Fate had decided to be kind as we entered a lush, vivid-looking forest that had huge quantities of shade and coolness, thank goodness. The air had been so dry that all of us had started to feel slightly light-headed, but had gone to all lengths as soon as we had spotted the forest. Our next destination in our search was a rather secretive village that was known to be located within this forest.
We walked leisurely, the aching in our feet and overall fatigue seemingly forgotten.
It seemed more like a rainforest than anything. Tropic flowers bloomed of all sorts, and the sound of wildlife buzzed throughout the dense trees. Even so, it was peaceful, though there was something that seemed strangely out of place---and that was the fact that after walking through the forest for quite some time, there were no human sounds. No chatter. No signs of any sort of human life, as though the entire place were perfectly preserved.
Especially because the trees literally bursted with life---there were so many fresh fruits, and other herbal delicacies about that you would expect people to be gathering food. Had something gone wrong within this forest? We continued to walk, but with increased caution and suspicion.
And before we knew it, we stood in front of a cliff, or more precisely, a valley. It bended into a crevice, leading to large plains though the whole thing was entirely round. But something like that was impossible! For there to be a valley inside of a forest? Perhaps a ravine, or a sharp turn of a hill---but an entire valley? Something was definitely odd.
"I'll go."
I decided, gulping as I inched towards the edge of the cliff. The others watched in anticipation as I walked carefully backwards before I sprinted forwards, hoping to gather some momentum as I slid down the steeps walls.
But something strange occurred, and I recoiled from the edge with a yelp and landed flat on my back. I groaned, as I stood back to me feet, and clearly the others were as perplexed as I was.
"What just happened?" Akari asked, absolutely bewildered.
"I don't know." I grumbled, scrunching my nose in frustration. That hurt. It was almost like there was some sort of wall blocking me. Something unseen to the human eye. Something… invisible? But how was that even possible?
I gasped slightly as I realized how great the potential for this to be the work of a key piece was, and grinned happily.
“Hello? Is there anyone around here?” I shouted as loudly as I could. The others looked at me as though I were a complete maniac.
"Asagi… just what are you doing exactly?" Akari asked, perplexed by my actions.
“I think there's an invisible wall here.” I responded, still smirking as I walked back towards the edge, proving my point as I held my hand flat against the wall. I propped myself up against it, and the three of them gawked at me standing upright diagonally with no difficulty.
"Really? That's amazing!" Akari gasped, rushing up next to me as she patted against the wall. "There really is one… though you had gone crazy for a second there."
“I thought that was just her being normal.” Kiro coughed mockingly, sneering. I made a fist and he turned around, looking up into the sky as though playing innocent.
While he looked away, I stormed up to him and snatched his key piece from his neck, and he jolted back, shocked as I stuck my tongue out at him.
"I don't think you'll mind if I borrow this for a second, will you? Aww, thank you dear. I knew you'd say yes." I smiled angelically, amused by Kiro's frozen, confused expression.
I made a dash back into the forest, clasping it tightly in my hand. A strange, burning sensation, somewhat similar to the healing from Kira's piece previously spread through my body, stemming from my hand. And though my feet seemed to be running at the same pace beneath me, my surroundings were passing by so quickly that I wasn't even able to spot a lone branch blocking the path.
I tripped on it rather softly, but in an instant I was airborne, flying through the treetops and turning and swirling about like some sort of kite.
Why is this so hard to control? I whimpered, bracing myself for impact as I headed straight for solid ground. I landed flat on my back, but remarkably, I felt no pain whatsoever. As a matter of fact, I had landed on something rather soft.
I hesitantly opened my eyes, and yelped as I heard grumbling from beneath me.
Oh my gosh. I landed on someone.
I leapt up as fast as I could, realizing that I had landed on some guys face.
My butt. On someone's face. A guy's face.
"I'm so sorry!" I apologized frantically, flustered and embarrassed. "I tripped, and I… well not really tripped, but, you know…" I didn't even know how to explain myself!
