The smell of smoke lingered in the forest after the rain extinguished the fire. Bluey watched Sable scavenge through the rubbles of the cottage for surviving remains of her home. Nothing appeared to be left that was untainted by the fire. Wood had turned all to black, the interior foundation of her home. Her cottage had transformed to ancient ruins covered by black soot. The precious origami animals she had made with her grandmother no longer hung on the ceiling that existed; they had long turned to ash. Sable pushed past a pile of wood with a foot when a jingle caught her ear.

Beneath the pile of wood was a tiny silver bell sitting on top of ash. Sable gingerly picked it up and blew the ash off the bell. Her eyes moistened as she recalled the school of origami fishes she made with her grandmother. They added tiny bells to the fishes as finishing touches to complete the chime. As a child, she loved hearing the bells and watching the fishes twirl as a breeze kissed them from an open window. The tiny silver bell was now the only survivor from the fire.

Sighing, Sable placed the bell inside her leather belt pouch. In the back of the cottage, the door hung loosely on what was left of the wooden frames. The door led to the garden where she buried her grandmother. A persistent regret passed through her stomach for not visiting her grave first. The garden now was destroyed, littered by dead flowers on bare soil stripped of grasses. The black skeleton trees surrounded the garden like a dark cemetery.

Bluey cautiously entered the garden and stood by Sable. The ranger buried her grandmother under the elder tree where her grandmother had instructed. The elder tree represented life and death; its roots weaving endlessly the life cycle underground. But the elder tree, once thick with luscious black berries, was now tarnished where her grandmother's spirit flourished within the tree.

Sable's eyes fell on the withered elder tree. 

I am sorry I could not protect the Tameka Forest like you had. If only I can be in two forests at once.

If she had never left the Tameka Forest, she would had known that Queen Fajra had issued an order to destroy half of her home. But if she did stay behind, she would had never met Bluey. The Ajar Forest would be destroyed by fur traders slaughtering and kidnapping the animals of the forest. The spirit of Nature had drawn her to the Ajar Forest for a reason—to protect it. But it costed the Tameka Forest.

The most I can do is help you heal the Tameka Forest, Sable thought with a weak smile. She touched the thin bark of the elder tree which left black ash on her fingers. 

The bark may be damaged, but maybe the roots are still strong. I will need to give it water.

A broken clay pot was found buried in the remnants of her home. It could still hold a little water, so Sable set off toward the river flowing east of her home where it emptied out to the Oculis Sea. The river was carrying half-shriveled leaves that were floating like tiny boats that had survived from the burning canopies. The alacat padded behind her, sniffing the transformed forest after the fire. The forest, stripped bare of shrubbery and foliage, could no longer give protection to small animals and grew quiet without birds.

As Sable bent down to her knees to dip the fragmented clay pot into the water, a figure caught her eye across the river. Round copper eye peered back at Sable; they belonged to a large feline that resembled Bluey. The lone feline had a spotted coat like that of an alacat's, but its ears were tipped with black tuffs of fur and extra fur that grew downward from its cheeks like beards. Compared to an alacat, the mysterious feline had more fur that appeared to make it look bigger.

Sable gazed at the beautiful alacat-like animal. She had never seen that kind of cat in her life. What was it? Has it always been in the Tameka Forest? The ranger turned to Bluey, wondering if the alacat spotted the feline across the river. But to Sable's surprise, the alacat was no longer by her side.

"Bluey?" Sable called out with panic, looking to all corners of her direction. Where was she? She was just by her side a minute ago. The feline across the river had suddenly disappeared.

"You there," a voice called out, making the ranger flinch.

Sable faced a tall stern soldier with curly brown hair tied into a ponytail. Green eyes penetrated her gaze, filled with anger. Surrounding him were other soldiers, equally hostile in their positions.

"Who…. are you?" Sable asked. The soldiers were dressed in similar armor, blue and gold colors, that reminded her of the knightess. They must had been her soldiers, but what did they want from her?

The man smirked at her. "My name is Troy, soldier of Queen Fajra. You are under arrest for being responsible for poisoning Knightess Mei. Where is the cat?"

