"Please, my daughter, they've taken my daughter!"
-Heard by a city father after number 2,830.
Carrie didn't walk with Green, she walked in front of him. He said her being in front of him would help him protect her. She didn't argue, but something felt off about him.
His aura's different from before he left the village, Carrie thought. She looked over her shoulder, but looked away the moment he glanced up.
There seemed to be a tension between them for some reason. She wasn't sure why, but the past three days Green felt all but approachable.
She shook her head, she'd never done what was expected of her. So she slowed her pace, quickening it the moment she and Green met in the middle.
"Whit are ye daein' there?" Carrie asked.
Green looked at her with his left eye covered by another makeshift eye patch. She smiled at her joke.
"What are you doing?" Carrie asked.
"I'm mapping our path," Green replied, his tone blank. "We're almost out, but it's better to be safe."
"Oh," Carrie commented, walking ahead.
Well that didn't work. He's still acting like he did when he got back with Vicky's husband, Carrie thought. He seemed adamant to avoid small talk ever since.
Carrie had tried a more practical conversation starter. Like: how soon will we be out of the forest? Where and when will we meet Mark and Grace? But Green had given straight forward answers, not leaving any room to add anything on.
Carrie pouted visibly, then quickened her pace, getting further ahead. She looked over her shoulder, Green was right behind her. Though he was still paying more attention to the papers he'd received from Vicky to use as maps then on her.
Carrie pouted further, then began to jog. Green sped up as well, but was still preoccupied by his map. So Carrie sprinted, this got Green to look up, though he still made small notations.
Carrie continued her sprint, trying to go in random directions and lose Green in the darkness. She didn't think she'd actually succeed in losing him, but she tried her best.
"Carrie!" Green shouted. "I can't map out the area while chasing you."
"Then catch me!" she called back, laughing.
She grabbed her long hair to prevent it from catching, and glanced back just in time to see Green shove his map away, his full attention on her.
He was right on her heels. With a quick pivot, she dove into tall grass, curling herself into the thick vegetation, heart pounding in her chest.
After a moment of silence, she started to wonder if she'd lost him. The wind rustled the stalks around her, brushing against her skin like quiet whispers. Slowly, she lifted her head, scanning the darkness. The grass stretched high, past her neck, reducing the world to mere inches beyond her fingertips.
Then—unease crept in. Was she lost? She turned in slow circles, searching for any hint of where she'd come from, but everything looked the same. Panic flickered to life as she took a few hesitant steps forward.
A whisper.
She froze. Green?
She whipped around. Nothing. Just shadows shifting in the wind.
But something—someone—was nearby. She was sure of it.
"Green?" Carrie said quietly.
"Hello?" a whisper said eerily, as if right next to her.
Carried turned around, again there was no one there.
"Green," Carrie said, "I understand, I won't play around anymore. You can come out now."
"Hello?" the whisper sounded again.
Carrie stepped lightly in the forest, but tripped when she stepped on something soft. She fell among the tall grass, being hidden by it. She felt something slimy run across her back. She jerked, scampering away.
When she looked away, the whisper came back. "Hello, I'm here."
Carrie looked around frantically, tearing up as she got up. She felt something tug on her hair, she screamed, bolting in a random direction.
Despite the noise however, the whisper came back. "Hello, I'm here, play with me."
Carrie screamed again, "Green, please!"
She ran into something hard, falling back. She looked up with teary eyes to find Green looking down at her, befuddlement showing in his eyes. He had his map out again, and was drawing something on it when Carrie had run into him.
"Green?" Carrie asked, her breathing ragged.
"Carrie," Green responded plainly.
Carrie got up, then tried to hug Green but he pulled away, putting a hand to her forehead.
"You're not burning up," Green said, "and I doubt you found the Hilmaria plants."
"What, no," Carrie responded frantically. "There's someone in the forest, they were chasing me."
"Someone in the grass?" Green asked, Carrie nodded urgently. ""Hello, I'm here." Is that what you heard?"
"That was you?" Carrie asked, still slightly out of breath.
"That was the wind," Green replied. "You ever wonder why people avoid this place?"
"I thought it was because of the Septaroths," Carrie replied.
"The Septaroths?" Green said questioningly. "Have you seen one since the first? No, Septaroths aren't commonly seen, people avoid this place because the wind rustles the leaves and other vegetation. The effect creates an illusionary whisper.
