything," she continued after a short pause, "but I don't think anything will change if he knows. Still, the choice is yours."
"I don't know," Sana exclaimed, looking at the ground in front of her. "I just... don't know how I'm supposed to feel." She wasn't used to feeling so uncertain, since she was always extremely confident in herself.
She was startled by a hand patting her head and looked up, seeing her mother look into her eyes intensely, "You're not 'supposed' to feel anything. Feelings are complicated and not something you can control. What we do have control over is how we act on those feelings."
After a few seconds, Sana firmed her expression and said, "Okay, I'll tell Father when we get back. And I'll try to keep my feelings to myself."
"Hey," her mother interjected, "You'll still be able to talk to me or your father. We'll always be there for you." She hugged her daughter and kissed her on the top of her head.
The heavy conversation was over, and the two women got back to watching the forest around them.
At the end of the 'day' they camped at the riverside again. Sana was a lot more talkative than the last time, asking about stories from the guards. They were a lot more accommodating since the bandit attack, so they eagerly told various tales, each more grandiose than the other.
When they were all gathered around the fire, the caravan leader clapped his hands to get attention. "Tomorrow, we will cross the most dangerous section of the road, so there will be no rest until we are out of the section again."
He continued, looking in Sana's direction, "The upcoming section is right between two major spirit beast territories. Normally, the water is a sort of neutral area, but unexpected circumstances are not uncommon. The trip will probably take about eighteen to twenty hours of nonstop walking, so we will take a very short break every two hours. Now get a good rest."
Like the leader said, the next 'day' they packed their stuff and went on the road. The guards were more focused than before but we're trying to stay relaxed for the long journey ahead. The thing making Sana the most nervous on the other hand was her mother. Aria was looking around very carefully, in contrast to the almost casual way she did so far. She was keeping her hand close to the spear on her back and was looking deep into the forest.
Two hours later, they stopped and rested for about fifteen minutes before continuing. After three more rests and another thirty minutes in, her mother's head whipped to the front and looked into the distance, across the river, with a frown.
A minute later, an order to calmly walk forward and not panic was passed along. Sana saw the reason why. Soon after, she could see a huge white deer on the opposite side of the river, drinking from it. Behind it, she could see more of them, dozens of them. Some were drinking from the river, like the first, others lying on the ground, looking around.
They were split into three groups. The first consisted of smaller, probably young, beasts with snow-white fur in the middle of the herd, protected by the other beasts. The second group's beasts were larger and had transparent, almost glass-like antlers. They were in the majority, with the third group consisting of only four beasts. Those were even larger, with huge intricate antlers.
The spirit beasts were either ignoring the caravan or looking lazily in their direction, content to simply let it pass. Sana turned to her mother and saw her looking at the back of the herd. Sana looked as well but didn't see anything at first except a huge dark mound in the shadow of the forest. She examined the mound again and her face went slack in astonishment, it wasn't a mound at all; it was a huge spirit beast, easily twice as tall as even the largest of the other beasts.
Almost as if it could feel her gaze the mound shifted and a huge head gaze in her direction. At first she thought the beast didn't have antlers like the others but then she saw a slight distortion in the air above its head. The antlers were almost invisible.
"Just walk calmly," she heard her mother say, "They'll ignore us, and we'll ignore them. Deer-type spirit beasts are proud but not overly aggressive if you don't enter their territory. Even then, they will let you off if you quickly leave again.
"The big one is especially dangerous. A Deer King, if I'm not mistaken. And a powerful one at that," she ended with an excited tone in her voice. Sana saw her shaking her head and calming her breathing before turning away and continuing along the road.
Aria turned her head and, noticing Sana's curious gaze, said, "See, you're not alone in your situation. But I have a mission, and no matter how much I want to fight with it, I know I can't afford to get tangled with an opponent at the Martial King level. I don't let my Bloodlust control me; I simply use it to become stronger."
Sana did feel better knowing she wasn't alone. Knowing her mother would be there for her and help her if she just asked.
They continued along the road, feeling relieved when they left the spirit beasts behind them. Still, they had a long way left to go.