Lillan rustled.
Her brows twitched, then fingers curled slightly around edges of her cloak. Cold bit into her skin, tugging and dragging her back to waking world. Her eyelids fluttered open.
She blinked, once. Twice.
Then a groan left her mouth.
She sat up slowly, propping herself up on her elbows, her other hand brushing her tangled hair from the face. Her eyes scanning the clearing.
Then, a low grunt drew her attention.
She turned her head.
Kazuki lay there beside her, a few meters away.
His cloak lay sprawled across him. His whole attire was damp—the shirt sticking to his skin, with arms also covered in sweat. It almost looked like it had rained directly on him.
Kazuki's breaths came fast and shallow, his chest rising and falling like he'd just run through the whole forest.
Lillian slowly rose to her feet. Her body protested, muscles pulling tight and sore, but she ignored it.
She took one careful step, then another, crossing the space between them.
"Kazuki?" she called.
His eyes snapped open.
"Hey," she said, firmer this time. "Are you okay?"
Kazuki blinked. He sat up suddenly, sharp and jerky. Dragging in a ragged breath and ran a shaking hand through his soaked hair.
He gave her a weak smile. "It's nothing," he muttered, his voice scratchy. "I was just… practicing."
Lillian's eyes narrowed. "Practicing what? Having a heatstroke?"
Kazuki let out a dry chuckle, but it quickly turned into a cough. "Not exactly. Just you know fighting and all that."
She crossed her arms. "And How exactly? I don't see any chicken or whatever."
He gave her an enigmatic smile, eyes glinting despite the exhaustion. "It's a state secret."
Lillian stared at him, deadpan. "You're not even from a state."
Kazuki nodded solemnly. "Exactly. That's what makes it even more secret."
She looked like she was about to throw a rock at him.
The clearing was still shrouded in darkness. The first rays of sunlight were just minutes away, barely peeking over the distant horizon, casting a faint blue tint across the forest floor.
A faint breeze stirred the leaves above, rustling through branches like the forest was holding its breath.
Lillian exhaled through her nose, arms still folded. Her eyes briefly flicked to the sky, gauging the time.
"So" she murmured. "Do you want to leave—"
Kazuki groaned, still half-sprawled.
Her eyes flickered to him—drenched in sweat, barely upright, and blinking like he'd just survived a war against his own system.
Lillian sighed.
"Never mind," she muttered. "Let's just wait till sunrise. Then we'll leave."
Kazuki didn't argue. He gave a weak nod, slumping back against the earth like her decision had saved his soul.
"I love the sun," he whispered, eyes closing. "Big fan. Huge supporter. Let's definitely wait for it."
Lillian rolled her eyes and moved forward the narrow strip, checking it out.
.
.
.
Time passed. Half an hour… or maybe just twenty minutes.
Who knows?
The forest didn't keep time the way villages and towns did. Here, the wind whispered in seconds, and the trees didn't care for minutes.
But eventually, the sky lightened to a pale gold.
The first clean shafts of sunlight broke through the branches, casting long, dappled lines across the forest floor like painters first few strokes in canvas.
Kazuki and Lillian stood side by side before the narrow strip.
It wasn't impressive.
In fact, it looked like someone had just kicked aside a few bushes and called it a trail.
There wasn't a particular reason for choosing the path.
They could've just… taken the forest. Wandered through the trees, let instinct guide them, maybe follow the sun and hope for the best.
But the path meant it led somewhere, someone had gone this way before.
It meant a destination, even if they didn't know what or where. A village, maybe. A ruin. A road. Anything.
The forest, for all its towering beauty and eerie calm, was a gamble. No signs. No directions. Just endless green that could wrap around and swallow them whole.
The path was a coin toss.
The forest was a loaded die.
So, they stood there, side by side, staring down the trail like it owed them an explanation.
"Let's go..."
They moved side by side, their steps slow and careful.
But beneath that slow pace, there was urgency in every motion—subtle but undeniable. A quiet desperation in the way Kazuki rubbed at his eyes or how Lillian kept glancing ahead like the trail might magically shorten if she stared hard enough.
They hadn't eaten since last night. Their stomachs reminded them constantly with low growls.
A village.
A warm meal.
A real bed.
A bath, gods above—just the idea of hot water made Kazuki feel sprinting ahead and reaching the end of trail.
The walk wasn't particularly interesting.
The fresh, earthy smell of the forest lingered around them and the faint scent of wet leaves. The sun rose slowly behind their backs, casting longer shadows in front of them.
The once-damp soil beneath their feet was beginning to harden, losing the softness that had muffled their steps earlier. Now it crunched faintly with each step, punctuated by Kazuki's occasional whistle. Aimless, tuneless. Just something to fill the silence.
Lillian wasn't complaining. She yawned instead, one arm stretching up lazily as her head bobbed slightly with each step, caught somewhere between thought and exhaustion. Her gaze was distant, following the sway of branches overhead, but it was obvious her mind was busy.
Kazuki opened his mouth slowly.
"What do you think that creature was? Inside the cave… or that weird chirping sound after?"
Lillian blinked, then glanced at him. "Now you're bringing that up?"
Kazuki shrugged. "You know we were exhausted yesterday, with the sprint and all that."
Her brows furrowed in thought. "The cave… I don't know. Maybe a fire creature, A spirit maybe? I believe that inside the cave there could be a lava pool... as for sound huh, it's difficult to tell with just that. Maybe it is something related to that zombie."
An idea burst into Kazuki's head, and he lit up with the enthusiasm of a child about to get on their first flying broomstick ride.
"Maybe it's a dragon!" he exclaimed, nearly tripping over a root in his excitement. "You know—they also have fire breath and all that!"
Lillian looked at him like he'd just chugged fermented berry wine for breakfast.
"What are you talking about? I don't think dragons exist. At least, I haven't seen one in my life. And if it was a dragon, we'd be roasted meat by now."
Kazuki grinned, unbothered. "Maybe it was a nice dragon. You know, the misunderstood kind. Likes jazz music and long walks by the lava pool."
She blinked. "...You're delirious."
"I'm hopeful," he corrected with a finger raised dramatically. "Hopeful for dragons, jazz, and world peace."
Lillian shook her head with a sigh, but a faint smile tugged at her lips.
They walked for an hour before stopping to rest.
There legs were dragging, feet sore. There was a certain void in their stomach that had grown unbearable. There stomach growled in protest and anger but the searching around they didn't find anything to sustain themselves.
After ten minutes, they pushed themselves up again and began marching, hopeful that at the end of path there would be a civilization people.
Every thirty minutes, it was the same—walk, stumble, rest. It was a rhythm born out of necessity, not strategy. A desperate attempt to keep moving.
Then, after just a few hours of this grueling pattern… they were onto something.