"I get it. Syanandurapuram, yes... but where is it?"
Asher looked around, turning in a slow circle as if the place might suddenly reveal itself if he looked hard enough.
"I don't know. I thought you knew this place."
Lue looked at him.
Asher stared back.
There was a moment of silence.
"Wait…"
His expression slowly changed.
"So we both don't know where we're going, and we just kept walking anyway?"
Lue looked around.
Only then did he properly notice their surroundings.
They were no longer anywhere near the path they had been following. Trees stood on every side, their branches spreading over them and blocking most of the sky, while thick vines twisted around the trunks and disappeared deeper into the forest.
"What do we do now?"
Lue reached toward a nearby tree and picked a leaf, turning it over in his hand as he examined it.
Asher gave him a strange look.
"What do you say we do?"
Lue looked at him.
"WE CAN GO ON AN ADVENTURE...!!!"
Asher's face lit up immediately, as though getting lost in the middle of nowhere had somehow become the best thing that could have happened to him.
"But we should head to Syanandurapuram, no?"
Lue picked a fruit from one of the branches and brought it closer to his face, examining it before smelling it.
"It's not like someone is dying if we go late- "
"Maybe."
Lue brought the fruit toward his mouth.
Asher immediately snatched it from his hand.
"What do you mean, maybe? And stop eating everything you find!"
He tossed the fruit aside.
"Maybe someone might die," Lue said, staring at where the fruit landed. "I don't want to take the possibility."
Asher stared at him for a second.
Then he looked around the forest.
"Maybe finding this place will be an adventure too..."
He muttered to himself before looking around again.
"Fine. We'll search for Syanandurapuram."
His eyes suddenly landed on someone walking between the trees.
"And maybe we can start by interrogating that guy over there."
Asher pointed toward a traveler making his way through the forest.
"Hello there!"
He quickly walked over.
Luckily, Asher was fluent in the local language, so the conversation went on without much trouble. Lue could only stand a short distance away, listening to words he didn't understand while the two of them talked.
After a while, the traveler continued on his way.
Asher walked back toward Lue.
"He said if we get out of this forest, we should eventually reach a village. From there, we can head toward Syanandurapuram."
He paused.
"Apparently, it's a holy place."
Lue nodded, and they continued walking.
For the next few hours, they followed whatever paths they could find, sometimes walking along a narrow trail and sometimes having to push their way through thick plants when the trail disappeared completely.
The forest seemed to stretch much farther than either of them had expected.
There were trees of all kinds around them, some covered in hanging vines while others were filled with fruits and flowers. Birds occasionally flew from the branches above them, and small sounds came from the bushes every now and then.
As they continued deeper, the sunlight slowly shifted.
At first, it was bright enough to pass through the leaves almost normally.
Later, the light became softer.
Then the shadows between the trees began to grow longer.
They had been walking for so long that even Asher had stopped talking as much.
Lue was beginning to wonder how much farther they would have to go when suddenly-
His instincts kicked in.
Lue immediately pulled out his sword.
Asher stopped.
"Wha- ?"
There was a rustling sound coming from the bushes.
Lue stood completely still, watching them.
A moment later, a small animal slowly came out.
Asher blinked.
Then his entire expression changed.
"It's a squirrel."
He lowered his voice.
"Oooo... it's so cuteee!"
Asher started moving toward it.
Lue quickly grabbed him and pulled him back.
"What are you doing?"
His expression was completely serious.
"Chill out, brother. It's just a harmless animal."
Asher crouched down and carefully picked up the little squirrel.
"Look. He's harmless."
He began gently petting it.
Lue stood a short distance away, still watching.
Asher noticed.
With a grin, he grabbed Lue's hand and placed it against the squirrel's soft fur.
"Go on."
Lue hesitated
Then his fingers slowly moved across its soft fur.
For a brief moment, he simply stood there.
And then a memory came back.
Jun.
Qian.
The little kitten they had once saved.
Lue's expression changed.
He immediately pulled his hand away.
"Okay. Now we need to move."
He grabbed Asher's arm and started pulling him along.
Asher looked back at the squirrel.
"Come on! I want to pet him more...!"
He made his voice as dramatic as possible as if Lue were dragging him away from the love of his life.
