Nightmare(3)

*Neeeigh*

Jean had stopped the horse wagon along a small pool of water, deep within the border. The horse immediately began drinking the water, replenishing its energy. Jean unloaded some oats he brought from one of the suburban villages and tended to the horse. While Jean was preoccupied, Sorren leaned on the wagon edges, gazing upon the scenery.

Thin beech-brown trees were spread everywhere, beams of sunlight filtered through the leaves of the trees, enveloping the forest in an abundance of light. He could hear the happy chirps of blue jays as they tended to their nests. The rustling of bushes as curious hares and deers peeked out, observing the stationed wagon from afar. Even the rhythmic tapping of woodpeckers reverberated from all directions. It was like a completely different reality from the one he and his family had just experienced not too long ago.

Sorren leaned back inside the wagon, his gaze now down at his torn clothes. In his peripherals, he could see his twin siblings asleep once more.

- 'Sorren…..whatever happens to me or your father...promise me you'll protect your siblings….'

- 'From this day forward, you're no longer a child...'

The memories of when he parted from his mother flashed through his head. His body felt heavy, and the piercing emotion of guilt struck his heart.

' I...I have to protect my siblings….but'

A dark voice slithered in his mind 'You couldn't even protect your mother and father….how would you protect anyone else….you're not some hero…' Sorren tightly gripped his shirt. The word hero deeply reverberated through him. He felt his heart pound and his stomach squeezed.

'I'm not strong….I'm…." he bit his lips as the last words were slowly surfacing in his mind.

' .....Nothing more than a coward....'

Then, a small trinket slid from outside his cotton shirt. Sorren's mind snapped to attention at the sight of the jewel.

'This was…' it was the trinket the mysterious girl had given him. He remembered her light fluffy pink hair, white skin like pure white clouds, and golden eyes like amber. She was always smiling even as she helped him.

'Right. She gave me this. I wonder….how she's doing....' He thought. He had many questions: Was she alright? Did she know what happened to him? Why was she all alone in that forest? Of course, the person in question wasn't here to answer such inquiries, but he could only imagine.

'I wonder if I'll be able to see her again..' Under the heaviness of his negative feelings, a small feeling sprung gently, however, Sorren had no way of knowing what it was.

Jean glanced at Sorren who was deeply thinking. He spotted the light green trinket. "Oi there Ren, where'd ya get that?" Jean asked. He was carefully reloading the saddle back on the horse as it was now fully rejuvenated. The horse seemed to be sparkling with favor.

Sorren looked up promptly at Jean's question, he touched the trinket " u-um someone gave it to me" Sorren said his face turned beet red. Jean grinned " I guess it was from a pretty young lass eh?" Sorren flinched, his face getting even redder.

Jean laughed " To think a little girl would propose to ya hahaha, how bold! I'd like to meet her" Jean laughed merrily, causing Sorren to turn his head away in embarrassment.

In the Goldenstein region, it was a known fact that if either a man or woman gifted a personal object towards their intended, it was considered a proposal. Upon acceptance, this would mean that both were engaged. Though, for commoners and nobles, gifts vary.

" Oi Oi what's with that embarrassed look, you gotta fiance now, a dream of all us young men!'' Jean smirked. Sorren glared at Jean, his face still red "I-IT WASN'T A PROPOSAL! I-IT WAS JUST A GIFT!" Sorren stammered.

Jean laughed some more "Who knew there were such bold girls in our vil-"

Then Jean flinched. He peeked at Sorren. The boy didn't seem to have heard him.

"Where were you when you….met the girl? '' Jean asked cautiously.

"Um…" Sorren hesitated a bit. Jean felt guilty. He wanted to help alleviate the pain from the boy's obvious trauma by talking about something merry, but he might have ended up making it much worse.

"I met her….at the Moon Forest..."

There was a long pause. Sorren lifted his head and saw that Jean was staring at him dazedly. Then gradually his face morphed into shock and horror. " OI THE MOON FOREST! YOU'RE LYING AIN'T YA LAD!" Jean screeched.

Sorren quickly shook his head. Jean slumped powerlessly against the horse. " ya sure ya ain't touch the trees there lad?" Jean asked. Once again Sorren shook his head, this time earnestly. He knew that Jean was referring to the trees with sharp spikes in the entrance of the Moon Forest. Upon touching them, you get horrible hallucinations that can sometimes cause immediate death by a heart attack.

"There's no way a young girl could live in that forest...she has to be a monster herself or something…" Jean mumbled.

He refused to believe the reality of that. It was because of the forest's reputation and its danger level. A place teeming with monsters with unimaginable strength and affinities. He made sure to always steer clear from the houses closest to the forest. He was amazed regarding Sorren's mother Annie, who'd make frequent trips in the forest to collect herbs for study.

"I-it's true! She even saved me and returned me back to mom!" Sorren cried. He clutched the trinket in indignation. Jean was confused " Ya saying you weren't with your mother?"

