Why would I know anyone with a name like Dova? Well maybe that thing isn't implying that I know this Dova. They're probably somewhere near me.
"You're not wrong," It sings sassily.
"Why didn't you tell me you could read my mind?" I complain. Oh do I want to complain, I have a strong urge to do so in fact. Not about anything in particular, just about life, or where I am.
"You're in a forest. Oh and I did tell you. Just not directly," It swerves around the hollow husk of the tree I arrived in, mocking me.
"Who would've thought. Ugh. At least tell me what this place is called," I request, avoiding a beggar's tone.
"This is Valea, Valea Forest. We're the spirits of it," Valea huh, sounds painfully familiar, so familiar that a headache erupts, curling in my brain, throbbing, forcing me to reconcile.
"This is annoying," Even though there isn't anything to remember.
"What is?" That thing.
"Stop being so condescending," I request, not a particularly graceful request, but a request.
"Are you gonna get up? Gosh you're lazy," It urges, pushing me, trying to make me snap for whatever reason.
"What is your actual purpose," I whisper, purposely loud enough for the "spirit" to hear. Not like it matters anyway, they hear everything I think or say. Just an extra frustration.
"Oho, it seems like you've forgotten everything haven't you. Well, I'll leave you to your instincts," The spirit spirals in an upwards trajectory, vanishing through the treetops... Up huh. I personally don't feel like getting up, but I can't sit here forever. So what better to do than exactly that.
"ngh." I wince as my aching body heaves itself up, straining every muscle as I finally get up on my feet. Hands brush off the ground, leaving me to straighten my back, which is a task in on its own. Especially considering my awful posture as I sat on the softened bed of grass. Which my standing up revealed, Azure flowers similar to that of daisies, bent over, the same as I. My mind stirs, gaze fixed on the strange green luminescent pollen floating around, its source being those flowers. The pollen floats directly upwards, stretching out towards and past me, until they reach the leaves of the oak trees, in which they stick to. I've never seen anything like it, then again, I've never seen anything at all. Which begs the question as to who exactly I am, how I can speak, why I feel as though I wasn't just created out of a dead hollowed out tree trunk in the ground.
"Hey, listen. You're technically safe here, but that's all you are. You won't be able to survive for long," It's that spirit again.
"Didn't you say you'd leave me to my instincts?" Giving it a quiz of my own.
"You're right, I did say that. Although, I think I might give you some advice," Its voice echoes around the area.
"Go ahead,"
"This area you find yourself in, is surrounded by more forest, a considerable amount. While the whole area might be referred to as Valea Forest. This is the center of that, it's a spirit sanctuary," Its voice wavered and hesitated, what's that about? But I have no time for sympathy or empa- huh. Or maybe I do. That's not what matters though, what matters is that I learn what is truly happening.
"What's the catch?" There's simply no chance that the spirit would spew out info so freely.
"Well, let's just say that the outer forest is... rather, troublesome," it ticked, before she sassed me, mocked me, teased at leaving me alone. But now... something's up, I'm getting a sour feeling.
"Alright well, I'm off then," I think I was brought here for a reason, the spirit even said I had forgotten my memories, and I want to live long enough to get them back.
My gaze fixes to straight in front of me, where the density of trees only increases, and increases, until there is nothing but wood and leaves. This too, feels eerily familiar. Yet frightening in a way, but I have to get out of here.
I force my right leg forward, it pulls against my will, like a child scared of the dark, shaking and stiff. I swallow my fears and my teeth as a drop of sweat slides down my face and drops to the ground, with an absolute silence. Until finally, my right leg reaches grass, then comes my left, and my right again. Almost robotic from hesitation. They sigh and heave, lurching forward with an exaggerated weight, loosening with each step, pending, stalling until fear is no more.
I pivot a full one eighty, on the heel of my right foot, only to find that the sanctuary has escaped my vision. Have I really walked that far? Speaking of which, the density of the forest seems to be letting up slightly. Although it may be considerably darker, it's still manageable. It would be nice to have some light in her though.
The leaves seem to have a blue tinge to them, with slim streaks of light pulsating softly through them, to thin to be of any help. I may say that but they seem to be growing as I move towards them, which wasn't the case up until this point. The streaks reach full capacity when I'm around 2 metres away from them, allowing me to make out more of my surroundings, which isn't much help because it's all just bark. Or maybe not. I hate to constantly second guess myself but I feel as though something is watching me, and that light would prove quite useful...
"grrrah," The growl of what I assume is a wolf enters flat into my left ear canal.
"ah!" I let out a startled shout before nearly tripping over my ankles as I swivel to the right and bolt, knees nearly buckling from the pressure of running for the first time. The rustle of grass grows louder and even more so along with the sound of paws and feet upon dirt. Rust glued to my throat, I take a leap on my right feet, arms outstretched directly up in the air, praying I grab a branch. Skin meets bark and I curl my fingers as soon as my brain registered what happened as the momentum swings me up, the wolf's jaws snapping at my legs. I use the momentum to my advantage, rotating a full revolution, and screeching to a halt, and with my arms over the branch I heave up and hug the trunk on a second's notice.
"Fuck you." It's not the wolf's fault, although it circles around the base waiting for a slip up. Realistically, it's my fault for not listening to the spirit when it said this part of the forest was "troublesome". I mean, now that I'm up here, might as well take a short trip to the top and take in my surroundings.
I jump and coil both arms around the side of the nearest thick branch, swing myself up and land on top. The next, and the one after that. Until I can feel the warmth of light on my skin, it's time to see what's waiting, my head shoots above the leaves once and for all. I'm greeted with an orange sky touched with pink and a dying sun. Breath escapes my mouth and my legs finally give in, using the branches for support. My eyelids drift to a close periodically, my head tips down, nodding, before opening at the realisation that I would fall if I slept. The second look greets me with some actual information on the surrounding landscape. Which just so happens to be...
Forest. As far as the eye can see.