⁎⁺˳✧ Sea of Memories •

Green Forest

The sound of the leaves breaking with each step was a painful noise in the morbid silence of the night, and Yako shuddered as the particularly loud breaking of a branch echoed between the trunks of the dense forest blackened by the absence of the moon.

He held his breath, but nothing happened after. So he released it and moved on again.

There was no end to the forest. Each tree seemed to merge with each other until practically all that could be seen was an infinite mix of black, brown, and green.

But he continued, determined to find his way out of this place. Every challenge has a solution, and he was sure he could eventually solve it.
His only problem was that the very path he thought he had found seemed to repeat itself. He had definitely passed that rock, and certainly had already passed that old mossy log.

He muttered in frustration, momentarily forgetting that he intended to be silent. Where the hell was he? It seemed to him to be walking in this damn forest as long as he could remember.
A low growl roused him from his own thoughts. Yako froze, holding his breath again.

The growl made itself present again, this time louder and nearer, and without even thinking twice, he fired as fast as his legs could carry him.
He ran panting through the trees over the small poarch and under the vines hanging from the branches.

The thing, whatever it was, followed him in fast-approaching steps. Yako, as soon as he looked over his shoulder, could see the silhouette of something huge, something on four legs.
A bear maybe? As he ran, now faster with his heart almost bouncing, his foot stumbled on a rock that swayed and sagged, causing it to fall to the ground, shuddering with pain.

The thing that followed him now slowed to a walk, and he almost evaporated with fear as the animal towered over him.
It appeared to be a deer with large antlers protruding from the sides of its head, but it had a sturdy body, like a mixture of rhino and buffalo. He snorted, bending down to sniff him, who closed his eyes and waited for the terrible fate.

— "Hey! Get out of here!"

Then he heard an unknown voice shout from behind.
Yako felt the weight lifted from his body and slowly examined it again.
It was a person, a face hidden behind the shadows cast by the sparkling torch in his hand. The thing braced itself and hissed indignantly at the torch now dangling from the stranger's hand.

— "Go away! Look for your dinner elsewhere."

The thing finally turned and left, but not before leaving one last angry grunt. Yako let out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding, and let his body touch the floor. The stranger watched the thing go, and when it was already out of sight, he laughed and approached the other.

— "Are you ok? You seemed to need help." He said and then immediately pulled the boy by the arm, which mocked and looked away.

— "I had the situation under control." Yako said, not knowing how to put pride aside.

— "Clearly."

In the flickering light of the fire he can see his savior. Everything about that boy seemed to emanate gold. His light greenish hair - as he saw it - seemed to have cotton texture; his pale skin seemed to have been speckled with gold dust, which accumulated around his eyes.

— "My name is Moya." Said the bright-eyed boy.

— "I'm Yako." He said, still a little suspicious of the other boy's good mood in such a hostile place.

— "It's nice to meet you, Yako." Moya looked at him curiously, bringing some discomfort to the other.

— "For how long have you been here?".

— "I don't really know." Yako answered, simplistic. – "I can't remember. Where are we?"

Moya then looked around again at the long endless tree lines.

— "Eternal Forest. You're lucky I found you, otherwise you would never get out of here."
The other stared at him.

— "Do you know where the exit is?" Moya laughed and shook his head calmly.

— "Yes, I know the way out. Follow me."

As they walked, Yako bombarded the greenish-haired boy with more questions, and he answered them carefully with enigmatic answers that only raised more questions. Finally, Yako grunted in annoyance and stopped in midstep. Moya looked back at him, questioningly.

— "You're not helping, you know?" He grunted with his arms crossed.
Moya frowned.

— "Well, what exacly do you need? Besides leaving this place."

— "I want to understand.". He said running his hands through his hair, a little messed up by the race between the branches. – "I want to know how I got here and why I don't remember anything."
Moya stopped for a moment.

— "I can help you with that."