Ashly is now sitting beside a river bank, she is watching the water flowing through . Ashly touches the river with her hand and feels how cold it is as well as sees how shallow it truly is. Her shoes are a bit muddy but she doesn't mind at all, she has been in worse hygienic situations before. "Why doesn't Lucas see how much trouble that girl will cause. Is he too stupid or is it because he is being ignorant." Ashly says as she keeps her hand on the river. She reaches deeper and touches the rock, its smooth.
Ashly tries to think of something but she hears soft footsteps behind her, it's too light for it to be Lucas. Ashly braces herself as she has an idea on who it could be, she turns around and her suspicions were true. Mindy is there looking at Ashly, but with a more softer face. The girl looks away from Ashly as they meet eye to eye, and she blushes a bit. "Sorry for making you feel uncomfortable yesterday, it was all my fault." Mindy said in a whisper, she is fidgeting her fingers against each other. "Please, I didn't mean to make you feel threatened, I do want to be your friend." She says as she stops walking, she is now about 14 feet away from Ashly.
"Listen to me girl, I don't want to talk to you alright? I made it clear I don't want you near me ever again." Ashly said as she points her wet finger to the girl, Ashly is no longer touching the river. Ashly is standing up and stares at Mindy, she keeps trying to stare at her eyes. "Don't have the guts to look into my eyes huh?" She says teasingly "Then leave me alone you creep."
"That's because you're too interesting, I can't help but admire you." Mindy says in a more higher tone yet it's still silent. "I overheard what that boring man asked the other, they want to help find you." Ashly shakes her head in disappointment "I know he didn't ask for your permission entirely, but I want to help you." Mindy says and stays silent for six seconds "If you would let me of course."
"Oh yeah, how exactly are you going to fix me?" Ashly said sarcastically waiting for Mindy to explain. Ashly grabs a rock and points it at Mindy "I will throw this at your face, specifically your nose. I didn't break it yesterday, but today I might try to and I have good aim."
"Listen Ashly, there are some books I read that have solutions. There are some strange techniques I heard from many visitors over the years." Mindy says clasping her hands together, her eyes seem to be more lively than before. Mindy decides to make a risky move and approach Ashly more, she reaches her hand slowly to touch Ashly's. Within seconds Ashly smacks it away.
"I said don't touch me at all, don't get near me you idiot." Ashly is about to throw the rock but decides not, instead Ashly pushes Mindy to the ground "You're lucky, I was thinks of throwing you onto the river. It's a shame, I wanted to see if you knew how to swim or not."
"You know Ashly, I can sense dark thoughts within you. It's as if I can see a cloud that is ready to cause trouble, and it's in your mind." Mindy says smiling at her "It may seem weird but that's what I can see in you, interesting. What others may think of as bad or evil, for your brain, no your entire mind, it's all normal thoughts. Let me help you Ashly, I can definitely do it."
"Oh yeah? Why should I believe in what you say. All I know is that you're having other motives other than helping me, besides you're to annoying." Ashly said.
"Listen to me Ashly, there is nothing you can lose from this offer. Didn't that boy want you to change, I can change your mind and he will be happy right?" Mindy says which she knows is something Ashly can't deny "Come with me to my place, I can make you something to eat. I know you're not the type that knows how to cook, let me treat you as a guest."
"Sure why not, I'm hungry anyways." Ashly accepts her offer, Ashly will only go there and eat. She will then listen to the bullshit Mindy will say and then leave, she is much stronger than Mindy so she is confident. "Lead the way Mindy, show me your best… or whatever you're trying to do."
Lucas is with Agnes and Silas, they are sitting down watching a few birds. When Lucas woke up earlier in the morning, he wanted to tell Ashly about the news, but she was already gone. Lucas went to the community circle to speak with Eder, but he meet Silas first. Silas told Lucas that he and Agnes were going to watch the birds. They were waiting for Eder to wake up, and wanted to spend some time appreciating nature. Lucas asked if he could join and Silas gladly accepted as to show him why they value the forest.
"So Lucas, that over there is the brown owl, or better known as the The Long feather Brown Owl, it's one of many species of Brown owls in this forest." Silas whispers as the Owl is sleeping inside a tree. "It's the whole reason why we were able to live inside this forest, where we got a place to stay in."
The owl looked very peaceful, it was much smaller than he thought it would be. Lucas has seen sketches of the owl in the books, but they looked better in person. "So it must have a big wingspan then?" He asked.
"Yes of course, the owl itself is only 23 inches tall yet its wings span is almost 35 inches." Agnes says. "Their feathers can grow to 11 inches, all the other owls have feathers below 8 inches." Agnes says in a whisper.
"Listen Lucas, to us owls are the most sacred creature in this forest. More than the trees themselves, they are to be respected by everyone." Silas says "To us, Owls are our equals in every sense."
"That's very interesting." Lucas said "I will treat these owls with my utter most respect." Lucas whispers as he is holding the carving. "I won't try to offend anyone." Lucas notices how the carving is owl shaped "So are these carving shaped after the owls, or just a coincidence?"
"Well Lucas, Eder was the one who carved it. He might have? but he could of just done it to save time." Silas says with a smile. "To base them of the owls means that Eder had a strong bond with Brandon."
"Mentioning that, we love to make wooden carvings. It's one of the many things we do to pass the time, it's also a way to show respect to our ancestors." Agnes says, "Let us show you the wonders of our culture Lucas."
