Fly Until You See The Light

Forest - Chapter 5

«Ojtaro, are you there? Come on, we don't have much time now! Come!» Sentinekka calls her friend, but she receives no answer from her companion. «Ojtaro?».

Ojtaro, her guide and only hope, stands still like a statue with his gaze barely visible. What does it mean? Is he alright?

She calls him a third time:«Oj'? Are... Are you there?».

With her red flame in hand, she slowly walks away from the Spirit and reaches Ojtaro, who still doesn't respond.

«Uhm... Strange...» she thinks. What should she do? Her friend is stuck in some kind of trance state and won't wake up. His umbrella is closed. What if the water is hurting him?!

Sentinekka is about to take the object and use it to protect the boy. She doesn't have the time to do so, sadly, because her friend just faints on her.

... What.

Sentinekka remains still, surprised, as she barely holds the boy who lies in her weak arms. «You're a little heavy huh! Hey, what happened?» she asks, knowing she'll get no answer again.

With some difficulty, she manages to lean the boy against a wall of stone and earth, almost next to the Spirit. So he will not get wet, since there are trees and plants of Light everywhere in that realm.

«And now what do I do...?» Sentinekka thinks, worried. This is a problem, a really big one. What happened to Ojtaro? Should she call someone? Oh, of course she should!

-----

«Ugh, it couldn't have gotten any worse» Ojtaro whispers, mad.

And, suddenly, a huge figure, tall and thin, with long loose hair tied with golden and blue jewels in several and small tails comes towards him. Her black viper eyes with white pupils, kinda similar to his, worry him as they always did. Her Elder dress, which reaches down to her feet, has bright details that illuminate the room. She is Teth, the Elder Mother of the Hidden Forest. And she can be considered as his mother too.

«What do you want?» he asks her in a cold tone of voice. He is not happy to see her. He could never be. Also, he must always be cold to the Elders as a future deity should.

«You almost revealed your secret to that Child, yesterday» she explains with the same tone. «Get rid of her or I will. And don't expect me to have mercy».

Ojtaro sighs bitterly. This is the seventh time in six months that Teth has forced him to abandon a person. And this time he won't obey her. He's tired.

«Why?» Ojtaro asks her. He hopes with all his soul of Pure Light that the Elder will be less cruel this time.

«Weak and different from you; ignorant about this world. She doesn't know any of us Elders and she talks to us as if she does. She's getting in your way, she'll be able to change you and show you your worst».

Obviously, a series of reasons based on nothing. It's normal for a Moth to be like this. She's new, it's the most normal thing in the world, for Megabird's sake.

Ojtaro really wants to tell her once and for all that it's obvious that a newbie knows nothing, but it doesn't work with her. Teth is very suspicious, cold and hard like the rocks of her Forest.

«Forget it» the boy replies with indifferent eyes. «Only in your wildest dreams I'll abandon another Moth. May you like it or not, now I've made up my mind. I've grown up now. I'm not your Child anymore. I know how to take care of those who don't know and that's what I'm going to do».

«Do you dare rebel against my request?! I am...».

«You're not my mother, I don't have one! I have a shaman as a father, who follows your traditions and respects you, but I won't do the same if you don't respect me and the Sky kids that I help!».

«Ojtaro, I want to protect you!».

«I can do it myself!».

«No, you cannot! You are irresponsible and always get in many troubles! It's my duty to keep you safe from Children like your stupid friend!».

«Don't call her stupid, don't you dare!».

«I can call her whatever I want and like!».

«Ah, I see! And Could You Also Call The Prince What You Wanted?».

And silence succumbs.

Ojtaro shouldn't have talked about him... But it's the only topic that silences Teth. The Elder stares into space, silent as if her voice had been captured and trapped in a bottle.

Finally, Ojtaro won an argument with her. Whoever has the last word wins. He did, after fourteen years.

And the Darkness ends.

He definitely won.

-----

«Oh, come on, wake up...» Sentinekka whispers, worried. In the Forest she hasn't found anyone who can help her with Ojtaro, and she's just hoping that he will open his eyes. The girl also lost her stupid hair tie. She lost it when she fell into the stream as she was looking for help. She's soaking wet, but she's not cold. She's just scared.

A miracle. Her travel guide's eyes widen, accompanied by a surprised gasp from him. Sentinekka also gets scared, so much so that she falls backwards and can hardly breathe.

He would like to talk to her, but she precedes him:«What was that?! Why did you pass out on me, what is wrong with you?! You made me worry, wet and even have a stroke! You literally made me lose another thirteen years of my life, Oj'!».

Ojtaro is silent, he doesn't know what to answer.

-----

«I had a... Head... Ache...?».

Pathetic.

The stupidest, most idiotic and damned excuse he has ever made.

He can't believe he made his friend scared like that. She was worried and so... Wait. Wet?

«Sen'... What have you done? You look like a crab when tipped over in water» he asks, confused.

«Hey! My family helps crabs, do you think I'm someone to mess with with their crabs?!» she replies, as furious as she has ever been. She sighs, lowers her shining gaze and tells him:«I stumbled into the stream while looking for someone for you».

«What?!» he exclaims, shocked. He shakes his head and pushes the little girl towards him, taking off her magenta cloak and giving her his brown one. «How come you didn't freeze to death?!».

«One thing you should know about me is that I don't know how to feel two things at the same time. Not often, at least. I was so worried that the cold wasn't my concern!» Sentinekka explains, hugging her companion affectionately.

Ojtaro sweetly returns the little girl's embrace, gently stroking her head as he is now used to do, and whispers:«Oh, Sen'... I'm sorry».