Lost Yet Again

Kies immediately began to head back to the hut after Tornon left. He wanted someone where he could train in privacy and the arena was not the place to do that. It was definitely a nice place to train in since it was big and open, but Kies didn't want random demons to come and challenge him. He tried to follow the map back but the drawing was terrible. It was a bunch of shapes that vaguely outlined the area with a scribbly line navigating around them. He had no idea who made the map but he had a feeling that it was probably Tornon considering that he was the one that gave it to him.

Kies folded up the map and put it away. It was probably faster to find someone and ask them for directions compared to trying to figure out the drawings. 'Maybe I should try to get some new clothes while I'm at it.' Kies looked at what he was currently wearing. His clothes were still torn and damaged. He needed some new clothes if possible. All the demons here were much bigger than Kies and he wasn't sure if he would fit in their clothes.

Kies wandered around for a bit, exploring the place. He was right outside the arena and found barely anything around it. There was a thin dirt path that stretched into a forest. Kies was pretty sure that it leads to the demon village and was also pretty sure that it wasn't a good idea to take it, considering that most of the demons there didn't seem like they liked him.

'Well, since the village is that way then the hut should be in this direction.' Kies looked at the trees that were a little to the right of the road. If he had remembered right, earlier today he went slightly to the left and found the demon village. It would be logical for him to angle himself slightly to the right this time if he wanted to get back.

Kies walked toward the direction that he believed the hut was and found himself in a dense part of the forest. The trees were tall and very packed together with each other, blocking out the sunlight and making the place quite dark. He did some exploring out of curiosity and lost his sense of direction after he made a few turns.

'Now what?' Kies thought to himself. He was lost and had no idea which way he was supposed to go anymore. From his past experience of getting lost in a forest, Kies decided to choose a random direction and walk in a straight line and he would eventually find his way out. The only issue with this is that he had no idea where he would end up, but he didn't have a choice if he wanted to get out.

After a few minutes of walking, Kies noticed that the trees around him were getting taller and denser the further he went.

"Who's there!?" a voice suddenly shouted from behind Kies, giving him a fright. He turned around and saw something fly at his face.

Kies ducked and saw something black fly above him. He then felt something hit his stomach and stumbled backward, grabbing the trunk of a nearby tree to prevent himself from falling.

"Oh wait, it's you," said the voice. Kies looked at who had attacked him and saw that it was Ammine.

"Why did you attack me before figuring out who I am?" Kies asked.

"That's because no one ever comes here."

"Then why are you-" Kies saw something move and his eyes shifted over to Ammine's hand. She was holding an owl by what looked like its neck. Its eyes were wide open and it was flapping its wings, struggling to break free of her grasp. "Oh..."

"What do you mean by oh? Finish what you were asking."

"Nevermind."

"No, finish what you were asking," Ammine demanded. Kies stared at Ammine blankly. He was amazed by how stubborn she was. "Just spit it out already."

"Uh..." Kies glanced at the owl in Ammine's hands. Its eyes were staring right at him, almost as if it were pleading for him to save it. "Sorry but I don't think I can help you," Kies mumbled to himself.

"I can't hear what you're saying, speak louder."

"I was going to ask why you were here," Kies finally said even though he knew the answer already.

"Oh, I'm getting rid of these pests." Ammine held up the owl. Its eyes were still fixed on Kies, begging him to save it.

"I see," said Kies while avoiding eye contact with the owl. He felt guilty, but he was pretty sure that there was nothing that he could do or say to have Ammine let it go.

"Why are you here?" Ammine asked.

"I got lost trying to find the way back to the hut," Kies told her.

"In that case, it's in that direction." Ammine pointed somewhere to the left of her. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going back to what I was doing."

"Wait, can you please not kill the owls," Kies asked her before she turned around. He had to try and if that wasn't possible, he wanted to at least free the one that she was holding right now.

"Killing them? Why would I do that? I'm just moving them to some other place away from here since they're too noisy during the night."

"Oh." Kies let out a deep breath in relief and then left in the direction, said bye to her, and left in the direction that she had pointed at.

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