Six years. The amount of time since I have seen this grand Nightstar. Walking through the old trails I used to look for game and plants long ago, I reminisce the days that I spent wandering the forest without a care in the world outside the bounds of responsibility. But it all changed on one ill-fated day. Just taking in all of the scenery and feeling the breeze flow around takes me back to the time when…
Gentle sunlight graced the forest with its nourishing presence. A peaceful breeze drifted through the lively Quida Forest. I was laying contently under a tree, enjoying the sounds of nature and the stray beams of sunlight caressing my cheeks. I had not a care in the world, except for a scolding if I did not complete my tasks on time. It was already approaching high noon and Pops was expecting me to return home by afternoon with a pack full of food and herbs.
'Maybe I should give him a surprise by bringing back his favorite herb!'
I got up and stretched before running off with the exciting thought; he usually gave me a prize for doing something extra well. He always rewarded me with them a lot in my training to be what he called a "druid" I think. The tasks he gave to me were usually hard on the first try but then they were easy as a breeze the second time around. He praised me a lot and those were the best moments of my life. The pride he had in his hazel eyes always invigorated my spirit as he patted my unkept hair.
Pops called himself and I dwellers of the forest: denizens who live in harmony with nature and preserve its balance. He was an adult with lightly tanned skin and hazel eyes. His most defining feature was his brown hair with some bunches of green hair mixed in. Either than that, he looked like the definition of the "average human being" I read in the books. I have never seen humans before for Pops and I were the only people I knew who lived in the forest. I tried asking him what races we were, but he always avoided the question. Every time he gave the same excuse: the time is not right for me to know it.
"Alright. Four fish, check. Two rabbits, check. Alright, I am done! Now let's get some leaves from a Nightstar tree. Hmmm, where is one around here?"
Looking around, I could not find one, so I resorted to my unique sense. I found it by mistake a while ago and have been using it ever since. When Pops found out about it, he was shocked and eventually started laughing after mumbling something. It was pretty simple to use as long as I knew what I needed to look for and the thing was alive. I had to be cautious when using as it can alert creatures to my lurking presence. Sitting down, I focused on my surroundings with my eyes closed and pictured a Nightstar tree. The dark blue leaves, braided trunk, and glowing white flowers coalesced into the shape of a familiar tree in my mind. When the image was fully formed, I instantly knew where the tree was as my instincts guided me to my destination.
'Got it'
It took around twenty minutes of walking to get to the tree. The tree looked exactly as I had pictured it. Well, there was only one minor difference: there was a large amount of Nightshade embedded in the tree.
'Ughhh… This is going to be a pain'
The Nightshade is a plant that grows around a Nightstar tree. Its vines grow around the base of the tree and penetrate its bark. The vine grows the beneath the bark and along the branches sprouting leaves that appear to be growing from the tree. The leaves of the two plants are indistinguishable to the naked eye. However, the leaves of a Nightshade are extremely poisonous while the leaves of the Nightstar are known for their medical properties.
Luckily, I had a knack for picking out the differences between the two. For most people, training the eye to notice the difference in the shade of color is enough. But for me, it was a connection I felt with the two plants. Sometimes, I felt there was emotion being emitted from the plants. There was a malice in the leaves of the Nightshade that was as potent as the poison that rested in it. The opposite was true for the Nightstar as I picked the leaves that were fighting the malice with kindness.
'Pops is gonna be really surprised when I show him all the stuff I got!'
My trip home was long due to my pack weighing me down. I entertained myself during my walk with little games and skipping stones along the large creek I was following. As time dragged on, I noticed that the forest started to feel a little off. The scenery around me was the same but in my heart, I felt disconnected from the forest I knew all my life. I can only describe the feeling as the dwindling warmth of a dying campfire. By the time I approached my home, I felt estranged from the environment around me.
"Pops, I'm home!" I yelled out.
There was no response.
"Pops? Where are you?"
I checked the cabin three times, but Pops was nowhere to be found. The cabin had a stale air about it, like it hadn't been used in years and the shelves were empty. The books, the potion materials, the tools, everything was gone except for a small notebook on a desk in Pops' room. I swiped it off of his desk and ran out of the cabin in a desperate attempt to find him, forgetting to drop off my pack. I tried using my searching trick, picturing his face that I would never forget; I got nothing. I tried tracking his footsteps; there were none. I tried looking for his steed; the stable vanished. Anything I tried had no result. I spent the rest of the afternoon running around the area our dwelling and the places we journeyed together to. No matter where I checked, he was nowhere to be found like his presence never touched the forest in the first place.
I pulled the checklist from my pack and start going over it endlessly looking for a secret message or some clue that he left behind. Then a drop fell to the paper. Tears streamed down in torrents on my face as I encountered a feeling that I never had felt before: despair. I somehow found my way back to the Nightstar tree where I just laid to sulk in my sadness as I felt alone in the world. Pops was everything to me; he was the only other being I knew. Remaining like that for some time, the setting sun showered the sky in red and orange light. The white petals of the flowers on the tree began to glow making the tree look like the night sky.
Suddenly, branches cracked, and bushes rustled with the sound of voices approaching.
"I swear that those pitfalls were filled last week."
"It doesn't matter! Those stupid holes almost made me break my arm and, on top of that, made us lose our dinner!"
Two hunters stepped out into view bickering over their lost dinner. I looked at them curiously as they were beings that I recognized from Pop's teachings.
'Humans. Two very big humans.'
After looking at them for a couple seconds, I realized I was in their view and quickly scrambled to hide behind the tree. However, they were alerted to my movement and they focused their attention to the tree.
"What was that? I think I saw a kid."
"Nah. Whatever it was, it's still hiding behind the tree. I think it would make good prey for dinner."
"Wait! Stop! You are letting hunger get to your head!"
"Shut it! I am not losing my dinner again!"
I felt a dreadful presence zero in on my hiding spot and my reflex should have been to draw my dagger to defend myself from an attack. Instead of reacting with self-defense, my reaction was to flee in fear and scream out:
"STOP IT! Don't hurt me you scary human!"
Not paying attention, I ran towards the other hunter and stumbled into him. He caught me before I fell on the ground and punched his companion in the stomach.
" *Sigh* I don't get why this guy always acts with his stomach first. Anyways, who you might be kid?"
"A-A-Almran."
… I left the boundary of the forest.