Hunter's Return

Chapter 1: Race

Marie's POV

"Mmm! I smell something good!" I said, taking another whiff of the air. "What is it?"

"Can you guess what it is?" Ranie asked me as I placed on my socks.

"Hmm, I think it has something to do with batter." I stood up and exited my room along with Ranie.

"Yes it does," she replied.

"My sense of smell isn't as good as yours Ranie."

"Jacob made us pancakes before he left this morning," Ranie said as I followed her down the stairs.

"Really! Wait, where did he go?"

"Exploring... again."

"When is he coming back?"

"I don't know."

"At least he left us food to eat."

"Yeah, but I ate your share."

"What!"

Ranie laughed. "Just kidding. I know you love my brother's cooking."

"Of course, I do! Who wouldn't?" We approached the dining table.

"Now hurry up and eat," ordered Ranie.

"What's the rush anyway?" Sitting down, I forked a pancake, transferred it to my plate and poured some maple syrup on it.

"There's no time for syrup!" Ranie shook my chair.

"Watch it! You made some sticky syrup go onto my fingers!"

"Eh, it's just syrup."

I licked the syrup off my finger. "Answer my question, why do we have to leave so early?"

"If we leave early, we'll have more time to explore."

"Why don't you spill the beans and tell me where we're going."

"Eh." Ranie shrugged. "I thought you like surprises."

"I do, but don't make me curious about it," I said, my mouth full.

"Hey! Don't talk if your mouth is full!"

I gulped down the food. "I thought you wanted me to eat?"

"Just hurry up! You can leave the plate on the table."

"You want me to get a stomach ache too, huh?"

"Why are you so difficult to talk to?"

"Okay, calm down." I ate the last of my pancake and stood up. "Let's go."

I gestured towards my blue boots by the doorway and placed them on.

Ranie opened the mahogany door which made the summer sunshine come in.

A little breeze picked up and it blew some of Ranie's red hair onto my face.

"Ranie, your hair is–"

"Sorry."

"It's fine."

"See? The morning sun is good for you," said Ranie. "If you wake up early, that is."

"Yeah I know that. Now come on, I've been curious for the past few minutes, let's go!"

I closed the door behind me as Ranie unhitched the fence. She let me pass through before locking up the fence as she came.

We began to walk through the kingdom's smooth pavement, our boots making noises against the hard stone.

The morning breeze was very cold. So surprise there since the main season of Fructum was winter.

I really felt like running so I quickened my pace a bit.

Ranie realized that the was slower than me so she too hurried up.

"You wanna race, huh?" she asked.

"Why do you think I'm running ahead of you?" My pace turned into a sprint.

"Hey! Wait up!"

I looked behind and smiled. I always win against Ranie when it comes to races; I'm a fast runner.

I knew my destination, which was the forest. So many memories occurred beneath those shady trees... but now is not the one to think of them. I just realized that my speed was getting slower.

"Hah! Overtook you," teased Ranie. She stopped by the big black gates.

I arrived in a few moments after her.

"What took you so long?" Ranie asked.

"As if you arrived hours before me."

She ignored me "Guards, please open the gates."

One of the pickets gave a signal and the gates slowly opened.

"Ready for round two?" I asked.

"Sure," she replied. "Why not?"

The gates were fully opened; that was our signal. We rushed through them and exited our home which was Fructum.

Right outside was the forest. My feet didn't have to tell me that since I began to hear the crunching of leaves or branches as we ran.

I easily overtook Ranie but it seemed like she started to speed up after that.

I accelerated to make her far behind me but it looked like her feet didn't want to loose this petty competition.

I ran like it was the end of the word. The faster I ran, the more blurred my surroundings became.

I didn't really notice that Ranie abruptly grabbed the collar of my shirt.

I immediately stopped and make my body lean forward. "Let go of me!"

Ranie released and I fell face first onto the ground.

"Where are we?" my muffled voice said. I slowly stood up and brushed the dirt off my body.

Ranie ran forward and stood beside a very big tree. Its branches looked like they were touching the clouds. "This is the thing I wanted to show you."

"Wow!" I sarcastically said. "A really big plant! How amazing! I've never seen anything like it!"

"Are you mocking me?"

"Yes. And what's so special about this tree anyways? It looks completely normal to me."

"Appearances deceive, Marie."

"Fine," I crossed my arms and walked towards Ranie. "Show me."

She neared towards a beach about her height and tugged at it. Surprisingly, it went down and some sort of machinery was heard inside the trunk.

I placed my ear on the trunk and listened. "What's going on in there?" Ranie just smiled.

I suddenly felt movement on the trunk, like it was splitting in half. I moved backward as a secret door appeared on the trunk.

"That's why it's special," said Ranie.

"Woah, that's so cool!"

"Come on, let's go inside."

"Do we have to?" I peeked into the door to see a really long spiral staircase going down. It was really dark too.

"Don't worry, I'll light the way."

"This isn't a joke, right?"

"Nope."

"I don't believe you. Have you been down here anyway?"

"Yeah, like a million times already. Nobody knows about it except you and me."

"And are you sure it's safe?"

Ranie grabbed my arm. "Stop stalling, fraidy cat, let's go."

"Hey! Stop dragging me!"