32The Rising Tree
4
"Agito?" Tula called to him from across the chasm he was visiting his Father. He had gone fully into the forest when she had been saved. "Come on, we've gotta get home." She stamped her feet, the cold was creeping up from the from the misty ground. The forest was getting ready to sleep once more.
"Coming." He left from metal bar to bar, making it to her in record speed. His white hair flaring behind him, catching the early morning sunlight.
"What do we do about this Rima girl, I don't trust her fully." She clung to his arm as he approached her.
"We've got nothing to worry about; if anything she will hold her promise till she dies or meets the standards. The forest will never break a promise." He patter her head, he now stood a good foot above her. He sighed, "If anything, she just wants to go home. I picked up from a conversation that I over heard that she was forced to come here by the forest for some unknown reason." He thought sadly about the poor girl.
"I know that feeling all to well…." Tula let that hang in the air, she really knew that feeling above all else.
They saw a bright flash pass them by, leaping the chasm in one go, it landed heavily on the rock.
"You could have told me! These memories are appearing! They make it impossible to do anything, I cannot think anymore! You, you, YOU BASTARD!" The child held its head, screaming in agony.
O-O-O-O
The memories poured in, it was impossible to think strait. The memories started to rewrite my own, lapsing into the past and future at odd points. I remembered a young boy with a chubby face and deep brown hair; he clung to my hand asking many questions.
A man with brown hair stood beside me, holding my hand and leaning onto my shoulder.
Then I was in the forest, watching the druids go by; they stopped to play with me every now and then. I wanted the memories to straiten out, to the past and future to separate, as they should be. I heard people coming closer, they were right behind me, and yet I didn't care.
I let the forest out, the forest would know what was right and wrong; it would decide was I should do.
I screamed as the forest consumed me entirely, it had never done that before. The voices grew until they were clamoring to control. They joined into one, chanting, "Memories are deceitful, memories are deceitful, memories will consume you!" It never ended, forever stretching on in my mind, the clamor separated and joined, slowly driving me mad.
Someone touched my shoulder, but the forest burst forth. Vines wound around me, leaves unfurled in a matter of seconds. Bark grew from my skin, slowly covering me entirely. It pulsated, it twisted, it joined itself with me, it was outside and inside; it was everywhere. The voice of the forest grew, rose, it swelled inside of me, it filled me to the brim with its music.
It was the smell of rain in the morning, the feeling of sun on your bare skin, the taste of fresh dirt that was rich in nutrients; it was as if Life had been personified inside of me, as the forest was I.
"You must calm down, picture yourself before this change. You have to turn back." A soft hand was on my shoulder, a white blob covered someone's head. My vision was blurring in with the forest, I saw sunlight-dappled growth, then the white blob, and they alternated with each other.
"Listen to my voice, you have to turn back. Do you want to return to the forest? Do you want to be stuck like this forever? Is this what you truly want?" The voice grew louder; it was getting closer to my face.
I saw the white blob more clearly, it was Agito.
"I want, I want…" I didn't know what I wanted. I knew I didn't want this, anything but this. I loved the forest, the forest was I, but I wasn't allowed to be with the forest yet. "I want to sleep under a tree; I want to listen to their voices once more!" I sobbed, clinging to him.
"Here, come with us." He picked me up; Tula was at his side once we made it back. "Let's go home, Tula can you tell her family that she's with us?" He asked nicely, but I could sense the command under the tone.
I liked the tone; it reminded me of the forest. The forest always expected to be listened to and it's directions to be followed; that was why it didn't like humans to much. Humans almost never listen to the noise within the forest; they just hear the deafening silence of their own denial.
My breathing evened out, this was my job. I had to judge the humans, so far they were passing with flying colors, but how long would that last? The smells of the land filled me; Agito was giving of the forest within him to calm my nerves. It worked; each breath was like the birth of a new conscious in me though. These were quiet and reserved, not butting into my memories as if the others had.
"Calm down, just let it all out." His hands were on my shoulders, their grip kept me grounded. "Think of that faraway planet, let the peace it knows flow through your veins like water." His voice rumbled in my ear.
"Thank you." I stood up. I brushed his hands off, he may have the Forest in him but he is not a Druid. I leapt up to the rocky cliff. I looked to Tula. "Thank you also." I bowed and ran as fast I could muster away from them. I was disgraced for doing something like that in front of a mere human.
I shook my head, my running slowing; I was heading towards the market; something about that place just made me understand humans a bit more. I looked left and right, all the sights and sounds making me happily dizzy.
A memory popped up randomly, a woman was holding a child's hand walking through theses same streets. They were shopping for the 'groceries' that humans needed to live. The boy looked just like Agito, only with brown hair. The woman looked like mirror reflection of myself, only a bit older; was this the memory of the woman I had been?
The memory faded as quickly as it had appeared; I was left on some unknown street. A young boy gazed at me in wonder, my white must have been a fascination to him.
"Hey, you're Rima aren't you?" He walked up to me, his smock falling off his shoulder, a orange tank top under it. He wore baggy sand colored pants held up by a bit of rope. His wayward black hair sticking up at odd points. His black eyes bore into my very being.
"How do you know my name?" I asked, cautious of him.
"Luca told me, the girl you're living with? Her Mom, Rin, always looks after me. Her granddad, Enero, knew my father when he was still alive." He wiped his mouth on his smock. "What are yah doin' so far away from Rin's house?" He appeared to be about the same age as me in human years, about twelve. I am small for my age though so I don't know. He must have caught my weird looks. "Oh! Sorry, my name's Tsniday. I know weird name huh?" He laughed quietly.
"I got lost." What an unintelligent answer!
"Really? Well, I can lead yah back." He grabbed my hand and began running for Rin's house.
I nearly screamed, but then I thought of an idea. I got my legs under myself and began running with him. I picked up my pace to just above a humans speed, now he was being dragged behind me.
"Whoa!" I looked back, smiled, and picked up an even greater pace. My hair streamed behind me, my legs pumping furiously under me, the wind screamed of the forest in my ears, and the grass began to grow where I planted my footsteps. I looked back once more, a trail of high grasses behind us.
I laughed; flowers joined the grasses along with small buds for trees.
I jumped into the air, Tsniday behind me still. He seemed to be enjoying this also. I came to a sudden halt; the cliff loomed right before us.
"Wait here!" Going to Rin's house completely thrown on the wind. This boy liked what I was; I would show him the best part. I whistled a high note; no human can hear it this high.
The Monsters awoke, they twisted over the abyss; I leapt towards them, my arms outstretched. I fell to the ground, the boy screamed for me. I laughed loudly, letting him know I was okay. The Monsters caught me and threw me into the air. I used to believe I could fly through the air when I was younger when they did this.
"They won't let me drop!" I yelled to him. The Monsters now spun me, wrapping tendrils along my length; they threw me high into the air once more. The delight of the boy added to my joy, Moon Flowers bloomed in my hair.
'Humans aren't that bad!' I giggled to myself. 'Maybe they don't need to be devoured.'
Kays, I would like a review people! N00b5 don't review!
O_x