(god i loved this one sooo much but school got in the way n i wasnt able to get back into the writing flow enough to end up ever finishing it :( )
Anna sits by the fire, quietly gazing around the clearing.
Today was peaceful, it was quiet. A welcome change, certainly. After all that had happened here. The simple sound of the fire crackling and soft chatter was almost music to their ears.
They look around. To their right sits Aspen, smiling lightly as they speak with Bird, who's across from Anna. He's smiling, too. Sitting further from the fire than he usually tends to.
Beyond them, other people are casually strolling through the Clearing. Some holding conversations with one another about some topic or another, while others are just content by themselves.
The crops are growing, they see. People come and go, taking from the chest by the farm of all that they had harvested. But it was okay, because there was enough for that.
"-nna?"
They looked back over to the small group at the fire. Both Aspen and Bird had turned to look at them.
Bird says something, but it comes out muffled, like he's underwater.
They pause, for a moment. The fire still crackles, just as normal, the distant sound of talking and footsteps meets their ears crystal-clear. Why does Bird sound different?
"Sorry, what?"
Bird smiles again, her lips move, in the same motions, repeating the same phrase. It looks familiar, but they can't quite figure it out. It still sounds wrong. It still sounds muffled, and unlike all the rest of their surroundings.
Anna's face twitches into a confused frown, and they turn to Aspen.
"Do you know what she's saying?"
Aspen giggles a little, though they can hear the twinge of confusion within it.
"Do we need to get your hearing checked?" They ask lightheartedly. "They were just saying sorry."
They look over to Bird, she looks a little more guilty, now. His eyebrows are furrowed, and his head is tilted down, looking at the fire. Though a smile was still grazing her face, even though it doesn't quite meet her eyes.
The fire wavers, it seems to sit still in the wind for a moment.
"For what?"
Bird talks again, but this time, no sound comes out at all.
They quickly glance around the clearing, and the time seems to have stopped. The wind suddenly slowing to a halt. The embers from the campfire frozen in place, up in the air. Yet the sound of crackling and wood burning continued.
The confusion must show on their face, because Aspen begins speaking again. Their smile had been wiped, in the moment where Anna wasn't looking at them. They talk quietly, like they were sharing some secret.
"For leaving."
They automatically looks back at Bird, still very-present Bird. Anna opens their mouth to say something, but he shakes his head.
They blink, and Bird is gone, but someone else is in her empty space.
Aspen looks much smaller, in the space that Bird had been. They hug their knees up to their chest, staring at the ground unblinkingly. Tears prick at the corners of their eyes, others run down their face.
The sky is grey, and the fire looks long since put out. Not even smoke or embers left in its wake. They look around, but nobody else there.
A thick air of unease and silence seems to have settled itself into the Clearing. They look ahead, they see the way that it almost seems to surround Aspen.
"Aspen?"
They snap their head up jerkily. Staring at them, eyes duller then they've ever seen them.
The eyes of a corpse. Something in their mind supplies.
Aspen mutters something, the movements are so subtle that they can barely tell they were saying anything at all. They hear it, though. It sounds like a faint gust of wind as it blows by your ears. Something you can never quite pick up on unless the world is silent.
"What?" They ask, quietly.
