Fading Cinders

Chapter 2

We walked in silence through the bamboo. The girl was still holding my hand, pulling me behind her. The forest looked all the same to me, but she walked with confidence. She suddenly turned to me and spoke up.

"Oh yeah, my name is Fujiwara no Mokou, you can just call me Mokou though. What's your name?" She asked this with a smile. It seemed like a genuine, pure smile, but...

"I'm..." I hesitated. I still couldn't trust her. She was still smiling but she looked down. Her eyes looked sad.

"Can't trust me huh? I don't blame you, we just met after all." She paused for a second, staring at the ground. She looked back up at me. "Come on, we're almost back at my place." Mokou started walking again. I followed her to a clearing in the bamboo, there was a run-down looking shack standing in front of us. I guess this is her home. Mokou motions for me to sit down on a stump next to a fire pit. "Come and sit down, I'll get a fire started, you look cold."

"Huh? But the branches are all wet-" She cut me off my snapping her fingers, and the fire in front of me roared to life. W-was that what she meant by not exactly human? I look up at her in confusion.

"No worries, a little bit of rain isn't an issue." Mokou proudly smiled. "Warm yourself up here, I'll get some food for you." She went into her house, leaving me with the fire. After running around in the rain for hours this was more than welcome. I slowly felt my body relax in the warmth, my eyes closing as I stared into the fire. I didn't even notice Mokou come back until she put her hand on my shoulder. I jolted up when she did this.

"O-oh you're back, sorry I was just-"

"Heh, it's fine. It's good that you can manage to relax. Here, I brought some food and water. Sorry I only have dried stuff, it lasts longer." She handed me a few dried fruits and jerky, as well as some water in a bottle.

"Th-thank you Mokou!" I took the food from her and began to eat. She sat down on a stump opposite of me. While I was eating I noticed she was staring at me. "...is something wrong?"

"Hm? Oh no, it's just... it's been so long since I've actually talked to someone for this long. I usually just get them out of the forest as quickly as I can. No one comes this deep in the forest. ...what were you doing so deep in the forest anyway?" I paused. Talking to Mokou took my mind off of it but now she made me remember.

"I-I don't know. I just woke up here on the ground. I remember going to sleep in my home and next I was lost in here." My voice was shaking. I still didn't even know how long I've been gone. Mokou looked confused. She placed a hand on her chin and started mumbling to herself.

"That's weird, if it was someone from Eientei they wouldn't just leave her in the middle of the forest..."

"What's Eientei?" I asked her. I've never heard that name before.

"Oh, you heard me... Wait, you don't know? Eientei is the name of the clinic- er, wait the villagers call it a lab now don't they... Has it really been that many years that people have forgotten what the name is...?" Mokou looked down, scratching her head. So it's called Eientei. That horrible place the villagers say is a worse fate than death. An eternity of suffering for anyone unlucky enough to ever enter. Mokou looked back up at me. "But hey, if it wasn't Eientei that brought you here, then it must not be that big of a deal right? I'll get you right back home and you can forget this ever happened." She brightly smiled at me, but I could tell she was just saying this to try and cheer me up. Waking up deep in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost isn't something to just brush off.

"Thank you Mokou..." I went back to eating. We didn't say anything after that, I just ate in silence while Mokou stared off into nothing. It wasn't a terrifying, overwhelming silence like earlier, it was somehow... nice. That was, until Mokou suddenly stood up. She stared off into the bamboo, walking in front of me. "W-what's wrong?"

"Human," Mokou suddenly said, "get ready to run, I'll buy you as much time as I can." I was confused, and was starting to worry, when a woman with long black hair stepped out of the forest.