On a peaceful morning after a night of rain, ten-year-old twins Tomas and Eila Diderot set out to play in the gardens near their home village, Cherub Town, while their parents went to work in their store. Their blue eyes sparked with excitement for the day ahead, the sun hitting their fair skin, which contrasted with their black hair. Tomas kept his hair short, though messy, while Eila kept hers long and topped with a wide-brimmed sun hat decorated with little white flowers.

As the twins passed through the gardens, Flora, the guardian flower sprite, recognized them and said, "Ah, hello children. Playing tag with the forest creatures, as usual?"

"Yeah!" Shouted Tomas while raising his net into the air, "We're hoping to find one of those huge dragonflies today, they're so cool!"

Eila swung her basket to her other arm, grinned and said, "Well, I'd like to find a kelpie! They're these white water horses with fins, and I hear they're super pretty!"

Flora smiled, adjusted her flower crown, and gracefully walked towards the children. She gave each a loving pat on the head before sending them off and waved at them as they ran into Cherub Woods. Tomas carried a bug net, while Eila had a bag full of snacks, drinks, and a camera, hoping to take photos of the woodland creatures.

As they entered the forest, they marveled at the many animals that lived there. From giant rainbow-winged dragonflies, butterflies whose wings bore eye patterns, small deer-like creatures with platinum spots on their fur and horns, plus birds of all kinds. Tomas started chasing after the dragonflies with his net, hoping to catch one to show off to his friends.

Meanwhile, Eila began taking pictures of the flora and fauna. As they ventured through the forest, staying close to the marked paths, they caught a small herd of deer in the distance. Eila walked closer to the herd, careful not to make much noise, and soon found them gathering on the shore of a small lake, drinking water. As she steadied her camera for a photo, she noticed a figure near a tree on the other side of the lake through the lens. The figure seemed human, but Eila could not make out any details, so she hurried back to the path to find her brother.

Tomas was already near the path, looking at one of the bugs he caught. He noticed Eila running towards him, looking worried.

"Huh? Did you see something weird, sis?" Asked Tomas.

Eila panted from exhaustion, pointing towards the lake, "You gotta follow me! I think there's a person near the lake!"

"Why would we need to go meet this person? They might just be going for a swim."

"Maybe... but they were sitting near a tree and weren't moving at all, they might need help!"

"Or they could be napping. The lake is a very chill place, you know?"

Eila glanced toward the lake and bit her thumb, pondering, "Am I overreacting? Still, my gut tells me that person isn't well, they seem so pale from here..."

After a pause, Eila whispered, "Look, would you just follow me? It won't be very long, and maybe we could just say hi and leave the person. Is that alright?"

Tomas crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot in annoyance, but caved in and followed Eila towards the lake. The herd of deer was just leaving, and so the twins saw the clear lake, with a few ducks swimming gracefully in the water. They approached the figure by walking around the lake, hidden by the shrubs and the shadows cast by the trees.

Once they were close to the figure, observing from behind a shrub, they could see the person sitting with his back against the tree and slumped over.

Tomas, peeking through the shrubs, whispered, "H-hey, Eila, this guy seems hurt..."

Eila poked her face through the leaves, glanced at her brother, and both inspected the figure.

He was a man clad in green clothes and boots, his overcoat stained with blood near his right shoulder and lower torso. His eyes were closed, as if in a light sleep, and the twins could tell he breathed with some effort. Aside from his fancy clothing, they noted his unusually long green hair, though Eila considered he might have dyed it, as it was a recent trend around town.

Tomas figured he might have been attacked by one of the giant spiders that roam the woods at night, the ones that the village elder would often warn about. Wanting to inspect the injured man, Tomas slowly stepped around the shrub, but kicked a small rock in the way and hit the tree. The man opened his eyes and glared towards the twins, freezing them in place. After a brief stare down, the man calmed down and relaxed his body, closing his eyes once again.

The twins sighed, and Tomas turned towards Eila. With shifty eyes and restrained whimper, she said, "Tommy, that man is scary!"

"Yeah, I thought he was going to kill us! Though, he doesn't look strong enough to do that..."

Eila regained some of her confidence and said, "I told you I had a bad feeling about the man! Now, let's get someone to help hi-"

"That will not be necessary, children." The man held his eyes half-closed, speaking with a deep yet tired voice. "I may not appear to be in the best condition, but I assure you, I will be fine with a few more days of rest."

