Forest Mutation (Book Two)

Chapter 29: River Quest

Destiny first notices the cloak when it smacks her across the face, blessing her with a face full of Diaval's scent. She steps back from the dangling cloth and bats it from her eyes, staring at the black cloth as it flutters like a foreboding omen.

Her ears perk a little. She doesn't have much in the way of making a new outfit or weapon, but she tried her best to follow Splinter's directions even though she felt lacking in every way. Seeing Diaval's precious cloak hanging helplessly from a tree branch, she can't help but claim it for herself. She brings it down, hooking it over her shoulders and fastening the clasp at her throat. The lingering scent of earl grey tea and spice floods her, soothes her growing anxieties.

She looks down at herself and lets out a quiet laugh. The cloak is long, dragging past her ankles like a child wearing their parent's clothing, but that's to be expected when the true owner is so much taller than you. She takes it off only to fold the material upwards, fashioning it this way and that until she's created a makeshift hood that leaves the hem comfortably above her ankles. She puts it back on and flips the hood over her wild brown curls, shooting a coy look to the nearest tree trunk as she swishes the cloak to and fro like the skirt of a regal ball gown.

She wishes she had a mirror, just to make sure everything looks good. She cut off the bottom half of her tank top, leaving part of her stomach exposed and using the extra fabric to tie her hair out of her eyes. She kept her jeans intact, as with her black sneakers and her uchigatana at her side.

She looks to the sky, the trees towering around her. "I know you said a new weapon," she calls, "but this is all I've got, Sensei."

No one answers, but the hope that Splinter will understand remains. She tucks the hood close to her face, rests her hand on the hilt of her sword, and heads off into the woods with her head held high and her shoulders squared.

For the first stretch, all she does is walk and watch. Leaves rustle in the breeze and birds chirp as they soar by. She frowns to herself. How will she know when she reaches the spirit realm? Will something change?

Another few minutes pass. She slows to a stop, ears perking. The wind has stopped and birds no longer sing, but she can hear the faint babble of running water somewhere nearby. She tilts her nose to the sky but she doesn't smell anything other than the earth around her, and she realizes that the once-orange sky that painted the mellow daytime has faded fast. It's getting dark.

Destiny moves to the nearest tree and starts to climb, slowly but surely. She's sure she's missing something and maybe, above the tree line, she'll see a landmark to move toward.

Branch by branch, she climbs, up and up and up until she finally reaches the sky, only when she emerges from the treetops, the sun has disappeared and the sky has darkened. A sliver of moon hangs above her, surrounded by stars, and she wishes it was fuller so that she could bask in its light.

She looks around as dread sets in; nothing but trees as far as the eye can see and the sky is somehow getting darker, clouds moving in and blotting out the stars with inky storm clouds. She can't even see Talbot's Peak and it should be visible from here. There are a lot of things she should be able to see, but—

An arrow silences her thoughts, lodging in the trunk beside her head, and she's struck with a horrible sense of deja vu. She ducks down, suddenly too exposed without the forest to cover her. Another arrow strikes, narrowly missing her shoulder.

She tries to scramble down the tree but the arrows keep coming from all directions and she's barely able to dodge them without losing her grip, again and again, struggling to keep her hold. She's only halfway down when an arrow comes right for her face and, desperate to avoid it, she hops down to a lower branch. It gives way beneath her feet with a sharp snap and she drops, the ground rushing up to meet her.