The twins slowly moved through the forest.
Though they were both on the verge of sleep, they forced themselves to stay vigilant. The memory of the snake they’d shared was still present in their minds.
Corvin kept his eyes on the path ahead, constantly sweeping side to side in search of danger.
Corin kept her eyes, blurry though they may be, on the trees. She’d remembered how easily Vrakhu had snuck up on her that first night.
She’d thought she was doing a good job, looking out over the forest with her meager fire. But he’d shown her the truth.
Danger doesn’t have to come from the front.
It can come from above too.
The forest was still bright from the mid-day sun.
The trees’ leaves still glowed faintly from the sunlight passing through.
The pleasant scent of flowers still mixed with the pungent smell of bark and old leaves.
The steady breeze still rustled the leaves of trees and bushes alike.
The forest felt alive… Yet it was silent.
Neither child could see or hear any animals or even the buzzing insects.
Why? Where were they?
Had they somehow found a part of the jungle without living creatures?
“I don’t like this place.” Corvin’s face was set in a scowl that seemed to age him. “Dad said this place was full of animals we could hunt. Where are they?”
Corin felt a pain in her chest.
Their father had shared ‘private’ words with each of them.
She’d been told to help her brother as much as she could.
It seems he was told something a little different.
“I don’t know…” She looked around and watched as much of the forest as she could.
The silence was so palpable, their own breathing sounded loud and heavier than stone.
Corin took a deep breath to steady herself, then spoke. “Maybe Master did something to drive them off?”
Corvin lifted her over a large root and gently sat her on the other side.
“Like what? Is there a technique for scaring away food?”
Despite herself, Corin laughed.
What a strange thing to say.
“Only to keep food away from you.”
“Don’t make me drop you.”
It took them much longer to return to the Tree of purple leaves than either of them liked.
But the moment they crossed the threshold and stepped into the clearing, they immediately felt better. More at peace.
Corvin lifted his sister onto his hip and doubled his speed. He wanted nothing more than to climb into the hollow and go to sleep.
She pushed against his face with her non-injured arm. “Wait, hang on. Let me down.”
He thought about it for a second, but he wouldn't stop walking.
“Sure.”
He loosened his grip and let her slide to the ground while he kept walking.
He didn’t know how long they had before the old man returned. So he was going to get as much sleep as he could before he returned.
Corin crawled on her hands and knees to the fire.
She didn’t remember at what point her fever had broken.
Though, it was most likely between the tortuous training atop the rock and getting her face rubbed into the dirt.
Regardless, now that her body wasn’t burning from the inside. The chilly mountain air had wrapped itself around her bones.
She wanted to warm up so she could feel her fingers again.
Corvin made sure she was sitting beside the fire before he truly left her alone.
However, there was one thing keeping him from his comfortable bed.
Vrakhu’s sack of who-knows-what occupied over half the available space.
He’d either have to lay on top of it…
He grabbed the sack and pulled with both hands.
The sack remained closed thanks to the leather strip tied at the top. Which was perfect in Corvin’s mind, he didn’t want to pick up whatever weird plant the old man brought back with him.
“Master might not want you to touch that.”
Corin’s voice caused Corvin to hesitate for a moment.
He thought it over, considered what he was feeling compared to what the old man might do.
He found the two to be incomparable.
He twisted and pulled against the sack.
The fabric stretched slightly in his grip. But it was the weight that surprised him.
What’d he have in this thing? Rocks?
It took a few seconds for him to work it free from the hollow.
The moment it was out, he *lightly* tossed the sack towards Corin.
The sack made several low — Thuds! — as it crashed to the ground. The objects inside pushed and shoved against one another until all momentum was spent.
If the old man didn’t want him to touch it, he should’ve said so.
Corin flinched at the sack landing so close to her, and the fire both.
Another few inches and they’d have a problem on their hands.
“Hey, don’t throw it over here idiot. What if it got burned?”
Corvin stuck his head out of the hollow and looked at her.
“Did it?”
“No, but —”
He stopped listening and immediately laid down inside the hollow.
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His skin always tingled against the cold air. But, at least here, it was warm enough he could ignore it.
Corin furrowed her brows at his dismissal and crossed her arms.
She hoped Master would return and he’d get in trouble for disrespecting his possessions like that---
Her eyes glimpsed something as she looked away from the sack.
Her eyes found the sack again; it’d fallen so she could peer through the narrow opening at the top.
Nothing huge or shiny.
It didn’t look like wealth or treasure.
In fact, it was orange.
She glanced over to the hollow.
Corvin had his back facing her, his head balanced on his right bicep.
Corin chewed on her lip and thought about what to do.
As she’d told Corvin, the Master might not want them touching his personal belongings… but, on the other hand, a pleasantly fruity scent tingled her nose and made her mouth water.
Did he have food in there?
Would he share with her if she asked?
She glanced over to Corvin once again.
Still asleep or at least pretending to be asleep.
It wouldn’t hurt to look… Right?
She glanced over at Corvin.
Should she wake him?
He’d probably want to look too, right?
“Hey.”
She waited a few seconds for a response.
“Corvinus?”
She waited a few more seconds, but he didn’t stir.
Then she heard his slow, steady breathing.
He’d already fallen asleep.
Why couldn’t she ever fall asleep that fast?
Her eyes returned to the sack.
Two voices competed for her attention.
One told her opening the sack without permission was wrong.
One told her he wouldn’t have left the sack unprotected if he didn’t want them to open it.
Neither she nor that other voice could argue with that kind of logic.
She scooted closer on her hands and knees.
The fruity smell grew stronger, as did the rumbling in her stomach.
Her arm instinctively reached out; just a peek and she’d close it.
She wouldn’t take anything without asking.
All she needed was one little peek.
