The Betrayal of the Guardians

~ (1) Foolish Girl ~

Her knees bent, Arisa's joints were starting to ache as she pushed herself around the colorful grounds. Hours had passed since she had pushed herself to search for a particular plant in the forest.

She sighed when she picked the wrong plant again, her patience already reaching the limit. Being a herbalist was tough; she admired her grandmother for being one.

She must have a lot of patience to look for rare plants.

Arisa wanted to be like her. But with today's assignment to find a Chiraita, a plant used to treat skin disease, burning sensation, and fever, made her think about her future a little bit more.

Since their shop was out of stock of that particular plant, she was asked to head to the forest close to Moonlight Town and harvest some.

She sighed once again. At this point, she would spend the whole day in this forest. 

Frustrated, she lay on the grassy ground. Her gray eyes tried to find the blue of the sky in between the silver leaves and the dark brown trunks of the trees. The typical vegetation on this side of Celestia obstructed most of her sky view.

The sound of the calm wind swaying the grass of the forest relaxed her a bit. Arisa closed her eyes. She had been hunting medicinal herbs since she first stepped in Moonlight Town that she thought taking a little rest wouldn't be a bad idea.

Her heart almost stopped as the sudden sound of a violent explosion invaded her ears. Startled, she quickly stood up. She examined her surroundings as she readied to defend herself against whatever came next. Finding no strange creatures or other apparent threats in sight, she exhaled.

Her grandfather would scold her if he found out she let her guard down to take a nap in the forest. That wasn't wise of her.

A cry of alarm suddenly drummed the forest. The loud sound could fool some into believing it came from nearby. However, as an apprentice and future Security Agent, Arisa knew the alarm was coming from downtown. The town was under attack.

She gazed back toward the path she had followed through the forest. She had traveled so deep into the forest, she could no longer see any trace of the white and silver buildings from town. Only trees and other types of vegetation were visible in the dimly lit area.

But I can't be so far.

She grabbed her bag and rushed back toward the town.

                            ♌♈♎

It didn't take Arisa long to reach her destination. Judging from the smoke and battle sounds, the fight was not far from where they were. Yet, despite being under attack, the townspeople were evacuating calmly. They headed to the Security Zone, where they could reunite.

Arisa guessed the people were used to these types of situations. Attacks on this side of the country were quite common. She turned around to join the fleeing crowd when a bump from behind forced her to fall.

"I'm sorry," said a woman, standing up.

Before she could reply, the woman rushed against the crowd, heading back toward the town. As Arisa stood up and brushed herself off,  she noticed two men in blue uniform trying to stop the lady.

"Please let me go, my son is there!"

Arisa watched as the short but strong woman frantically struggled to free herself from the officers' grasp. Her face displayed fear and panic.

"Ma'am, trained soldiers are doing their best to keep the town safe. We'll find your child, you go to the security area," reassured one of the men.