Immediately Rin heard that, her eyes popped open. She got up from the bed, walked to the door and peeked through a small hole in the center. She saw the boy with the auburn hair and the kind lady that provided them a room standing in front of each other.
"Heron , what was that about?" the woman asked in a worried tone.
"They were annoying, Ma" Heron replied calmly.
"Annoying? , You made them sleep outside in the cold, Heron. I didn't raise you to be this" , the woman was clearly getting angry and worried. Rin did not know how that happens but she just continued watching the drama display in front of her.
"That's it. When they wake up, you're apologising to them." Rin smirked at this.
"But , mom.."
"What? And don't call me mom until you've apologised and they have accepted it", with that , the woman left the scene.
Heron sighed, not in relief but frustration.
'Why do I have to apologise to them? They look like trouble ', Heron muttered under his breath.
It was noon , the sun was high up in the sky and the smell of food was lingering in the air. The scent came dancing right in front of Rin and Bokie's nose. Their eyes snapped open in a flash.
"Can you smell it?" Bokie asked Rin , his mouth watering.
"Yeah , I can. The smell alone makes me full. I wonder how it tastes", Rin licked her lips. But before Rin could say anything, Bokie dashed out of the room ,leaving Rin alone in the room.
"Tch, what a backstabber" Rin mumbled as she followed him.
Within seconds they were in the kitchen where they saw Heron's mom pull pastries from the oven. Rin and Bokie just stared in delight.
'That's where the aroma came from' , Bokie spoke to Rin telepathically.
Rin gritted her teeth as Bokie spoke to her in that manner - speaking using the mind. Anytime he did that, she ended up with headaches worse, migraines and she hated it.
"I said stop doing that. Now you're behaving like a pest", Rin warned him. It was not like Bokie was going to listen. That was typical of him. Rin rubbed her temples to minimize the the throbbing ache in her head.
The kind lady with the auburn hair turned to look at them with the most beautiful smile Rin had ever seen in her life.
"You guys are awake. How was your sleep? Are you hungry?" she kept posing questions at them as if she was a detective.
Bokie was about to talk but Rin shut him up. Rin knew nothing good was going to come out of his mouth. The earlier she stops him, the better.
"Thank you for your kindness , Miss errr" , Rin didn't know her name .
"Sybel" , the woman knew exactly where Rin was going and answered her.
"Lovely name for a lovely woman" , Bokie whistled. Rin gave him a 'are you even serious with your life dude?' look. She couldn't believe Bokie had gotten to the stage of flirting with women not even girls.
"My apologies, Miss Sybel. As I said earlier , thank you for everything and I mean it", this time Rin was serious. This was her benefactor. Who knows, they would have been dead from the cold outside.
"No worries child, you must be hungry, your stomach is telling me so. Let's go and eat", Sybel gave a reassuring smile and led them to a wooden table and told them to sit and wait for her. Rin and Bokie waited patiently for the food.It took about 5 minutes for Sybel to bring the food out. She placed the food gently on the table and dished it out. They were three on the table but four plates. Rin was wondering who it was going to be then Sybel yelled, "Heron!, food's ready come and eat."
Sybel received a reply, "Coming mom".
Heron entered the room to eat . His expression turned sour at the sight of Rin and Bokie. Without saying anything and completely ignoring them, he sat down and dug into his food. Rin and Bokie were unfazed about Heron's actions . All that mattered was the food in front of them. The food needed justice and they were going to fulfill the wish. Within seconds, they were done with the food . Heron was shocked but did not want to show it. Heron still had some pastries in his plate and Rin was eyeing it. Bokie caught and he knew what she wanted to do.
He spoke to her using telepathy, "You distract, I'll grab. There are four cakes in his plate, you take two and I take two. Fair?"
"Fair" , Rin answered him. Although she did not like talking to him using telepathy but for the sake of food she did use it.
"Heron, look outside, isn't that yours?" Bokie said pointing towards the window. Heron looked outside but saw nothing . He decided to continue his food but saw nothing on his plate. "What in the world?" Heron stared at Rin and Bokie busily eating his cakes.
"Mom" , Heron called his mom for assurance but all he got was a laugh from her. Angry, he left the table. Sybel rushed towards him to prevent him from leaving."You haven't apologised to them yet Heron", She said guiding him back to the table.
He always had a soft spot for his mother, If his mother wanted him to apologise , then he would. After breathing out a sigh, he walked towards them and bowed slightly,"I'm sorry for behaving like a jerk yesterday".
Rin and Bokie were both shocked. They didn't know he would actually apologize to them. "Apology accepted", Bokie and Rin said it in unison. With that Heron left the house.
"Don't worry about him, he always had a temper like this sometimes worse", Sybel began packing the empty plates from the table. Rin and Bokie helped too.
"You know I raised Heron all by myself", Sybel began.
"Why did you guys choose a place to stay in a forest full of monsters and beasts?" Rin asked.
"It is quiet here and killing beasts improves cultivation you know. One day, you should try doing some. It is fun."
"Hehe, no thank you" Rin gave a sheepish grin. She was not going to put her life at stake because of improving cultivation. After chatting for a while, Sybel went out to talk to Heron.
He was honing his knife. He had quite a collection. "Ma , are you really going to allow them stay here and be nuisance?" Heron asked his mother without looking at her.
"Look at the bigger picture , Heron"
"Huh, bigger picture?" , Heron was confused.
"Look at Rin's face clearly. Doesn't she look familiar? Doesn't she looks like someone we know?Fate has brought her to us" , Sybel patted his shoulders.
Heron stared at Rin from faraway trying to figure out who. His eyes flew open when a thought came into his head. "I see Ma".