Her fingers found the leather strip keeping the sack closed.
Her arm pulled, and the strip came unraveled.
The top widened, something inside moved, and more scents brushed against her nose.
Sweet fruits, foul smelling weeds, savory mushrooms, bitter roots, and more came into view as the sack toppled over in front of her.
Her eyes widened, her pupils dilated.
She grabbed the first thing she’d seen; a bright orange fruit no larger than her fist.
With the other hand, she reached into the bag and began pushing stuff aside as she sought the bottom of the bag.
Seconds passed as she dug.
By the time she finally touched the bottom, her arm was buried to the shoulder in food.
Her breath hitched in her chest.
While they were starving, he’d gotten all of this for himself?
Why?
She shook away the thought.
It didn’t feel right.
She recalled him sitting beside the fire; still as a statue, steady as a mountain.
She wracked her brain, but couldn’t find it.
A memory of him eating.
Had he eaten anything the entire time she’d known him?
The leaves moved overhead, snapping her out of her thoughts.
She stared at the orange fruit in her hand, then at the abundance of food piled inside the sack.
She hadn’t seen this many edible plants since she’d last looked inside her grandmother’s book…
Her eyes widened and she turned her attention to the orange fruit.
She analyzed it, memorized it, then sat it aside and grabbed something else.
She wouldn’t take anything without asking.
But what if she treated it like her grandmother’s book?
She’d seen the way he handled poisonous fruit. So she doubted anything inside would be bad to eat, right?
She glanced over at her sleeping brother.
The little voice in her head was telling her this wasn’t right.
She should share this knowledge with him…
But an even louder, more dominant voice was screaming about the dirt on her face.
He’d lied to her.
Let her believe it was her responsibility to help him as the older sister.
She’d cooked for him.
She’d gone without sleep so he could rest.
She’d help him with his chores back home.
“He had his secret. I’ll have mine.”
She picked up a solid white mushroom and observed it from all angles.
How far did their Master have to travel to find so much food?
Vrakhu could hear their inner voices loud and clear.
Corin had opened the sack.
He knew she would be the first to question it.
Yin was the mental side of the world, and those favored by it were often more curious than their counterparts.
He’d hoped she’d take the opportunity to study the edible plants he’d gathered and seek them out herself.
Though he half expected her to eat it without doing so.
He was glad to be proven wrong.
He looked at the waterfall in front of him.
On his left side were two oblong shaped stones that looked like a pair of large eggs.
On his right side was a trio of young boars playing amidst the flowers, while their mother munched on a berry bush some feet away.
But these were no normal boars.
They were Spirit Beasts.
The mother Boar was over ten feet tall at the shoulder. A mane of thick black hair circled her neck and shoulders. Her tail and tusks were coated in shining steel that reflected light almost as well as the water beneath the fall.
The three children were nearly identical to their mother. Except a third of the size and a fraction of the weight.
They also hadn’t grown their tusks yet, which was the only reason the mother boar still followed them around.
Vrakhu ignored them, and they ignored him.
He picked up one stone and balanced it on his palm.
It would hold enough.
Then he placed his long nails against the top and lightly pressed down — Crack! — the egg-shaped stone gave way like wet clay.
He quickly twisted his hand, the sheer force of his fingers cleaved through stone without resistance.
He placed the top of the stone on the ground beside his feet, removing a mere two inches from the foot-long stone.
Then he pressed his nails against the jagged crown of the stone: a high-pitched grinding sound spread through the air as he twisted the hand holding the bottom.
His nail filed down the jagged edges until they were perfectly smooth to the touch.
He blew stone dust from the top of the stone, then angled his hand so it was even with the center line.
“Huff Huff?”
“Huff Huff.”
Vrakhu glanced down at the babes investigating the stone top.
Their hairy noses snuffled at the stone; pushing it this way and that way. As if they were trying to understand what he was doing.
Vrakhu watched them for a moment before going back to work.
He pushed his hand down, passing from crown to base in an instant. Though he was careful not to push all the way through.
He closed his fist and the granite didn’t resist. He pulled the stone free of its shell and placed it on the ground for the boars to inspect.
They seemed to enjoy it.
He repeated this a few more times, only stopping once the stone was hollow.
He carried it to the water's edge and slowly lowered it into the cool water thrice.
First to wash it of any dust or debris he’d left behind, then to test for leaks and faults, and finally to fulfill its purpose.
He placed the water-filled stone beside the other stone and began transforming it into an identical water carrier.
— Crash! —
The baby boars scattered, leaving the toppled water stone behind to hide behind their mother’s bulk.
Vrakhu stopped moving and turned to look at her.
“Huff…” The mother’s head hung apologetically, and Vrakhu nodded.
Children were a handful no matter the race.
The mother stood up and let out a high-pitched squeal that pushed over flowers and shoved back the wind.
Her voice carried over the waterfall and throughout the forest.
Prey and predator alike fled from the mother boar’s warning, as did her three children.
The three crashed into the bushes many times faster than a normal man could run.
The mother boar sent one last look Vrakhu’s way before she followed her children into the dark forest.
Vrakhu paid them little attention and refilled the water stone.
With the bodies done, next were the lids.
He located the two stone tops he’d sat aside earlier and hollowed them out. Turning them into a pair of granite bowls.
They needed fresh water.
Now they had it.
As the final touch before leaving. Vrakhu carved small ledges into the body and mirrored ledges into the bowl.
Now the bowl and body would safely lock together, trapping the precious water inside during transport.
He would fulfil their need for water for the time being. Once they were strong enough to carry the stones, the twins would take over their own needs.
He wrapped both stones in his arms and left the waterfall right as the sun began to fall into the horizon.
It was almost time for the twins’ final lesson of the day.
He was curious to see how much they actually saw.