"Cat?" Sable stared hard at him with confusion. She assumed that Knightess Mei was the woman whom rescued her. "She is poisoned?"

"Your wild cat bit her, and now Knightess Mei is dying in her bed from the venom. Where is it?"

"I—" I don't know. The knightess was dying? Sable realized the moment when she would mention Bluey, they would know she was somewhere in the forest. "She's dead," Sable answered immediately.

Troy stared hard at her. "She's dead?" His soldiers looked at each other with surprise.

Sable let her face grow solemn, filling her eyes with tears. "Yes, she died from the fire your men started." 

The hard composure released from Troy's smooth complexion. "That is good news then," he replied carelessly. A smile tugged in the corner of his lips as he watched the ranger wince at him. "The cat is no longer a threat, but you are still held responsible for the crime."

"My alacat does not have venom," Sable retorted with a scowl.

"Then what explains for Knightess Mei's poison?"

"I don't know," Sable replied, "but I know a strong herb that can heal poison."

Arching his thick eyebrows, Troy glanced among his soldiers. He returned his attention back to Sable. "Lead us to it, and the grave of your cat."

Sable flinched at the last words. Without hesitation, she led the soldiers eastward of the river away from where Bluey could possibly be. Troy and his soldiers kept a good eye on her, assuming that the ranger would try to escape. Sable prayed hard in her mind that they would not come across Bluey. Wherever Bluey was, she hoped she was safe and far away from them.

The ranger scanned the ground for heklock, according to her memory where they would grow in patches eastward of the river. They were tubular plants, easily missed for grass until their thorny stems were felt. The root of heklock were used to heal venomous animal bites. Sable's grandmother taught her to use it sparingly for they were also serious side effects that came with using it. Only in small doses seeped in boiling hot water should be used to treat venom. It was a powerful herb but potentially toxic itself.

Despite the fire, the heklock should been protected since the roots reached deep into the ground. It would be hard to retrieve it without proper gardening tools to snip the roots off. To Sable's relief, she caught the sight of bare thorny stems intertwined with each other like vines, growing into patches. The fire had removed all the leaves from the plants, but it did not kill them.

Sable pointed her fingers toward the heklock. "There," she said. "These are heklocks. You need to dig deep into the ground for their roots. They are really hard to cut off."

"The steel of our blades should be sufficient enough," Troy replied to her. With her hands, Sable dug the moist soil out. Two of the soldiers helped Sable dig into the ground with their swords. The ranger was careful enough to not prick her hand near the thorny stems. Luckily, the rain had made it easier to dig soil. Once the ranger felt the thick roots, she immediately pulled it out toward the surface.

The heklock root stretched feet out of the ground, but it was still attached to the plant itself. While Sable held it tightly, a soldier hacked it several times with his sword. Even his blade was not sharp enough to cut it off in one try; cutting heklock root was comparable to cutting thick rope.

Sable measured the feet of heklock root down to one-quarter of it. One-quarter of the root was the safest dosage to seep the herb in boiling water. After the soldier helped cut off the correct length, the ranger held out the root to Troy.

"The root will need to be seeped into tea. Knightess Mei will then need to drink it. After about an hour, she should feel better."

Troy took the root from her hand and ordered a soldier to bring it to the physician back in Lesendi. "Show us your cat's grave now," Troy demanded.

Sable grimaced at the order, expecting it to come. "I did not save her body," the ranger said. "She was cremated."

The brown-haired soldier's green eyes scrutinized her. "You cremated your cat's body?"

The ranger stared hard at him. "From where I come, it is a custom. We do not bury the dead."

Troy gave in to Sable's lie. Sable did not appear to be born in Oihana, so it was believable that she practiced different customs. "You will need to come with us though," Troy began.

Sable glared at him. "Where will you take me?"

"To the town's dungeon," Troy responded. "It will be Knightess Mei's decision to know what to do with you after she is well. Good luck."

The ranger winced at him as soldiers grabbed her by her arms. Sable did not fight back as she led them pull her away toward their direction. As long as Bluey was safe and sound, Sable did not care what would happen to her.