Chapter 102 Things To Bear

One thing sometimes inevitably led to the other, and this new situation at hand was something that Theodore did not find himself pleased by. He had been waiting for Lukas and Chaerin.

His foot tapped lightly on the ground as he counted the minutes. About this time, the Forest Dwellers should have come back by now and so he wasn't stressed out when he saw a silhouette of someone coming from a certain direction.

Until the said silhouette collapsed onto the ground.

Theodore's eyes widened in alarm and he knew better than to approach the body. But it was one of the people from earlier–the brown-haired young man with tusks. He hadn't even gotten to know the name of the guy but the boy was gone in a snap.

It was time for him to make his escape, but also warn the two not to come down.

"Lukas–"

He started to call out but behind him something struck him in a flash, he found himself in the constricted darkness, squeezing him tightly enough to crush his body and then he was gone.

The mist was enough to dull his senses–or maybe it was the fact that he had mostly dealt with other things. The air was hard to breathe in and his vision also gave way at the same time.

It was a disappointing way to go.

***

Lukas could have done several things right now as he realized that he and his group were being chosen to interfere for the Forest Dwellers–but he did not blow up. There was no use in getting angry or panicking.

"Can we meet with the rest of my people first? Then we'll discuss what we can do with this Ursa business." Lukas said.

"Vulpine, lead the way."

Lukas and Chaerin chose to stay close together, hand in hand and neither of them chose to mention Theodore at the moment. The most important thing right now was making sure that the rest were okay.

"Is there really no way to improve my vision?" Lukas muttered as he tried to focus on the woman in front of them. Vulpine moved slowly enough for them to follow, but that was not enough to satisfy him.

[Mists of the Veil Forest's Obscurity Levels Are Terribly High]

"I knew that." Lukas muttered underneath his breath, and soon received a squeeze from Chaerin. She gave him a comforting look and that calmed him down a little, but he was curious.

And unlike a certain stuck up deer guy, Vulpine seemed a little more willing to talk.

"It is hard to see, isn't it?" Vulpine laughed and then hopped a little. "Root beneath our feet. Careful not to trip."

"So it's bad for you like us?" Lukas raised a brow. "Or is it easier since you've lived in these conditions?"

Vulpine coughed, and looked around–but then shrugged. "I am sure that you know that there are other senses besides vision, right? We're good at hearing things moving or even rustling, believe it or not."

"And what about the roots then?" Lukas continued. "That doesn't make a sound, does it."

"Well, that's…" Vulpine turned to the two of them and smiled widely. "That's a bit of a secret for us folks."

"Which is an incredible thing, especially knowing that you're putting outsiders at risk for this Ursa thing." Chaerin rolled her eyes. "If we're going to be helping you guys, then the less secrets between us? The better."

Vulpine turned sourly at Chaerin, but then looked at the two of them and shrugged.

"Fine. I don't think there's much to be gleaned if you're incapable of learning it–but the forest speaks."

"The forest speaks?" Chaerin looked distrustful.

"So communing with the forest is how you're able to navigate it." Lukas nodded. Now, that actually made more sense than all of them having superior vision than him. It was something that eased him a little, but that didn't solve his problem.

"It's not something you can learn easily–we've lived here all of our life and not everyone knows it well enough by heart." Vulpine sighed. "But we make do–"

"Lukas!" Stacy called out.

Lukas blinked and then realized that they were in another clearing. Similar to before, there were ropes in trees and it made him realize that most if not everything was done up in the trees.

When they reached up, there were several hammocks and people were being tended to everywhere. It wasn't Alexei who seemed injured–if anything, others seemed to be in worse conditions.

"This is…" Lukas started.

"You're the guy with Stacy!" a black-haired child suddenly ran towards him. She had rabbit ears and was dressed in plain clothes. "How are you alive? Didn't you guys meet the scary–"

Vulpine covered the child's mouth with a tight smile. She looked like a big sister at that moment, and even threw a begrudged and respectful look at Stacy.

"Sorry, she's a handful." Vulpine said.

"That's alright. Kids are…" Lukas glanced at the small child and grimaced. "Kids."

As much as he wanted to call them cute and adorable, he had to say that he was no expert at dealing with them and it was a contrast to Chaerin who bent down and offered a hand. "My name's Chaerin. What were you saying?"

Vulpine blinked at the treatment.

Lukas on the other hand cleared his throat and looked at Stacy. She seemed more okay than not, and that was a relief. The same applied to Alexei too who was actually eating some berries from a bowl.

The guy was nuts in his own way.

"–and can swallow you whole if he wanted to!" the child exclaimed.

"So, the situation here is actually difficult, Stacy." Lukas chose to approach her and give her a rundown. "We're actually supposed to–"

"These people here were injured by their enemies." Stacy glanced over her shoulder. "Some kind of terrible demihuman who hibernates and then goes on a killing spree when she wakes up. Got some of her own followers too, they say."

Lukas blinked.

Some people were less secretive than others it seems.