Separated

"Master, are you sure about this?" A young girl asked the man beside her.

The man was none other than the person who was against the baby being cast away into the lake.

He looked ahead into the far sky surrounding the mountain and it was utterly dark.

"Yes. I want to save the child that is if I am not late already," the man replied and then turned his gaze to the staff in his hand.

"The chief will kill us if he finds out what we are about to do," the girl replied with a scared gaze.

"Not until he finds out. Let's get going," the man said and the two of them began to head toward the mountain. When they got to the barrier, the man did what the chief did with his staff and then stabbed it into the ground.

The same rumbling sound was heard and the barrier surrounding the mountain disappeared.

"Stay here and wait for me. I'll be back once I save him," the man told the girl and then went into the mountain.

"Good luck, master," the girl mumbled and joined her hands in a praying style. She closed her eyes and mumbled some words before reopening them again. "Not only did you create a replica of the chief's staff but also want to save a child who has already been banned from the town. Hopefully, you will be safe because I don't want to die yet," she mumbled again.

Inside the mountain, the sky suddenly returned to normal as the man was approaching the lake. Everything went back to how it used to be, except for the basket.

"The basket?" The man mumbled and rushed to the basket which was already on the lakeside. He was shocked to see the basket back, he opened it and the baby was unharmed. He looked around before carrying the basket and leaving the mountain.

Outside the mountain, the girl saw her master coming and she felt happy. "Master, you are saved him? But how's that possible?" She asked him.

"I'm equally surprised. Perhaps, it's not his time to die," the man said and then handed the basket over to the girl who carried it and examined the baby.

"Master, this baby is too cute. The chief is sure heartless," she said as she stared at the baby with a smile on her face.

"What do you know, little girl," the man replied and pulled the staff out of the ground. He did what he did earlier and the barrier returned. "Let's leave quickly I can hear some noises around," he said and they began to rush out of the place.

As they were leaving, the man did not fail to hear some noises around, he knew what it meant and so he stopped.

"Take the baby, and follow this way. Go deeper into the forest, you'll see a house there. It has always been my secret place, take the child and go over to that place. No matter the reason, never leave this child or hand him over to anyone. I may or may not return but take care of that baby for me, it's the task I'm leaving for you, my little apprentice."

"Master, what are you saying?" The girl asked with a scared look on her face.

"Don't ask me any questions and just leave immediately! Remember the task I have given you, the child's life is more important than mine. Now, go!"

"Master, please..." Tears began to gather in the girl's eyes, she now understood what her master was saying.

Seeing that she was not willing to leave, the man stabbed his staff into the ground, creating a large shadow palm. The palm carried the girl and the basket and then started to head in the direction he pointed for her.

When they were far off, the girl saw the chief's men as they grabbed her master and carried him away. She tried to shout or move but a spell was placed around the shadow palm and there was nothing she could do, not even a sound from her cry could be heard.

Once they got to the house the man talked about, the palm disappeared.

"Master," the girl cried as tears fell from her eyes down to her cheeks. A drop of her tears unknowingly fell on the baby's face causing him to wake up from his sleep.

The baby watched as the girl carrying him was crying and then began to cry even louder than her.

She heard his cries and abruptly stopped crying to pet him.

"Baby, stop crying okay? Everything is going to be fine, master will come back to us," she mumbled as she wiped his tears away with her small fingers. Though she was calming him down, there was no one to do the same for her. She was now the adult herself, there was no master to direct her because she knew that he wasn't coming back.

As if understandings words, the baby stopped crying to her relief and this made her smile sweetly at him.

"What a cute baby," she said and pinched his cheek lightly. The baby stretched out his little arm toward her and touched her on the face, this action caused tears to gather in her eyes but she quickly wiped them away and smiled broadly at him. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to take care of you. I'll be your big sister and you'll be my baby bro, alright? Hmm... Now, let's go in and see what master kept for us."

She carried the baby in her arms and went inside the house, it was not like her master's main house but it wasn't entirely bad. It has two rooms — Her master's room and an extra one. A kitchen, a bathroom, and then the sitting room. Behind the house was a small room, she went into the room and looked around, it was where her master does his work — His blacksmithing work.

After she was done scouting the whole place, she returned to the main house and went straight to the kitchen to prepare something for the baby. Luckily, her master had some milk stored in the cupboard and so she prepared it for the baby.

She went back to the sitting room where she had laid the baby on the couch, she carried him in her arms to feed him but he refused to eat and began to cry.

"Baby, you have to eat because if you don't, you won't be cute," she pleaded to the baby but he still wouldn't accept the food.

For seconds she kept pleading with the baby, saying things she knew would work on babies yet, it was useless. Out of frustration, she started crying out.

"I promised master to look after you but you are giving me a hard time. What will I tell my master if something bad happens to you?" She wept.

Seeing her tears, the baby stopped crying and started stretching his arms toward the cup of milk.