The sound of the rushing river, the chirping of birds, the rustling of leaves, and the bushes as the wind swept by Ralph's ears calmed his nervousness, keeping it to a minimum.
The morning air felt cool against his skin, carrying the earthy scent of damp soil and wild grass, little details that steadied his breathing and kept his thoughts from spiralling.
The thought of what he saw this morning still rummaged through his head, his mind still seeking valid answers to the questions he asked himself over and over again.
The unusual movements of the forest animals weren't normal, the deeper he went the more he realised they were scattering about, arranging themselves for a reason he still hadn't figured out yet.
Or probably he didn't want to accept what he felt might be the answer to the questions in his head.
The closer he got to the third shed, the more concerning it felt for him to discover the main reason for the change.
'Sadly there's no guide as to how to converse with animals now is there? I doubt my powers can help me with that..' A sudden pause mid-step.
"Or can they?" A grin spread across his face.
He turned to one of the small animals darting across the forest floor, but catching it wasn't nearly as easy as he imagined.
The moment it noticed him, the creature whipped around and bolted in the opposite direction, leaves crunching under its tiny feet but he pushed ahead chasing after it with all his speed.
But the animal wasn't having any of that. It zigzagged wildly between roots and fallen branches with infuriating confidence, its movements smooth and practised.
Before Ralph could close the distance, it slipped into a narrow burrow and vanished underground, leaving him standing there, breathless, defeated, and thoroughly reminded of his place in the forest's food chain.
'Tch! I was this close to catching it just now!.' He thought so, even though the rodent gave him a 2 ft gap.
Panting hard to catch his breath, he noticed another run pass him. He quickly turned around and chased after it as well, but of course, this one was just as fast.
'I bet he told them about me, that's why they seem to know all of a sudden.' He complained, biting his lower lip hard.
He finally decided to let go of the idea after his tenth try, changing his course toward the shed once again.
'I don't want to jump to conclusions yet, I mean this is my first time outside of the clan. Not for a normal patrol like before but actually surviving on my own, jumping to conclusions will definitely not help.'
'But one thing I can't overlook is that with this new information I realised today, it will mean I have to fasten the pace of my gathering and get out of these woods soon enough before things get worse than they already are.'
"Wouldn't wanna be caught chilling on my own now would I?"
He arrived at the shed before he realised it, though this one amazed him. It was nothing like the others, though it blended in cleanly with its surroundings.
'I wonder what was the reason for the change of idea.' He stepped closer, looking at the architecture.
To start it all off, it was built on the forest floor not on the tree like the other tree sheds. It was built from the floor, reaching up to ten feet above him.
Looked like a regular bungalow, with two windows on each side of it. From the texture it felt like wood, though it could have been built from other materials, ones he didn't know about.
It was painted to match the surroundings, a forest green paint for the upper half and a deep brown for the lower half.
There was no obvious door, even after walking around the shed, he still couldn't find any doors.
It was also much larger than the other sheds in comparison, at least one and a half times their size.
After thoroughly examining the outside of the shed, he decided to check the inside out but that would mean either he finds the door or he breaks his way in.
'Not that anyone is using it anyway, probably should have found this first. Looks extremely comfortable, which also raises suspicion. '
Staring at the building, he started having second thoughts because it just didn't feel ordinary to him.
'Maybe there are traps inside, because it doesn't make any sense to me.'
He went closer to the window frame and wiped the window with his palms, erasing the dirt on the window glass before staring into the house.
He couldn't see anything clearly from the outside, the sun's light making it harder for him to see than helping him out.
'Should I just go back and forget about exploring this shed or should I take my chances of meeting a trap and dying?'
After a while of staring at the shed, making his decision in silence he finally came to an answer.
He went around the shed one last time before stopping at the same spot he was at a few seconds ago.
Glancing around the forest floor, he began looking for sizable stones to throw at the window.
Without hesitation, he threw one stone after the other after properly checking the surrounding area.
Making sure there were no out-of-the-ordinary items, moving figures, shadows, or campers within the area.
The whole area was safe, the only living organisms were himself, the trees and the wandering rodents.
Throwing the stones at the same spot, the window glass slowly started cracking until it looked weak enough to push open.
He used his hand and dipped inside the house, glass shattering on the floor. Then he reached in through the broken window, using his hand to search for the window's handle.
"If I'm right, then it should be around...aha!! There it is." He yelled softly, keeping his voice low to avoid attracting unwanted attention toward himself.
Pulling on it gently, the window creaked before giving way, sliding open just enough for him to slip his fingers in and push it wider. Warm sunlight spilt through the gap, dust motes drifting lazily in the beam.
Using the light from the sun, he went in headfirst. Staring inside the house to observe it, he noticed nothing out of the ordinary giving him more confidence to step inside the house.
He didn't bother wasting much time, that little bit of reassurance eased the knot in his chest, and with a slow breath, he swung a leg over the sill and stepped inside, staring back to make sure no one was looking even though he had properly checked earlier.
'You can never be too sure.'
Turning around, he stared at the empty shed with a single thought.
'I am literally not built for this.'