"All the years I was on the streets," Peter admitted as he looked at the beautiful scenery the forest had to offer, "I never really took into account the beauty of nature."
Luke creased his brow, turning to look at Peter. "Wait, you were on the streets?"
"Yeah," Peter nodded, "I think it's been about 7 years now."
Alice turned to him. "So you've been on the streets since you were just 5? That's terrible!"
Peter stopped. "How'd you know I was almost 12?"
"Just guessed since you look around my age."
Skylar frowned. "What does Dueglestein want with a few 12-year-olds? It's not like we'd hurt anyone!"
Luke stopped, clearing his throat before giving Skylar a look. Skylar looked confused at first, then realized something, her expression becoming humbler. "Oh...right. Once again, I'm sorry you were-"
"Not who you expected, I know." Luke finished. "You don't have to apologize."
Skylar's cheeks flushed, embarrassed. "Just...forget it ever happened, okay?"
"Okay."
Alice and Peter exchanged a look, and Peter shrugged, like, I don't know.
Peter glanced behind him, looking to see what Helen thought of this. Only...Helen wasn't there.
"Guys, wait."
Everyone turned and looked at him, confused.
"Where's Helen?" he asked them.
Everyone looked at each other for a moment, before they all said something to themselves.
"Oh no," Luke muttered.
"She followed him, didn't she?" Skylar questioned.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Peter slapped his hand to his forehead.
"Do you think she's going to be alright?" Alice asked, concerned.
"Let's go," Luke nodded at them, and they all began to turn back, in the direction Richard and Helen must've gone.
"Helen!" Luke shouted as they ran.
"Helen!" Peter echoed.
"Helen?"
"Helen!"
"Helen!"
There was a crash in the bushes and everyone stopped. Luke drew his sword. Skylar took out her bow and nocked an arrow. Peter and Alice, who didn't have weapons, just stood there frozen in fear.
Helen and Richard came walking out of the bushes, talking to each other awkwardly. When Helen saw their weapons drawn, she held up her arms in surrender.
"Woah, it's just us."
"Yeah, it's not like we did anything important, just fought off a ton of goblins," Richard rolled his eyes, but a wry smile began to creep onto his face.
"You mean I fought off all the goblins," Helen corrected, "You were too busy screaming like a girl."
"Was not."
"Was too!" Helen said with a smile.
"Wait, did you guys say goblins?" Alice's dark eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Peter remembered now what his mother had told him about those creatures. She had warned him to never wander off too far and to always keep his eyes and ears ready.
Skylar looked up at the sky behind the leaves. "It's getting dark," she stated, putting her arrow back in its quiver, but keeping her bow at the ready, "We should make camp."
Peter gathered some oak wood, not remembering where he'd learned that it would be great for a fire and wouldn't attract smoke, but knowing the fact all the same.
Skylar found some herbs, plants, and fruit to eat.
Luke rummaged in his pockets and pulled out a small sack, opening it as a crooked smile appeared on his face. "I forgot I had these here," he said to himself as he pulled out a few red spheres. Then he set the tomatoes on a nearby log. Rummaging some more, he found a pouch of dried up meat.
"How can you have so much food?" Helen asked in wonder, her eyes wide as she observed the meal.
"That's barely a snack!" Richard complained, whom was sitting in the dark, a little farther away from the group.
Helen dropped her eyes, "I haven't had that much to eat ever," she said sadly.
Peter understood how she felt. He hadn't had much meat in years. His stomach growled hungrily.
"Helen..." he said quietly. She perked up, looking at him with a small smile.
"What is it, Peter?" she cocked her head to the side, resembling something like a puppy.
"You can have my share of jerky." Peter offered, smiling a little.
"Really?" Helen's smile grew, her dark blue eyes alight with delight, then her face fell, suddenly sad. "I mean...you should have the jerky. You look just as skinny as I do."
"I'll be fine," Peter insisted, "I've had less to eat before. You should have the jerky."
"Okay..." Helen said unsurely, "Only if you're fine with it."
"Dig in," Peter nodded, and Helen's smile returned.
...
When Skylar came back with more fruit, the jerky and the tomatoes had been passed around to everybody.
"I don't like tomatoes," Richard complained as Luke offered them to him.
"Then you don't have any," Luke took the tomatoes back, then asked, "Does anybody else not like tomatoes?"
"I have not tried these tomatoes," Skylar said thoughtfully.
"Then you are missing out!" Luke exclaimed as he crookedly smiled. He handed a tomato to Skylar.
She chewed on it thoughtfully, then nodded, saying, "These are good."
Peter ate one of his tomatoes as well. It was good, but his stomach rumbled again as Luke gave Helen her two helpings of jerky. Peter swallowed the saliva in his mouth, saying it was better for Helen to have the jerky.
He turned as he saw Alice eyeing Helen as well, then she bit her lip and looked away.
"What is it?" he asked her.
"I can't eat meat," she stated.
