The whispering forest

Chapter 3: Ash Hayes

Ash Hayes, also known as an arrow, was a little shorter than me, with golden brown curly hair and bright green eyes that seemed to see right through you as if he knew everything there was to know about you. Here we were; he was asking me if Star could carry two people and possibly jump with the two of us on his back, and here we were; he was asking me if Star could carry two people and possibly jump with the two of us on her back. "Better us than you, dear," I said, smirking. "What's with the smirk?" he questioned, which made him quirk his eyebrow. "Nothing," I said. I smirked because the question meant that we would get to ride Star together. I'd known Ash since we were kids; he was my best friend. He hopped onto Star and looped his arms around my waist, one hand holding Charlie's reins. We made it to the log, and I backed Star up, and we flew over the log and landed safely on the other side. Once Ash called Charlie and Ace, they came over the log in sync, which had me dropping my jaw in awe.

Once we got the doe settled onto Jules's back, we headed back towards the village, where I and my father were living on the outskirts of town. We had been living on the outskirts of the town ever since my father had gotten back from his adventure in the whispering forest. My mother died only a few months after he returned from the sickness that was going around last winter; it was a cold winter that had hit the village hard. Most of those who got sick didn't make it. Ash's mother was still fighting it, and with fall coming, some of the villagers didn't think she will make it through another winter. I looked at Ash as we helped our fathers clean the deer; he was laughing at my old man's stories again. He turned his head to look at me and had a gleam in his eyes, the same one he always gets when he hears my father's stories. I smiled back at him.

I had admired him since we were kids. He was always sticking up for me and getting into trouble with me because I could never keep my mouth shut, which got me into a lot of trouble. Being the loyal friend he is, he would always jump in to save me. "A penny for your thoughts?" He questioned me. "Do you remember when I got into that huge fight with those bullies in our last year of school and you jumped in to save me?" I asked him. "Yeah and I got my arm broken and couldn't hunt for six weeks so you did it for me" he chuckled at the memory. He looked at me with those eyes of his, quirked his brow, but didn't say anything else. He knew that I was thinking of something else but he didn't say anything else about it. He just continued on with his tasks and listened to my father's stories. Once the meat was cleaned and divided evenly between our two families, they helped us store ours, and we helped them package there's for travel. We saw them off, and I watched as they left, from our front room window are house was a small cottage, it had two bedrooms and one bath the kitchen and living area were one big open room, After I was born the doctors told My mom it could be dangerous if she had another baby so they only had me. "A lot of reminiscing today," my father said. I could feel his eyes on me, "The company, or the stories?" I asked. "Both'' he chuckled. "You know James, you should just tell him," he said in a gentle voice but it had a stern tone to it. "I know" I said in a dejected voice. "I will when I find the confidence to". "Okay just don't wait too long," he said as he walked away to start dinner. How do I tell him, is the thing, will he accept me or reject me? I won't be able to stand it if he rejects me.

I lay there in bed with my cat snuggled up to me. His name was Little Boot because he is a black cat with only one white foot, It was Ash's idea and it stuck. He is also a troublemaker, but he makes up for it by being a good rodent hunter. Ash had rescued him from the river a couple of years ago; he had been thrown in and left to drown. Ash and I were playing in the bank when we heard his cries, Ash jumped in without a second thought. I smiled at the memory as I stroked Little Boot. At the time he had just rescued Ace and Roxy so he couldn't take Little Boot home so I did. He is my best friend besides Ash. I quietly hummed myself to sleep. I stood in the middle of a field with Ash on the other side of it. I felt fear and sadness in the air, I was running to him, when I heard my name being called I turned around to see a black wolf there whispering my name, telling me to follow him, for my life was at risk. I stood there torn between Ash and the wolf, I looked back and forth, back and forth. The wolf stood there looking at me with golden brown eyes, whispering my name, I ran towards Ash when the scenery changed, it was like my life was flashing before my eyes when the world felt like it had stopped spinning, I was laying in the grass with an arrow through my chest Ash was holding me and crying, "I love you, I love you, I love you" he was whispering. I woke with a jolt, tears streaming down my face.