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"Danger."
"Run."
Chirping.
Squeaking.
Fluttering.
Rustling.
Silver forced his eyes open upon hearing the commotion around him, squinting in the bright light. He saw a rabbit pulling at the hem of his pants, a squirrel tugging his PE uniform shirt, and, when his eyes finally focused, birds flapping in front of his face.
"I'm awake," he told the animals surrounding him and gently removed them from his clothes. The animals looked at him imploringly, clearly still agitated, while some began to scamper back into the cover of the woods. A couple of the braver animals seemed to plead with him to follow, and then they, too, disappeared. Silver closed his eyes again, focusing his senses. What had alarmed the critters?
Then he heard it—branches and leaves crunching in the distance, accompanied by voices that, while not loud, were out of place in the woods. Thankfully, he recognized both voices and could confirm there was no threat to him, or the animals, but they had long since disappeared. He got to his feet, brushing off his uniform, just as the two figures entered the clearing.
"Oh, Silver! What are you doing out here?" Trey called in surprise upon seeing him. Silver noted that he was walking close to Jade, and they both held baskets covered in a cloth that obscured whatever was inside.
Silver held up a basket of his own with grass poking over the edge. "I am looking for dawn weed."
Jade tilted his head, smiling and holding his hand up to his chest in a gesture of mild surprise. "Oya? Is that not the main component for an awakening potion?"
Silver nodded, a serious expression on his face, glancing briefly down at his bsaket. "Yes, it is. Kalim and Jamil helped me make one but…it went missing before I could try it," he sighed. "I need more dawn weed before I can make it again."
Trey smiled and held up his basket. "It looks like you're having better luck than we are. We've found plenty of mushrooms but not the one we're looking for."
"You have not seen a bright blue mushroom around, have you?" Jade asked. If Silver had been any less well-trained, he would have jumped from how close Jade had gotten to him without him having noticed. He was impressed he hadn't made a sound.
Silver shook his head, frowning. "I can't say that I have." He looked around, hoping to see one of the rabbits or chipmunks around that usually helped him forage, but the area was not only empty, but unusually silent. He considered Jade, noticing the barest hint of his sharp teeth in his smile and a flash in his golden eye before he blinked, looking as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
"A shame," Jade sighed and stepped away and back towards Trey. "Well, we will be on our way then," he declared, carefully placing his arm around Trey's shoulders to guide him away.
Trey laughed and ducked out of the way, shaking his head. "Silver, would you like to come with us? It wouldn't be right for me to leave an underclassmen in the woods alone."
"It wouldn't?" Silver repeated back, brow furrowed in confusion. "My old man used to leave me in the woods alone all the time." Trey choked, but Silver either didn't hear him or ignored him as he continued. "I'm quite comfortable in the woods alone, but yes, I will join you. It's a long way back to the school. It might be nice to have company."
And so, Silver joined Trey and Jade on their mushroom hunt. Every so often, he'd notice the two of them lean into each other, their brief touches, or how they would act as if they had forgotten that he was with them, so focused only on each other. Silver had no idea they were such close friends, especially since they from two different dorms and in two different years.
"Oya," Jade breathed out, pulling away from Trey and veering off the path ever so slightly. Trey and Silver looked at each other quickly before following him. "Trey, look at this mushroom," he said, his voice tinged with the barest hint of excitement. Trey bent down next to him and Silver tried to follow along as they talked about things like caps and stems and gills, but he felt his eyes growing heavier and heavier and…
Trey jumped as he heard a thud behind him, giving a bemused smile at his sleeping underclassman. "I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did," he commented and Jade chuckled.
They carefully gathered the mushrooms and Trey slipped his basket to Jade before moving over and gently picking up Silver so that he was carrying him on his back. "I guess we should start our return trip now that we found what we're looking for."
Jade eyed Trey before giving one of his true, rare smiles. "And if I get tired, will you carry me, too, Trey?"
Trey laughed and leaned over, giving Jade a quick kiss on the cheek in lieu of an actual response.