"Why not?"
"Because it is against my beliefs," Alice said flatly, as if she would not deliberate further.
"Right," Richard nodded, hungrily chewing his share of jerky. "You Thuron are pacifists and vegetarians. You don't like the idea of 'hurting anything', God forbid."
Alice's right eye twitched, as she bit the inside of her lip, then released a small sigh.
"Yes, Richard, we are against violence and harming any living creature. Each living thing has a purpose in this world, and is pure. Therefore, we must respect it. So I will not carry a weapon or eat meat, as it is a direct violation of our beliefs. Thank you, Richard, for summing it up for everybody."
"You're welcome," Richard said with his mouth full, "My father told me all about you people and your disgusting beliefs."
"Hate it all you want, Richard," Alice said calmly, "I will stay away from the darkness and hate of violence, while you will drown in the claws of war and destruction. The whole reason why wars are started are from disagreements between two parties, so I will agree with you, Richard, as to not start violence. Yes, my religion is strict and can sometimes annoy outsiders, as you 5 may have to accommodate for some of my beliefs, like my vegetarianism and pacifism. But I will try not to become a burden, and support this group as much as possible. Thank you all."
There was a long silence, as each person thought of what Alice had said.
Breaking the silence, Skylar muttered, "We should get some sleep."
...
In the middle of the night, Peter heard a rustling of leaves.
Could the Dueglesteiners have found them? Peter felt his wrists, which were filled with red bruises from the ropes. When he scanned the area, though, he didn’t see a group of Dueglesteiners about to arrest them, he saw Richard.
He sat up a bit and looked as Richard quietly walked around the camp, looking for the pouch that held the jerky. He hungrily ripped into it and started eating.
When Peter realized what Richard was doing, he shouted, “Hey!”
Richard whipped around a scared look on his face.
Everyone began to stir, wondering why there was yelling.
“What?” asked a sleepy Luke.
Peter was seething. Food was a very important thing, especially to someone who had been starving for years, eating some things no one would think of touching. And yet here was a boy with probably unlimited choices of food, eating their last supplies like a slob.
Finally, he calmed down enough to say, “This pig is eating the last of our jerky!”
Richard still had his eyes wide, but his mouth was full of jerky when he tried to explain himself.
Skylar sat up and popped her knuckles, grabbing her bo staff. “You thief!” she shouted, “He must be a spy from the Dueglesteiners, he’s been mean to all of us, and now he’s trying to starve us! I mean, look at him! He looks exactly like a Dueglesteiner.”
Everyone did look now at Richard’s black hair and dark eyes. He did kind of look like one of them. Plus there was no Dueglesteiner who didn’t have dark hair and dark eyes. Just like how there was no Thuron who didn’t have dark skin.
Richard shook his head, looking around at the angry faces. Everyone looked like they were about to kick him out and turn him over to the Dueglesteiners. All except Helen.
She said, “Maybe he was just hungry,”
“Yeah,” Alice scoffed, “we’re all hungry.”
Richard, who had finally swallowed his food, started to protest. “If you had eaten the jerky I wouldn’t have finished it!”
“I can’t eat meat!” she shot back.
“Well, maybe you should!”
“It’s against my beliefs!”
“Yeah,” Peter agreed, “don’t question her beliefs!”
Alice gave him a small smile, then turned her attention back to Richard. “If you hadn’t turned back, we wouldn’t have had to detour and could’ve made better time!”
Richard looked offended. “I was going back to my father’s house!”
“To hell with your father’s house,” Skylar butted in, “for all I know this ‘father’ of yours doesn’t exist!”
“Do not insult my father!” Richard shot back.
“I can do as I please,” Skylar said as she glared at him. Soon there was yelling with everyone. Alice and Skylar were shouting at Richard, who was shouting back at them. Helen was trying to defend Richard, which caused Peter to start yelling at her.
“QUIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEET!” came Luke’s shout. Everyone was quiet. They’d never heard such an outburst come from the soft-spoken boy. He hadn’t said anything through their argument with Richard. Luke himself looked surprised at how loud he’d screamed at them.
“Now,” Luke started, although his voice cracked a little. Richard gave a snort that sounded like a stifled laugh. Luke gave him a stern look, and Richard cleared his throat awkwardly and kicked at some dirt on the ground.
“Now,” Luke tried again, this time without a voice crack, “I’d like to not get killed by some Dueglesteiners or anything else in this godforsaken forest. So if any of you would prefer that not to happen, I’d suggest we quiet down. We’ll settle this matter in the morning. I’d like to get some sleep. For now,” Luke said as he took his belt off, buckled it to the pouch of food, and threw it over the branch of a nearby tree. “Nobody gets the food. Got it?”
Everyone got it. Richard still looked guilty and mad, but he didn’t complain.
Everyone went back to their respective areas and didn’t talk to each other.
Eventually, Peter drifted off again…
252Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyogViwRGk
