Limitless (Rin Matsuoka x OC)

72. Into a new world

Nayna led the others through the woods, following a clear path until, suddenly she changed her direction, leaving the path.

"Wait, what..." Muttered Rei confused.

"We're going there, don't worry. I just wanna choose another route. I wanna show you something." Said Nayna looking back at them before turning and walking on again.

The others followed her through the woods. The scenary slowly changed from the dark forest to sunny field filled with tall grass, blowing in the wind, their hike getting steeper as they started to go up.

"This place is beautiful..." Mumbled Rei looking around.

"Yes but... Weren't we supposed to be in a forest?" Wondered Makoto confused.

"And how that we start to go up a mountain." Completed Nagisa noticing the cliff they were walking by and the tall rocks peeking out from the tall grass.

"Our territory doesn't have just forests, you know?" Said Nayna looking back at them amused.

Their hike continued to go up in silence, until, finally, Gou gave up and sat on a nearby rock to catch her breath and give her trembling legs a break.

"How much longer do we have to go?" She whined.

"We're here, don't worry." Said Nayna as she stood by the cliff looking at them. "Welcome...to my home."

Curious, the others walked beside her only to gasp in awe at the view. From their place on top of the cliff, they could see to their left a narrow forested valley and to their right steeper rocky cliffs while ahead of them an ocean of trees with a lake glistening in a clearing in the distance while a river bordering the forest to a field covered in gold.

"This is..." Muttered Rei amazed.

"Amazing..." Came Rin's voice.

"You really live here, Nayna-chan?" Asked Nagisa looking at her.

"Not as much lately but this will always be my home..."

"I don't see any houses..." Mumbled Makoto a bit nervous.

"The village is a bit to the left. Can't really see it from the orchard." She said pointing to their left.

They looked in the direction she was pointing and, indeed, past some colorful trees, they could see some rooftops.

"Not that I don't appreciate the view and it's beauty but... How do we get down from here?" Said Rei observing their lack of options on going down.

"Of course there is." Smirked Nayna walking a few steps closer to the face of the cliff to their right, signaling for them to follow her.

The group complied and walked over only to see a narrow stairway going into the cliff. Nayna went down ahead, closely followed by the others.

"It's so dark in here!" Exclaimed Nagisa, his voice echoing through the rocky room, Makoto's whimper soon followed.

"You might want to be quiet. Those mountains are filled with tunnels and usually lions are settled in.

"L-lions?" Gulped Makoto.

"Yeah, we have an alliance with them and the tigers. Even though the mountains are ours, we let them live here in return for protection and scouting.

"T...T... Tigers too?" He whimpered, clinging to Haru's jacket.

"Calm down, nothing will happen to you as long as I'm here. I just said to be quiet because they hate to be woken up." Said Nayna amused.

After a few more minutes of going down the stairs, they finally reached the end, the light from outside enveloping them.