Forest Adventure

"Timmy, Timmy! Let's play!"

It was still 7 am, and yet Tobiel's energy was already fiery and uncontrollable. If I didn't know any better, he was basically the personification of fire hazards.

"No," I bluntly answered. But I knew my answer won't calm him down.

Tobiel lightly pulled my hair just to annoy me. "Meanie! Timmy is a big meanie!" I got used to his antics. I won't let it affect me.

"Tobiel, have you even eaten your breakfast yet?" I asked, hoping it would make Tobiel leave me alone.

"Yeah, I did! Bread toast with butter! I put butter onto the bread and slam it on the hot pan!"

I rubbed my face trying to hold back my frustration. "You DO know that was very unhealthy, right?"

"Who cares about that when I have so much to do!"

"Like??"

A long silence came from Tobiel since he tried to think out an answer. But he couldn't and he started to get frustrated.

"Anything!! Like playing games, running, jumping, climbing trees, exploring! As long it's fun, I don't give a damn what I do!"

I sighed. I didn't know what he was like in the past, but he probably didn't have that much freedom before he got here. I stood up from my chair. "Wait. I'll cook you something."

"Huh? No need, I just-"

I grabbed his shoulder and forced him to sit. "STAY. I will cook something for you. After that, we can play, okay?"

Tobiel pouted but eventually sighed in defeat. "It better taste good..."

While I was cooking, he couldn't stop kicking and tapping on the table. He really needed to learn some self-control... "Here you go. An omelet with bacon and some frozen vegetables I have fried, also some milk. It's good for the bone."

He stared at the food like it was a foreign thing. My eyes could have deceived me, but I think I saw a single tear fall from his eye?

"..... I haven't eaten like this since...." He seemed to be remembering something from the past. His tears fell even more. Oh no. Maybe I shouldn't have cook for him after all?? Before the wave of regrets hit me further, Tobiel spoke up.

"Thank you, Tim...." He took a few bites with glee. I didn't know what just happen, but at least Tobiel was happy. He usually rushed through everything. But today he savored every bite he took. I would like to think that meant my food taste good.

He was done eating after 10 minutes. I would count that as an achievement since Tobiel would usually gulp his breakfast in just one minute. I have no idea how he did it, but he did.

Tobiel jumped out of the seat and already skipping around. "Alright, let's go play!" Where did he get so much energy?!

"Don't you know that you shouldn't have moved too much after eating? You could get nausea"

"Ehh, really? But I never get nausea before! Or maybe I just ignore it? Hmmm." He stopped jumping and rubbed his chin. "I can't think of any!"

That's what happened when you have a single mind track, I thought to myself... "Where do you want to go anyway?" He was in such a rush, so it must be an interesting place, right?

"So yesterday, I went for a walk, right? Okay, so on the way home, I saw from a distance a red light from between the trees! I wanted to check what was that, but it's almost nighttime and the forest is scary at nighttime, so I decided that I will check the place today!"

His first reaction when he saw a red light was to approach it...? What was he, a moth?? How did he survived this long when he always run toward suspicious places?! "Well, I'm sold. That does look fun." I told him in a snarky tone.

Tobiel was not amused. "BS. You think it was stupid, right??"

"Well, you think?? No sane person would approach an ominous red light in a MIDDLE of a forest!!"

"I-It's not ominous-looking! It looks cool and fun!"

"Are YOU sure?" This time was answered with silence. I felt bad that I had to do this questioning to Tobiel, but I had no interest in letting him get hurt for no good reason.

"I mean, I wouldn't know until I check on it... And that's also why I'm coming to you! I know you would make sure that I am safe!"

My face turned flushed red. Despite all the arguments we had, he still came for me when he needed help. I was glad he understood my true intention.

"Finee, I'll come since you asked nicely. Besides, I also want to know at is that red light."

Tobiel once more jumped around like a deer. "Yay!!!"

