Forest Guardians || Straykids ff

f i f t e e n

yeona

"In short, the forest guardians are not real."

The moment he said those words, the little ones suddenly gathered around me as if they were expecting something wrong would happen. I petted them one by one until they calmed themselves down.

I looked at elder Hakyeon as he sipped from his cup of tea or coffee, I didn't really know. His happy-go-luck expressions suddenly changed to mad.

"If the forest guardians are not real, then why wizards and witches are real?" I softly asked him, then he put his cup down. He looked at me seriously. "It's because dear Yeona, we are human beings, and we're far more real than those forest guardians you knew." He explained as he stared at me. He was kind of mad the moment I mentioned the topic to him.

Maybe I shouldn't ask him more about this topic. It's not good to make an elder angry. I smiled at him as I looked at him, then he suddenly changed his expression. He was smiling now.

"Okay, let's forget that topic. Did you have your lunch already? How about your little companions there?" He stood up and went to his kitchen. Loud clanking and banging sounds from his pots and plates were heard from there. I decided to help him to cook some food.

"We actually haven't, but I brought some food here. Grandma made me a lot of packed food so I won't get hungry." I told him and pulled a packed food from the dimensional ring and gave it to him. He smiled as he examined the food I gave him. "Then let's eat." He said as he prepared the table for us.

"I'll just feed the little ones." I told him and he nodded at me. I went outside and the little ones followed after. I pulled out my wand from the ring and formed 8 individual bowls from my Earth spell. I poured their food at the bowls and let them eat. I also formed a large bowl to put water there. I made sure that everyone was having their lunch before I went inside to have mine.

I saw that elder Hakyeon was already seated at the table and was just waiting for me. "Let's eat!" He yelled, telling me that he was already hungry. I hurriedly went to the table to join him.

As soon as I sat down, he poured some food on his plate and started to eat. I did the same after him and ate as well. As we ate, he continued his stories, but this time, it was more interesting than the earlier.

After our chatty lunch, I washed both of our dishes while he went outside. I quickly finished doing the dishes and followed him outside.

I saw him talking to the little ones. They were having fun talking and playing around. I fixed my clothes and myself before approaching them.

"Elder, we're so glad that you welcomed us here, but sadly, we have to go." I told him then the little ones started gathering around me. "Is that so?" He sounded kind of disappointed. He then stood up to walk us out of the cave. On our way, he still talked about his past adventures.

As we walked further away from his house, I slowly heard the sound from the waterfalls. Even though it was not that far, the sound was like miles away from his home.

"If you ever need help, you know where to find me." He said then he flashed me his brightest smile with a wink. I nodded at him with a smile as well. "Thank you, elder Hakyeon. I appreciate it." He laughed as he waved his hand at us as we walked away from the fountain.

Before entering the forest, I looked one last time at the waterfalls. This place must be Mom and Dad's favorite spot here in the forest. With its beautiful scenery and the calming sound of the waterfalls, it was sure that you're in paradise.

We went again on our journey. A journey where I still didn't know where to go. If it isn't for Chan that suggested we go to the waterfalls, our journey must be boring.

What if I asked them where we should go now? They must have a place they all want to go. "Guys?" I stopped walking as I called them. Everyone stopped as well and turned to me. "Is there a place you want to go?" I asked them, then Changbin went to me.

"Yes Changbin? Any place you want to go?" He jumped at his place, telling me that he wanted to be carried. As I held him up, he put his right front foot at my forehead and a memory was suddenly shown in my mind.

It was at a cliff. There, I saw my parents again, with grandma this time. Mom's tummy was big, she's pregnant. They were having a great time there as they observed the sunset.

Down the cliff was also a forest. It was all healthy and full of trees. There was also a river in the middle of the forest.

The memory ended as he moved his foot away from me. I looked at him, stunned. I decided to put him down and started walking to the cliff he showed me. I heard them follow behind me.

As I felt tired of walking, I sat down under a tree and rested. The little ones gathered around me as they also rested.

A thought suddenly emerged from my mind. I looked at them as they rested on and around my lap. "Guys, have you all seen my parents or me before?" I asked them, which made them open their eyes.

They all hugged me, which I didn't know why. They looked at me, their eyes were saying something to me. I petted their heads, and when I petted Felix's head, a voice suddenly spoke inside my head. It was a deep, and kinda scary voice.

"We all did, darling."