Burying the poisoned girl's body, the survival guy whose name I have learned to be June is now leading us all through the jungle.

Keeping a moderate pace, we traverse through the surrounding large trees, those of less physical capability losing their ground here and there on rough ground.

"Here just hold my hand, it would be faster" 

I ask Isabelle, sensing the opportunity to garner some favorable image.

Sensing no ill will and sound reasoning in my words, she complies.

Our traveling speed did indeed not improve as Isabelle was not the only was tripping, there was also that girl whose name I still don't know and the carriage driver. 

Not being helped by the other three people in our little group, the two look back at us with a hint of spite

"Maybe you shouldn't.."

Isabelle whispers, I wonder where her commanding aura and confidence went. Now she's behaving like a normal girl roughly my age, I can even feel the nervous sweat on her palms enclosing mine.

I bring my lips close to her ears

"Jealousy, don't let it affect you, dear friend" a sweet whisper, blowing cold air into her ears hinted by the rise of a tinge red on her earlobe.

The reaction is also like a normal girl.

She nods slightly, keeping her head straight and hand entwined with mine tight

Definitely a lot more to her than what meets the eye

...

Suns start to go down and the sky gets covered in orange. The humidity and dryness all around us make us sweat and waste substantial energy.

We need to start looking for a cave soon, this June must also know this.

Heavy breathing comes from the person beside me, though she's trying her best to hide the fatigue. Her face is calm and still but her breathing is very erratic and rough.

Should I carry her on my back?

nah...too weird, we only just met.

[DUCK!!]

I lower myself, making sure Isabelle follows my movement.

*fwooop!!*

"Ahhhhhh!!!!...m-my back....."

I look up and see an arrow stuck in the girl's back, blood flowing down and making her ragged clothes soak in red. A second later, she falls face down to the ground, with no sign of struggling or any twitching.

An instant death.

[These are not normal arrows]

Can see that sis.

June and my new witch friend start sprinting away, and the coach driver decides to follow them with his heavy footsteps.

Getting lost in this forest would be bad, it's best to stick with that June guy and the witch till we get out

Sis, you know what to do

[Just run]

"Sorry Isabelle, but you would be a hindrance in your current state"

"huh?..W-wait!! I can still ru-WAAHHHH!! WHHAT are you-"

Lifting her up and comfortably Carrying her on my shoulder, I start to follow suit with the sounds of protest and soft fists hitting my back

[Left]

Given instructions, I slide a bit to the left and arrows follow suit on my previous trajectory.

I run past the coach driver, he was already winded and now trying to run fast to save his life. What a poor guy.

"Hey! Mister! Don't slow down!! keep running"

"pfft"

"WHaht!!!"

"n-nothing"

[Right]

For a brief second, I turn my head back and the guy tumbles down on the ground. He's out of all physical strength it seems.

"Rosette, I can run now, you should go and carry him. He's going to die"

"Yeah, not happening, my friend"

"Why!? You are strong enough"

"Slowing down and then going back to pick him up. Whatever group is following would catch up and then I have to risk my life for that nobody"

"Y-you!!"

"Get mad all you want friend, but you are stupid or too naive if you think I should risk my life for him"

Silence falls and the sound of an arrow penetrating flesh reverberates from behind. It seems like he met his end.

"You can close your eyes"

"No"

What's the point of watching him die? 

Does she like watching people die?

hmm, most likely not.

A few minutes pass of us running away, I pick up my pace and catch up with June, the witch, and the guy who doesn't speak.

"Is the coachman done for?" asks June

"Yep, he fell down and rest is obvious"

"gugh!! Another one lost" he spits, looking visibly distraught

After what seemed like a few miles but were likely very few kilometers, June points to an opening in the woods and we rush towards it, not taking note if whatever was hunting was still on our trail.

The arrows stopped coming a few minutes ago, maybe they gave up? But still, you couldn't be more cautious, thus I still had my senses all fired up.

We step into the opening and the bright orange bathes our entire body, in front of us a rough road. Looking past the road, a large field of barley, stretched as far as the eye could see.

The expansive golden landscape covered in slightly warm orange, made us accept the reality

"We are finally out..." whispers the witch

June fell on his knees, tears streaming down his eyes and so did my back. It seems like Isabelle on my shoulder was also shedding some tears. 

I put her back on the ground and moved past her to stand next to the witch

"Why are these two crying now?" I chatted with Anabelle

"You stupid girl? They are just relieved, all the tension built up in the last few days now leaving their bodies. You are the weird one for having a stoic face" she rebukes

"Well, so are you dear witch. You almost look bothered by the fact that we escaped"

"Well I ain't exactly a normal person, am I, dear Rosette"

"I guess"

"And what's the deal with that mute guy? Where did he go to?"

I look around and find the guy who didn't speak absent

"Wasn't he with us just a few moments ago?"

"Did he get out of the forest with us?"

"I was sure I saw him..."

[What are you two ladies talking about?]

'What happened to that mute guy'

[What mute guy?]

'What do you mean sister, you that big bulky guy, no hair on the head, and didn't speak a single word the entire time'

[What are you talking about Rose, being in the forest cooked your remaining brain or something?]

'huh?....so sister didn't see him?'

[Again, see what?]

"Anabelle, the person inside me says no such person was there"

"what?!....but we saw him...didn't wee?"

"Pretty sure we did"

"hmm..."

"hmm..."

[hm....]

Not sure what to make of it, we decided to drop the matter 

"Well then, this would be my goodbye to you Rosette, I must go somewhere before traveling to the silent woods. Come visit me there when you get comfortable in the city of knowledge"

"huh? You are leaving so soon?"

"Yeah, I'm already off schedule, I need to hurry up now"

With that, the witch shakes my head and walks off into the distance.

She said to find her but how am I supposed to find a witch's hut in the middle of the large silent forest?

[A magic barrier likely surrounds that forest, alerting the witch there of any presence]

hmm

"What are you pondering about?"

A voice comes from behind, a familiar voice, one back to its original firm tone.

"Nothing, so shall we travel to our destination?"

"Let's just find a village nearby first and have a nice comfortable sleep there first"

I don't see the point

"Sure, I would love to"

"uhm...are you two also going to the academic city?" suddenly asks June

"Yes, are you also...?" replies Isabelle

"hahaha...yeah, so could I please follow you two to the city? It would be nice to have some company till there" he suggests

No

"Of course, it's the least we can do. You helped us escape that dammed forest, after all, right Rosette?"

"Sure"

"Th-thank you very much!!"

"It's no problem" she smiles back and shakes his hand in approval

Well, I guess three of us are not making it to the city.

I wonder what his motive is for going there.

Family? Business?

It matters not, I and Isabelle will be all alone once we reach the destination

Thus we make our way towards the City of Knowledge, where some grand ploy set up by the king or the nobility awaits us two chosen commoners.

What that might be, I don't know and I'm sure I won't be able to figure it out on my own

But Isabelle seems to be good in the brains department, so I just have to leave all the heavy-thinking stuff to her

With my left foot forward we progress our journey