Rose watched as the man began to trace the groups tracks through the forest.

She stayed close, scared that anything could jump out at any moment. Knowing now that those people were bandits, Rose remembered the oracle lady having mentioned them.

It wasn’t clear to her what they wanted, but knowing things could have turned out for the worse filled her with anxiety.

As they traversed through the snow, she tug to the coat that she was given. Even though it did smell funny, the cold was starting to get to her—so the warmth it provided was more important.

Often, the pink haired man would check on her, and even help her since the snow made it tiring to walk. But it seemed the snow made it easier for him to track where the bandits came from, at least until more snow began to cover it up the further they travelled.

“It should be around here,” the man said as he looked beyond the trees.

A few minutes later, they had found the bandits camp. There was a tent and a place that looked like the base for a camp fire, but covered in snow. As the man began to search around the camp, Rose stood still—cold—and not sure what to do to help.

After he’d finished rummaging through the few sacks and crates that were there, he turned his attention to the tent. He peeked his head into it, and then a few seconds later peeked back out.

“Come. It’s warmer inside,” he said, as he held out his hand to Rose.

Rose grabbed it without much hesitation, and walked inside. It was quite spacious, seeing how it probably had to fit the people they came across on the road. Once she found a place to sit, the pink haired man began to retreat back outside.

But before leaving, he looked back at her. “It seems they were out hunting since there’s no food here. For now, you can help yourself to what’s in the pouch I gave you. I’m going to look around the camp and gather some wood for a fire.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you,” she said.

Rose was then left to be inside the tent by herself. When she opened the pouch, she saw that not only was there food but also a flask to drink from. However, she noticed there wouldn’t be enough left for the man to have. She did a double take on the contents of the bag—but ultimately decided that if he said it was okay, then it was okay.

After eating and drinking what was inside, Rose quietly sat as she could hear the pink haired man rummaging outside. Her thoughts were alternating between three things.

What is this place? Who exactly is that man? And what happened to the people on the road?

Eventually, her train of thought was broken when the man entered into the tent again. He walked up and grabbed the pouch on the floor next to her. After looking inside, he then took out the flask and shook it.

“Oh. You had all of it,” he said.

Rose eyes widened. She couldn’t believe it. He was actually expecting her to save some for him. Now she felt like she had just taken his kindness for granted.

“I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you wanted—I mean of course you would want some but I just wasn’t thinking…I’m-I’m so sorry,” Rose said.

The man did a slight chuckle. “It’s okay. I did not mean it in a bad way. You don’t need to worry about me, but I do wish I had more to give you.”

He then put down the pouch and walked toward the entrance.

“We might have to stay here overnight. Help should come sooner than later, but we will need to find food since we could very well be here awhile.”

He then lifted the bow and arrow he had brought. “Let’s do a little hunting.”

Rose was simply dumbfounded by the man’s kindness.

Time passed and they were now walking around the area, looking for small animals nearby. If she had a choice, Rose would of preferred not to be apart of this hunt. She didn’t think that she could handle seeing anything impaled by an arrow, and then freely eat it later. But seeing how it wouldn’t be safe staying at the camp alone, there wasn’t much of a choice.

However—while they travelled—Rose noticed the man was wearing a circlet on his head. She had not noticed earlier because of his long hair, and wasn’t paying much attention due to how sudden everything had happened. It looked extremely fancy, and most interestingly was that there was a heart shaped jewel at the front.

“Look. We’ve found something,” he suddenly said.

When Rose looked, there was a rabbit a few distance away sitting in the snow. It looked so Innocent and harmless that she couldn’t help but feel bad.

The man started to draw his bow. “The Oracle won’t like someone hunting so close to the sanctuary, but I’m sure we will be forgiven given our circumstance—”

But, Rose sneezed—causing the rabbit to hop away.

The man slowly looked at Rose.

Rose slowly looked at the man. “S…Sorry.”

“No need to apologise. It’s cold after all,” the man said. “Lets hurry and follow it so we can return to the camp sooner.”

Rose nodded, and they carefully followed the direction in which the rabbit fled.

When they had finally found it, Rose made sure to prepare to cover her mouth just in case. As the man drew his bow once more—but this time all the way—Rose couldn’t help but be impressed by how confident his form was. When she was at the archery tryouts, she had to re-adjust herself many times just to achieve a somewhat suitable form. However, the man seemed to only do it in a single swift motion. Sabrina’s demonstrations were impressive, but there was something different about this mans aura.

Mesmerised by this, Rose had forgotten what exactly he intended to do with such a tool.

With his aim now steady, he let go and swiftly shot the arrow.

Rose couldn’t help but follow the path of which the arrow flew. But by the end of it’s journey, she was now covering her eyes—remembering why it had been shot in the first place. The rabbit was now still, with the white snow around it turning into a shade of pink.

“Oh no,” she said, with her eyes still covered.

“Sorry,” the man said. “Just know that if not us, then another predator would eventually take our place.”

He then began to walk toward it. “Come. Stay behind me.”

Rose and the man walked through the snow to retrieve the rabbit. But, something unexpected happened.

A wolf suddenly ran up and picked up the rabbit in it’s mouth. It growled and glared at Rose, but eventually switched to the man as he stood in front of her. There was a stare down, as the man and wolf looked at each other.

Then, the atmosphere began to feel unsettling. Rose suddenly felt like something dangerous was nearby—but for some reason—it didn’t feel like it was the wolf.

Soon, the wolf seemed to flee out of fear of something, but with the rabbit still in it’s mouth.

The man then looked at Rose. “As I said. There’s always another predator. Well, it’s getting dark. I feel our luck may be better in the morning.”

Rose nodded and they began to walk back.