(ON HOLD/BEING REWRITTEN) De Salute Mea- Safety From The Darkness

Chapter 8

The sound of his iron boots clanging against the soft dirt of the forest reached Steve's ears, as did Alex's behind him. They had been walking through the forest for a while now, maybe an hour or so.

"Where exactly are we going?" Alex piped up. Steve turned to look at her. "I... Honestly don't know."

"We'll need to find shelter in a few hours, unless we go through the night."

"Through the night?"

"You said we had to go as far as possible as fast as we can."

Steve stopped walking to think. It would be dangerous to be out at night in the forest, but it would get them wherever they were going faster. They would need rest at some point, and they could get lost in the darkness of the woods. They would also be more vulnerable at night.

"I think we should go through half of the night, rest until morning, and set off again at daybreak." Alex remarked, walking up to stand beside him.

"That sounds like a good idea." Steve nodded slowly. "Let's do that." He looked down at the map in his hands. "I don't get it. There isn't anything on this map that proves we're in its area." He sighed and continued walking. "We just have to focus on moving for now I suppose." Alex said, right behind him. "We should also get some food though." Steve nodded, and tilted his head up when something clanged against his helmet.

"Well, we just found some." He declared, pointing up at the red apples in the tree branches above their heads. "There's some berries over there as well." Alex commented. "You get some of those, I'll get these." Steve said, already discarding his sword and boots by the base of the tree. "Alright, knock yourself out." She chuckled, and moved in the direction of the berries bushes.

Steve reached up for a branch and hoisted himself up. He climbed up another arm and swung himself onto a sturdy limb. He realized he didn't have anything to put them in, so he removed his helmet and placed the apples he picked into it. It was going fine until he tried to grab one out of arms reach and leaned closer, opposite arm outstretched to land on another limb to prop himself against. Eyes focused on the apple he was targeting, his arm missed the branch and he immediately lost his balance and footing, causing him to fall through the air and crash onto the ground beneath.

Alex spun around at hearing his yell and saw him flailing in the air and slam to the ground. The sight was enough to make her burst out laughing and ask if he was alright.

"You jinxed it, dammit!" Steve cried out to her in a frustrated tone. She just laughed harder and walked over to him. "S-sorry-" "Very funny. Soooo funny." Steve grumbled as he got to his feet.

"What, you want mommy to kiss it better? Get back up there!" She demanded playfully.

"W-what-" Steve's eyes widened and his face grew hot with embarrassment.

Alex sighed and shook her boots off. "Like this?" She skillfully and quickly swung herself up the branches. When she got to the top, she waved teasingly down at him. He rolled his eyes, folded his arms and watched her pick the rest with an annoyed pride hurt expression. When she swooped down Alex handed him his helmet, filled with apples. "There, easy." She smirked triumphantly. "You know, you're a real smartass." Steve muttered to her. "And you're the dumbass." She grinned, clearly enjoying this moment much more then Steve. "Whatever. Let's get the berries and keep moving." "Fine."

They slid back into their boots and made their way to the berry patch. After picking enough to fill Alex's helmet, they continued on.

"Do you ever wonder what's out there?" Alex asked, breaking the silence that had fallen upon the two.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't ask yourself 'What's in the world? Are there other dimensions besides the Nether and End? What's on the other side of that hill? What's in the bottom of the oceans?' "

Steve chuckled softly, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword that lay in its sheath.

"Every night. Every time I see something I haven't seen before. Every time I watch the sun set beneath the hills. 'What's out there that I don't know?' A desire to explore and discover sets inside me."

"Do you ever act upon it?"

He was quiet a for moment before he replied, the memories flowing back into his mind.

"I used to. I was 17 when my father died. A month after his passing, I decided to leave my home village to satisfy that curiosity. I never stayed in one place for longer then a week. I traveled for years, place to place. Then I found the place where my home was. I built a house, and just... Never left."

"I've always wanted to travel. But my village kept me busy at home. Home..." She stopped walking, staring into the space ahead of her.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, turning to look at her. She had a lost expression, seemingly lost in something that could never be found again.

"It's... Nothing. Hey, can you pass me an-"

"Alex..."

"What is it?"

"...What's that?"

Alex looked in the direction of his pointing finger. "Oh my god, what the hell?"

They had reached the edge of the forest, revealing plains ahead of them. Just in the distant view, was more forest.

Or what was left of it.

Leafless trees. From what Steve could tell from their great distance, the branches had seemingly just been... removed. Just the trunks of the trees remained, and to add to the strangeness, there was a layer of ominous mist surrounding them, Making it harder to understand what exactly they were looking at.

"Steve..."

"What... In the hell..."

"I think we should get out of here."

Steve's curiosity got the better of his conscience and he moved forward to get a better look.

"Steve!"

"What is that?"

"Steve, it's not safe. That sure as hell isn't normal, and right now, not normal is not good."

He stopped and stared into the distance, pondering what she said. She was right. Something that nonsensical and out of place was not a good sign.

They did need to get out of there.

"Let's move, we shouldn't stay here." He spun around and headed the other direction, quickening his pace to a jog with Alex right behind him.

Until a scream stopped Steve in his tracks, and sent shivers down his spine.