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The luminescent plants beneath us help us with navigating the dark forest. Even so, it's still hard to walk around this forest, and the bag I brought with me didn't help at all. While Tobiel barely brought anything with him and was already 3 meters away from me. He always looked back and make sure I can keep up. I bet he was so annoyed that I walk like a turtle. While waiting for me, he somehow found a way to do a backflip, climbing a tree, and jumped from branch to branch in just one minute. I would like to learn the secret of his endless energy.

As I expected, Tobiel eventually tired of waiting for me and checking up on me. "Jeez, I swear that snail walks faster than you!"

"Well sorry that the ground around here has foliage, unstable grounds, and slippery moss! I don't want to fall and hurt myself!"

Even though Tobiel understood my predicament, he was still terribly upset. "Maybe your bag makes it harder to walk on this terrain?"

"Maybe. But I don't even bring that many. Just some food and drink, my notebook, and my camera."

Curiosity flicked him the moment he heard the word camera. "Ooh! What camera? I wanna see!"

He attempted to open my bag without permission. I turned my back away from his grabby hands. "Asked nicely and I will show you the camera!"

He puffed his cheek after he failed to sneak on me. Made me can't help but want to pinch it. But I will hold back for today. "Please show me the camera, Timmy...!" pleaded Tobiel. I kept my promise and show him the camera.

"This is not any typical camera. This is a thermal heat camera. Since the red light could be a fire, I brought this camera so I can make sure you won't run directly into it."

Tobiel was even more amazed after my explanation. I gave the camera to Tobiel and let him inspect it. "That's so awesome! Can I hold it??"

I tinkered with the camera and turned it on. "Even better. You can use it now."

Tobiel immediately did a double backflip while holding the camera. He slipped on the moss and recover by doing more flips. He would be an amazing acrobat. "YAY!!!!! Wow, Tim is red!! The rest is weird not red color, but so cool!" He immediately pointed the camera to everything he saw. Because he was inspecting his surroundings, it became easier for me to keep up with him.

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We could finally see the red light from afar. Tobiel used the camera to check on the red light. "Hmmm, slight heat, but I don't think strong enough for fire!"

Well, that was one less thing to worry about. But now to ask the question of what caused the red light? Only one way to find out...

"I can approach it now, right???" asked Tobiel with burning excitement.

I nodded as a seal of approval. "Yeah, you can. Still, be careful though."

Without a second thought, Tobiel bolted toward the light. I tried to believe that he would be mindful of his surroundings. To dissipate my worries, I steadily followed Tobiel behind. "Tobiel, what did you see?" From my current position, I could see Tobiel crouch in front of the source of the red light.

"Um... I think it's a red lantern lamp. I dunno who left them here thou."

"Red lantern, huh... Yeah, it is weird." I tried to imagine any people who could have put this here. "It couldn't be the people from our Mansion because they usually didn't explore the forest too much. Therefore, this lamp must be from another faction."

Tobiel seemed to approve of my ideas. "Yeah, I think so too! I mean Jeffrey and Bryan do like to explore, but usually not the forest area...."

Now that we have established that, we need to figure out which people from the other faction could have done this... While I was thinking, Tobiel suddenly pulled my hair again.

"Tim, Tim!"

"What??"

"Look over there! There are more red lights!" said Tobiel while pointing toward the different light. I didn't even notice it before.

I gave light headpat for Tobiel. "Good job, Tobiel. Let's go check it out."

A warm smile crept up on Tobiel's face. He really loved headpats. We followed all the red lights we could saw until we met a familiar face from another faction. I tried to call on him without surprising him.

"Alexie?"

Alexie turned around and was slightly puzzled by our appearances in this area. He blinked twice before he sighed in dismay. "It's you guys... What are you doing here...?"

"I could ask the same to you. What are you doing here?" I asked back. He clicked his tongue repeatedly with threatening eyes.

