Journey to the Border

The world holds many strange sights. Those which you would never see if you never venture out. You may see it on a canvas, or in a memory. But is the feeling the same? No. Kuoka wasn't an exception to this.

'This is a Matsutake.'

"I asked what it was, not what's it's name."

'Oh... sorry. It's a type of mushroom that grows under pine trees.'

"There should be a lot of this 'Matsutake' then, we're in a dense forest after all."

'This forest should be the only thing that blocked the old capital from the border.'

"So you mean that the border is just beyond this forest?" Suddenly a drop of rain fell on his hand when he knelt to pick up the mushroom. 'Is it raining?' Kuoka looked up, and a drop of water landed in his eye. "OW! Yes! It's raining!" He frantically covered himself using his green robe.

'Get under that tree!' Kuoka swiftly ran for the large tree, it provided a lot of cover from the rain. "Quite convenient that this tree was here."

'This tree is a ty-' Kuoka slapped himself. "I don't need to know what type of tree this is, as long as it provides me shelter; then it provides me shelter."

'I was going to say that this was a type of tree. I don't know either.'

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" Regalia appeared to not be amused, neither did Kuoka. 'We'll be stuck here for a while. What should we do?' Kuoka plucked a branch from the tree. "I'll just sit under this tree, and wait out the rain. I don't want water getting into this bag."

'I'll stay here as well.' Kuoka started drawing lines in the ground, using the branch. 'What are you writing?'

"Nothing." After poking at the floor for a minute, Kuoka took out his book. "I hope there's still some ink in this thing..."

Kuoka was currently far away from the fortress. He was in a large green valley, full of trees, hills, plants, and animals. And now it was raining, something that would happen frequently in this valley. It caused the floor to become wet for most of everyday. Making the rocks slippery, and turning the solid ground into mud.

The forest itself was very dense, you would have to turn your entire body left and right just to maneuver through it. Poisonous plants, vicious animals, as well as bad weather. "This is the worst..."

'There supposedly a weird combination of wolf and mold called 'Wold.' It says that it is found near the edge of the forest. On the other side of the fortress.'

"W-what says t-that?" Kuoka shivered as he struggled to assemble leaves together, in order to protect himself from the cold. 'Oh no, it's nothing. Just a piece of paper.'

"Paper? What does it say?"

'I'm... not allowed to tell you.'

"By who? Aren't you and that other voice the only voices?"

'Maybe we are... but you should focus on your own problems right now.'

Kuoka huddled under a stack of leaves, they were wet. But they still provided a little warmth.

"I can't s-sleep like this..." he stood up, taking care not to disperse the leaves. "Is there anywhere else I can move to?" He looked around his surroundings. "There are a group of trees over there, a small cave over there, and more trees." Kuoka was up atop a hill, which meant that he didn't have a good vantage point over the valley. "At least the view is nice... but the breeze isn't."

He quickly looked at the back of the tree, which faced upwards from the hill. "Still there. Good, if that goes missing, I might as well go missing too. Hey Regalia, you still there?"

...

"Guess not. I'll just wait out the rain." Kuoka huddled back under the leaves, and painstakingly went to sleep. "Brr..."

When he awoke, there was a rumbling that caused the entire valley to shake. The birds started cawing while flying away in droves. Something was approaching and fast. Kuoka picked up his bag, and both of his pouches. He swiftly covered himself using the green robe and hid behind the tree.

"What the hell is that thing?!" He stared in shock, as wolves started appearing all across the forest. "Their spreading like wildfire!" The wolves seemed to be stuck to the trees, they didn't have full bodies, but only heads that jutted out from the trunks of trees.

'I'm bac- what the...' Regalia had just returned, and the entire forest was swallowed by a weird creature. Or creatures. 'What happened?! I was only gone for a few hours!' Kuoka started frantically sweating. The floor was still wet, the air was damp, and the entire area was cold. 'Wold... wait, Wold?! Wolf + Mold... Wold.' Regalia's sigh sounded disappointed.

'I'm not sure if it can, but don't under any circumstances - let it notice you.' Kuoka shivered, he could barely keep himself awake. 'Stay focused!'

Kuoka patiently waited for something to happen. And something did - the wolves started dissipating and soon they were completely gone, but the rumbling continued. 'It seems like it's moving in circles around the valley.'

Kuoka loudly breathed a sigh of relief. "And here I thought nothing would happen..." he had been woken up from his sleep. 'Are you alr-' Kuoka lowered his legs to squat. "I'm wide awake now, couldn't be better, the cold atmosphere was making me sleepy anyway."

He grunted when he stood, "whatever the hell that thing is, it definitely isn't friendly." When Kuoka looked down the hill he was on, there was blood splattered everywhere in the forest. "I can smell the iron from here..."

'Uh... I can't look at that.'

"Tch!" Kuoka kicked the tree he had taken shelter under, "this damn journey to the border is even interrupted by some weird creature the size of an entire valley?! How could this get any worse..."

'You could get caught be that thing. That would certainly be worst.'

"You can shut your mouth already..." He scratched the back of his head in frustration. "How am I even supposed to get around that thing..." he walked back and forth, until he noticed the creature was nearing him again. He ducked behind the tree, "it stopped rumbling..." he peeked around the tree, and the wolves were gone, as well as the rumbling. "Guess we're safe..."