It's really just a cognitive error. Your mind doesn't see anything familiar so it creates what it expects. In most cases, the leaves rustling sound like voices, and the trees appear to have faces."
"B-but, it was more than that," Carrie argued. "I felt something, It caressed across my back. It felt so slimy."
"Hm," Green replied. "Likely just a snake."
"A snake!" Carrie said, alarmed.
"This forest doesn't just have enormous monsters," Green replied. "It's chock full of other creatures as well. Snakes, frogs, birds, a few wild cats here and there. It even has several poisonous plants. Hilmaria plants for example are a hallucinogenic, eating it will make you hallucinate for hours. And in this forest, that often leads to suicide."
"Suicide!?" Carrie responded.
"Don't worry," Green replied, "you haven't taken any. Come on, let's find a way out of this forest."
Carrie nodded, then walked next to Green, making sure to stay with him the whole time.
Mark sat on the ground next to Grace, who was in a wheelchair. In front of them was a fence that blocked the entrance to Septaroth forest. It had been several hours since they rested there.
The doctor had argued that Grace should be near a mana purifier for recovery. So Mark had hefted the purifier on his shoulders, and walked out with it. The nurses, as well as the doctor himself were shocked, but didn't argue.
That had happened only on the first day however, it had been more than a month now. And Mark and Grace had made a point to come here every day. Grace wanted to be there for when Green walked out.
Though Mark wasn't as optimistic. With Green too stubborn to use his powers, he would likely die in there. But Grace still had hope, and so Mark would stay by and support her.
Grace's hand grabbed his shoulder, causing Mark to glance up
"Green?" Mark thought.
The two figures that exited from the wild grass taller than a man; were Green, and a hooded figure Mark thought to be Careless. When they got to the fence, Careless latched herself onto Green, who climbed over the gate and set her down.
"You're alive," Mark stated.
"We are," Green replied blankly. "I see that my sister was cared for."
"She was," Mark replied, "and I see our bounty's alive and well."
"She is," Green replied.
They stared at one another for a moment, the tension building. Finally, they clasped hands, going into a hug.
"I half thought you'd be dead," Mark said. Green didn't reply, so Mark turned to Careless. "Hey there Careless, did you have fun?"
Careless put a hand in her hair, "as much fun as I could without a bath."
Mark smiled, then gestured for Careless and Grace to go ahead, with Careless pushing Grace's wheelchair.
"What's with that mana?" Mark asked. Noticing some kind of black smoke-like mana dripping off him.
"I'm an elf, Mark," Green replied, "I don't have mana."
Mark hesitated, but shook his head, deciding it was best to just drop the matter. As they walked however, Mark quietly handed over a sheet of paper. There was a drawn image of Green, Grace, and Mark himself. Underneath the image was the word; WANTED.
"They put a bounty on us?" Green said, his tone as flat as a board.
"I figured they would, but I didn't think I'd find one in this town already. We should assume it's been seen everywhere."
Green nodded. The Conexe was bound to chase them, but offering more than Careless' own bounty was worrying to say the least.
"I'm assuming you kept this from Grace?" Green said, crumpling the paper into a ball.
"I did," he replied, glancing to make sure the girls couldn't hear. "I want you to know that I don't like it. A husband shouldn't keep things from his wife."
"You don't have to like it, you just have to do it." Green replied. "That aside, did you use them?" Green asked.
Mark looked at Green questioningly, then perked up. He reached in a small pouch of his bag, then pulled out a few strands of hair. The hair Green gave him before jumping out of the train.
Green nodded, "get rid of them."
Mark shrugged. Not replying was the best answer. If he told him no, Green would have forced him.
"We're going to be staying in town tomorrow," said Green.
Mark blinked, "even after—"
"I want to test something on a bounty."
"Test something?"
"It has little to do with your part, just humor me."
Mark eyed him, then just sighed. Green had this obsession with telling people as little as possible. Perhaps it has something to do with his… 'condition.'Speaking of…
"Here, I assume you'll want these?" He said.
Green looked up at him with a makeshift eye patch that covered his left eye, and took the item. A dark pair of glasses made to hide his eyes. Putting them on seemed to help him relax, like a weight was taken off his shoulders.