Aey, with her new friend in her hands, happily walked away; Ari trailed behind the two and strided elegantly in her stilettos. After a while of  Yam urging her to leave, Rolf finally ran after the two moving figures. Yam turned around and entered her house with Bread, who was still whining sadly at the backs of the retreating figures. 

Inside the house, the two waddled over to the kitchen and took a sip of water to quench their thirst. Yam sighed, leaning against her kitchen counter, Bread now yawning at the base of her feet. For the first time in three days, she was alone at last, a loneliness she had sorely missed. It was nice to be alone with only her thoughts and Bread, and being able to take a breath without immediately being bombarded with idiots running around her house was something she hadn’t experienced for ages.

“Well, Bread,” Yam muttered, running a paw through the fox-crow’s silky fur. His ear twitched and his bright purple eyes blinked open, staring up at her expectantly. “What do you say we go get ourselves some more puffballs? Those need harvesting. You up for it?”

Bread nodded eagerly, jumping to his paws and stretching out his legs one by one. Yam led the way out of the house, Bread following at her heels, and hopped over the river to where her puffball fields sat on the other side.

However, their harvesting session was suddenly interrupted by a few familiar faces. Those people were Ari, Aey, Gerald and Rolf. “This is a little awkward but we got lost. We’re not that used to the layout of the forest… So, would you mind telling us how to exit this place?” Ari met Yam’s questioning gaze and spoke out.

“…M’kay, go that way and turn right at the white tree. You should see the town if you walk a little further.”

Pointing towards her left, Yam glanced at the three’s reaction. To the far right was Rolf, who was staring at her like an abandoned puppy. Aey was fiddling with Gerald and Ari was looking in the general direction Yam was pointing at. With a swift bow to show her gratitude, Ari started walking and the other two followed suit. Bread chirped a few noises of sadness towards Yam, who remained stoic. As she was about to continue and harvest mushrooms, the three suddenly waltzed out of the forest from the opposite direction to where they left from. Even to this day, Yam  couldn’t figure out how the three managed to loop around the forest and come back to the river in less than a minute.

“Why… are you here again???” Yam narrowed her eyes at the three, slightly angry but more confused than anything.

“We…. got lost?” Ari answered honestly and blinked at Yam’s unfounded anger. If not for the fact that Yam was fuming, this scene would have appeared comedic to everyone.

“Did you do what I told you to? Turn right at the Lightning-Struck Oak?”

“The…” Aey tilted her head questioningly and Gerald the Rock narrowed its eyes, its feet desperately tangled in Aey’s hair. “Oh, sorry, Gerald.”

“The Lightning-Struck Oak. The white tree. Surely you saw that it’s burnt?”

“No,” Rolf chimed in, eyes wide. “I just thought it was quirky and different.”

Ari suddenly struck a pose, one hand on top of her head and the other at her waist, one of her legs bent at a ninety-degree angle at the knee. “Like me,” she announced, flipping her hair flamboyantly. The other three stared at her for a moment, mouths open in confusion, speechless. “So the tree,” she went on, dropping back to a neutral stance and continuing as if nothing had happened. Yam shook her head and sighed. “It’s been struck by lightning, you said?”

“Yes, but that’s not important,” Yam hissed. “Just turn right there, now go.”

“B-but Yam,” Rolf pleaded, eyes wide and flashing with fear. “Yam- it’s scary in the forest.”

“It is not,” Yam snapped. She glanced from Rolf’s pleading face to Ari’s worried blink to Aey’s indifferent stare and groaned. “Look, I’ll take you all to the town but ONLY if I don’t see any of your faces afterwards.”

Rolf perked up immediately, ears pricked excitedly. The worry also lifted off of Ari’s face and Aey continued to look neutral. If one were to pay attention, they could see Aey patting Gerald in her excitement. 

“Now let’s go. God.”