In the forest, it was near pitch black. There was almost no sound. She had grown quite accustomed to the scraws and screes of the family of River and Forest, and this near absolute silence was beginning to make her legs wobble and her tail shake of fright. From time to time, she would walk into a couple of sweet yams. Their leaves made themselves known by flapping into her face with every step she took.
Soon, she found herself in a clearing, with a hole in the forest leading up to the sky, sending off a light piercing through the darkness of the entire forest. The clearing was grassy, she noticed, shielding her eyes. As she stepped into it, a rustle came in from the tree leaves in the forest canopy.
Before she knew it, she felt a paw over her shoulder. Two paws now. Another paw was put on her head. Startled, she grabbed her satchel and swung it at whatever it was behind her. It hit something. It was a trio of raccoons. She had hit one, and now it was lying flat on his back. The two raccoons began shivering as they held up a loaded tray. “T-tea?”
She was invited into another clearing, with less space. There was a stump, which was evidently serving as an eating table. These raccoons are acting so human-like, Antler thought; they carry trays around and even have a makeshift table for meals.
One of the raccoons was attending to his injured colleague as Antler and another raccoon got seated at the stump. Three thick wooden discs served as seats. After a few seconds after sitting, Antler requested she stand on the disc instead of sitting on it, for she wasn’t used to such stuff.
The raccoon promptly agreed as he introduced themselves. “My name is Nate. My siblings’ names are Phil and Jack. Jack is the one with the large black stripe on his tail who is attending to my other sibling, Phil, you know, the one you have hit so accurately right on the side of his face.”
Antler winced, embarrassed. “My name is Antler. I’m so very sorry for what I did earlier, I just thought you were robbers who were going to mug me or something.” The raccoon sighed exasperatedly. “You know, Jack, I think we’re going to have to radically change our style of greeting our visitors and guests. This always happens; I mean, Phil has already been hit with a paw, a foot, or a thing for 20 times in this month alone! That’s not good for him, isn’t it?” Phil rose up a little. “I’ll say.”
Nate turned back to Antler. “Don’t say sorry. In fact, I think it actually us who need to say sorry. And besides, your tea is getting… um…cold.” He pointed at some tea. Phil rose up and stated with steely eyes, “Nope, she’s going to need to apologize to me. I thought you’d defend me, bro! Look at me! I’m all messed up because of her! Make her apologize!”
Antler began, “I’m so very so—“ Nate put a paw between her and Phil. “No, there’s no need to do this stuff. We surprised her and many, many, many others before her, Phil! Bro, it’s us who have to apologize.”
“What the heck! Come on! It’s her who has to apologize!”
“No. It’s us.”
"Her!"
"Us!"
"Her!"
"Us!"
It went on like this for a while. Antler even wondered if these really were the raccoons River talked about, who were very knowledgeable with the Maker. She expected them to be more… calm, maybe? She called for silence.
“Please, stop!” she shouted over the loud argument. The two raccoons stopped. “We’re sorry.” They chorused.
Later, they all began drinking tea together. “So, where are you from?” asked Jack. Antler replied, “I came from the forest of the North, where I was born. When my parents were killed by fur traders, I set off on my own. Since I was little, I have been traveling southwest, living off the land and giving service to the creatures I meet.”
“Oh,” Nate said, “so you’re a creature of good will, I see.”
“However,” interjected Phil, “you are going in the wrong direction. For as you can see in this map—“ He was passed a map by Jack from underneath the table.
“Here is the forest of the North.” He pointed at a large swath of trees drawn across the top of the map. “So, considering you went directly southwest in a straight line, you must have gone along this path.” He drew a diagonal line from the top, leading down. “You seem to have travelled far.”
Antler smiled as she shrugged. “I have been traveling for nearly a year now.”
Nate continued. “After you passed the Soaring Range of Mountains, you took a sharp turn to the southeast. Here we are now.” Phil made a dot in a forest clearing which was supposedly where they were now.
Antler sipped her tea as she came to realize that she was going in the wrong direction.
