Scouting For Romance

Entry 30, 31

Entry 30

Day 9, Month 17, Year 572

We were beginning to run out of soap, so it was time to create more.

"What were the ingredients again?"

"Ashes from glowing red flowers. Water. Animal fat. Mint."

"And what was the process for putting those ingredients together?"

"I assume we put them in a bucket then put the bucket over a fire."

"Do you have a bucket?"

"No."

"Hmh." Tytus looked around the forest floor and picked up a small stone, then found a wide branch. "We can make a bucket out of wood then. I'll carve a slot big enough for a bar of soap, you go out to find the red flowers?"

I nodded. "Do you also want me to collect animals and mint?"

"If you see any, sure! If not, I'll help you when I'm done here." He raised the stone up high and crashed it down on the wood like an axe, hacking off small chunks with every blow.

I nodded and went off to surprise Tytus by getting all the materials in one go. I set up snare traps, I looked for mint leaves, I scoured the countryside for red flowers, but it was the oddest thing! Whenever I looked up and found a bit of purple (the forest is mostly blue, so purple means there's something red), I'd climb up that tree only to find no red flower. Whenever I returned to the snares, all the bait was gone, but the snare itself was undisturbed. As for the mint... I don't know what mint looks like, so that was probably my fault.

Something suspicious was going on.

I decided to try an experiment.

I set up a snare trap, put the bait down, then hurried an appropriate distance away. Far enough that animals wouldn't find me threatening, but close enough so I could see through the thick blue light. I stood behind a tree, pressed against the bark, motionless. I barely even breathed, my only movement was blinking, but even then, I blinked one eye at a time so there was no break in my line of sight.

Soon enough, a small rodent, which had glowing blue pockets of gel on his back to work as camouflage, scuttled down a tree. He was cautious, twisting his head this way and that, sniffing for any danger. He decided it was fine and came down from the tree to collect the free food just sitting in the open. Once he stepped inside, the snare activated, tightening the rope around him in an instant.

I stepped out from the tree and breathed a sigh of relief. It appeared there was no conspiracy, just a bit of bad luck until now. I went forward to collect my prey, but before I got close, a shadowy figure jumped down from the branches overhead and quickly stole my food!

"Hey." I yelled with a thunderous rage as I ran forward.

The figure didn't bother looking back, he just bolted, with my food in tow!

Naturally, I dug my boots into the dirt and sped off after him, running as fast as I could. He was unnaturally swift. The way he could maneuver around trees and jump over fallen logs or around rocks, there was a kind of elegance and grace to it that I couldn't hope to replicate. I quickly got the sense that he was toying with me, or leading me away, as every time he was about to lose me past the blue light of the forest, he stopped, carved a face sticking his tongue out in a tree, then kept going before I could catch up.

Plus, I was running out of steam. I hadn't eaten much today, and all this sprinting was killing my chest. My lungs were on fire, my heart raced, my thighs burned, my clothes stuck to my skin from all the sweat.