Meet Me in the Woods (On Hold?)

Chapter 2

Mitch snuck along the shadows of a fence, trying to keep out of sight. Though it was almost dark, he didn't want to risk getting caught by anyone and questioned what he was up to. He quickly and quietly moved through the darkness without a sound. That was until he turned a corner and nearly collided with two people.
He nearly tripped as he scrambled back before realizing who they were. Two of his close friends, Adam and Ty.
"Mitch?!" Adam asked with shock.
"Shhhh." Mitch jumped forwards and clamped his hands over his mouth, not wanting to draw attention. "Be quiet!"
He lowered his arms after Adam nodded in response.
"What are you doing out here this late?" Adam said in a hushed voice.
Mitch glanced to the side. "The- uh just getting a bit of fresh air."
Ty narrowed his eyes, then smirked. "With your bow? I think someone's lying. You never come out here at night. You're sneaking out somewhere!"

Mitch chuckled nervously. He knew he could trust his friends, but at the same time he didn't want to tell them what he was doing. If they thought he was going to be in danger, they might tell someone.
"I.. Maybe you just don't see me when I do. Besides, I could ask the same about you two."

"Oh please, you know we're always  sneaking out and getting trouble." Adam scoffed.

Mitch sighed and glanced behind them. The edge of the forest wasn't too far, and if he ran fast enough he could easily lose them behind a few of the buildings.
"Well. See ya later!" he said before dashed back around the corner he came from. He heard a "Hey, wait." but ignored it.

He saw a wooden cart in the shadows of another building and quickly ran to it and crouched behind it. After a few seconds he heard the sound of them running down the road towards him. He held his breath as their footsteps neared, but they ran right past him and rounded another corner. As he got up he heard a loud curse from Adam as they realized they'd lost him.

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Mitch made his way down the moonlit path, taking his time. After escaping from Adam and Ty he managed to dash into the forest without being further noticed.
As he walked his attention was everywhere at once. Though he knew the forest wasn't too dangerous, he was still wary of his surroundings. His eyes were constantly flicking off the path to watch for lurking eyes, and he kept checking behind him to make sure he wasn't being followed. The rising moon was full and lit the way, but it also cast long dark shadows that seemed to jump out at him. The forest had a creepy edge to it during the night.
"Spooky." he thought as he walked.
The forest was fairly quite and peaceful. Mitch's footsteps were soft and hardly noticeable. The only sounds he heard were the rustling of leaves from the breeze, and the crickets. But after a few more steps another sound was added to the mix.
Croak.
Croak.
Frogs.
He could hear hear the sound of croaking frogs, which usually meant there was water near by. That must mean he's getting close to the river.
His thoughts were confirmed when he heard the sound of trickling of water.
Mitch picked up his pace and started to walk faster. As he neared a bend he recognized a large boulder beside the path, but he couldn't place why it was so familiar.

Mitch came to a stop when the river came into sight. The moon shone through the rustling leaves of the trees, making the forest floor glitter with shards of light. Within some of the shards the water from the river shimmered. It was one of the most beautiful sights that he had seen.
He glanced around before walking down to the banks and peering into the water. It was crystal clear, making it easy to see what was at the bottom - mostly large rocks and pebbles. Mitch remembered when he had slipped on those rocks when he was younger. The water was still shallow as it was back then.
A little ways further up the stream were a cluster of stepping stones which could make it easy for him to cross to the other side. It was tempting, but he decided against the idea. He was already risking by coming out here, and he hoped that no one noticed his absence yet. He knew Tyler wouldn't care too much, or do anything about it, but if the King found out then that would result in a different situation.
Mitch sat down and leaned back at his elbows, staring up at the night sky through the leaves. Now that it was dark he could clearly see the stars that specked the sky. They looked like little shining freckles, tiny perfect imperfections in the darkness. He always loved stargazing, and often spent his time before sleep staring at them from his window. The whole experience was better when he could do it outside, be he knew eventually he would have to get up.
He just wasn't expecting that to happened so  soon..
The sound of violently rustling leaves and twigs snapping from somewhere above made him scrambled up and take few steps back. Then it went quite.
He peered up at the trees and tried to identify the source of the noise.
Suddenly there was a loud snap followed by a startled yelp. In a dark blur something landed in front of him with a thud, closely followed by a huge branch.
"Uhnngh." the figure groaned, sprawled out on the ground.
That something was a someone. But Mitch couldn't see them under their cloak, and he instinctively whipped out his bow and an arrow, and pointed it towards them. He didn't know what to say or do, so his first thought was to seem intimidating.
"Get up and tell me who you are!" he demanded.
Mitch watched as they made an attempt to move, but couldn't due to the way that their cloak was tangled in the branch.
"I kind of can't.." a voice responded. "Can you help me?"