I'm not going to get hurt for you again.

The air was crisp as Kein and Zeita went for their daily gathering for their village. Kein's feet crunched against the ground as he followed closely behind his sister, listening to her talk about the latest novel she'd just read. He was listening, but as always, he was on the lookout for anything potentially dangerous.

Zeitia could be careless sometimes, especially when she was talking about something she liked. Not that he minded. Kein didn't like to talk much; he never had. He always felt like he was going to say something wrong; his sister was much braver than he was anyways. Zeitia abruptly stopped and exclaimed in delight.

"Ohh!! Mushroom!" she said, squatting down. Kein came to her side to peek over her shoulder. Her natural deep maroon hair shimmered in the light. It mirrored his. He peered over her shoulder to stare at the bright red-capped mushroom. Kein made a noise of indignation.

"We can't eat that," he replied.

"Well, duh. It looks cool, though," she said, going to find a stick to poke it with. Kein grabbed her wrist and grumbled at her, and she laughed.

"You're too cautious," she said.

"I'm keeping us alive," he countered.

Kein released her wrist, and the two of them stood up. The basket attached to the back of his back jostled as he stood. He took to walking beside her this time as the two of them strolled through the woods. They went down a path they hadn't gone down in quite a while.

"We haven't been down here in a while," Kein commented.

"Ah yeah, not since the Maruboro's mating season. That's over now, though, so there are probably new things here. I'm sad we didn't get to hunt any this year. I like when I get to keep the horns," she said plainly, stretching as she walked.

Kein hummed in agreement. He was never one for hunting. It was something his sister and the other girls she hung out with enjoyed doing. The Maruboro were boar-like animals with three horns and a thick hide. It was good for winter, but it was spring now. While they kept a lot of their animals as livestock, there was just some meat and hide that was better hunted, as some things were just better grown out in the forest. It also made it so that the teens and kids would take a break from inside.

Zeitia elbowed Kein, bringing him back down to earth with a soft "oof" from him.

"You almost pushed me off of this drop, dumbass," she said with a snort.

Kein laughed sheepishly, stepping back as his sister balanced on the rocky drop with outstretched arms. He followed suit, only slipping a little this time. Kein continued to follow her until they were near a familiar clearing with a stream rushing nearby.

"I wonder if Kota is fishing today," Kein mused out loud.

"You only say that because you wish you were on fishing duty, and you miss training with the elders," she said, turning to shoot Kein a knowing look.

Kein scrunched his nose up and flipped her off. He went to one of the many bushes that were spread amongst the area. This place had specially been cultivated by a lot of the village elders to hold a lot of berries.

Kein still felt bitter about being teased, "I hope you have to pull a staru root out with your bare hands. I'd you ask for help. I'm making you use your shitty sliver of a pocket knife."

"Over teasing you?" she said bewilderedly.

"Yeah," he said, pouting. "I'm sour about being 18, okay?"

"Alright, sourpuss, I think it's great," she said, blowing a raspberry.

Kein took one of his claw-like tools off of his foraging belt and pulled a cloth sack from his basket. He combed through the bushes and made sure the berries fell into it. He tied it up and set it in the woven basket he would loop over his back once again. He strolled around the bushes to examine the mushrooms and other plant life around.