They are in the community circle, Lucas can see every Quill maker is there except for Mindy. This worries Lucas a bit as she seemed too attracted to Ashly "Lucas listen to me, we love making these wooden carvings. Most of the time we make carvings of facial expressions." Silas says as he points to many other carvings that are shaped more like human heads. "The faces are there to show how we are feeling."
"That's amazing, I read it on a book where it was briefly mentions" Lucas says trying to remember which book it was from "I also know that in the night time you all burn them, Am I correct?" Lucas asked.
"Yes that's correct, but that's only occasionally." Agnes said, "Lucas, do you know why we burn them or why it's a custom to us?" Lucas shakes his head not knowing exactly whay. "Well you see Lucas, during the harsh winters, Quill making was slow. It was when they were told that they can't make any Quill because of the abundance we made. Since our ancestors had nothing to occupy themselves with, they starting carving. We have a few of them which we hold with care, but they had too much time. They ended up cutting too many tree and used up all the once's they saved up. As you can see with fire places, we need wood and they ran low. They decided that the best thing to do was to burn them, not only that, but saved up the part skinny that were cut off to also burn."
"That's quite a story for the beginning of a ritual." Lucas says. "Mind if I write this down? I think the people need to know this. It's interesting, and meaningful."
"Of course Lucas, as I was saying. They eventually decided even after winter to continue it. It was a way to show that we aren't wasting any material inside this forest. They could freely carve as much wood as they wanted without wasting anything, and we appreciate that as well." Agnes says and Lucas begins to write it all down. "It's been a while, Eder should be waking up soon."
————
Ashly has entered a bigger cabin, it seems to be in the outskirts. "So, do you have any parents or anything like that?" Ashly asked, the pathway was narrowing as they closed in on Mindy's place. Mindy opens the door and Ashly enters, it's a bit messy. "Do you own this place? you don't seem old enough to do that."
"Well this was my parents home, well used to be until they both died from a disease." Mindy said casually, Mindy notices how Ashly is starting to judge her. "Sorry, didn't mean to say much."
Ashly can see a dead squirrel in the corner. "A dead squirrel, are you a killer Mindy?" Ashly asked Mindy who stayed quiet for a bit. "Never mind that, I heard Lucas mention how they are useful for something…or was that a different animal." Ashly has decided to not sit down and keeps on looking around.
"Ashly you might not understand, but I like the taste of squirrel. They are what I use to eat, but since you don't seem pleased by it. I won't cook them for you, I promise." Mindy says as she grabs a knife. "I'm not this wild and creepy person that you think I am." She says "It would make me happy if you take a seat, just trust me Ashly." Mindy says in a more calm tone.
As Mindy begins to cook, Ashly has been keeping her distance. Maybe she made a mistake by following her, she should of asked Lucas to make her food instead. Ashly notices in the corner of her eyes, inside what she believes is Mindy's room. A doll, a doll made of wool. It's face is ripped in half, this was the signal for her to leave the place immediately.
Ashly then notices something else, the door that leads to another room seems to have been poorly fixed. "I like fixing this Ashly, I can't stand things that are obviously broken. " Mindy is now staring at Ashly "You're broken Ashly, I despise broken things yet they fascinate me. Do you know why?" Without giving Ashly any time to asnwer. "It's because I am given a challenge to fix it, waste time trying to make it look like how its supposed to look, perfect."
"Yeah, there's a reason as to why I'm not happy to see you." Ashly said "All this weird and creepy bullshit, you are unstable for sure." She said as she turned around. "Do the others know about this, or are you keeping it a secret?"
"They don't know Ashly, if they did. I would have a place by myself so far away. This is the only way I'm able to experience with fixing things. I feel like some of these animals that I kill, are telling me that I'm supposed to eat them right away or later, I want to keep them with me for a few days before eating them which they don't approve. I was planning on fixing my doll until I spotted you, and your friend Ashly. You're more broken that my doll, and that takes priority."
"Yeah absolutely not, I'm leaving." Ashly said as she grabs the door handle. She turns the handle and opens the door, but then in an instant Ashly ducks into the ground. She looks up to see a knife, Mindy just threw it at the back of her head. "You crazy Bitch!"
Back with Lucas, they have retired to the community circle. Eder has woken up and is speaking with Lucas. "Tell me, what happend between those 60 years since the last documentary." Lucas has been writing things down, and is planing to send it to have the book updated.
"Well Lucas, I remember clearly who that man who interviewed us was. He was kind, very kind and respectful to us. He never spoke over us nor did he try to ask too many personal information." Eder said with a smile recalling that man. "Well when he left we were only around 32 members. In the span of 6 years, we grew to 54 people which many consider a small growth. I don't think we ever told anyone outside about our religion, or did we, I have forgotten a lot since I turned 54."
"Oh yes they did record it, I remember it on one of the earliest books. What you all practice is called Branchanism." Lucas says and Eder nods "The belief that all living things are supported by trees. That nature is a big tree where everything is connected like the roots of trees."
"Yes that's it, Although it seems that we didn't give to much explanation, but that doesn't matter now." Agnes says "We usually don't like leaving the forest, we do when it's necessary but that's quite rare. Every animal life is sacred to us, they are all equal in our eyes. That doesn't mean we don't eat the animals, but we are mean to use up all its part. If we waste any of the animals part, it's a sign of disrespect to animals as it's like we're telling them that their life wasn't meaningful enough for us."