ChromaTober | 2023 FMS Writing Challenge

-| Day 4: Return |-

TW: Blood, animal corpse, slight gore and body horror, implied death, panic attack.

AU: Return of the Fallen

Context: ...The Steves might be haunted now. And not in the funny way.

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[3rd Person POV]

The night was cool and quiet. Only the sound of Light's footsteps on fallen leaves and the whispers of the wind were heard.

It was just a normal night; The Colorless Guard captain had just finished a late shift and decided to take the long way home, since outside was such a peaceful and lovely autumn evening. He wanted a small piece of normal life, just a little bit of time where he didn't have to be so uptight. A calm walk home seemed like the perfect thing.

No need for armor, or for carrying a weapon. Just keeping a hand on his satchel while he followed the dirt path back home, observing the motions of the sparse forest's night as fall began to come into full swing.

He smiled as he listened to the wind's ruffling of the browning leaves, some of them breaking off their branches and swirling around him as he went by. Puddles from the previous rain sat still as stone in divots of grass or soil, reflecting the moonlit sky as if they were mirrors. An owl nested in a nearby tree trunk, watching him with butterscotch yellow eyes as full as the moon above as he passed it. Snails with hazel and auburn shells slowly made their way up the bark of the spruce trees. A fox looked up from a river for a moment and stared, before bolting away into the changing foliage.

Light took a deep breath, taking in the pleasant scents of the shaded forest. He was glad he decided to walk back to the Guard headquarters tonight.

He had just noticed a few familiar landmarks identifying that he was almost there, when he noticed something. Something other than the quiet noises and peaceful sounds of the woods.

There was the sound of another pair of footsteps crunching on leaves behind him. Following him.

Light whipped around to face the one trailing him, but all he saw was a few leaves swirling in the air as they descended softly to the dirt path. He stood there for a moment, his eyes darting around while he searched the surrounding area for a sign, something that confirmed there was something there... but at the same time, hoping there was nothing.

A few minutes passed, and Light sighed as he turned around again, figuring that he had just overworked himself that day. That had been why he decided to take the scenic route, after all. Managing all of the effects and obstacles of the aftermath from the battle with the Curse had not been easy for anyone, especially those who were supposed to keep everything in line, like he and the Leaders. He found it hard to believe it had only been a few months since then.

He continued down the path, although hastened his steps a little. Slowly, he began to notice more eerie things that had appeared along the path as he went on.

Clawed prints of something he didn't recognize made patterns in the ground. The air had grown still, the wind ceasing to whistle in the leaves. Limbs and branches of the forest's trees were scattered throughout the area. Bits of the skeletons of small woodland creatures were either half-buried in the soil or concealed with fallen leaves, yet they didn't look old. Any other sign of animals were strangely absent.