The man destined to become the Fox God

Into the Forest

One of the men said," We need to get to the port, we cannot let our village down." The father gave a worried look but told them," The witch could help you all arrive at your destination, but she is a mysterious woman who casts spells and speaks weirdly, do you still wish to meet her?" Both of the men agreed and asked where they could meet her. The father said," Follow the creek of water leading you into the forest." As he said this he pointed to the left side of the hill and said," This will lead you to the witch, but when you find trees with cuts, signs painted red saying [BURN WITCH], and a thick humid presence, night will then come and last forever until you leave the forest. Everyone began to feel uneasy, but for Guardian, his legs began to shake and began to fear more, Alan noticed this and sat next to him to ask him if he was ok, Guardian responded with, "I'm fine, the way he explained it just bothered me slightly." Alan replied, "I'm here if you need help," then he gave a smile that consoled Guardian. The two men began to put their belongings on the horses they had for their mission to get to the port, before the group went into the forest, they thanked Emily's father for his help, then said goodbye to Emily. They then walked into the forest following the creek, hearing the stream flowing down soothed the tension of thinking about the witch. one of the men asked Alan what he planned on doing after arriving at the port. Alan said, " Guardian and I are not sure of what will happen, we do know that we will keep traveling till the fiftieth day of our adventure." Both villagers were confused and one asked, " Who is Guardian?" Alan was shocked and confused, he said, " Guardian is the fox I have been traveling with," Both of the men laughed, asking why Alan named his fox (Guardian), Alan said, " That is what I have always called him, he is the fox who will help me become the Fox God." Both of the men looked at eachother, trying not to laugh but showing a noticeable smirk. One of the men asked, " Does this fox also see the unpredictable future?" Alan said, " I'm not quite sure, I know he has spoken to me about other things," one of the men laughed saying, "He speaks?!" Both men then began to laugh, having tears rolling down their cheeks, filling the forest with noise, forgetting about the witch completely, they started to walk away from the creek, while still teasing Alan about Guardian. Alan became upset and confused, not knowing how they have not heard Guardian speak, Alan felt angered by their teasing. While the two men laughed their asses off, Alan leaned towards Guardian asking, " How have they not heard you speak?" Guardian replied, " I have been using the fox language, they cannot understand me like you do." Alan felt reassured to know that he had not gone insane, he realized the pressure of someone pushing their own thoughts into his head when he knew it was wrong, Alan let out a sigh from knowing something like that would be a tricky thing to overcome, especially from the young. The group continued to walk away from the creek without even realizing how far they'd gone, an hour went by and the night suddenly came, one of the men asked," Is it already that late?!" The other man said," We haven't even seen the signs, even the cut trees have not appeared." Alan realized that the creek was nowhere to be seen and yelled, " The creek! It's gone!" Everyone stopped and looked around to find it, but they were far from it. Alan felt guilty, thinking to himself, " If I had not paid attention to their harsh words, I would not have lost the creak." One of the men began to panic saying," We're lost, everything looks the same" The other man said to himself out loud, " We lost the creak," His legs fell down with him looking to the ground saying, " We lost the creek...we failed the village...every single person...every child..." With his first hitting the ground he yelled, " WE FAILED!!" He began to shed tears, a grown man shedding tears, making the hard soil into mud, he kept weeping in his own failure. The other man seeing this became broken, seeing his older brother on the ground crying, made him think about being lost, he put his hands on his head and thought to himself, " We're lost...we will die in this world being forgotten." He began to feel depressed, sitting on the ground silently, hoping that someone would come and show him the way out of the forest, as if he would be forgotten if no one came. Alan sat in his own guilt while one man sat in his failure, and the other sat in his forgetful life. Guardian began to feel the humid air, wondering what to do in a situation such as this, he knew he should have focused on staying with the creak instead of thinking about the witch. All of a sudden, Guardian heard footsteps from a fellow moving between the bushes. Everyone stared to the same place Guardian was looking at, no one felt depressed, but in that moment, they were all terrified. Wondering if it could be a wild animal, a murderer, or quite possibly the witch. The sounds of footsteps and twigs breaking started to get louder as the person was walking closer and closer. Everyone stood still, feeling the sweat rolling falling from them from anticipating what could happen, being so quiet to the point where you could hear your own heartbeat, feeling yourself getting sick or dizzy from the thought of what will happen, once they saw the bush move, their heart skipped, thinking they may die before accomplishing their goal.