The Ranch

Fairytale Maze (6)

Tih leisurely making his way over to the other side of the path, basket of food in hand. Glancing behind him, Kai sees the wolf munching on a slab of meat and understands what happened.

Kai knows they would of had to fight one or the other eventually, but being caught off guard and being prepared to fight could result in very different outcomes, especially since the only person that could actually beat someone in this room is Tih.

Kai looks at Tih with a helpless gaze," Why did you give it to the wolf and not the girl?" Kai is still curious about the reasoning behind Tih's choice. If he knew the reason, he would probably choke on his own spit.

As Tih was munching on his "borrowed" food, he saw the hungry wolf out of the corner of his eye and felt he could relate to the wolf. That's why he decided to give it food.

Tih was taught many morals by observing the old man at the orphanage. The old man was always nice and generous. He would have the taller people feed all the shorter people every day. He would also observe the people his size. Sometimes, Tih would see them grabbing objects from one another and play with it themselves. The old man would always make them return the object and say "I'm sorry". He remembers the old man saying something about how "taking something that's not yours is bad".

Recalling those memories, after he generously gives the doggy some food, he turns to the little girl. Tih heard Kai saying something about the basket belonging to the red person, so he's planning to return the basket to her.

Tih walks over to the three people playing tag and comes on to riding hood's radar. Her hand swooshes out to grab Tih's neck, but instead touches the handle of the basket. Tih closes her finger around the basket to make sure she won't drop it before letting go completely.

The red cape's movements pause as her arm measures the weight of the basket. Judging that the basket is not empty, the girl confirms that her basket has been returned to her. Completing her conditions, riding hood returns back to her position.

With both sides satisfied, the puzzle is deemed solved and a new doorway opens up.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The group took their time analyzing and debating on what to do, yet in the end, all they had to do was feed both parties.

The other three contemplate their life choices. They wonder if shutting down their thought processes would be a solution. If they need to do that to find the solution to these puzzles.

The group moves along absentmindedly following behind Tih, who's somehow taken the role as leader. Turning a couple corners, they reach a new mini-puzzle, making the others brains hurt even more.

It should be noted that before, it would take them at least ten minutes to reach a new puzzle, with their longest time being over half an hour.

As Tih isn't the riddle-solving type, the group "takes a break" in front of the puzzle. Occasional shouts or screaming can be heard from the distance.

Tih stares at his aimless looking group. Kai and Sherlock seem to be in their own world and Lucien is tightly attached to his electronic watch, constantly tapping on the holographic screen.

Soon Tih hears footsteps that are coming this direction. The other's hearing isn't as good as Tih's, so they don't pick up on it until it's too late.

A group of five arrive in front of the "contemplating life" group.

"Boss?" A voice questions in surprise.

"Boss!" Another exclaims excitedly as he comes forward. Theodore smiles at the boss he hasn't seen in a few days.

Victor looks at Tih and his group," So you came with your team as well. Shall we travel together for the time being?"

Kai's eyebrows knit together, "Thats-"

"Of course! It must of been fate to have us meet so coincidentally." Sherlock cuts him off before he can say anything to offend the potential members. He notices Kai opening his voice and continues so Kai can voice his, most likely, pessimistic opinion," It seems like you have a good relationship with Tih?"

"Of course! If Boss claimed to be the second strongest person on the island, no one would claim first." Pierre states rather proudly.

Kai's eyes narrow, "Wait, why are you all calling him 'Boss'?" He frowns at the newcomers, slightly irritated that he hadn't known about this before-hand.

"Ahh, yeah, we kinda came up with the title as a joke, but it stuck." Theodore averts his eyes, embarrassed.

"Were you stuck?" Basile is referring to the riddle.

"Of course not! We were just taking a break." Kai refutes immediately, feeling like his intellect was ridiculed.

"Then, shall we solve it together?" Victor looks towards Tih.

Tih turns to Kai.

Sherlock answers for him," Why not? We could always use more hands, especially during battles." That last part was aimed towards Kai, reminding him of the near death experience they almost had with the little girl in a red hood.