Crossfire

Chapter 6 - Forest of Larossa

Star, Zach, and Reynold arrived to the forest, fortunately around noon and not at night. It was a dense forest, plants, flowers, and trees were everywhere ahead.
Reynold stopped in front of them and turned around. "Here we are, we've reached the border. We have to head East, the entrance is that way. If we just wander into the forest, we might attract danger if the spirit finds us as intruders."
Star sat down in exhaustion. "Finally, we've been walking for hours. It must be warmer up here, I don't see any snow."
Reynold nodded. "You live close to the Southern Arctic, it's already spring up here." All three of them headed East until they came across a line of lanterns tied between two trees, serving as the entrance, and a pathway leading into the forest underneath it. There were two wolves guarding the entrance, and they called out to Reynold.
"Reynold, it's good to see you again," the first guard said. Reynold greeted them with a smile and introduced the guards to Star and Zach.
"Hello you two, you both seem new. I'm Skip, and the other guard here is Ivy. Welcome to the Forest of Larossa." Skip said, he had brown fur, a sandy tan muzzle, darker brown ears, and a tan stripe down along both sides of his body. His paws were dark brown with tan on top, and his tail was also dark brown. Ivy was a very fluffy wolf, she had ears that curled upward, almost like horns, and her eyes were blood red. Her fur was entirely black, with an old scar above her left eye. Both guards were wearing some kind of helmet.
Ivy began to speak to Star and Zach. "I'm sure you know the legend. This forest has been protected for 800 years by a spirit named Larossa. She protects this forest by cursing any dangerous creature that tries to enter with malicious intent. The legend says she banishes them in a place called the Void, apparently it's some kind of dream world. The enemy is said to never wake up and die in their sleep, but we haven't had any problems here yet so we don't know if it's true." She examines Star with suspicion, and then Zach.
"Since you are both carnivores," she continued, "you will either have to eat the berries and fruit this forest produces or hunt outside the forest. If you intentionally injure another creature in this forest for food or to murder, you will both be banished, and if the legend is true, trapped in another world."
Star nodded, and noticed the nervous expression on Zach's face.
Maybe that's why he's so scared of this place.
"We understand, Ivy. We have no intention to hurt anyone here, we just plan to stay here for awhile," Star explained.
Ivy and Skip exchanged glances, and then stared at the two wolves again. Reynold was also patiently waiting for Star and Zach to receive permission to head in.
"We'll let you in, feel free to stay as long as you like. The forest is your home now, until you decide to part with it. You'll be welcomed back if you ever leave and decide to come back," Skip said, as he and Ivy allowed the three of them to enter the forest through the entrance.
Star thanked the guards and smiled at Zach, who was following close behind her silently. "See, that wasn't so bad, we're in. We finally have a safe place to stay, and we can look around to ask if anyone's seen a Shadron lately."
Reynold turned his head around to look at her, confused.
"Now I'm just confused. Shadrons don't exist, I think. Even if they do, why would we ask others if they've seen a creature that doesn't exist anymore?"
"I saw a Shadron," Star responded, and began to explain what had happened with her mother.
"Really? They actually exist? Er- still exist? I'm sorry about your mother, as well. It must've been hard to go on after seeing something so brutal, but you're lucky you made it out alive if you really did encounter a Shadron."
Star growled under her breath, "I really did see a Shadron, Zach was there." Reynold glanced over at Zach, who was nodding.
"She's telling the truth," he said.
They stopped talking about it as they approached a very large willow tree and crowds of wolves, deer, elk, geese, and all sorts of animals. Lanterns hung from the tree's branches, and on the other trees around the area.
"Woah, this place is beautiful," Star said in awe. She glanced around at all the other creatures, they all seemed happy and peaceful. She loved the forest already, and she made sure she was still wearing the flower crown she made. Reynold seemed to be admiring the nature and beauty as well.
"Remember, we're supposed to go around and ask if anyone's seen a Shadron. If we don't find out what's going on before it gets a lot warmer, I fear this world will change, and not in a good way," Zach said. As soon as he was done speaking, Star noticed a female grayish blue odd-looking wolf approaching the three of them.
"Hello! I'm Cryo, I've never seen you or that gray wolf here before. It's always exciting to see new faces," she said.
Zach glanced over at Cryo, confused about her appearance.
"What in Soreign are you?" He said, Star shot him an embarrassing look.
How rude of him. Doesn't he have any manners toward strangers?
"I'm a husky-wolf mix, my mom was a husky and my father a wolf!" Cryo responded, seemingly not offended to how rude Zach's question was. He responded with an "oh." Cryo also sounded fairly young to Star. Maybe a juvenile?
"Well, you guys go talk about your Shadron stuff and I'll go find a place we can make our own dens at unless I can find some that are empty," Reynold said as he excused himself.
Star continued to talk to Cryo and explained to her why she and Zach are at the forest, and their plan to find the Shadrons.
"I could help! I know almost everyone here, I can ask if anyone's seen a Shadron thing, and then can I join you? May I help you guys? I've always wanted to see lands outside this forest! I've never been outside before."
Star kind of felt sorry for her, she looked over at Zach for his opinion. He shrugged, implying that he didn't care if Cryo came along. Star looked back at her and nudged her softly with a slight smile. "Sure, you can come with u-"
She was cut off by an unfamiliar voice. "Absolutely not. Cryo will not be going with you."