When I awoke, Rythian was no longer beside me. The cold air sent chills down my spine as I pushed the covers off, listening to the soft sound of the animals. This is definitely my favourite way to wake up.
Back in the castle, a loud, repetitive knocking from one of the guards was our alarm. It was usually very early when they arrived, so I was always annoyed by this.
Letting out a yawn, I stretched my arms and stood up from the bed. There was no sign of Rythian, so I decided to snoop around. I threw on the closest piece of clothing I could find, which just so happened to be one of Rythian's tops, and left the house.
Shutting the door behind me, I felt something soft and cold between my toes. Looking down, I noticed the snow. Snow? This is my first time coming in contact with it. My parents would usually leave me inside, fearing that their future heir will become sick and die.
Smiling, I squished my toes into the airy substance. I'm used to the cold, seeing as the only clothing we wear in the castle are sleeveless dresses, and there are no fireplaces in the bedrooms. It sucks, to be honest.
I looked forward, watching a pig sniff at one of the flowers poking out from the white blanket of ice. I skipped up to it, identifying it as a violet. They're my favourite types of flowers. Mainly because they're purple. Purple is safe.
Suddenly, I heard a strange hissing sound. So...if hissing comes mostly from monsters, and monsters are bad, then does that mean...oh no.
I looked up slowly, my eyes meeting with a green thing inching towards me. It was only slightly taller than half my height, but looked deadly nonetheless.
Just when I thought I was about to die, the thing collapsed in front of me. An arrow through its head, the thing disintegrated into dust. It looked dark grey and stained the snow.
Okay, wow. I shouldn't be out here. If this is what comes with adventuring, I really need to train. I'll be eaten before I even make it out of the forest!
What does that thing do? Is it like a zombie, where it eats me? It didn't have any weapons, but I should steer clear of them, just in case.
Soon enough, I heard a yelling coming from my right. Looking over, I found Rythian quickly flying towards me. Uh-oh. Hopefully, he doesn't get angry at my near-death experience.
"What just happened?! I heard a Creeper but when I came here there's just an arrow and dust. You didn't shoot it, did you?" Rythian asked hurriedly, lifting up my arms and legs to check whether I had been injured or not. Shaking my head, I actually grew worried. Rythian's never like this, acting so worked-up over nothing. Was the thing...Creeper...really that dangerous?
"You need to be careful! Stay by me at all times, and NEVER go outside unless you have a weapon, armor or a flying ring!" Rythian almost dragged me back inside, until the familiar calling of our names came from another building.
Looking across from Rythian's house, Duncan was running towards us, appearing as if he had been searching EVERYWHERE for us.
"Rythian, you're almost late! You promised to bring Zoey with you, hurry up!" He yelled, pointing to the tall building he rushed into. Rythian groaned behind me, turning me around to face him.
"Listen, I uh...I was gone this morning to...to get you this," He held out a bouquet of flowers, mostly violets, with small, red mushrooms in between every few violets. A red ribbon was wrapped around the stems, keeping everything together so they wouldn't fall out.
I gasped, looking up at Rythian in disbelief. Instead of catching up on some perfect sleep, he got me a present! Why would he even do that? Doesn't he prefer sleeping over me?
