Chapter 55 Lucia's side
Lucia was worried about where Aleshia went and began to panic. However, she knew that staying near the ruin's entrance was her best bet for survival. Lucia believed Aleshia was exploring the area for threats and would be back soon. Lucia patiently waited for Aleshia to return. While doing so, she soon noticed the different colors in the world, where it had only been dull and dark in the ruin. Outside, there were many other colors to see and explore. Lucia now understood Aleshia's sentiment and agreed with it.
Just as Lucia was standing near the ruin's entrance, she heard sounds of fighting coming from the forest. She wanted to find out what was causing it, but she was worried that she might miss Aleshia if she left without warning. As the fighting intensified, Lucia couldn't remain still. She was pondering whether or not she should depart when she heard the cry of a beast, which echoed throughout the forest. Lucia hoped that Aleshia would return soon.
Somewhere in the forest, a pack of twenty wolves was near a water stream for a drink. Suddenly, they heard one of their pack members crying out for help. The wolf howled in distress, signaling that it was in danger and a human was involved. Some within the group of twenty wolves became enraged upon realizing that one of their own was facing death. But others had calmer minds. Even so, they all abandoned their leisure and rushed to the wolf's location. Despite their efforts, they were unable to save it from being slain. Some of The elder wolves tried to locate the human responsible for the attack, while the younger wolves mourned the loss of their companion. The rest of the wolves left the younger ones to grieve and began preparations to honor the fallen wolf and send it off into the afterlife.
After the young wolves finished mourning, the pack used their power over nature to let the earth take in the fallen wolf's body, allowing it to return to the earth's cycle. Once the ceremony finished, the wolves prayed for their fallen kin. The pack's tracking and scouting wolves explored the area and found footprints that they believed belonged to the human who had killed their pack member. After sharing their findings with the pack, the group journeyed through the forest, following the prints to a clearing. As they gazed at the open area, the wolves found something unexpected: a single peculiar witch hat.