"We need to hurry"
Lue looked toward the sky.
The sunlight was already fading, and the forest was becoming darker by the minute.
"The sun is setting."
Asher finally stopped complaining and looked up.
"Oh."
He stared through the trees at the evening sky.
"Yeah, you're right."
He looked around them.
"If it gets completely dark, finding our way will be even harder."
"We should find somewhere to stay before that happens."
They continued walking, this time keeping an eye out for somewhere they could spend the night.
They searched for quite a while, moving farther from the path and checking the spaces between the trees and rocks.
The sky gradually became darker.
The last bits of sunlight barely reached the forest floor anymore.
Just when they were beginning to wonder if they would have to sleep beneath the trees, Asher suddenly stopped.
"Wait."
He pointed ahead.
"Look, look! It's a cave!"
There was a small hollow between a group of rocks, partially hidden by plants.
Asher immediately started toward it.
"Stay back. I'll check it."
Lue walked inside carefully.
The entrance wasn't very large, and the cave became darker the farther he went.
Asher waited outside.
A few minutes passed.
Then several more.
He looked toward the entrance.
"It's been a while."
He scratched his head.
"Knowing how quick Lue is, I might check on him."
Asher stepped inside.
"Lue?"
No answer.
He walked farther in.
"Lue, you in here? Where are you?"
Still nothing.
"Make some noise."
Asher continued deeper into the cave until he suddenly stopped.
There was a large hole in the middle of the path.
He leaned over and looked down.
"Lue?"
He blinked.
"What are you doing in there, man?"
Lue looked up from inside the hole.
"I slipped in."
He looked around, almost confused by his own situation.
"Don't remember how."
Asher stared at him.
"You should've called me for help."
Asher reached further and grabbed his hand.
Lue stared at their hands.
For a second, something seemed to click in his mind.
"Help…"
He murmured the word as if he were trying to remember it.
"Yes."
His eyes dropped toward his sword.
"I should have"
"Here."
Asher grabbed his hand and pulled him out.
Once Lue was back on solid ground, Asher looked around.
"So, is the cave safe?"
"As far as I came, yes."
Lue nodded.
"Then I think we can stay here."
By then, it was already getting dark outside.
They returned toward the entrance and settled down for the night.
Asher opened his bag and pulled out a piece of cloth, spreading it across the ground.
He gathered the sticks they had collected earlier and managed to get a small fire going inside the cave.
The warmth slowly filled the space.
Lue sat nearby and opened his own bag to see what he had with him.
He moved a few things aside before noticing something small tucked underneath them.
A piece of cloth.
He pulled it out and placed it on the ground.
Asher immediately leaned over.
"What the- "
He picked it up.
"Lue, it's a map, man."
He unfolded it and stared at the markings.
"If we'd known you had this earlier..."
He looked around the cave.
"Now we can't even use it. We don't know where we are."
Lue stared at the map.
"We're lost?"
Asher slowly looked at him.
"Yes."
He sighed.
"I mean... sorry, man, but yes. We are."
He looked toward the small fire.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
Eventually, Asher leaned back.
"Let's just sleep. We can figure something out tomorrow."
Lue nodded.
"Fine"
He lay down and closed his eyes.
But he wasn't really planning to sleep.
He never did.
Even when his body was exhausted, some part of him always remained awake, listening to every movement around him.
The fire continued burning quietly.
Outside, the forest had become completely dark.
Time passed.
The fire slowly became smaller, and the warmth inside the cave faded with it.
Asher eventually fell asleep.
Lue remained still, listening to his breathing and the sounds of the forest outside.
He didn't know how long he stayed like that.
Only that, at some point, without realising it-
His eyes closed.
Morning came slowly.
Thin rays of sunlight slipped through the trees and reached the cave entrance before finally falling across Lue's face.
"Good morning, Lue."
Lue's eyes opened.
Asher's face was the first thing he saw.
"What the- "
He immediately sat up.
For a few seconds, he simply stared ahead.
Then he looked around the cave.
The fire had gone out.
Morning had already arrived.
"I fell asleep..."
His voice was quiet.
His expression showed genuine confusion.
"How did I...?"
He couldn't remember when he had stopped keeping watch.
Asher was already packing their things.
He looked over at Lue and smiled.
"Let's move?"