Sylvanterra’s night P2

But as the night progressed, he had gotten deeper and deeper into the forests of Sylvanterra, which were currently very dangerous and odd for the time being. So Koku being Koku, he dived head first straight into the soon to be heart of the Sylvanterra. Just around twenty minutes after first encountering and killing the Ghoul, Koku stopped running, coming into the view of a statue overrun by vegetation with very little moonlight shining over it through a little clearing in the trees. 

The statue looked vaguely similar to a girl looking down at the ground tied up to a stake. With roots having wrapped themselves around the lower half of the statue, and vines the upper parts, the moss which covered itself all around the statue made it clear to Koku that this statue isn't new, yet also has no mention in any textbooks as he couldn't recall it. 

He looked at it, and the longer he looked at it in the night, in the single spot where there was a tiny gap through the trees allowing the moonlight to pierce through the forest. Koku felt an eerie sensation overcome him. "I should get moving." Koku muttered to himself, getting the motivation to run once more. 

Right before moving past the statue, Koku looked over at the statue as he was about to pass by it. He could see a creepy smiles form right over the moss. It gave him chills so he then brushed past it with the urgent need to leave Sylvanterra, and the increasing complexity of the situation unfolding at the moment. Once he'd made it roughly a mile away from the statue's location, Koku heard a loud dreadful howl off in the statues direction. After some more time, passing by the endless amounts of trees, Koku saw some light up ahead, so he hurried over but upon arriving he was left in awe. 

As…when he got within clear view of the area with the tiny moonlight; he found the very same statue he came across some few minutes ago. What he didn't notice right off the bat, was the fact something was different about this very same statue. It had been the fact that right below it's overran heel, there had been a word carved into the sculpture. 

Koku wouldn't notice this until much later, when he would run past the statue another three more times, with each time the distance between the forest and the statues location seeming far shorter. 

Feeling cautious, Koku didn't let the dreadful howl from earlier escape his mind. With this in his mind, Koku looked at the statue head on while giving out an order. "Scatter and find whatever is hiding inside the area." Finishing the command he had just given out, he found himself a little confused but then it dawned on him that he couldn't summon the Cratrus's because of the situation with the World's will and Void clashing over dominance for Koku. 

Thinking about it, he was very dependent on those Void summons, which left a bitter taste in his mouth. "I can do it myself." he muttered, sighing right after as he then with his right eye activated the Genesis eye. Keeping the eyes of time activated on his left in case of any surprise attacks beforehand. 

For a few seconds he scanned the surroundings with his genesis eye but found nothing odd. That very fact brought more unease to him. The fact nothing was around the area, but something was watching him at the same time, kept Koku on the highest of guard. Once he confirmed it himself by actually walking around the area full of hostility. He couldn't find anything apart from trees and the same statue. 

If he walked in a direction for too long; north, east, south or west...no matter which direction he faced he would come into the view of the silent statue. Now having made sure nothing was around the area, he approached the statue with his gifted sword in hand filling it with a combination of Void energy and magic. 

"It must be you who's watching me." Koku said aloud, feeling chills run down his spine. He could fight to the death, fight godlike beings knowing he'd lose badly, but this was a little too much for him to handle. His heart thumped like crazy the closer he'd get to the statue as his mind raced overthinking many things. 

Now being right in front of it, having it tower over him, he was now right beneath the faced down head. His eyes and its eyes meeting each other as if having a staring contest. Getting the feeling he needed to do something with it, he looked at the very ground it had been staring at. "Moss and roots?" He asked in confusion, cutting the roots over the little stone plate right beneath the statue's gaze. After this with his right hand he ripped the moss off, being able to just barely see what was underneath it. 

"Atone?" he muttered, his mind subconsciously letting his thoughts spill out. Reading the word 'Atone' again he looked at the statue's face, more specifically, its eyes. 

After doing this he heard a branch break off into the dark distance. Koku immediately looked over to the origin of the snapping noise and saw nothing. That's when another branch snapped elsewhere further into the dark woods. 

Right before him he could barely see the ground right in front of him carving something into the ground. Had they been footprints? Koku wondered about kneeling to get a better look at it. 

"Footprints…" he confirmed seeing them appear on the ground out of thin air, with the noise of walking added onto it. "It's trying to lead me somewhere…" Not knowing what to do, or how to exactly resolve this situation, Koku followed the footprints with a grain of salt and his sword at the ready for combat. As he followed the fading noise of snapping tree branches he felt a gust of wind carried by an eerie sound made by it. "Wind in the forest?" Koku pondered right before hearing a whisper right over his shoulder causing him to jump since he had not expected it.

"Somethings off… i should be able to see in the night due to the night owls passives i had gotten a long time ago. But why can't I right now… what's making this wind appear, why do I keep coming across that statue… and… who whispered "Psst" into my ear?" Koku bombarded himself with questions wondering if anyone could hear him, like the Worlds will or anyone for a matter.