He opened his eyes and glanced at the twins. Tomas approached the man with slow, cautious steps, with Eila following behind him.

Eila asked, "Are you sure? We could go to our village, its not very far. There's a little hospital there."

The man shook his head, "As I said, I will be fine in a few days. Please, do not worry about me and let me rest."

Tomas huffed at the man's insistence on staying in the forest despite his injuries.

Eila put her hand on Tomas' shoulder, saying, "Let's go back to the village and tell mom and dad about him, they can get help."

"But he keeps saying to leave him here. He might get mad if we just tell the others, and he doesn't want help anyway." Tomas felt it rather cold to say that, but the man seemed to agree with him.

Eila remained doubtful about this decision, so she walked over to the man and crouched near him. Up close, she saw the man had bright yellow eyes, and his eyebrows and small mustache were also green.

"Maybe he dyed those too?" Thought Eila.

She murmured, "Are you sure you'll be fine? I mean, we'll leave you alone if you want, but do you at least want something to eat? I've got plenty of snacks left in this basket."

"That is... quite kind of you, but I do not need such food. I am sure it will suffice to hunt here, I have seen plenty of jackalopes and deer I can go for."

Eila looked over the man's wounds again, glanced at her basket, and picked out a few fruits and a small bag of granola. Although the man continued to refuse, lazily flicking his hand, Eila left said snacks beside him, all placed inside the larger bag that once stored their lunch.

Tomas followed with curious eyes, and once Eila finished unpacking the snacks, he waved and said, "Um, I hope you get better soon, mister. And watch out for those spiders!"

Eila continued, "Hope you feel alright soon! Cuz we'll be back tomorrow!"

The man nodded, and thus the twins left, making their way back to Cherub Town.

While passing by some dragonflies, Tomas said, "Are we really visiting him again?"

"Of course! I wanna be sure he's fine."

Tomas shrugged, "Well, if you say so, let's check on him tomorrow!"

He smiled at her sister yet felt unsure about talking to a stranger they met in the woods again. He then checked the small container where he put the bugs caught that day and asked Eila to take photos of them before releasing them. Tomas had always wanted to keep at least one spider, or a beetle, but their father was afraid of bugs and would not allow the kids to bring any back home.

Eila could not wait to sort out her photos, seeing how many mythical creatures she caught on camera. As they exited the forest, Flora greeted them, asking them if they had a fun time in the forest. The twins chatted with her about their day, but stayed silent about the man in green, like he wished.

Both arrived home a few minutes before their parents, just a little past 4:30 p.m. according to Tomas' watch. The family's evening carried on as usual, with Eila helping her parents cook while Tomas fed their three tailed cat Nino, who purred and rubbed his face against Tomas' leg. They talked about their day in the woods during dinner, while their parents chatted about regulars at their shop and the fresh faces they saw.

At their shop, they met a group of monks who spent most of the day in Cherub Town gathering supplies for their mission. When ordering, the leader commented to Mr. Diderot how they were sent to visit various temples across the country. He revealed they are headed to the Temple of the Water Bird, which was about two weeks away by walking. As the mother continued with the story, Eila and Tomas finished up their meals, after which they left the table and left their plates in the sink.

About an hour before the kids' bedtime, Eila showed off her photos to their parents, while Tomas described the bugs he saw, and prepared to go to sleep. As the twins lay in their beds, their eyes gravitated towards their grandmother's painting of her miniature gold dragon, a proud creature responsible for sparking the twins' intense curiosity for wildlife as toddlers.

The way their scales shone in the sun gave the dragon an ethereal body, their ruby eyes focused on the twins' grandmother behind the canvas as if showing affection. However, their tilted head and raised, clubbed tail signaled a challenge from the dragon, as if painting the creature was a question of braveness on the grandmother's part.

As sleep clouded his mind, Tomas thought about the man's appearance and behavior. His clothes and way of speaking made Tomas think he might be a noble from some far-off land who lived in an enormous mansion, like Lady Anne does. He then thought about Lady Anne's pastries, which she would bring from her home country whenever she visits, and how delicious they were. He then drifted off to sleep with sweet pastries in mind, with Eila following him to the dream world shortly after.