**_Sage’s POV…_**

  “Father, do I _really_ have to join you?”

 I ask, our footsteps leaving the bridge connecting our home to the rest of the kingdom. An evening, cloudy-day breeze ruffles my hair and gives me goosebumps on my skin, though it feels much more soothing compared to the winter’s chill. It's nice, in general, to see the greens and pinks and other colors  return. 

My father chuckles and smiles at my whining, a friendly, overfamiliar smile that carves wrinkles around his lips, “Princesses have to do work too, figuring out what’s wrong with the kingdom, the forest. And I don’t want you cooped up in your room all the time, reading.” 

I can see how his smile expands as soon as he hears me huff and grumble under my breath— small, quiet noises I’m surprised he caught as we began to pass through the noise of the markets. 

“Don’t act like that, Sage. The sooner we get this problem over with, the sooner we can go back and do what we want. You’ll live.” He put his hand on my shoulder and ran his fingers through his hair using his other. If I described how tiresome it was for the maids to dye his hair from the natural blond color we shared to beet red because he went off on a whim, you’d feel exhausted too.

“What if I don’t live? Even the hunters are afraid to go into the land and they’re the strongest people aside from the soldiers! Mother wouldn’t be too happy either if I got hurt, now would she?”

 I had to raise my voice slightly just to speak over the commoner’s voices. 

The people’s laughter loves to bounce from the taverns, stores and restaurants, even when you’re on the other side of the road; I just know the rowdiness in the marketplace is going to get worse since one of the biggest festivals celebrating our goddess, Lilly,is only three weeks away. 

My father rolls his eyes jokingly as soon as he hears me speak of my mother. “I’ll make sure she won’t figure it out by keeping you unharmed. Just relax and think of this as a father-daughter adventure— we haven’t had one of those before, have  we?”

“It won’t be fun if we get mauled by a rabid deer.” I retorted.

“At least deers are adorable.” 

I sighed, my father holding in another laugh. I appreciate him trying to sway me into enjoying this hunt, I guess, but it was getting slightly annoying. Yet again, he will never stop being so teasing and lighthearted; he never stopped even when he was about to have his head handed to him by my mother. I always hated setting her off— to be frank, though, there were many times I hardly did anything to her. It’s just her cold nature.

A silence fell over me and my father; I decided to break it, “So… how are we going to get rid of whatever is causing the animals to act rabid? Are we going to harm them? We did bring daggers.”

My father’s smile gradually plummets. “No. Nothing is going to die. Especially when it’s almost the festival of blooming. That’ll be seen as blasphemous and worsening the already not-great imbalance going on in there, and that’s not a good look for royalty.”

He then pauses with a softening, serious expression planted onto his face. His smile had to have dropped at the thought of displeasing our goddess or hurting anything— that is one thing he is afraid of.

“We’re just going to observe from a safe distance and search for the cause. Bland, I know, but at least everything won’t be more wrong. We’ll use our dagger if we have to..”

“Too bland, I think.” I scoffed after a moment of silence, wanting to lighten the mood. “Now you’re _really _asking for us to be attacked.”

It takes a moment, but I finally get another slice of laughter and a smile from him. “Oh, shut it.”

I sighed with relief and smiled too; I had held my breath and watched his face for his reaction, and I’m glad my attempt was successful.

The sounds of people fizzle out when we finally reach the end of the kingdom and the beginning of the forest. We stand in front of a bridge built of boulders and stone, with moss, and dirt the color of my eyes, littered on it. My father takes a small breath and stares at what was on the other side, then turns his head back to look at me. “Ready to go?”

I nod with a nervous fidget of my hands.

He returns my nod, then gestures with his hand, a flap of his hand. Our footsteps go from tapping to crunching in only a few seconds, a sound that signals our arrival into the Land Of Lilly Lake. Its perfect timing also when the sky turns into a darker, foggier hue than it was only a few minutes ago. The world is really trying to make us jump out of our skin, huh?

Minutes pass of noiseless venturing— we see nothing. A couple more minutes— still nothing. Nothing but towering trees, blades of grass, soil. The only thing you could hear was our feet and the wind. It was strange; many hunters have said that they would be attacked by now, but maybe nothing has happened to us because we don’t look too threatening? 

But then, something catches my eye from the left.

Inside a tree, hollowed out, there was a… home? Flowers were scattered around, wool, dusty blankets were padding the floor, and little things made of fallen leaves and sticks decorated the doorway. It made me tilt my head and step closer, slowly in case something jumped out at me from inside. Who’s home was this? How could someone live out here, especially right now?

