Dawn's Destiny

Guided Through The Night ~ Chapter 32

Footsteps, dead leaves on the ground. The sound crackles loudly through the silent forest. The anxious sound of the leaves... that was all they heard. It was calming but at the same time could be frightening.

"Why... Why am I so afraid of the sounds of leaves?! It's just the sound of leaves!" Kirby asked while shivering. The heroes looked around the forest and continued walking. Byleth was leading the group using his communicator to find the location of someone they can go to help for.

Mario asked, "Have you been successful at finding anything Byleth?" Byleth continued staring at his communicator trying to find something. However, no matter how hard he tried he was just unable to find any data.

"I'm trying my best but nothing is working... I don't know if anyone is nearby for some help..." Byleth muttered. He proceeded to walk forward and soon the heroes were falling slowly behind. He kept on walking and noticed how far he went. He looked over and noticed the heroes were nowhere to be seen. "Huh?! Where is everyone!?" He looked around the area and didn't see anyone.

He looked at his communicator and noticed the heroes were located somewhere on the map but he was still unsure where they were. Especially since they were unfamiliar with the setting. He looked around and saw the forest. It seemed like it was slowly creeping in more and more by the minute.

Byleth questioned, "What is this unsettling... nevermind, I shouldn't worry too much about this. Besides, it's just a forest..." He continued walking, watching carefully on his device. He entered the forest slowly and then looked around. "Alright... it's dark and empty here... I doubt I'm going to get a signal..." He continued walking while turning off his communicator.

Slowly walking more and into the forest, his footsteps echoed through the forest. He continued walking through the forest being aware of his surroundings. He slowly took out his sword and paused. Looking around the surrounding area. There was nobody there but it was obvious Byleth was in the forest. The creator sword had a bright glow to it.

Byleth muttered, "At any point... someone just could attack me. I rather not let that slide across... I can't allow for something like that to cross." Soon he heard more footsteps, he turned around immediately and noticed a strange figure in the distance. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?!" The figure stood there staring at Byleth.

Byleth kept his sword up getting ready to attack as the figure got closer and closer toward him. Anger grew within him, the heroes were nowhere to be found and he was alone. Alone within the darkness of the forest. The figure got closer and closer to him when eventually they threw a dagger at him. He blocked with ease and then dashed at them.

"I don't know what you want with me but you better not get NEAR me! You don't want to mess with me..." Byleth ordered. The figure blocked his incoming attack but soon Byleth hit them from behind. Then dashing ahead and hitting them again. "YOU DON'T EVER MESS WITH ME!" He jumped into the air and swung his sword at them.

The figure looked over and barely got out of the way. Byleth stared at them and took a few breathers. The figure stood there staring at him and dashed at him again. However, Byleth was able to cut through them... soon revealing the figure was... a shadow. The figure was able to morph back together and striked at Byleth.

"AGH!!!" Byleth screamed. He fell forward and the shadow landed another attack on him. However, someone was able to throw an attack in time at the shadow. "W-What the?"

"You should be more careful Byleth, you got carried away there..." The person mocked. Soon the other heroes appeared and Byleth slowly got up with the assistance of Link. He jumped back slightly as Link looked over toward Byleth. Byleth blushed in embarrassment about the entire situation as the rest of the heroes came dashing over.

Byleth apologized, "Sorry about that... I got distracted by trying to find someone I didn't realize I went into the forest and forgot about the rest of you." The heroes smiled as Yae Miko took a deep breath.

"That's perfectly alright, just make sure you stay with us alright?" Yae Miko replied. Byleth nodded and then they continued on with their progress. Soon the emptiness of the forest didn't feel as bad as before. Which was something to help with the struggle.

Byleth groaned, "I should've been more aware of my surroundings. I apologize for the mess I sort of created..."

"Don't worry about that Byleth, were you able to get through everything that was going on?" Sonic questioned. Byleth nodded as the heroes all smiled at one another. Each day continued to grow longer and longer though. There just didn't seem to be any escape from what was going on.

Byleth whispered, "I wonder what is going to happen now... so much of Dawn has been destroyed in an entire year. This madness can't continue for that long... right?"

"We can only count on the goddess..."

"Forget Erica! If she actually did something she would've stopped this entire situation from happening in the first place!" Chrom yelled. The heroes looked at him in worry as Chrom looked down at himself. "Nevermind... I'm just too worried about us."

Byleth sighed, "You're fine, let's just all hurry up now." The heroes nodded as they followed Byleth deeper into the forest.