Tangled By Fate

Sebastian took a quick glance at Veronica. He was expecting Veronica to talk or tease him.

However, Veronica took her dagger and skillfully peeled the rabbit skin. She chopped the meat and started grilling them.

While the delicious smell of grilled meat spread to the grassland, Ironin came back with a bucket to fish.

With hunger in her stomach, Catherine sniffed the air unconsciously and then slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing her eyes noticed was the meat Veronica was grilling.

Her drowsiness flew away. She abruptly sat straight.

"Ahh food, finally..." Her focus was on food until she realized that something wet was tickling her jaw.

She touched her jaw and realized that it was her saliva. It happened when she was sleeping with an open mouth.

She absentmindedly wiped her jaw and looked around. Seeing Sebastian right beside her and looking at her, she stilled.

When she realized that her saliva dropping was noticed by the guy who she had a crush on, her face turned red instantly.

"Your face is red. Do you have a fever? Are you feeling unwell?"

Concerned about her sudden red face, Sebastian reached out.

"Ah!" Catherine slapped his face subconsciously. When she realized what she did, she became awkward. "It's nothing. Sorry."

Then, she hurriedly looked away and awkwardly moved where Veronica was sitting.

With that one slap, Sebastian froze. He noticed how oddly Catherine was behaving.

Only then did he realize that she was feeling embarrassed. His heart skipped a beat.

He looked away and covered his mouth.

'What is happening to my heart?' he wondered.

----------

Three days passed by quickly. They would wake up early in the morning and start their journey after having breakfast. In the evening, they would rest somewhere.

They would have moved in the evening as well if it wasn't for Catherine. She was always out of breath and exhausted at the end of the day.

To give her proper rest, they paused their journey in the evening.

It was another evening. Veronica and Ironin were frying the fish they caught While Catherine was resting and Sebastian was guarding.

After they fried the fish, Veronica woke up Catherine and the four of them had dinner together. When it was tied to sleep, Sebastian and Ironin suddenly stood up.

Feeling something wasn't right, Veronica looked at them. "What's wrong?"

Catherine, who just lied down, sat up again.

All four of them were quiet as though they were hoping to hear something.

"What is it? I don't hear anything," Catherine said while rubbing her eyes.

"You are right. It's too quiet," Sebastian admitted. "Not even gnats are making noises. It's not good."

Catherine couldn't understand. "What's wrong with being quiet?"

"Something bad is about to happen and that's why mother nature became quiet," Veronica briefly explained.

With months of experience in the wilderness, she gathered enough knowledge just like any other warrior.

Ironin's eyesight was better than anyone in the group. He narrowed his eyes and his eagle-like eyes stared at the unknown darkness.

The area they were in at that moment had long grass. The grasses were long enough to cover most of their bodies.

Veronica and Catherine were only covered to their chest while Sebastian and Ironin were covered to the upper waist.

"We should leave," Ironin suddenly said.

Veronica and Sebastian exchanged glances. They didn't hear or see anything but they were already feeling uncomfortable.

They silently listened to Ironin and packed their bags.

Ironin blew off the torches. They were in endless darkness.

Soon, they headed to the northeast.

The moon was on the top of the sky. There was also the north star guiding them.

With the moonlight brightening the road for them, they were able to walk properly until they heard a commotion. 𝘧𝐫𝑒𝗲𝑤ℯ𝚋𝐧૦𝘃𝒆l. c𝚘𝓂

They stopped on their track and then looked back.

They saw hundreds of torches coming toward them.

"What's happening?" Catherine asked. "Are people chasing us? Why?"

"Let's wonder about that later. Run!" Sebastian urged her.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her while he ran.

Veronica and Ironin weren't sitting idly. They were also running.

After running for a while, Veronica looked back once again.

"Wait, wait, I don't think those people are going after us," she stopped the rest of the team.

Others paused. They turned around. Ironin walked forward and noticed the people with torches going to the north.

"Fortunately, it's not a dry season; it's raining now and then. Or else, the place would be on fire," Veronica said.

"Forget the fire. What were we running for?" Catherine asked. "It's a free land. Who were those people? Wouldn't it be great if we didn't run at all?"

She was panting hard. Her whole body was sweaty. They were wearing the same clothes for several days and they weren't able to take baths.

She wondered what sin she committed to suffer like this.

Veronica couldn't blame her for complaining. She had a good idea about Catherine's body strength.

"I'm sorry that you got dragged into this. They could be bandits in this area but I doubt it," she expressed her opinion.

"They can't be bandits. The bandits mostly stay in the forest or mountain area," Sebastian stated.

He added, "Although I'm not sure who they were, it's good that we ran. If we didn't move from there, we would be stomped to death or attacked. You wouldn't like that."

"Scary!" Catherine shuddered.

"But who were they chasing I wonder," Veronica mentioned. "No one would light up torches and go in a group making loud noises for no reason."

"Could it be a war? Were they soldiers?" Catherine probed.

"Soldiers," Ironin shortly mentioned.

Sebastian agreed, "Yeah, I can tell from the metallic sounds."

Veronica became worried. "They are not going to the desert to join the war, are they? I'm curious which side they are on."

"They headed to the north. I don't think they want to join the war. They also didn't have any horses with them," Sebastian eased her worry.

Veronica sighed in relief. "Then, they were chasing someone," she concluded.

"Could be," Sebastian shrugged.

"Who could it be?"

Although Veronica voiced it out, everyone was thinking the same.

"...That would be me, I suppose."