“We’ll help you get back on your track. We three will escort you to the edge of the forest. There, you follow the edge until you reach a large river. We’re going to have to warn you. It has crocodiles.”
“Thanks!”
They were walking west to the edge of the forest, the clearing now out of sight. Antler was traveling like she always did, with four paws on the ground and a satchel on her back. The three raccoons preferred walking on two paws instead.
“Hey, Antler, check this out!” bragged Jack, as he began juggling three scones as they kept walking. Antler had to admit, it was not only a mystery on how Jack can juggle scones, but how they bake the scones in the first place.
Jack threw all three backwards and knocked them with his tail straight into Nate’s face, hitting him with the strength of three soft stones. It hardly hurt him, Antler could tell, but it annoyed him so much, he jumped on Jack and they began roughhousing.
It was like a striped ball rolling, bouncing, seemingly everywhere at once. Snarls and growls were emitted from the tussling two.
Antler watched as Phil put a paw in front of her. “I’ll handle this.” He sauntered over to the ball of fur and tripped it with his hind paw. The fur dismantled back into Nate and Jack. “What were you thinking?!”
They got up and brushed off their fur. “Sorry.” It was at that moment that Antler remembered why she went in the forest of sweet yams in the first place.
“Um, guys?”
The three quickly turned to her. “Yes?” asked Phil.
Antler cleared her throat. “I now remember why I really went here.” Jack took out a pitcher of tea and poured some into a cup. Nate was shocked.
“You meant to go here? I mean, usually, the animals we offer tea to have came to this forest have lost their way and found themselves in the forest of sweet yams, where we offer them tea.”
Offer wasn’t quite the right word, reflected Antler, it’s actually more like creeping creatures out for tea. She explained, “In the Soaring Range of Mountains, as you say, I have met a hawk named Clearriver.” Jack, who was just beginning to take a sip of tea, spat it out in a geyser.
“River?!” The other two looked identically stunned. Nate pointed a finger at her. “You have met River?!”
“Yep,” she said, with a witty tone, “I met his entire family as well.”
“The hawk?” asked Phil, hugging his tail. Antler could tell that Nate was hiding a fear of River from his tone as he said, “You see, the hawk River, he has appeared to us for a while.”
“Yes,” peeped Jack, “however, we, with the knowledge that hawks are carnivorous and like eating other animals, have run away every time we see him.”
Phil raised a paw. “Did he try to bite your head off?”
“No. He’s actually a pretty decent hawk.”
“Well then, we believe you in your stance.”
Antler continued her point, “He told me that you would know about the Maker more than he did, and I’d want to know who the Maker is.”
Nate grabbed his scruff with a claw as he gulped. “H-how could he k-know that?”
“Do you think River’s been spying on us?”
“Creepy!”
Antler raised her voice. “Excuse me, but that is besides the point here. Who is the Maker?”
Nate stepped forward. “The Maker, as explained by His name, is the one who made everything in the world. He is responsible for every circumstance and happening that happens to the world that affects every individual. He made the first raccoons, squirrels, trees even!”
“Trees… wait! I have a friend who is a tree. He wants to know why he was ever made or planted. I’m guessing he speaks for all trees when he says this.”
Phil scratched his head. “I’m not sure about trees, but I’m pretty sure that everything has a purpose. There is nothing in the world that exists without a purpose. Remember that.”
That didn’t answer her question, but it comforted her. She wished she could tell this to Apple right now, but she was way too far away from Caves.
“Thanks.” She said as they resumed walking. For some reason, the forest didn’t seem as dark as it had a few hours ago.
Was it because her eyes adjusted to the light, or is it because she had the trio along with her now? Then she noticed a jar of fireflies Jack was holding; he was murmuring to the fireflies inside it. And she thought! She bumped Jack hard, making him wobble. “What?” he winced, confused.
They finally reached the edge of the forest. “Really, thanks for everything.” Antler said.
“No problem! Next time you come here, we’ll serve you a lot of tea. And remember to follow the edge of the forest!” said the Trio.
As she walked away, a warm feeling spread across her, and she smiled.
She made a couple of new friends.