Chapter 24

Somewhere deep in the heart of a forest:

A single being, wearing a leather hood made from the hid of anime, carefully hidden among the forest floor, silently waiting for something to appear. In front of the person, a small patch of leaves and bushes began to come to life. They watched carefully as a single brown rabbit carefully revealed itself. It had smelled the mixture of different berries and nuts laid out before it and couldn't help to investigate. After a few moments of listening to its surroundings and watching the slightest movement, the rabbit slowly began to approach and enjoy its free meal. It occasionally stopped to listen for any suspicious sounds of predators.

"The bait has been taken." The figure thought as their eyes observed the small creature. They stood there as silently and motionless as possible against the shrubs and bushes to give the illusion that they were one with the plants. Their breathing was slow and paced to that of the gentle breeze pushing through the tree. While their hands rested on their bow and even pulled back their bowstring while adjusting to line up their shot, they did so slow enough that a butterfly was resting on her hand through the process of setting up.

Just as the hunter was about to take the shot, the sound of a stick falling caused the rabbit to raise its head and become alert. It quickly flicked its ears back and forth and stayed motionless for a few minutes watching for any sense of danger. The hunter's body tensed ever so slightly but stayed perfectly still. A small bead of sweat started to come down their face as they were unsure if the rabbit noticed them or not. To their relief, the rabbit quickly went back to their meal.

The moment the rabbit went back to their food, the hunter released their arrow.

The arrow spiraled and hit the rabbit in its stomach with enough force, nearly pinning it to the tree. It began to twitch and try to fight for its life, yet the cold hand of fate soothed the creature and guided it to a quick passing. The hunter let out a sigh as the morning steam left their mouth. They slowly made their way to collect their prize, all the while keeping aware of their movements. As they looked over the lifeless creature, they bowed their head for a moment of prayer for the animal and for the meal it was going to provide to them.

After removing the rabbit from the tree, they removed their hood to show their long black hair and their mask to allow fresh air to fill their lungs while allowing the morning light to hit their skin. A long sigh left their mouth as their green eyes looked down at the berries covered in the rabbit's blood.

It was a small sacrifice for a decent meal for the day. This was how Martha's day usually went when she was tasked to hunt down creatures independently.

Martha remembered Elizabeth tasking her to hunt down a certain creature as a way to prove to Lucas that they were real. She didn't question it but knew it was a difficult task to locate one of them. Yet, it gave her a chance to be alone for a moment with nature. It was relaxing.

After gathering her breakfast along with a few edible plants, and some grubs to add a little variety to her meal, Martha made her way back to her make-shift camp she had for the night. She had a decent fire going as she began to skin the rabbit to cook it by removing the fur properly and the organs she honestly didn't want to eat at the moment. She stabbed the rabbit over a stick and placed it over the flame to slow cook it. She then wiped her hands in a nearby creek and removed her jacket as the woods started to warm up from the sunlight.

Martha silently sat on a stump as she pulled out a notebook that held a map of her location along with a lot of marked-off areas. It's been almost a week or so, and she still hasn't made any progress locating the elusive cryptic. She still had a full day or two before she had to move on to another location, but this area might take a lot longer. She then looked over at her rabbit, noticing some of its juice drops into the fire.

"It was almost ready." She thought to herself as her focus went back to her map. With most of the location drawing dead in, she needed to follow some of their signs.

After mapping her progress from the other day, Martha then looked down at her own feet. They were covered in bandages to keep her from stepping on anything too sharp and to at least keep them warm. She hated the feel of shoes. They felt so restricting, and being barefoot also reminded her of how she started.

As she let out another sigh, her mind began to remember a time before everything became complicated. A time before wars, fighting Demi-Humans, Humans and her own family. She closed her eyes for a moment and could almost hear the peaceful cheers of people from a time long ago. The smell of the food faintly filled her nose. A small smile came across her face as she remembered that time faintly. For a moment, she felt at peace with everything and almost forgot her own mission.

