The Princess Race

Lynx Doesn't Know The Difference Between Apples And Poison

As I followed Lynx through the dense forest, he seemed much more lively. It almost looked like he was bobbing his head to music as he walked. I was glad to see him happy.

Phenom was walking beside me. The trail that we were on was very slim, I didn't want to step on him, so I had to walk over to the side instead of the center of the trail. That caused me to get pricked and scratched by thorns the whole time we traveled. I looked down at Phenom to see him wagging his tail in time with his step, like everything had to be timed perfectly. I walked like I normally would, one foot in front of the other making sure to step over small creatures that crossed the path. No matter how hard I listened, the forest was silent. I looked at the trees, there were brightly colored birds and small mammals hopping around, but they didn't make any noise. I wondered how hard it was for predators to find their prey. As I was walking and looking up at the trees, I accidentaly ran into something. I switched my attention to what I ran in to. Turns out I accidentaly kicked Phenom, who was now walking in front of me. He didn't bother to turn around and scold me, he just continued walking.

"Wait." Lynx's voice made me jump. No more silence.

"What transpired?" Phenom asked as he weaved around Lynx to get to the front of the line.

"Puddles." He responded quietly.

I peered over his shoulder and sure enough, there was a trail of puddles through the forest. "Why're they lined up like that?"

"Because they're tracks." Lynx said as he scanned the area. "We're getting closer. This way."

He stepped over Phenom and continued leading us through the forest. Phenom found his place beside me as we escaped the thick bushes and stood in a clearing. Lynx looked around, then at the ground, he began walking again and kept his head angled downwards to follow the tracks. Phenom and I followed close behind him.

After what felt like an eternity of walking, we came to a large cluster of bushes with white flowers standing out on the green leaves.

"I bet Line's flower is in that cluster of bushes." Lynx said as he studied a few of the flowers.

"She might be testing us, our patience." I shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt to check, anyway."

Phenom walked up to the bush and started sniffing each flower. Lynx just circled the bushes and peered at them closely. I studied each and every flower, looking for the blue ribbon that was said to be around the fake flower.

We searched for about thirty minutes before I found something interesting. "Hey guys, look what I found." I called.

The two appeared by my side and I showed them what it was. It was a large leaf with some white goo on it.

Lynx picked up the leaf and studied it closely, "This can't be good. It's not like anything I've ever seen before."

Phenom must've lost interest because he walked over to a bush next to me and picked something up with his mouth. He trotted over to me and held it up. I took it out of his mouth and wiped off some of the saliva before I took a good look at it. I smiled as I realized what it was. It was the fake flower. It was white with a green stem and had the blue ribbon around it. I read the words printed in gold on it 'Forever a Baker.' I took the phone Line gave me out of my pocket and pressed the button to turn it on. The screen turned blue, then orange and the flower disappeared in my hand.

A voice erupted from the phone that caused me to jump. "Holy sshhh- yay. You got the flower, danke (thank you)." I recognized the voice momentarily, it was Line.

"Yeah, Phenom found it. You should thank him." I replied.

"Give him pets, from me."

I looked down at Phenom, he shook his head. "Okay, I will." I lied.