The Forest (Eruri Version)//Rewrite in Progress

Chapter 1

The wind outside blew around, rustling the leaves on nearby bushes and trees and calmly blowing the blades of grass in a sort of rhythmic manner. It was not a very strong wind yet but it still helped to cool down the nearby town and bring in the calm feeling of the approaching snowstorm. Everyone in their houses pulled their blankets further over their bodies and grew their cocoons for warmth on an early morning. A nice undisturbed sleep surrounded by warmth...

That was until alarms went off on a normal Friday morning, waking up the city for another long day of work and learning.

Erwin Smith sat up in his bed with a big stretch and yawn before wrapping his blankets around him once more. He hated waking up to a cold house but alas, that's just what was going to happen in the fall. His house was right next to a large forest at the base of a small mountain. The forest and mountain always had a sort of superstitious legend that everyone living in the town knew. It was a favorite story people would tell their kids to make sure they stayed out of the forest due to the wild animals and sometimes difficult terrain.

Legend has it that thousands of years ago, there was a princess who possessed magical abilities because of her mother's blood. She was loved by all in the kingdom for her great kindness and generosity. But because of the time period and lack of medical knowledge, she ended up dying because of a serious illness at a young age. She was buried in the forest and her body supposedly was buried in the ground where there was now a small pond and waterfall. People say that the water in said pond possesses magical properties that can heal any ailment. However, no one has ever been able to find this lake so it only seems to exist within the legend.

Erwin eventually sighed and got out of bed. He walked into the bathroom across the hall from his room and turned on the shower. While the water warmed up, he walked back into his room and collected the clothing items he would be wearing to school that day. He pulled out a pair of khaki shorts and a black shirt that was the show shirt for the school's marching band show that year.

Erwin had been a member of the school's marching band all throughout high school and even was a part of it his eighth grade year. He'd worked hard and he was finally made section leader of the trumpet section his Junior and senior year. That night, they would be performing their usual halftime show at the football game. It was important they put on their best performance more so than usual as this was the big playoff game that everyone had been looking forward to for the whole week. If they won this game, they would advance to the final game against their biggest rivals in another 2 weeks.

Erwin had a solo in the first song that opened up the entire show. He was usually pretty confident outside of band but he was still always nervous when playing the solo at the beginning of the show. He had to get it perfect or there would be a weird feeling throughout the band for the rest of their short eight minute performance. It was a weird unspoken morale thing.

Erwin set his clothes on the bed, got undressed, and then walked into the bathroom. He got into the shower and relaxed with a deep sigh as the warm water fell over him. He loved taking warm showers, especially on a chilly morning such as this one. It was relaxing and took away all of his worries, if only temporarily.

Once Erwin was done, he stepped out of the shower and then wrapped a towel around his waist. He walked back into his room and then began to pull himself together for school. He got dressed and then put all of his necessary school supplies into his backpack before heading downstairs for breakfast.

Erwin's father sat at the dining room table while reading a newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee. Erwin set his backpack down and then sat in his usual chair. There was already a plate in his spot that had a nice stack of pancakes with syrup and berries on top.