Chapter 7

Across the forest

“Auro...”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think is beyond this forest?”

“Well I’m not sure”

“...”

“What? Did you expect me to say something like mountains or such”

“Well kinda...yeah”

“Hehehehehehe, I’m just messing with you”

“Really…. Well don’t ”- she said as she playfully punched him

“Hehehehe… Well if I had to say maybe some kind of great field or something like that… Why do you ask?”

“Well while I was still in the forest a voice told me that they tried to go beyond the forest..”

“Mmm..? ”

“And eventually they got to a part where a thick mist covered everything, they said that when they walked through it and kept going in a straight line but they eventually got back to the cherry blossom tree”

“Oh… well do you think we’ll reach that mist too cough cough”

“I told you not to move… ”

“It’s hard not t-”

“Auro...”

“Yeah? What's wrong?”

“Your wound… It… it should have killed you...”

“What do you mean?...”- he said in a shaky voice

“I can see parts of your organs through small holes in the muscle...”

“Huh!!? How is that possible”

“Not even I’m sure...”

“Well… Now what?”

“A...A...Auro...”

“What’s wrong...”- He said as he lifted up his head to see his wound…

“Y..Yo...Your flesh and muscles are...”

“Regenerating...How, how is this possible”

“Well at least you’ll be better right?”

“I guess…aahhhhhggg ”

“Auro!!!!!”

“I’m fine, don’t worry it just hurts a bit arghhhh”

“Hold on just a bit more the wo… no no no no”

“What?”

“It stopped regenerating and now it just scabbed… ”

“Well at least the wound is closed up… and now I can stand up”

“You shouldn’t do anything…. You ca-”

“We need to get on a move… this is definitely another day telling by the sun”

“Huh… How can you tell”

“Handy skill right… hehehe... but telling on how the sun is still in the east means it’s not much since the sun has risen”

“I guess so yeah… but are you sure you can make it through the forest”

“Yeah I’m sure”

“But what about your arm”

“Oh… yeah, those injuries are below the surface… there’s nothing we can do”

“We should at least check it out, don’t you think?”

“If you want to…. Sigh well then”- He said as he lifted up his shirt sleeve

As he lifted up his shirt sleeve all the other wounds on his arm could be seen. Once the sleeve was all the way up the scars were still visible from the top of his skin.

“Auro... are you ok with me touching your injured arm?”

“Go ahead if you want to… just be gentle”

“Yeah don’t worry about it”

“Ok”

As she touched his arm, she could feel the rough skin, rubbing her finger around the injuries she could feel a weird texture on the skin, it felt as if the had been burnt, it was raspy and hard to a touch. Even so nothing seemed to be wrong with his upper skin. She looked up at him to verify if anything was wrong.

“So what do you think, Auro? Did you feel any pain as I touched your arm?”

“No not really”

“Well that’s good right?”

“Yeah definitely”

“Well do you want to try and move your arm and see what happens”

“I guess I can try but...”

“What… Auro why are you saying “but”?”

“I’m scared that no matter how much I try I will just find out that my arm will never work again”

As she looked into his eyes she saw another look she had never seen before, the look of sheer fright. Many thoughts flowed through her mind at that moment but the only thing she could think about is how to help him out. But she felt as if she was powerless to do anything but watch as he tried to move his arm.

“Well I would say there’s no pain in trying but in your case I guess there is...”

“Well here goes nothing ...”- He said as he began to move his arm up… he could feel as his ligaments and muscles began to move around his left shoulder. He could feel different levels of uncomfort. Pain began to build up. He could feel as if his arm was about to fall off just from the motion alone.

“Auro… Auro… open your eyes… ”

“Huh?”

“Look at your arm...”

“What in the...”

His arm was finally able to stay up. As he saw that a great shock ran through his body and his arm slowly fell down back to the side of his body…

“Auro are you alright?”

“Yeah I’m fine… it’s just my arm got a spur of pain”

“Well at least we know that you can move your arm”

“Yeah, maybe with that I can use this thing I’m lugging around,,, hehehehe”

“I guess you can… well then what now?”

“We should begin to venture through the forest ”

“Mmm that would be smart but what if we get lost”

“You did mention the fact that there’s a mist that eventually brings you back to the cherry blossom right?”

“Yeah but what if the voice I heard was lying”

“I actually didn’t think of that… well as long as we walk in a straight line we’ll be fine ”- He said with a nervous laughter…

“We should head out then… ”- she said to break the awkward silence

They set foot once again heading towards the forest. The sunlight heated up the day, a cool breeze could be felt coming from beyond the forest, the ground was covered in dry leaves and twigs exactly like the giant tree forest. No path could be seen, nothing but trees could be seen stretching for miles and beyond.

“Auro do you think we will actually see the end of this forest”- she said as they walked in between the trees -”That’s a thing we should hope for”- he said as the only that could be heard around them were the leaves crunching beneath their feet.

“Aamaile… you always look so concerned and ask random questions, why do you do that?”

“Well you know I’m worried about yo-”

“Aamaile, tell me the truth”

“But I am, Au-”

“Aamaile, I can tell when you are lying, so tell me what's up with all the questions?”

