"A Simple Forest Stroll"

"Yes!" she responded with a giggle. On her first days on the island, when she was still looking for her father with nothing to go on except for the island's location and a picture of him, she had unknowingly stayed in the forbidden forest for a couple of days before she decided to hop on over closer to the city. But while she was here, she saw a very pretty glow somewhere, but she was never quick enough to see what it was. Or where it went.

Going here was never the plan in the first place, she just wanted to play around in the forest, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw something glowing faintly, and was reminded of the thing she saw all those months ago. She had slowly got both herself and Alex deeper into the forest without telling him that she was looking for something, in case it turned out to be nothing.

After a while, she thought it would be a good time to take a break, and so she slowed down, and with Alex, being in his giant, fluffy wolf form, she just couldn't resist gently diving into him and burying herself in his fur. "You're so fluffy and warm," she chuckled.

"Me too! I don't know why, but it just feels better when you're with someone out here." She was blushing as she said this, but the shyness that usually came with it wasn't there. When Alex started to walk, she remained on his back. She was lighter compared to other people because of her hollow bones, so the wolf wouldn't have to carry much. Although, this wasn't in her line of thinking, she just enjoyed the comfort of his fur.

"What did you hunt?" she asked, sitting up. She was interested to hear about what he saw here. Maybe he'd know what it was that she saw, though she could barely remember details herself.

When Alex told her to stay close, she just nodded, confused. "What is it?"

"I'm not too worried. I know my way around a forest," she'd chirp up. "It's in my blood! I can feel it coursing through my veins!" She had never really gone out to a forest for any extended amount of time, unless you'd count the time she went camping with her mother so she could study the Lunar Blossoms. The only time she'd ever been alone in the forest was when she first got to the island, at the start of her quest to find her elusive father.

Valerie tilted her head. Reptile bears? She'd never heard of such things before. She didn't get her mind to snap back from wonder quick enough when Alex said he could smell one nearby, calling them hydra bears.

"Do they grow two heads when you cut off one too?" she'd think aloud.