The Ever Jungle

Part I - Chapter 1

                          In which a thief is found

Larken sat behind a thick tree stump, breathless and his heart pounding.

He tried to calm his racing heartbeat by inhaling and exhaling as quietly as he could. He thought the guards chasing him were far behind, or so he thought. He heard shouts and guards calling to one another, "Where is he?!"

"I saw him go this way!" they yelled, being quite oblivious as to how near they were to the tree stump Larken hid behind. The forest where he hid seemed to be vast enough where a thief could easily hide beneath the huge tree trunks.

The trees in this forest were taller than any castle or hill. The enormous branches blocked out nearly all sunlight; giving the woods an eerie silent illusion. Larken could hear the footsteps of the guards in his pursuit. Suddenly, the temperature in the area dropped so suddenly it felt hot rather than cold, he shivered. Larken saw frost growing on the side of a nearby tree.

Larken heard an ominous "creeeeeek" and then a deafening crash that echoed for miles. He shuddered.  He bolted up to see what the noise was, and saw a huge tree lying on the forest floor. The trunk was thick enough that 20 people could hold hands around its truck.

Larken heard more crashes, all around him this time; He looked up to see ten more trees come crashing down, sawdust sprinkling his fluffy auburn hair. Running in any direction he could to get away from being crushed like a bug beneath a shoe no doubt. He ran his hand through his hair to brush away the sawdust.

Looking down at his palm, he saw a mix of sawdust and ice shards instead. Larken stood still, in the center of the fallen trees. He couldn't hear the voices of the guards anymore, Larken shuddered again, not wanting to think of their fate... Then, two people in dashing leather tunics gracefully slid down the tree trunks, like two swans skimming a lake's surface.

The strangers hopped off the tree and landed in front of Larken, whose jaw had dropped in sheer awe of seeing the two float down seemingly from the sky.

The first stranger had a warm golden complexion, dark curly hair, fern green eyes that matched a green sash tied around his bicep. The second was shorter. She had long glossy chocolate hair, chocolate eyes that matched her hair, a muscular build, and a long yellow sash tied around her hips. The first stranger said "Hey there, uh, sorry for almost squishing you. I'm Piercer, what's your name?"

Larken just stood there, flabbergasted to silence.

The second stranger, the girl, looked right at Larken, "Have you ever seen this happen before?" "See what happened before?" Larken finally got out, "The trees falling? I am Cataleya. Piercer and I are Tree Cutters from The Clear Lands. Now answer me, have you seen us tree cutting before now?" Cataleya asked, rather harshly.

"N-no I don't think so," Larken stiffened, still shocked. "Who are you people? And are you the problem with the trees falling down? You nearly killed me!" Larken exclaimed. "Like I said, we're tree cutters, this is our job," said Cataleya. "Come on Cataleya, we should get moving, it's getting dark" Piercer said, gently putting his hand on Cataleya's shoulder. "Well, see you then," Piercer said to Larken.

"W-wait, don't go, I'm Larken, can I come with you guys? I don't have anywhere else to go " "Why not?" Cataleya asked, "Well I've kind of been on my own since forever, so I'm always running to new places. You two are the first people that I've talked to in a long time, who aren't trying to catch me." "Wow, that's a tough life. Sure why not, you can come, but it's not for the faint of heart," Cataleya answered mysteriously. "What do you mean?" asked Larken.