Parting?
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*Whoosh! *Whoosh!
A gentle wind blew by as Sakura woke up to the sound of the flowing river. She saw a beautiful moon hanging over her head as a man was slowly handling the raft.
The man of course was Walter, the old man. The two children were sleeping in the basket, while Sakura was sitting on a wooden platform made by Walter.
*Yawn!
'That was a good sleep. What's the time?'
'Only ten? Why am I awake now?' Sakura became confused.
'Oh! Yeah, that.'
After Sakura took a bath in the river with the other children, they departed on the raft. However, the journey quickly turned boring as the only thing to do was to see the view. Sakura along with Betty and Roan quickly fell asleep due to boredom.
And since Sakura had fallen asleep mid-day she found herself unable to sleep during the night.
She looked at Walter who had been driving the boat all this time.
'He's a diligent guy.' sakura thought.
'Pretty admirable. He kinda reminds me of my father.' sakura chuckled at the thought.
If she had to describe her father then she would say, A dependable person who can bear the weight of their whole family. Metaphorically, of course.
Her father wasn't the type to talk much. However, he was always there when she needed him.
"Pft!" Sakura chuckled as she remembered a funny thing her father did one time. Which in turn caught the attention of Walter, who was steering the boat.
"Oh! You are awake!" Walter said looking at Sakura.
"Yes, I am. But won't you rest Mister, Walter?" Sakura asked the question that had been bugging her for some time.
"Unfortunately, I can't. At least, not until I can anchor this raft." Walter said as he focused on steering the raft.
"So, why don't you just anchor the raft, now?" Sakura asked in confusion.
Walter shook his head. "It's dangerous to be near the jungle at nighttime."
"Huh?" Sakura became more confused.
"..." Sakura looked behind her but couldn't see anything in the darkness of the forest. She squinted her eyes to see clearly. 'Oh, I see them!' She detected faint rustling in the woods. It was very faint. If she didn't know there were monsters, she would assume it was just the wind.
Sakura realized that monsters were actually something to be cautious of. Until now she had one shot her pray. So, she wasn't really aware of how these monsters acted.
'Did Walter see them beforehand?'
'Is that so? He is kinda incredible, despite being comparably weak.'
A gentle silence took over the atmosphere, only the sound of flowing water could be heard. Sakura looked at the surrounding forest deep in thought.
The moon was somewhat illuminating the river. However the first was dark. She knew there were monsters in that darkness but she still couldn't detect any movements.
'Darkness really plays with your head doesn't it?'
Sakura lay down where she was sleeping and started seeing the starry night sky. The stars were brighter than those of Earth.
'It hasn't been that much time, has it?'
'It's weird. I feel like it's been a long time since I've been home. Is this what people call homesickness?'
< It is.>
Sakura pondered for a long while before she fell asleep near dawn
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As Sakura was asleep Walter kept steering the raft. The forest canopy changed from a wet dense forest to a less dense pine wood forest. Slowly the narrow river started to widen and the river current started to intensify.
At this point, the mountain terrain was nowhere to be seen. Walter kept the raft near the shore so as not to get swept away by the currents.
After a while, they reached a place where many boats and rafts were kept. There were many people near a small wooden harbor.
This was a small village run by fishermen. Fishermen were people who caught small-time monsters and fishes in the river to make a living.
Walter tied the reft to one wooden plank and preceded to wake up the children.
"Urgh! It's morning already? I didn't get enough sleep!" Sakura complained while rubbing her eyes.
"It's time for us to move on foot again," Walter said as he started to pack up all their supplies.
"Again!" Sakura's face fell at the thought of walking in muddy terrain again.
Walter noticed that and chuckled. "Don't worry little ones, we have proper roads this time." He gave a head pat to everyone.
Sakura who had the trauma of walking in the mountains in the rainy season, sighed in relief.
"Phew, I am not going back to those mountains ever again."
"Take this and wear it. Suddenly Walter gave something to Sakura.
"Huh?" Sakura looked at the object and recognized what it was. It was a mask, made of what looked like palm tree leaves.
Sakura looked at Walter with a confused face.
"You should wear that. Or you will attract unwanted attention." Walter said.
Sakura instantly understood that and wore it. The mask covered her whole face and was very uncomfortable. However, it did its work to some degree,,,,,,, ch is covering her face.
After a little struggle of getting off the raft, the group got to see the village. The village was lively. There were many people selling fish and aquatic monsters. Many seemed like merchants buying the fish.
"Wow, there are so many people." Sakura looked around the village and was surprised by the number of people there.
There were many people in what looked like a fish market.
Sakura saw many kinds of fish. She even saw fish that were bigger than her. There was even an octopus that was covered in a word shell and was somehow still moving after its head had been severed.
Walter seemed to have sold some herbs in the village. After that, he talked with a merchant carriage and the carriage agreed to give them a ride. The town wasn't that far away. Just a few hours of the carriage ride.
And so the group's carriage ride began.
The carriage wasn't as slow as Sakura had initially thought. Although it was extremely uncomfortable to ride. The carriages speed could match a running person, who is running moderately.
The scenery also changes quickly. From a forestry terrain to a grassy meadow. The path also became made of bricks.
The carriage ran and ran and eventually, Sakura could see the outline of a human settlement in the distance. There were vast amounts of farmlands. After the farmlands was a town. The town had a small yellow wall surrounding it. Not the huge walls Sakura had seen in movies.
The carriage ran further into the farmlands. Soon they reached a small line that was in front of the entrance, where they seemed to be checking the people entering the town.
Sakura stepped out of the carriage and took a deep breath. 'All right, now it's time to check out the fantasy town.'
"Okay, now let's hand you over to the knights," Walter Said something which made Sakura turn around with a confused face.
"Don't worry, the knights are good people. I am sure They will find your parents soon enough."
At this moment, Sakura remembered that she had introduced herself as a lost child earlier. She realized that she might have to leave the group sooner than she had anticipated, which made her a little sad. However, she already knew that this was a possibility.