The forest was a whole ecosystem with different animals and plants. The predatory animals lived mostly in burrows or caves, where they slept all day after the nightly fight for territory and prey. Herbivores, on the other hand, tried to wait out the nocturnal chaos in their habitats near lakes and streams, but were able to keep their species alive by carrying out their activities during the day.
Of course, carnivores used to roam around lakes, but they found that as soon as they did, the vegetation became more abundant and food scarce. The plant-eating animals made the forest more passable and provided food for the predators. So animals that were relatively intelligent took over territories around bodies of water to control the amount of their future prey, but because of this there were nightly scuffles between them and other predators who had no territory in which to maintain such a "pasture".
There were also differences between the plants, for some were predators, while others needed only soil, water and sunlight to grow. There were no regularities in their behaviour, for even carnivorous vegetation had only the rudiments of reason, conditioned by reflexes to external stimuli. There was the flycatcher, for example, who shrank his trap when insects and spiders brushed his hair. They were the reason the spiders couldn't take over the whole forest, even though they had their webs so they could always find a way to satisfy their hunger.
So Daniel spent his time quietly observing his surroundings, while in the distance Melissa finished her swim. Melissa had had time during her swim to wash her dress, which had been torn to shreds below her knees. She hadn't thought about drying her clothes, so she wrapped herself in the cloak Daniel had given her last night and never taken back because he'd made her a new one out of rabbit fur and leather.
She walked towards where her guard had disappeared, her wet dress in her hands and a cape on. It looked pretty funny because she was writhing so much, holding the edges of the cape together with both hands while one hand still had the dress in it.
Daniel started to laugh so hard as he watched this scene that his displeasure with her immediately began to melt away. It's just that the girl had checked all her clothes and equipment many times before the missions, so the chances of something coming undone were minimal.
"Hey, I need a place to dry my dress. And don't stare at me, I've been told to stay away from people like you!" Melissa was embarrassed by his mischievous look, cringing and remembering what her family had told her about all sorts of strange people. Only she hadn't realised that it wasn't a mischievous look, but rather a mocking one.
"What are you thinking!!! If you want to stay away, then go where you want, but I'm going to the lake!" Daniel decided not to bother with her strange thoughts, he didn't really want to know what was going on in the little girl's head. The important thing was that she listened to him, albeit with mixed success and pretentious behaviour.
Daniel finally reached the lake and got into the water, undressing and leaving his clothes on the shore, not letting his guard down. But mostly against the possible antics of the little girl, whom he himself found too mischievous at times, so he didn't rule out the possibility of the clothes being stolen while he was swimming. When he had settled down to wash himself, he still hadn't noticed the girl. The boy quickly went to the clothes and began to wash them in water with homemade soap made from plants. After cleaning the clothes, the dagger came next. It was his main weapon, but from cutting flesh and moving quickly through the forest, it was covered in jagged edges and blood stains.