Sorren nodded solemnly.

"well...I got lost and I didn't know where to go, everything was like some elaborate maze. When I gave up, this young girl saved me, she treated my injuries too." Sorren said he smiled a little.

Jean raised an eyebrow. " so... what's the name of the special lass?" Sorren flinched. he looked around trying to feign ignorance, but Jean wasn't buying it. "Don't tell me....YA AIN'T ASK FOR THE LASSES NAME HUH!? AND YA CALL YOURSELF A MAN!"

Sorren was startled by Jean's shout. " w-well I was about to ask her, but then um....well she uh..." Sorren had trouble explaining the situation. The girl was quite a character, and unpredictable to boot. Not once would she spoke to him and only did vague gestures that Sorren barely could understand.

Jean shook his head and sighed " haaah, and here I thought Gale had an iron noggin, looks like it runs in the family.... kinda reminds me of when Annie would beat some common sense in em" Jean said with a fed-up expression.

Sorren giggled a little, but, upon the memory, he slowly looked back down sadly. Jean flinched and got up.

"Hey hey now I got it, ya met a pretty lass in the forests and got proposed to, and don't know her name. It's like a fairy tale no? Let's move on then!" Jean said quickly. Sorren flinched at his last statement. "I SAID I-IT WASN'T A PROPOSAL!!" His voice echoed loudly, startling the birds. They flew off in the air, as Sorren's voice echoed loudly.

---------------------------------------------------------------

'OW….Must have dozed off there' I lifted my body, but flinched at the massive pain I was feeling in my arm. The tangy smell of blood was potent, and my arm was slowly trickling with blood. 'Right that Arachna bit me. OH, MARBLES! I almost really really died this time huh' I thought.

I felt through the darkness and cut a piece of fabric I was wearing. A loud tear pierced through the quiet cave. I tightly wrapped my arm.

Had I not cut the wound and let it bleed out, In probably about a minute I'd have been dead. Perhaps the reality hasn't sunk in yet, but I decided to quickly preoccupy my mind with the situation before it did.

'I still can't see anything, but maybe I can rely on sound and touch to get around.' I thought. Frankly, I wished to leave this place. However, without being able to see where I am, that would prove impossible.

There was another important little fact.

" Papa might be here so I can't leave yet," I said quietly. Though he lacked a magic core and affinity, he was still a pretty capable person. That's right, papa is pretty strong! I'm sure he'll be able to hold out long enough for me to find him here.

Just wait, he'll be so happy I came to look for him!

[Mono 6] - Imagination: Yuiji, my heroic daughter, thank you for risking your life to save me!

'Of course papa, anything for you, I am strong after all hahaha!'

[Mono 6]: Of course my daughter is the best in the world! I must shower you with all my love and affection. Here I have this big pork leg, it is nutritious for a growing girl!

' Wah! For me? Hahahaha papa's the best! TIME TO CHOW DOWN!'

In my attempts to bite down on the juicy pork leg, instead of soft and tender flesh, I bit into something hard.

"WAH!? BLEH BLEH,'' I could taste the bitter dusty flavor of rocks. I spit it out immediately.

" aw man, so much for nutrition…" My stomach growled loudly. First, let's find something to eat.

I felt through the darkness for something solid. I shuffled my feet on the hard rocky floor, kicking small pebbles. I touched the jagged walls as I made my way forward. Eventually, I felt a jagged crease, signifying a new direction.

'Hm looks like I turned here don't I' I made a left following the direction of the wall, yet the ground's texture changed.

'Hm...? WUH!?' I felt surmounts of sticky webs on my feet. Even the walls were covered in sticky webs. It certainly didn't feel all dandy touching these things.

'Ugh, it feels so weird...heh heh….' I was never an arachnophobe back on earth, at least I don't think so. Frankly, I loved watching spiders as they were quite interesting to observe on tv. Yup, TV! Thousands of miles away from me.

I even remember the little spider back at my house. I named it Kumo! I'd simply leave it to its own, but don't come even a millimeter near me ya know. It was like a tacit agreement between us ya know. Kumo wasn't a big spider, just a small one about the size of my finger. We've watched tons of movies together! I was on my bed, and it rested on its little web.

Hmm now that I think about it, whatever happened to Kumo? I can't really remember…

I was making my way forward when I felt a small presence scurrying about. No scratch that, I felt tons and tons of small presences scurrying through the darkness. They were all coming near me.

'Uh...w-wha?' I still couldn't see anything, I quickly chanted a small spell. Azure flames enveloped my hand, my surroundings brightened. Of course, I should be feeling immense relief at being able to see, even if it was a bit dim...but I wasn't.

"Oh…"

I let out a soft groan as I took in the sight before me. Around every nook and cranny of this cave, lots and lots of tiny and medium-sized Arachna were scurrying towards me. There were many eyes gleaming purple hue as they spotted a fresh meal. It really was like a nightmare, I was practically surrounded.