They had been walking for hours now, with only a small break for food, and Zandre was starting to get impatient.
Logically, he knew that Place was also had no idea about how long this path was, and he also knew that Place had chosen this 'path of fate' over the other one for some good reason. Whatever it may be.
But a small part of him couldn't help but feel frustrated. It was petty, and childish.
There had been a way to a city, right? Why couldn't they have gone that way? It would have at least made him feel like they were making progress!
Instead, they were walking where 'fate' had told them to go. And they had to be careful every step of the way, on the watch for anything that could cause them harm.
'The other way would have been pretty similar.' He thinks to himself as he bites into a fruit, They would have in treacherous territory no matter where they walked.
He thinks that maybe they could have met some people if they went the other way.
'No guarantee, but there's still a chance.'
He shakes his head, driving away his negative thoughts.
He glanced at his wrist.
On it was a bracelet that Place had handed to him, a portable storage space, filled with various items he had been given for free, just to ensure some amount of safety for him.
Zandre's heart warmed at Place's care for him.
'He's a good person.'
"Sunset is approaching." Place stated, looking at the sky through the leaves.
"We will have to be even more careful going forward."
Zandre looked at him, all the warmth just now evaporated.
"Brother, I can't be more careful than this!" He wanted to grab Place by the shoulders and shake him.
"And I'm already mentally tired on top of that!"
"I am aware." Place casually looked around, then pointed to a 'particularly thick' tree, with 'quite thick' branches.
"We will rest for two hours, then we will continue."
"Two hours? That-"
Zandre stumbled to catch something Place tossed his way.
"What is this?" He asked, looking at the necklace.
"Put it on." Place said as he threw a few things into the area around his chosen tree. "It will help you recover."
"Do you have one?" Zandre was well aware that while he was just mentally tired, Place would be physically tired along with that.
"I have something better." Place stated as he scaled the tree.
Zandre, his worries sated, but the necklace on and scaled the tree.
"Hey, Place?" Zandre piped up after they settled into their chosen branches.
"Ask me after I wake you up."
"Uh? But-"
"Do you want a sleeping potion? I have some."
Zandre didn't manage to formulate a response before he had to hurriedly catch the glass vial Place threw over.
"Drink it, toss the vial into the bracelet, and sleep."
With that, Place closed his eyes and leaned back against the trunk of the tree.
Zandre stared at the vial in his hands, with a soft sigh, he opened it and drank the potion.
"Oh..."
The effects kicked in immediately, and before he could even think about what was happening, his body went limp, and he dozed off.
Thankfully, his hand was still grasping the vial.
Place's eyelids opened.
For a few seconds, he stared at Zandre in silence, his calm eyes betraying nothing of the turmoil occurring deep, deep within his mind.
His eyes closed, and three seconds later, he was fast asleep.
*
Whatever question that Zandre had wanted to ask, it had been forgotten.
He and Place were walking much slower because of the light conditions.
While there was plenty from the half-moon and the stars, the trees blocked plenty of it.
Place made a few simple calculations as slightly adjusted their path to not disturb a sleeping Tier 3 creature.
They had to have walked at least thirty kilometers.
Something felt weird about this distance, and from a bit of observation, he could tell that Zandre was feeling something off as well, which helped clear the feeling.
He knew what Zandre and him shared in common, and he also knew what they did not.
He also had an idea about what their roles were.
"Zandre." He said pausing their trek after scanning the immediate area.
"Hm?" Zandre answered with a sound instead of a word.
"Lead." He gestured forward with a sweeping gesture.
"What?" Zandre was confused with good reason.
"Lead the way." Place repeated.
"Are, are you sure?"
"You and I can both feel it, something is about to happen, and your body is much better than mine."
Place did not say the last, and most important reason he was letting Zandre lead, but just this would be enough.
"Okay."
And it was, after a second of hesitation, Zandre took the shield that Place held out, and started walking.
Following behind him, Place noticed that they were veering off their original path.
He said nothing.
The feeling increased slightly over time, then suddenly vanished all of a sudden.
Zandre froze midstep, shooting a glance at Place.
Place grunted.
'The path has been corrected.'
"It's time to eat anyway." He said aloud, looking at the very convenient small clearing just a few meters away.
And so they sat around, and Place brought out some fruit and a bit of some strange 'rations' that he had told Zandre were used by traveling people to cut down on food expenses.
They were nothing more than magically made, balls of food. They tastes quite good, at least.
"Shouldn't we make a fire?" Zandre asked out of nowhere as Place set their meal out on a piece of cloth.
"A fire-" Place made to warn of the dangers of a fire in such a dark and unknown environment.
His left arm jerked, and his mouth clamped shut.
"Is your hand alright?" Zandre asked with sudden concern.
"It's fine." He waved the concern away, and looked around.
"Mind gathering some material for the fire?"
Zandre nodded slowly.
"Alright..." He said, still concerned for Place's arm.
As Zandre moved around, Place smiled, and ran the thumb of his right hand over the palm of his left.
"Good catch." He suddenly spoke into the air.
He looked into the forest's darkness.
"Who do think we're going to meet?"
'Oooh, wanna list possibilities?'