Runaway Princess

CHAPTER 13

WASHING DISHES at the dining hall after lunch was really a disaster to me. The bowls kept slipping out of my hand and hitting the floor, making a loud noise that echoes in the whole room and is very loud to the ears. I even almost broke one of the plates. The other girls that were also doing the dishes kept looking at me.

I came back to Demian's home, my shirt wet with the water. I dried myself off and looked around. The house seems empty. Where is Demian?

"Demian?" I called. There was no answer. I went inside the bedroom and he wasn't there.

I went back inside the kitchen. Its really confusing me that they have kitchens in their house even though we all eat in the dining hall and all of our food is getting cooked there. The kitchens are only small, though. It only has a furnace and some pots made of wood along with a few pieces of kitchenware.

"Isla?" I looked at the door and saw Demian come in. He was holding an empty basket.

"I'm just gonna go to the forest to look for food," he said.

"Can I come?" I asked him. He looked back at me and hesitated before he nodded. I jumped on my feet and joined him. We went outside his house and I followed behind him silently. We went to the very front part of the village where the wooden fence surrounding it was. We went through the dark tunnel again to get into the forest. We turned right and started to look for some food.

"What exactly are we looking for?" I asked him.

"Wild berries and mushrooms, and maybe some herbal leaves," he said and I nodded.

We turned into a few directions. We spotted some berries and started picking them, Demian even ate some of them but I didn't since I was skeptical if they are really safe to eat.

As the sun slowly started going down we kept going deeper into the forest. We even encountered some mushrooms already, and Demian also started picking them from the ground. I didn't really want to touch them in case they're poisonous. Who knows?

"Are you sure these are safe to eat?" I asked him. We've been here for about an hour or so and we've already went into different directions. We're so far away from the village now, I guess. This forest is really huge.

"Yes, they are."

"How sure is that?"

"Trust me, you'll survive."

I gave him an out of this world look. Should I really trust him? I mean, nobody's died here of eating this mushrooms and berries, right? But what if someone fell sick? Or I fell sick?

"We need to cross this?" I asked and looked at the river in front of us. Its water was crystal clear, rushing furiously down the stream.

"No... Not really," Demian said and looked at the other side. On the other side of the forest the trees seem to be more greener and more healthy, so I guess there's probably more to scavenge there.

"But.. It looks like we can get more of these there," I said and held up the basket I was holding.

"Yeah and the animals are there too, and I don't have a spear with me," he said and I looked at him. He hunts animals?

I nodded and looked down on the river. I kneeled down and put some water in my face and arms as it gets really itchy every time we go here in the forest. I guess my skin hasn't adjusted well yet.

"You could drink water from there," I heard Demian say. I looked up at him and he wad still standing beside me.

"Really?" I asked him. He looked down at me and furrowed his eyebrows.