“Auro did you just- ”

Auro fell to the ground- “I’m sorry for screaming is just that-”

“Auro, don’t worry I understand why you do things the way you do”

‘I’m sorry… “

“But your right I was lying”

“What do you mean?”- He asked looking up at her

“There really is another main reason for me asking so many questions”

“Really, what is it?”- He said as he began to stand up

“Well...you see, ever since we’ve met I’ve thought about how...”

“Aamaile look...”

“Huh?”

“Is that the mist you were talking about?”

“Probably”

“Should we try and walk through it?”

As both of them stood near the mist looking into it. The thick mist limited their vision and it was hard to tell anything apart. They looked at eachother…

“What do you think we should do?”- they said in conjunction

“So you actually made it...”- A voice could be heard from a far

“You….”

“That voice...”

“Did you miss me?”

“What do you want?”

“I was curious...”

“Curious…? About what? Do you und-”

“Auro, before we assume anything let’s hear them out...”

“I guess so then...well then we’ll hear you out...”

“Really thank you…”

“Well then, what do you want with me and Auro?”

“I found you both quite interesting so I wanted to know if you can walk beyond the forest ”

“And what if we can… do you realize you put me on the brink of death right?”

“After all it’s because of me you’re still alive”

“What do you mean, you’re the reason Auro is still alive”

“I’m the reason his wound healed… I don’t know much myself but when I saw his injury I couldn’t help but try and save him...”

“How do we know that we can trust you… We can’t even see you...”

“Auro… should we just go?”

“Wait please… look I know that I put you in danger by getting you to pull the sword out but I had a good reason...”

“And what reason is that… lemme guess one of your selfish intents”

“I’m not going to lie and say it wasn’t but look at it from my point of view, I’ve been stuck here for a month now and nobodys been around, I wanted to see if I could find anything beyond this horrid forest but I couldn’t, and then….”

“We showed up, Auro don’t you see we could be their only hope to go beyond this place and afterall wasn’t that our goal too...”

“I guess so… ”

“Auro, let's give them a chance, after all don’t you think this is kind of intriguing….”

“Aamaile you do realize if we agree to this, we are accepting a fate in which we won’t be able to understand afterwards”

“I don’t want to hurt either of you,nor bring you any troubles… I just want to go beyond the forest and part ways”

“Well if we let you come with us we need a condition, Aamaile any Ideas?”

“Mmm well umm maybe show yourself we are yet to know who you are”

“Is that it?”

“If that is what Aamaile wants then I won't disagree ”

“Well then, I’ll do as you ask...”

As they heard the voice say that a faint sound of leaves crunching could be heard from a far, it slowly approached them. They stood still in fear of what could show up. Auro clenched the sword's handle in his right hand and Aamaile clenched her fist preparing for the worst when a female looking person walked up to them.

She looked like a person and yet her entire body was see through. She had a worried expression on her face, her hair was long, her arms were crossed and her legs looked to be shaking. Both Auro and Aamaile eased up.

“I can explain everything if you’d like”

“That would be convenient...”

“Really wel-”

“And yet I feel that I can’t trust you… ”

“Huh..? ”

“Tell me, is this your real form or are you hiding something from us...”

“Auro please...”

“No it’s fine, I understand what he means, you can never really now in a world like this… ”

“Well then I’ll have to make sure then, well only if you agree...”

“Auro what are you planning on doing”

Auro removed the sword from its sheath on his back…

“Auro do you even know how to use it… what if you get injured again… we can’t risk that, not again...”

“I know the consequences of my actions, and I’m prepared to accept them. I don’t even know what the thing on my back holding the sword is nor how to use this sword… ”

“Then don’t use it...”

“I’m sorry, but it’s the only way for me to feel assured… I’m sorry ”

Auro ran up to the girl sword in hand, he could feel his body getting heavier with every step. A shock of pain ran through his arm and down his spine. He could feel the sweat run down his face. On his last step he could feel the heavy sword pull against him. He swung.

He could see the sword go right through her, pain ran through his arm and onto his shoulder, he could feel his arm slowly lose strength. As the sword went through her he couldn’t feel anything going against the sword. As the swing ended he couldn’t handle it any longer. He let go of the sword and it went flying, getting stuck on a tree near the mist.

“So...gasp...I guess...gasp... you weren’t…gasp...lying”

“Auro”- Aamaile screamed as she ran towards him

“As you can see this is the real me...”

“I can see...”

“I hope both of you can trust me more from now on”

“At least I can and I’m sure Auro will too...”

“Oh, are you ok?”

“Yeah...gasp...I’m fine”- Auro said between gasps of air as he got up

“Auro wait you shouldn’t be getting up this soon”

“I agree with her, you used to much energy while swinging at me”

“Im...fine I just need to get the sword back...”

“Auro there’s no need for that...”

“I didn’t almost die for that sword just to lose it”

“Well you did what you wanted to and swung your sword at me, it’s my turn to complete my part of the deal…. I’ll tell you about my past”