"Liz! Liz!?"
Caleb looked around the dense forest in desperation; searching for Lizzy, but she was nowhere to be seen. Caleb slumped back down onto the ground in defeat.
"…I promised her I'd take her with me…I-I promised her!"
Caleb gripped his face. A crushing sense of regret swept over him like a tidal wave.
("I'm not a damn hero I couldn't even save Liz. I'm a failure…")
*rustle*
"…Huh?"
Caleb Heard the sound of leaves rustling emanating from the bushes surrounding the forest- clearing. He felt a chill go down his spine. He was being watched by someone...or something.
"W-Who's there!"
Caleb distanced himself from the bushes, his entire body shaking with fear. A single eye peered out at him from the bushes. Caleb desperately looked around for something to defend himself with. He grabbed a large branch that was laying next to him and gripped it tightly in front of him pointing it toward the bushes.
"D-don't come any closer I-I'm not afraid. I-I will hurt you!"
Caleb gripped the branch in his hands barely able to hold it still. He was paralyzed with fear.
"WoahAAAAH!"
Caleb heard a high-pitched female sounding shriek followed by a loud thump.
"Huh?!"
Caleb turned his head to see a girl with long light pink locks, blue eyes and a big, poofy, frilly, blue medieval-style who appeared to be around the same age as Caleb laying on the floor in front of him.
Caleb felt a sense of relief fill his tense body and he even let out a little chuckle at the absurdity of the situation.
"H-Hey are you al-"
Caleb approached the Girl carefully, trying his best not to frighten her in the midst of what just happened, however, the girl seemed to take this as a threat as she recoiled away from Caleb and started shaking in fear.
"PLEASE DON'T HURT ME I'M SORRY FOR SNEAKING UP ON YOU PLEASE JUST LET ME GO I-"
"Hey I-I'm not going to hurt you, you just scared me is all…"
The girl looked up at Caleb teary-eyed and sobbing. She was clearly quite shaken by the whole ordeal.
"Y-You're not? *sniffle*"
Before Caleb could reassure the girl further, he heard another voice echoing in from deeper in the woods; It sounded like that of a young boy.
"Elizabeth! ELIZABETTTH!"
The voice came closer and closer until a boy with short black hair and blue eyes, who was wearing a blue tunic that also seemed to also be medieval-styled came into view.
"There you are! I told you not to run away like that! because we'd get lost again!"
The boy stopped at the end of the grass clearing in order to catch his breath. He turned to look up at Caleb and the girl named Elizabeth. His eyes filled with a mixture of worry and rage as he saw the condition Elizabeth was in.
"E-Elizabeth are you…crying? Did this boy do something to you!"
The boy waltzed over to Caleb menacingly and violently grabbed him by the collar of his shirt lifting him off his feet slightly. He looked Caleb directly in the eyes with seething rage like a mother bear who just caught a wolf about to hurt her cubs.
"I swear on Exus! If you have hurt Elizabeth I will…"
"Woah Jeez chill I haven't done anything to her!"
"H-He's telling the truth! I-I snuck up on him and startled him…And I thought he was going to get mad and hurt me…But he didn't."
The boy's face instantly turned red after hearing Elizabeth's admission and he let go of Caleb's collar backing away ashamed at what he had just done.
"I-I apologise. Elizabeth has a knack for getting into trouble and scares easily, so when I got here, I thought that you had…hurt her. I apologise for thinking wrong of you!"
"I-I'm also…sorry for startling you…"
Elizabeth stood up and moved next to the boy. They both bowed before Caleb apologetically clearly embarrassed about the whole situation.
"I-It's fine! Really! It was just a mix up that's all!"
Caleb gave a reassuring smile as the two rose back up to their feet, standing up in front of Caleb once again.
"B-But mister?"
"Oh yeah, sorry! The name's Caleb"
"Caleb… why were you lying all by yourself in the middle of the forest a-also it sounded like you were shouting out someone's name…Were you looking for someone?"
Caleb looked at the girl with a troubled and hesitant expression. He didn't know how much he should reveal, obviously he wanted to find Lizzy but he didn't know who these people were, or if they would believe him if he told them where he actually came from.
"Y-yeah I was. Have either of you seen a girl around here? With brown hair and green eyes…her name is Lizzy we…"
("Crap now I got to think of a believable cover story....come on think! think!")
"We…were walking together and then suddenly I just woke up here…"
The two looked at Caleb Puzzled and intrigued. They weren't sure if Caleb was telling the truth or not but decided to trust him for the time being.
"No, I'm sorry neither I nor Elizabeth saw anyone else while we were out here."
"Yeah…I didn't see anyone…Hey, uhm Caleb you said you woke up here do you remember what happened to you or where you came from?"
Caleb looked down defeated. He was starting to wonder if he had truly broken his promise to Lizzy or worse if she had actually died.
("Lizzy I swear I will find you! But what should I tell them…?")
Suddenly a thought came to Caleb's mind
("That's right! Grandma mentioned something about an imperial city…or something?")
"I-I'm from the…Imperial city!"
Elizabeth and the boy looked at each other in disbelief their mouths wide open with shock at what they just heard.
"T-the Imperial city? But that's so far away! how did you end up here then?"
"Yeah, Elizabeth's right! The Imperial city is at least 5600 Iters from Sinestria!"
("Sinestria?! Hold on that's Mum's name! Was she named after a close-by village or something?")
"I don't know how I got here…but one thing I do know is I'm going to find my friend... whatever it takes!"
The two looked at Caleb with a mixture of pity and determination. Elizabeth particularly seemed to be really fired up.
"In that case…We'll help find her as well!"
"Yeah, Elizabeth's right we would be glad to help!"
"Thanks…That means a lot. Oh, by the way, what's your guy's names?"
"Ah sorry forgive my manners. I'm Aegio of Sinestria I am 14 years of age"
"I-I'm Elizabeth of Sinestria. 13 Years of Age"
"My Name's Caleb. I'm 14 from…Oak-Ahem! I mean the Imperial City, Nice to meet you both."
The three smiled at each other sharing a friendly handshake as a symbol of their new friendship.
"Aegio should we head back now? Mother might be worried if I stay out too long!"
"You're right we have been out here for a while…But what About Caleb?"
Elizabeth looked down at the ground conflicted, not knowing what to do, when suddenly a thought crossed her mind.
"Caleb could sleep over at my house! I'm sure mother will understand if I explain it to her! We have guestrooms and It'll only be for a little while anyway until Caleb finds his friend!"
Aegio seemed hesitant at the idea but reluctantly nodded as the three began walking down the winding forest path to the village that lay ahead.