“What are you doing? LEAVE ALREADY!” He shouted angrily, startling me. What was with this guy? I was only trying to apologize. He didn't have to be that angry with me.
He stared at my face, making me feel strangely self conscious as his face grew even more horror-stricken and anxious.
“Excuse me? I don't think I have to listen to someone like you. Now I was only trying to apologize, and if you're not even going to accept that, then clearly you need to work on your manners." I retorted equally angrily, glaring at him profusely. I was surprised to see him step back, as though frightened by my presence.
“I’m sorry… but it’s for your safety…” He replied quietly, his eyes averting mine. The sincerity in his eyes was overwhelming.
“What do you mean?” I demanded, still firm but less harsh. “What’s going on?”
“Please, just leave here right now! It’s for your safety!” He repeated, glancing around nervously as though we were being watched.
“I’m sorry, but there is no way I am leaving without a proper explanation.” I added bluntly, folding my arms across my chest. With such a high chance of a key piece being here, just leaving here for no reason would be absolutely stupid.
"Hey, Asagi!"
I turned to my left, spotting Kira, Akari, and Kiro scampering over breathlessly. Kiro looked storming mad but I had bigger concerns to think about.
“He a friend of yours?” Akari asked quietly as she finally caught up with me. I shook my head.
He didn’t even look normal, in my perspective.
He had bright silver hair; although he didn’t look old whatsoever. His eyes were bright blue, and he had pale skin even though he seemed like an outdoors-type. He wore a long, brown cloak, and you couldn’t see his body, arms, feet, or legs.
“Umm… I’m Aoi…” He mumbled, embarrassed as he shifted nervously on the spot. Did he suffer from paranoia? Because if there was really someone else in this forest watching us… I shuddered.
“I’m Asagi. This my twin sister Akari. This is Kira, and he's… some jerk you don't need to know about.” I explained, motioning to each of them when I introduced them. I could hear Kiro yelling his outcries of injustice but I ignored him blantantly.
“But anyways, back to the point. Could you please tell me what you're so afraid of? Why we should leave?” I inquired gently, trying to soothe his panic.
Unexpectedly, a thunderous bang erupted through the sky and air around us, like a loud clap of thunder. But that was peculiar, considering the sky was cloudless and sunny.
I looked to my right, only to confront a large cloud being formed of woodchips and dust.
All of us, shocked, stood back to back as a defensive stance. Shortly after, rows of trees tumbled to the ground for no apparent reason. What was going on now?
“Aoi, tell me what exactly is going on here.” I demanded restlessly, watching as his face twisted into a sorrowful expression. Another bang erupted into the blue sky.
Aoi averted my gaze again, and stubbornly refused to tell me what was going on.
Fine. If you won't tell me, I'll find out myself.
Once more, I squeezed Kiro's key piece and broke into a sprint, trying to follow the short series of bangs and noises from a central location.
“You’re going to get yourself killed!” Aoi shouted behind me forebodingly.
I paid no attention to him. Why would I listen to him now if he wouldn’t even answer my question?
I sprinted to the largest scene of the most destruction. The trees around this spot were broken outwards in a circular pattern, almost like dominos. because the trees fanned out starting from here, the perpertator or whatever was causing the mayhem had to be here.
And considering if the cause was a person and not a thing---then perhaps… there were actually two key pieces located in this place. Strength?
"Is there anyone here?” I shouted, though only answered with silence. “If you can hear me, YOU BETTER REPLY!” I added more impatiently, my eyes scanning the premises for any sign of movement. The silence around me was almost eerie compared to the previous bursts of noise.
The forest around me seemed to buzz with secrecy--was something going to emerge from within the shadows?
A distinct figure finally appeared, darting from tree to tree and progressively drawing closer as the shadow grew more and more distinct. I almost felt I was being hunted down, cornered… trapped. I shuddered. A booming voice echoed throughout the trees.
“You have a key piece, dont'cha?”