As if Tobiel didn't notice Alexie stare, Tobiel disturbed the silence for the both of us. "Mister Alexie, are you the one putting down this cool red light??"

"Yes, but I...." He seemed to be very distraught. "I knew it. You were curious about the red light, aren't you?? I should have known... Maybe I should just change it into different colour...."

"No! Don't change it! It was so cool!" protest Tobiel. Alexie tried to ignore Tobiel's plead.

I supposed it's my turn to ask questions. "So, Alexie. Based on your reaction, it seems like you don't want people to found you?" Alexie took his time to nodded back.

"So that's it, right? We can just leave now Mister Alexie! But please don't move the red light away!" pleaded Tobiel once more. Alexie turned into a statue and didn't answer our question. He always did this when he didn't know what to say.

"Alexie, What are the red lights for?" I asked again, hoping that he would answer this one.

"It's to mark the area I already visited. I have many places I want to visit, and I don't want to get through the same area again. I chose red lights because they are easy to see from afar. But I forget to consider other people could see it too... I don't want to attract unnecessary attention." explained Alexie finally.

"I see, I get it now... But it's still so sad because the red lights are so cool!" said Tobiel while rolled on the ground left and right moping.

"I will give my lights for you if you can give me the alternative for the marking."

Hearing this, Tobiel swiftly leaped up and got excited again. "Yay! Thank you, Alexie! What about flowers? They are not too obvious and nice to look at!"

I added more arguments to strengthen Tobiel's idea. "I actually think it could work. There were many glowing flowers in this forest, but they grow mostly sporadic. If we took some and put them close to each other, you should be able to tell that the position of the flowers was different from others. I also think most people wouldn't be able to tell the differences."

Alex listened attentively to Tobiel's suggestion and my added argument. After some time, he finally gave his verdict. "I will be the judge of that. But for now, it's a good idea as any. Thank you. Can you help me changed the flowers? I will give you the lamp after that."

Tobiel backflips into the depth of the forest and returned with many flowers in under one minute.

Alexie seemed to be genuinely scared at Tobiel's speed. "How are you so quick?!"

"Because I trained my legs every day and I memorized every location of the cool glowing flowers!" answered Tobiel while skipping.

Alexie was looking at me confused as if asking me how I could stand to be around Tobiel. I just shrugged at him and return my focus to Tobiel. "Good job, Tobiel. Let's go plant them now."

"Okay~!"

We spent the rest of the day planting the flowers on the lamp's locations. Every time we were done, Alexie would gather the lamps and bring them with him so he could give them to us later.

A few hours later, we were finally done with our task and pat each other on the back.

"Good job, Timmy!"

"Good job to you too, Tobiel."

Alexie dropped the lamp right in front of us. "You guys are done, right? Take this and leave please." Despite his blank expression, I had a feeling he was very ecstatic that we will finally leave him alone.

"Can you at least said thank you to us??"

He sighed once more and said, "Thank you for the help. Can I leave now? I have more places to explore."

I tried to hold back my laughter. I found Alexie to be hilariously similar to Tobiel. Sure, Alexie was far quieter than Tobiel, but he was never the type that stayed in one place. I just find it ironic that he didn't like Tobiel when he was no different than him. "Yeah, you can leave now. Thank you for the lamp."

Tobiel hugged all the lamps in his arms. "Thank you, Mister Alexie! I can't wait to use them! I have so many fun ideas I can do with this lamp!"

Alexie waved bye to us and quietly leave.

"So Tim, it's a worth it trip, right?"

"I have no complaints. At least it's nothing dangerous. That by itself is a blessing for me."

Tobiel nodded vigorously. "Yup yup! Today is incredibly fun indeed! Thank you for accompanying me!"

I rubbed his fluffy hair and watched Tobiel enjoying it. "You're welcome. Gave me some of the lamps. It looks heavy."

"Okay~!"

He somehow managed to dashed back home with the lamps in his hands while I jogged from behind. I couldn't wait to finally go to sleep...