“Father, have you noticed this-“

I turned my head behind myself, and what I saw made my eyes enlarge and my body freeze like it was wintertime again.

My father was gone! Did he not notice I stopped?!

“Oh, no, no, no, no…”

My heart is disintegrating with dread while pounding in my ears, and my mind is flooded with the worst of possibilities. When I walk in the direction we were originally going, hoping that I was just overreacting, I learn my dread was justified. It was almost like he disappeared or was snatched— no, I hope not.

 My body darts around in desperation to find my father, my legs almost making me trip a few times as I speed walk through the trees. I tried to call out for him despite not wanting to draw attention to myself, but there was zero response. Not from my father, not the animals, nor anything in the land.

“Father?!”

✿

**_Clover’s POV…_**

Finally, a moment of peace.

The sun was gradually hiding from the moon, with the clouds assisting in making it darker in the forest. Everyone inside the forest seems to be at rest, except for those who embrace the dark. And my favorite thing: there’s no murderers or my sister around to pester me.

I shift my seating position with a gentle sigh, the bark of the branch I rest on scraping under my thighs. My eyes take in the view of my home from this slightly elevated position. It is a better feeling to peer down while my family walks around happily and among each other, but the tranquility of now is just as precious to me.

Against the tree’s trunk, I lie, a small smile on my face. It was me and the tree for a while before I felt something climb on top of my hair and scurry into my lap. I lurched from my thoughts at the feeling of tiny claws on me, I was pleasantly surprised. 

“Oh, hello, Maple.” I croon, “Need more attention from your older sister, do you?”

The squirrel chatters back, nuzzling my hand when I move to gently pet her. A small giggle comes from my smiling mouth.

“You are so cute…”

 This is how I want to spend my life; I want to just feel the peace I feel and rest with the creatures I hold so close to my heart. And I could have that, if Lilly saw things by way. Of course, it is her land and it will always be, unless there is a divine intervention somehow, but she does not see things the way they should be. That is why I use this time of her consciousness frozen in the lake to stand my ground. Protect my people by allowing them to fight the murderers that love to hunt them. How their  game of predator and prey irritates me to no end, yet Lilly thinks it is alright. And that is where I think she-

“Excuse me, miss! Could you come down here? I need help!” 

Me and Maple freeze at the sound of… a human… standing on the ground below us. I suppose my minute of tranquility is over, especially if this voice is like the rest of my sister’s followers. I am so tired of dealing with humans today.

Maple stands protectively on my lap with a hiss, but I place her off of me and start to slowly climb off the tree. When my feet hit the floor, I get a good look at the owner of this voice. She’s a girl with vanilla skin and blonde hair cascading down to her shoulders, her cheeks slightly pink when she took in my appearance, for some reason. Maybe because I am bare? 

“Firstly, what are you doing out here? Have you seen how the animals have been acting?” She asks and tilts her head to the left. That was the moment where I realized she looked familiar, like a somewhat warped face of a terrible person I have met before... 

I dust that thought away for now. Especially as I noticed the full dagger sheath on her belt; why would I give anyone the time of day when I just _know_ they are going to hurt the people I love?

I sighed, crossing my arms due to both a slight chill in the air and the annoyance leaking through my words. 

“This is my home, and the animals know not to hurt me. Now, what do you need?”

“Oh? What do you mean by—“

“What do you need?” I repeat curtly.

The girl’s words fizzle out from me cutting off her words. She narrows her eyes at me, but answers. “I… I was just wondering if you’ve seen my father around here? He has red hair, he’s this tall…” She gestures at his height with her hands. But, in response, I shake my head.

“I have not, sorry.” I answered, but not before muttering under my breath as I moved back to the tree, “though, I would be alright if one of my people already took care of him-”

“_Excuse_ me? Why do you say that?” Freezing just a little  when I realized my voice was a bit too loud, I turned around to be met by her jaw clenched. Why did seeing her on the verge of scowling scare me a bit? 

Regardless, I kept my ground. “Because I know why you and your father are here; you are here to hurt my family like the monsters you are.”

”We are not— We’re just trying to see what’s turning them rabid.” Her gaze darkens slightly and she steps forward. 

My eyes widened a bit with anger and my fists clenched, hard. “I am protecting them! I am trying to help everyone!”

“Oh, you’re not who you say you are, I don’t think. Not at _all…_” She scoffed.

(The rest of it is in the comments because I ran out of space 😭 and im bad so at writing dialogue-)