Forest Fire

5

Forest was too afraid to refuse the masked boy's demand.

She also wouldn't dare to try and escape, at least not this early on.

Forest already had her extremely powerful father as an enemy, she didn't need to be making any more.

The girl was still restrained in the same spot two days after her interrogation. Every hour a new masked guard would come to watch her. Though the white haired boy was the one who dropped off her food and water everyday.

She didn't know why exactly. He seemed like he was in charge of wherever she was, so it seemed curious that he was taking the time out to assist her. Forest assumed he was simply trying to keep her alive so she could help him and his gang.

The girl didn't like to feel used, controlled. It was starting to feel just like living with her father. Forest hated it. She knew very well that she needed to become stronger, more assertive, but she just didn't know how.

Forest thought it would be easy to just run away and become someone new. But running away just made her even more lost.

"Sit up." The guard leaning against the wall snapped. Forest was tired. She hadn't gotten a blink of sleep the night before.

She leaned her head against the back of the pole. It was the closest it was going to get.

"I said sit up." He demanded.

"You can go back to your post now." A deeper voice boomed from the darkness behind her.

Forest recognized it well.

It was the white haired boy, carrying a jug of water and a bowl of broth.

She was much too tired to drink or eat anything at the moment. The boy held it out to her, but Forest just shook her head.

"Eat." It didn't sound optional.
Forest stood still.

"I'm not going anywhere." He scoffed rather impatiently, lifting his arm with the water in hand.

Forest flinched back, making the boy in front of her freeze.

He sat crouched like that for awhile, waiting for her cue it seemed like.

Forest didn't want to feel useless, like she needed a boy's help to follow through with basic human needs. But her throat was beginning to feel incredibly dry, and worsened by the minute.

She glanced at the bottle of water for a split second, and that was all it took for the boy to reach for it.

After a few seconds, he lifted her head rather gently and brought the water to her lips, letting her drink it at her own pace. Forest drank the entire bottle rather quickly. She hadn't realized just how parched she'd been.

Then he brought the bowl closer to her face, letting her drink that as well.

"Why were you in prison?" He asked. Forest hadn't been expecting any more questions...and she wasn't prepared for this one.

"It was an accident. I don't want to talk about it." It was the first time Forest had refused something. "How aren't you in jail?"

The boy looked to the side, even with the mask on she could tell he was smiling. "I don't get caught." He replied, getting up.

And with that, he sauntered away from her, and a few minutes later another guard replaced him.

Forest didn't speak to the other guards at all. And she could tell, even without seeing their facial expressions, that they hated her with a burning passion. She didn't quite understand why.

They didn't even know her.

About an hour (that felt like four)  later, the white haired boy walked back in. He seemed as if he had somewhere important to be.

"Get up." He told her.

"I can't." Forest's eyes shot to her restraints.

The boy sighed and walked over to her, crouching down. He began to fiddle with the chains, focusing so much that even he didn't notice the guard staring down at them, arms crossed.

As the chains were released from her wrists, Forest felt like dancing. Even if she didn't know how.

Her wrists had become so accustomed to the restraints, she hadn't noticed how great it felt to have them off.

Bringing her hands close to her face, Forest noticed blisters that covered them. Grimacing, she put them away, looking up at the white haired boy.

He helped her up, not saying a word, then grabbed her by the shoulders, not as harshly as she would've imagined, and began leading her towards the exit.

"Where?" Forest asked quietly. She didn't ask to full question of where are you taking me? The boy seemed to pick up on things pretty quickly, so she didn't really have to.

"We think we have a lead. I need you to identify him."

"Haven't you seen him?" Forest asked, but instantly regretted it.

"I've seen a lot of people."

Forest didn't reply as he lead her towards the light. It blinded her at first, forcing her to cover her eyes. The white haired boy seemed to take notice and stepped in front of her, providing a bit of shade.

Once her eyes adjusted, Forest gasped at what was in front of her.

Across from the building they'd just come from, was a very large settlement that strongly resembled a treehouse. The green haired girl had never seen a treehouse quite that big.

She'd actually never seen a treehouse at all...at least not in real life.

It was beautiful. Glowing lights floated around it like fireflies. Forest wondered is that's what they actually were.

She looked to the white haired boy, trying to ask a question with her eyes.

"Yes. This is where we live." He seemed to have read her thoughts, though his response contained no emotion, seeming even more robotic than usual.

Forest couldn't help but smile at the beauty, but instantly wiped it away when she noticed him staring.

Keeping a tight grip on her shoulders, the boy helped her down the stairs, which Forest guessed was to make sure she didn't run. Not that she even knew where to go or how to get out of the place.

Once they were on the ground, Forest began admiring the settlement once again. That was until a group of four masked men and one masked women approached.
Forest could feel all five glares from beneath their disguises.

"You sure she can catch up?" One of the men laughed, looking down at her.

"She'll ride with me." The white haired boy replied.

Forest heard a scoff from one of the other men. She tried to ignore it.
The girl kept a straight look on her face instead, trying to show her bravery.

As soon as the other five turned their backs, Forest whipped to the nameless boy.

"What?" He asked seriously.

"I thought you already had the guy." Forest replied.

"No. Your coming to catch him."

So this is bad but I really felt like writing Bc I'm literally so tired but I can't sleep at all 😃 it's okay.
Also @h0nneyy ... you commented on my chapters and I wanna say that it made my day☝️ Unfortunately my computer wants to act up so I can't follow back people or reply to comments.
Hopefully I'll fix it soon. But I just wanted to say that.
Commenting really goes a long way. I appreciate you and everyone who's reading this story.
(Not in like a creepy way but in like an appreciative way)
Idk I can't think rn.