Jīvitaya Rai Naji is just an average human girl. Orphaned, but nothing stranger than that.
She was one of the few witnesses to the first alien invasion on Earth. One day, many years later, she catches sight of one of them following her. She wonders...
The next day, Jīvitaya returns to the forest, Kysanden by her side. Her first move is to return to the sickly tree. She happily discovers that it is once more full of light like its brethren. She turns in a circle, laughing in delight at the light-filled plants all around her. She feels a tug at her navel and stops spinning, confused and curious. It tugs again, and she sees a little flicker of darkness from the direction of the tug.
She darts off towards it, not even realizing when her feet lift off of the ground so that she is running an inch above the surface of the earth. She reaches the spot of darkness and stops. It is emanating from a dried up stream. She touches her fingertips to the streambed and is hit by an image of the stream full of rushing water, giving her the sense that what she sees now isn't right. She walks up the streambed until she reaches a hollow with a wall of earth above it. She steps out of the streambed and to the side, onto the bank, trying to figure out how to get to the top of the wall. She finds a steep hill and tries to climb it, but keeps slipping down. Her feet can't find purchase due to the combination of the slippery mud and the steep hill. She tries again and almost loses her footing in surprise when she feels hands press against her back to support her.
Then she hears Kysanden's voice from behind her. "Relax, I'm just supporting you so that you can get up this hill."
She nods and allows him to push her upwards until she scrambles over the top of the hill. She follows the path of the stream back to where the wall of earth is, only to see a boulder blocking the stream from continuing along its course. She pushes against it, careful to not slip against the wet rocks, despite her arms and legs protesting from both the exertion and the remnants of the venom. She strains and strains until Kysanden places his hands on the boulder beside her own and they push together, the wind ripping and howling around them. With a final heave, the boulder tilts over the wall and falls into the hollow, followed by a rush of water.
As the water surges around their feet, Jīvitaya slips and falls to land on her back, laughing as the cold water rushes around her, soaking her body in seconds. Kysanden laughs at the sight, before extending his hand up to help her back to her feet. She slips again, but he catches her before she can fall, swinging her over the slick stones and onto the dry soil beside him. She beams up at him, still feeling giddy with laughter. He takes one look at her before bursting into laughter himself.
"Okay, fine, it is funny!"
She laughs harder before finally stopping after several minutes. "Let's go find something else!"
"What?"
Jīvitaya stops in her tracks, about to slide down the hill and search for another dark spot. "I forgot to tell you, didn't I?"
"Tell me what?"
She beams. "Grania showed me how to find and restore spots where the forest isn't balanced!"
He smiles. "Show me."
She slides down the hill and sends out tendrils of her mind, feelers, in all directions until she locates another dark spot. She bounds off towards it, Kysanden following her at a marginally slower pace. They finally reach the spot of darkness to discover another situation of nutrients being blocked. But this time, it is blocking the way to a wider swatch of trees. Jīvitaya kneels in the dirt in the center of the group of sickly trees and slowly pulls the nutrients from further away, much faster than she did the day before. While she is working, Kysanden kneels down next to her. With a jolt, the nutrients rush forward into the empty space and start mingling with the trees, and Jīvitaya pulls her hand away. She turns to look at Kysanden and is surprised to see him staring at her.
"Kys?"
He shakes his head slightly and his eyes lock onto hers. "I couldn't see what you were doing, exactly, but I saw light emanating from your hand."
She frowns. "Huh. I didn't know that happened."
There is a howl from further into the woods, and her head snaps up. She squints through the tree canopy, and her face pales when she sees that it is almost dark. She pulls Kysanden to his feet.
"Grania said not to be in the woods after dark, we need to hurry!"
He nods sharply, and she sprints off, weaving between the trees, her speed boosted by the wind pushing at her heels, lifting her off the ground every few feet. She reaches the edge of the forest and stops, her body throbbing with pain. She turns back to look at Kysanden. He isn't there.
"Kys?" No response. "Kysanden!"
A few, agonizing moments later, he crashed through the trees. He reaches her and stops, panting. "You are much faster than I thought."
She smiles sheepishly. "Sorry?"
"Don't be. Now, let's get back to the city."
They walk back, Jīvitaya slightly slower now, trying to appease and soothe her throbbing body.
———————————————————————————————— Hmmm, did you see/read something interesting during that excursion?
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