The Rabbit Is Still In Her Palm

Mari shuffled some dirt into the puddle and thought that it would solve the problem like it would for an ordinary puddle.

"Grah-" the liquid sounded.

The puddle on the floor made a sound that seemed unhappy and as if it had its own consciousness.

"You've got to be kidding me." Said Mari.

"Is there some sort of magic behind all this mess?" Asked Mari.

The rabbit was still resting in her palm and did not make any effort to change the situation.

The puddle grew slightly as Mari shuffled some dirt into it.

"Okay, I see what's going on here. It's absorbing the nearby nature elements. Is this the disease I saw onto the trees and foliage earlier? If that's the case then these villagers are in trouble." Thought Mari.

In the second of thought a loud ladylike scream can be head from the breeze besides Mari.

"I have to move now!" Thought Mari.

She held the rabbit in her hand and rushed off towards the scream, the same area that the berry pickers were originally.

"Who are you?" A feminine voice asked.

Mari was still shrouded in the foliage of the forest so she thought the lady couldn't have noticed her yet.

A sudden emergence of a deep and scratchy voice appeared responding to the lady.

"We're from a nearby village. Your friends asked for help and told us about the others out here that are still looking for berries. We can help. Let's go to our village." Said the stranger.

"Okay, but you didn't say who you are." Said the lady challenging the stranger.

Mari was caught in the middle and wondered if the scratchy voiced stranger was part of the bad situation that Vola brought up earlier.

"My name is Hurok and my partner here is Lan. Like I said earlier, we're here to help you girls meet up with your friends who travelled to our village." Said Huri who was the stranger that scared the lady.

"Hmm, well if you say there's a village that's willing to help out my friends and I then we can take a look. Are you willing to trade?" Asked the lady.

Mari was dumbfounded "how can someone trust strangers so suddenly?" She thought.

"Well I guess I'm not one to say anything. I do have a random rabbit that looked fluffy and cute but I don't know if this disease here would cause problems down the road- wait let me focus on the unlucky lady." Thought Mari.

"Yes. It's funny, your friend also brought trading up as soon as we helped her up from a puddle of mud." Said Hurok.

"Well I don't doubt your story, we do have some clumsy ladies in our party. Okay, please take me to my friends." Said the unknown lady.

Mari was still shrouded in the foliage nearby and couldn't make out the appearance from both parties but could sense the danger emitting from the guy names Hurok. This situation didn't sit well with her so she decided to follow them in the foliage nearby.

Through the forest there was many puddles of what Mari saw earlier. In each one she didn't sense a single shred of danger but that's what scared her the most. It was the sense of nothings that kept her on her guard. Nearby the puddles she ran across was large amounts of dead bushes and trees that seemed to have absorbed the strange liquid.

"It looks like this is the reason I was sent into this illusion. This is my trial, right? I have to remove these strange puddles and stop the natural elements from dying off." Thought Mari.

"Yes, general candidate. This is the main source of your trial. Please may I remind you that the ladies in front of you are soon going to meet an untimely situation. I would rather you interfere for my sake." Said Vola through thought communication.

Mari had kept a tab on the party that travelled besides her, they were heading for a small village down the side of the lake. It seemed that there was two villages inside this illusion. To Mari she thought that this was not by happenstance. It could mean danger and Vola was right to request Mari to interfere.

A loud cry was heard as the party made it into one of the village houses. The two strangers walked out and this time Mari was able to see who was who.

It was clear who Hurok and Lan were. Hurok had the voice of a man but the other person never talked. Hurok was tall and had a strong build. His attire was not too noteworthy besides the cut sleeves to make room for his muscles.

Lan was a woman, because of this Mari thought it would be possible for a fragile and lost lady to trust a couple of strangers. Lan was fragile herself. She wore a brown hood that covered her facial features but it was clear that it was a woman from her bust and body shape.

The two strangers walked away from the house that erupted from a large cry and made way to another nearby house. This house they walked towards was much larger and seemed to contain the majority of the villagers because as they opened the door for Hurok and Lan Mari was able to see a large gathering of people.

"I can help them now or see about the situation first. I can always rescue them afterwards. I just need to remember not to bring out my sword from its sheath." Thought Mari.

Mari sneaked out of the foliage and crept through the village making sure that she had not alarmed any security but it seemed like al the villagers were inside being part of the meeting.

"Hahaha- They asked to trade our berries with us!" Said Hurok.

The villagers all laughed and emitted a strong and recognizable energy. Mari knew this well it was the energy of those who are about to commit an unforgiving crime.