After passing the two trees and the bushes, they had truly reached the cabin Fast had mentioned. Right in the center of a circular clearing, where the trees had been cleared as if drawn with a compass, stood a modest and small wooden cabin. From the outside, it was impossible to see the interior; no light escaped, and no sound could be heard from within.
Sard stopped and scanned the cabin. "Are you sure this is it?"
"Yes, this was it," Fast said and approached the door, knocking a few times. When there was no answer from inside, Lena asked, "Should we go in?"
Fast's eyebrows lifted slightly. "Wouldn't it be rude to enter a house uninvited?"
"We have nowhere else to go anyway, and we're in the middle of the forest," Lena said.
Fast let out a silent, deep sigh. Realizing they had no other choice, he reached for the doorknob and pushed the door. It was unlocked.
The three of them entered together. It was pitch black; the only thing illuminating the room was the faint moonlight coming through the window. Lena noticed a kerosene lamp in a corner and immediately tried to light it. When the lamp burned with a dim light, it revealed a warm home with shelves filled with hand-carved wooden figures.
At that exact moment, the sound of a branch snapping was heard from outside. Sard immediately headed for the door. "Stay inside," he said and dashed out.
As Sard scanned the clearing, he noticed someone watching him from the bushes opposite. Realizing Sard had seen him, the figure slowly emerged from the shadows. Standing before the 180 cm tall Sard was a blond youth, about 165 tall. Because the moonlight hit him directly, his blond hair and golden eyes shimmered in the darkness.
The person began walking toward Sard and stopped at a certain distance, speaking up: "Since you've come here, you must be either very brave or just as stupid."
Sard immediately took a defensive stance and shouted sternly, "Who are you?"
The youth, not remaining indifferent, also took a stance. His voice was serious and alert: "You shouldn't be here."
Sard joined his hands in front of him and began to gather blue energy. As the light of the energy hit his face, he threw out his threat: "If you don't tell me right now what you're doing here, I'll blow you up!"
The person opposite just smirked. "I'd like to see you try." Both of his hands began to glow with a brilliant white light. Within seconds, this light turned into transparent white energy gloves; his own hands could still be clearly seen through the gloves.
As the youth began walking toward Sard, just as Sard was about to attack, the cabin door flew open. Fast dashed out, shouting, "Wait, wait, wait!"
Both turned to Fast in surprise. Fast looked at Sard and said, "Relax, this is the friend I mentioned!" As Sard lowered his hand, the blue energy vanished instantly. Then Lena also came out and stood at the threshold of the door, watching what was happening.
Fast turned to his friend, waved, and called him by name: "Rio!"
Upon hearing his name, Rio approached slowly. He looked blankly at first and asked, "Do I know you?" Then, after taking two or three more steps and being able to make out Fast, his eyes sparkled. "Fast? Is that you?"
"What did you think!" Fast smirked.
Immediately after, the white energy gloves on Rio's hands vanished, and Rio began running toward Fast with great excitement. At that moment, Fast closed his eyes and shouted with great joy: "Buddy, it's so good to see you!"
However, when Fast opened his eyes, he saw Rio still running toward him at great speed and was momentarily terrified. Rio threw himself onto Fast and hugged him tightly. Both lost their balance and hit the ground with a thud. Rio continued to hug Fast even while they were on the ground.
As they lay there hugging, Rio said, "Buddy, it's been a long time."