We're Mint To Be 《Snufkin x Reader》

《8》

Without realizing it, Antheia fell asleep under the sky.

She awoke in the morning to see that there was no longer a Snufkin lying near her, so, embarassed, she got up and began walking back home. He could've at least woke me before he left...

"Oh, where are you off to?" She heard him say from behind her. Turning around, she saw him carrying a small wooden cup of water. She grinned, pleasantly surprised to see him.

"Were you going to wake me up with that?" She joked, motioning to the water. Snufkin smiled.

"It was going to be something nice for you to wake up to, actually."

"Thank you. I thought you had left," Antheia admitted. Snufkin didn't respond, but offered the cup to her. She gratefully took it and sipped as they walked back to Moomin Valley. They went their separate ways at the river with nothing more than a wave and a smile. Antheia was sad to part, but incredibly happy that their hangout went so well.

Once she was home again at last, she saw Little My and Moomin sitting on her front porch. "Where on earth have you been?!" Little My shouted as soon as she saw Antheia. Antheia explained, and agreed to go on an adventure with the two. First, she tended her garden and then grabbed something quick out of her pantry for breakfast. Finally, she packed a few necessities in her bag, and the group was off.

"So Snufkin was really avoiding you?" Moomin asked, a little shocked. Antheia nodded. "I guess that does kind of make sense for him," Moomin concluded.

"It sounds exactly like him! You're just being nice," Little My said. Antheia laughed.

"Its fine, of course. I understand- it took me a lot of courage to go and talk to him in the first place." Antheia smiled.

Moomin asked, "Why's that?" Antheia shrugged.

"He's just so... self-assured. It made me nervous at first because that's... not me, for sure. But after spending time with him, it was nice. It's so easy to hang out with him"

"Oh, I agree!" Moomin smiled and nodded.

"So, where are we going, anyway?" Antheia asked. Moomin and Little My explained that the Hemulen said there was a hedge maze hidden near the lonely mountains with nothing and no ine around it. It was very mysterious. Little My said they had invited Sniff, but of course he was much too frightened to come along. The Hemulen hadn't dared go in, but he figured it was the sort of thing Little My would get a real kick out of. It seemed to Antheia that he was right. Little My was eager to see what could be hidden in the center of a mysterious maze.

Antheia was pretty eager herself- not only had she never seen a hedge maze in person, but she also wondered what could be in the center! A hedge maze in the middle of nowhere was very strange.

When they arrived at last, they were in awe. They could see what made it a hedge maze at first, but it hadn't been managed in a long time. It was dreadfully overgrown, the walls were at least 15 feet tall and the hedges had sprawled together, making the tops of the maze grow into what looked like a roof. Light was hardly able to get in past the leaves, and it was very moist all over, making the maze look like a creepy twisty cave. A quiet "woahhh," escaped Antheia's mouth.

"Woah is right!! Come on!!" Little My took her first steps in right away.

"Are you sure we should? This looks like a place a wild animal would live in," Moomin said, following right after her nonetheless. Antheia wasn't very scared, but she followed slowly, admiring the beauty of the vines at her feet and the bright green leaves above her. Noticing she was lagging behind, she jogged after Moomin and Little My.

"Do you two even know where you're going?" She yelled.

"Absolutely!" Shouted Little My.

"Little My, you're an amazing gal, but coming from you thats not super reassuring," she said.

"Hey!! Rude," Little My said, but Antheia could hear the laugh in her voice.

Moomin spoke too, "Shall we all just split up?" Antheia and Little My agreed, so they branched off at the next fork in the road.

Antheia quickly discovered that the hedge maze had seemed a LOT smaller on the outside. Since they split up, she hadn't even seen Moomin and Little My. She expected to bump into them at least once...

"Do y'all remember how to get out?!" She yelled. The rough, leafy walls of the maze made it so her voice didnt echo at all. In fact, it almost wad muffled. She hoped they could hear her.

"Not really!" She heard Moomin yell back.

"Not at all, but who cares! I think I'm near the middle!" They heard from Little My. She sounded very close to Antheia. Pinpointing where she was pretty sure Little My was, Antheia decided she would give cheating a try. She pushed aside lots of vines and small branches, but was unfortunately met with a metal framework that the vines clung to. There was no getting past it. They kept pushing.

An hour later, Little My and Antheia met. They told eachother what they'd found so far and worked together, avoiding places that ine of them recognized. Moomin seemed to be in a completely different area than them.

It took yet another hour for the pair to finally reach the middle! They turned one last corner, and their eyes laid on a life-sized, grimey statue of a beautiful woman in a flowy dress. "Is this it?!" Little My said, frustrated. Antheia observed the statue. It was beautiful. Even with the layer of grit over it, she could see the detail. It was incredible!

"We should keep it!" She said. "Its gorgeous. And maybe it could even be worth something!"

"How are we supposed to carry it out??" Little My complained.

"Hmm... we need Moomin."

The two nodded at eachother and started yelling. They were trying to get Moomin to follow their voices, but since the maze was so big and the paths were so confusing, it was a little difficult. It was getting dark by the time Moomin met up with the girls.

"Woah... it's so lovely!" He said.

"Yeah! Can you help me carry it?" Antheia asked. Moomin nodded, and they worked to carefully lift the statue up and balance it so it wouldn't break.

Especially because of the weight of the statue, Moomin and Antheia had to take breaks often on their way out of the maze. A while after the sun went down the group decided they might as well rest, so all three of them settled down, preparing to sleep in the maze.