Living on Borealis-9: The Story Of A Reincarnated Human

Chapter 11, Part 1: The Forest

Alright, I'm done being all emotional and recalling some good things. Time to return to the action. Let's start with the REAL meat and potatoes of this.

So, one day, Luna and I were researching various locations we wanted to visit. I wanted to cover all of my bases and see everywhere, but we had to narrow down 'the world' to 'Maybe River Hosojimba?'. Which was totally unfair, in my opinion. But, I do what I have to. So, I was reading about cool places we could visit. And one of them stood out especially to me.

"Hey, what is...Heretic Forest? There are no photos in this book...Or anything about it, really." I said, looking up from the book I was reading. 

That's right, we traded an entire shark in exchange for a small library with our trader friends! Good business idea on my end! I was getting better at trading, as well as being a Werewolf. I could now actually, you know, transform! Granted, I had no real control while transformed, but...Eh, good step in the right direction.

"Heretic Forest? Lemme see, pass it over here."

I handed her the book.

"...Yeah, I've got nothing. It may be unexplored-"

That was all I needed to head. Kind of foolish on my part, thinking on it, but my mouth is often bigger than my brain.

"OK! Let's go, I'll get Kai and Tyr!" I said, leaping up from my seat without a second thought to 'hey...why DOES this place not have any information? Why is it called 'HERETIC' Forest? If it is unexplored, is there a reason why?', because I am not very smart. If I were a god, I'd be Epimetheus, the god of hindsight. But, hindsight is a really powerful drug...that comes far too late. I read that on a fortune cookie once.

Just kidding. Sometimes, I do have my moments where I accidentally say something smart.

"Matt, you're a good guy, but sometimes I have to wonder if you have a brain. Because you cannot be that dense! Dude, we can be walking into a literal deathtrap. We don't even know if Heretic Forest is a safe place. Or if it is accessible. Or if it even exists anymore!"

"Come on! It's, like, the only place in there that isn't explored...probably. We can be pioneers! We can be like Lewis and Clark, if they were actually good people! This is too good to pass up, we get first dibs on exploring this forest." I yelled back as I ran up the street to find Kai with Tyr's head.

"Hey, guys, we're heading out." I said. "Pack your things, we are going to Heretic Forest!"

Around two hours later, we hiked out to the nearest pond we could find.

"Alright. Work your pond magic, Luna!" I said happily. She groaned, but grabbed a hollow log to act as a bowl for us to use. She explained to me that different bodies of water do different things. Oceans help you cross continents, lakes and ponds help you cross the lands, puddles help you cross local areas, and you can allegedly use cups of water as teleporters. Nice and concise...Oh dang, that rhymed.

"Just so you know, if this forest doesn't exist, I'm killing each and every one of you." She said.

As soon as she poured the water over me, I felt myself turn into water, rushing through a giant array of streams and deep underwater aqueducts. I could see...an entire world under the surface of the continent, hollowed out, filled with water like an ocean. And below that...an even more hollow land, but not really...hollow. It was more like a giant cavern, filled with history and fear and immense hope for the future. But it was empty. I didn't know why, but looking at it made me cry a little...If I could have cried.

When we burst out of a soft, flowing stream, I felt really depressed. I didn't even bother getting up, until Tyr started yelling at me. I didn't hear...words, really, but more like sounds he was making. Two reasons why. First off, the extremely amazing and deeply saddening underwater world I just saw. And second off...because the trees around me had hundreds of people hanging from them, as well as several impaled against the trees, spread-eagled on the ground, or just plain...skinless.