Chaerin's red hair seemed paler within the Veil Forest and her eyes were rather focused on the blades of grass beneath her feet more than anything else in their environment. She spoke evenly, but quietly still and it wormed in Lukas' heart.
A feeling of neglect and abandonment.
Lukas was someone who lived most of his life in self-sufficiency. If he had similar feelings like Chaerin's in the past, he wound up not thinking about it and squashing it instead.
But now, this was his girlfriend he was talking about.
ƥαṇdαηθνε| He had to say something and comfort her, so–
"The Great Leader of the Forest invites us to stay a while here in the Veil Forest. They'll host a celebration in our honor… which is wonderful, isn't it?" Theodore suddenly interrupted the moment.
The Vampire assassin looked far from happy at the sudden turn of events, but there was nothing that he could do–it was best not to offend the people who outnumbered them and knew the forest like the back of their hand.
"I hope that all of us can enjoy our time here with festivities and merriment." The Great Leader of the Forest approached them now, and even gestured a hand out to Chaerin. "It's not often that we encounter companionship from others not of our kind. I am sure that there is much to speak of."
If Lukas had not been able to determine whether the androgynous deer demihuman was male or female–he decided all the same that he didn't like them either way.
Unfortunately, it was a feeling of dislike that only he had.
Chaerin managed a weak smile and nodded slowly. "If the others agree, I do not see why not. Thank you for your hospitality, Great Leader."
"Cervus. My name is Cervus and your friend here is Theodore, so you must be…"
"Chaerin."
"And I'm Lukas." Lukas found himself saying and tried not to frown.
"Lovely names. I hope to be acquainted more with all of you–for now, may I allow some of my people to provide accommodations? They will help you shortly." Cervus, the demihuman made a small gesture with his hands.
It didn't take too long for other demihumans to step out of the mist and then lead them away. As they traveled through the thick mist that Lukas could never quite see past through in annoyance, they came to a stop in front of what seemed like ordinary tall trees.
Except there were multiple soft rope ladders available on each tree.
"Each of you is provided with a hut of your own." a young man said. He seemed plain with his dark hair and green eyes, but you could see some small tusks on both sides of his lips.
Compared to the others who were with them, he seemed more or less the youngest one out of them and was the only one who chose to talk.
"Oooh, a tree house. That sounds nice right?" Lukas turned to Theodore and Chaerin, only to see them already testing out the ropes and preparing to climb up.
"Thank you for the accommodation, we'll take it from here." Theodore said and glanced at the rest of the people. He kept a neutral and polite face and tone, but it was clear that he wanted them gone.
"We are told to stay here–in case you need to move to another part of the forest." a young woman explained. She had soft blonde hair and blue eyes that looked at Theodore with a patient but aggrieved look.
"You'll get lost here if you're on your own." the tusk guy who was with Lukas added with a small grunt.
"Right. But maybe you can come back in twenty minutes or something." Theodore managed a smile. "We wouldn't want to waste your time standing around when there's a celebration about to be had, right?"
The two young people looked at the third person who was with them. She was someone white white hair and dark eyes–and out of the three, she seemed to be the one they deferred to.
"Very well, we will return shortly. Please do not wander off on your own." she instructed them sternly and then motioned for the two to follow her back the way they came from.
Once they disappeared from the mist and Lukas had a feeling that they were gone. He crossed his arms and sighed aloud. "Not asking us to wander around is basically asking us to do just that, don't you think?"
"Let's discuss it when we're up there." Theodore held on to the ropes ladder and started to climb up.
Lukas looked at the assassin and then turned to look at Chaerin, but she was actually the first one to start going up. Lukas blinked and quickly began to move up and chased after them.
True to their word, Lukas nearly hit his head against a wooden platform as he squeezed through an opening and found himself in a decently sized wooden hut. It was made from modest materials available in the forest and there was a noticeable lack of nails or anything.
"Huh." Lukas admired it for a moment until he heard a cough.
Right next to his own huts were that of Theodore and Chaerin at the furthest. Lukas gave the assassin a grin and spoke again.
"Want to switch huts?"
"Now's not the time for any of this nonsense." Theodore gave him a stink eye. "We're basically only staying for a night and then we're going. The arrangements don't matter."
"You can't separate me and Chaerin." Lukas dramatically placed a hand against his forehead and leaned against the tree hut. "That's just going to break my heart."
"Frankly, I do not know what you see in this guy, Miss Atticus." Theodore glanced at Chaerin. "But I must thank you for intervening. The existence of the Forest Dwellers is more or less a secret, hence why they appearing now is a surprise."
"Secret?" Chaerin tilted her head.
"Yes, they mostly prefer to isolate themselves from the world. So this is a strange development." Theodore said. "I think there's more to their intentions than what they're revealing."
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