The Traveler | The Promised Neverland

A Friend

Suddenly, an ominous noise filled the air.

"What was that sound just now?" Emma asked, looking a Norman in fear.  We all stopped and listened around.

"It's gone..." Norman observed, looking around for the sound's origin.

"...Hey, Ray's taking a while, isn't he?" Gilda pointed out.  "Shouldn't he be back by now?"  

"Something probably happened." Norman speculated, looking deadly serious.  "It's likely that more demons started chasing him.  Possibly our pursuers."  

The kids, included Emma, gasped at the thought.  Then Emma gave Norman a look.  

"In that case, we should go over and check his situation," Emma determined.  

"Yeah, you're right, we need to find out what's going on and make a decision from there."  He turned to the group.  "You guys keep heading downwind, we'll meet up with you-"

Suddenly, a hooded girl appeared a few meters ahead.  "Over here," a gentle voice coming from her directed.

Norman and Emma spun around to face her.  "Who are you?  What's over there?" He instantly questioned, keeping hostility out of his voice in case she was an ally.

"A safe place.  Follow me," she started to lead them to a tree, then Norman stopped her.

"Who are you?  Show us your face!" Norman demanded.  She complied, lifting her hood to reveal purple hair and a boney mask.  Norman got into an offensive stance, but the demon calmed him.

"Wait a minute, I'm not here to harm you," she reassured gently.  "My name is Mujika.  I don't eat humans, so you don't have to worry about your safety with me."

Norman inhaled deeply when he heard her name.  Mujika... as in, the Mujika Sparrow was talking about?

Norman gave the demon girl a small smile.  "Give me a moment, I need to discuss with my friend here for a moment.  Is that okay?"  

Emma shot him a look that said what in the world are you thinking? Norman waved her over.  

"Don, Gilda, take care of them for a moment, I need to talk to Norman," Emma requested.  They nodded, and Emma walked over to Norman after hesitating to leave them.

"What's going on?" Emma inquired, giving Norman a serious look.

"She said her name was Mujika," Norman hinted.  Emma looked at him, confused, then connected the dots with a gasp.  

"The letter!"  She practically yelled.  Norman shushed her and took off his backpack.  After he grabbed the first letter from the bag, he opened the folded sheet, and Emma and Norman read it together. 

Dear Norman, Emma, and Ray,

If you're reading this, I'm going to assume you have already escaped and just met Mujica.  Congrats on the achievement!  I'm glad everything went as it was supposed to.

Anyways, I wouldn't doubt the first people reading this are Emma and Norman, Ray should be with Sung-Joo.  You guys probably don't know if you should trust Mujika and follow her, so I'll be blunt.

She's absolutely a friend.  Mujika will only ever help you guys, and you guys need to take that help.  She and Sung-Joo can teach you about the outside world.  Her interference plays a major part in your survival.  Don't doubt her, even if she's a demon.

Oh, and don't worry about Ray.  He should be with Sung-Joo, as I mentioned.  When he was running from the wild demon he had an encounter with your pursuers.  Sung-Joo saved Ray when he couldn't run anymore and had collapsed.