𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙩𝙤𝙗𝙚𝙧. - 𝙍𝙌/𝙎𝙇 𝙒𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚 ✔︎

༒ 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝗶𝘅: 𝘼𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠 ༒

𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙄 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙇𝙚𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙝𝙪𝙝? 𝙓𝘿

𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙩, 𝙄 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚'𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙑𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙄𝙣𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙤.

𝙃𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙩!

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗱: 𝟭𝟬/𝟲/𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭

𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀

𝗔𝗨: 𝗡𝗼𝗻𝗲

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗼𝗿𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝘂𝗹

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 𝟴𝟬𝟬

『••✎••』

I never thought I'd see the day where our peaceful village would come burning to the ground.

Never did I imagine the beast that attacked the Desert Steves would find new hunting grounds with us, the Forest Steves.

•••

I couldn't help but stare from my hiding spot as the village I called home was set ablaze from above. The Last Inferno circled overhead, spewing fire and lava from its mouth. Many of the Forest Steves that were targeted were not very lucky in their fates and were burned to a crisp in a second.

Curse Genesis for creating us out of wood.

As I looked out, I couldn't help but remember the old Forest Village. Due to circumstances we had to move here, and yet it seems like we'd have to move again.

If any of us make it out alive, that is...

I shook my head, clearing away the morbid thought. I needed to find the leader. He would know what to do.

However, the only problem was that his house was on the complete other side of the village. I would have to cross the expanse of fire and magma if I were to find him.

I looked up. The Last Inferno wasn't looking in my direction, and at some fleeing Forest Steves. It's back was to me, which could hopefully give me enough time to get to the leader's house.

Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself to use a jump boost to escape my hiding place and book it across the village.

I counted down from three, then launched myself into the air, out of the rubble I was hiding under. When I landed, I immediately began running through the burning village, being careful to avoid any fire and lava in my path. However, before I even made it halfway to my destination, The Last Inferno had turned around and spotted me. It began to spew fireballs in my direction, to which I took cover behind a nearby tree.

I knew I couldn't stay here forever, but I couldn't risk being destroyed either. The wood of my tree exploded seconds after, sending me backwards from the impact. I felt pain in my back and eye as I hit the ground, thankfully not near fire or lava. As I weakly lifted my head, I saw spheres of fire hurtling towards me.

Too weak to get up, I just laid limp and accepted my fate...

•••

I didn't expect to wake up in the savannah, alive and wounded.

Around me stood three other Forest Steves, along with Paul, who must've escaped with one of them.

"Oh, thank goodness you woke up!" One of the steves breathed a sigh of relief. "We thought we lost you in the inferno..."

"What...nggh...happened?" I sat up, wincing in pain as my hands went to hold my head and cover my eye. It stung, probably from the fire that hit it.

"You were there. You saw what happened." Another steve folded his arms. "The Last Inferno attacked us and killed everyone. We're the only survivors of the apocalypse."

And then I remembered what I was trying to do before I passed out.

"The leader! He didn't...make it?"

The steves looked down. Even Paul looked away, everyone saddened by the thought.

"We tried to save him, but by the time we got there, he..." The first steve murmured, clasping his hands together in front of him.

I nodded, already knowing what he couldn't bring himself to say.

"What do we do now?" The steve who hadn't spoken looked around our small circle, uncertainty and fear in his eyes.

In truth, it seemed like none of them knew what to do. Everyone we cared about is dead now, thanks to that beast. Only the four of us remained now, with virtually nothing to use to rebuild our civilization.

Unless...

"Did one of you grab the Genesis Sapling?" I asked, hurriedly getting to my feet. "Maybe that can help us rebuild."

"I did!" One of the steves pulled out the artifact, then handed it to me. It looked perfectly preserved and like no fire had touched it. Perfect.

"Let's bring this to the Desert Steve Village," I suggested, tucking the sapling in a safe spot, "I have a friend there who could help us. Or better, our creator."

The steve's eyes lit up in surprise.

"You met our creator?!" One exclaimed, to which I nodded.

"Yes, I did. As far as I know, he's in the Desert Steve Village with that friend I mentioned. Let's go find them."

With enthusiastic nods, the four of us, and Paul, began our trek to the Desert Steve Village.

I can only hope Colle and Genesis can help us, or the Forest Steves are as good as extinct...