A sudden snap of a twig came from behind her and dragged her back from that moment. Martha quickly grabbed her Mother's bow and arrow and quickly turned around to face whoever it was. To her surprise, it was just a bear. A grizzly bear, to be more precise.

"The rabbit." Martha thought to herself as she figured the cooking rabbit was what attracted the bear. She lowered her bow as she figured she could scare it away and avoid any issue. So she stood up tall and raised both hands out, and let out a deep roar. However, instead of becoming intimidated, the bear rose to its hind legs and let a roar back at her.

Martha then realized she confused the wrong type of bear, and now she had to deal with this. Letting out a sigh, she took a stepped forward. She hadn't fought one of these in a long while.

As she stepped forward, her green aura began to pour from her body. Still, the bear moved forward on its hind legs, trying to swipe at the girl with its right paw. Martha quickly ducked under the bear's paw. She quickly delivered two shots to the bear's stomach with her own strength. This caused the bear to stumble back as it felt the two hits. It got back on all fours and began to charge at the girl trying to bite at her. However, Martha leaped over the bear and used one of the trees to keep her balanced as she looked down at the creature.

She watched as it looked around, visibly confused about where she went. The bear then looked at where the rabbit was and continued to smell it. Martha let out another sigh as she hopped down from the tree, grabbing the bear's attention again. The bear quickly tried to stand its ground again and tried to charge at the girl once more. Martha took a deep breath as her eyes turned a solid green that dilated. Her aura then took the form of a giant green beast before the bear.

The bear came to an uncomfortable halt as it felt its senses tell it of the danger that is this girl. It didn't dare get any closer; instead, it began to roar and growl at her. It was fearful for some reason and knew this was a battle not worth having. So it decided to turn away and leave. Martha watched as the bear left and waited until it was fully out of her vision. She then let out a sigh as she realized she had to pack up and move to another area.

"At least I still can eat my food," Martha said out loud as her aura faded and her eyes went back to normal. It was about time to get a move on anyway, and she only had all day to make ground before having to find a new place to set up for the night.

"Better now than later," Martha thought as she began to pick up her things.

Back at the Homes' House.

Elizabeth begrudgingly opened the fridge door to grab the carton of orange juice. Her head was killing her, and besides feeling like she got hit by a truck, she still felt like shit. So, she poured herself a tall glass of juice while she thought about her and Amay's conversations the other day. She then felt a gentle tap on her arm as she was zoning out.

"I'm sorry, Lulu, but I'm in no mood to train you today." She said, letting out a sigh.

"Wrong one," Amay said, looking up at Elizabeth and nervously moved around.

The moment she said this, Elizabeth quickly turned her head and looked down at her. For a moment, she was unsure of what was going to happen or what Amay was going to say.

"Amay, about yesterday I-" Elizabeth was about to say, but Amay cut her off.

"No, Lizzy. I'm.....sorry. I should not have said those hurtful things to you. I didn't mean to hurt you." Amay said, feeling tears began to fill her eyes again. Before she could say anything else, Elizabeth placed a gentle hand on her head.

"Knock, Knock?" Elizabeth said with a small warm smile.

"If you say interrupting cow, I will hit you," Amay told her before softly giggling. "But who's there?"

"Two idiots," Elizabeth said with a tear in her eye.

"Two idiots who?" Amay asked.

"I don't know. Just hug me, you idiot." Elizabeth said, bending down to hug her short friend. Amay happily gave in to her friend's hug, and she heard Elizabeth whisper in her ear.

"I'm sorry as well. I know sorry doesn't cover all those years, but I don't want you to feel like I don't want you around. I promise you we will figure this out together." Elizabeth said, holding her friend tightly.

"That's all I wanted," Amay whispered, tightening her hug as well. Part of her felt like their bridge was fixed, but deep down, she couldn't let go of what she did to her. However, she didn't care at this moment at this exact time as she had her friend back. That's all she wanted.

Lucas walked into the kitchen to see his Mom and Amay hugging. A small smile came across his face seeing that they had worked it out. Yet, his mind was still busy trying to process last night. He let out a sigh as he pushed those thoughts back as he needed to get started on training.