When I finally arrived at the source of the chaos, everything had already calmed down. There's no more explosions, and the fires are gradually being put out by the rain.
However, there are massive craters everywhere, and majority of the trees in this part of the forest are burning down.
The Forest of Magic used to be a piece of land filled with tall trees, green grass, clear blue water, various living creatures, and so on. The atmosphere, of magic and life, was present throughout the entire forest, and everything was calm and peaceful.
But now, in this north section of the forest, which makes up a quarter of the entire Forest of Magic, there's nothing left. Destruction spreads as far as my eyes can see, with massive craters in the ground, and trees burning down. All of the grass, water, and any signs of life and nature, have completely disappeared. I can no longer feel the magic in the atmosphere either.
How did this happen? Why is this happening? Who did this? Everything happened so suddenly, and I don't understand so many things...
If it wasn't for the rain, the flames would have spread much further and caused much more damage to the forest. But, I can't even imagine what that's like, when I'm seeing the scene in front of me right now...
I can't get distracted now! I'm here to look for the Silverwolves and White Foxes. Stay focused, Mimin!
I looked around for anyone, or anything, while I called for the Silverwolves and White Foxes using telepathy.
(Is anyone here!? Is everyone safe!? Please respond if you can hear me!)
...
...
Eh? There's no response? None at all?
...
...
This is really bad... I don't see anyone either. All I can see are massive craters, and the city of Lindis in the far, far distance. There's no signs of any Silverwolves or White Foxes at all.
This can't be true, right? There's no way, right? They probably just didn't hear me the first time, right?
(Fluffy! Tails! Anyone! Can you hear me!? Please, tell me that you can hear me! Please do something, anything to show that you can hear me!)
...
...
But, telepathy works over long distances, and shouting doesn't increase its effective distance, so there's actually no point in me shouting any louder.
...
...
This... This can't be happening! Why isn't anyone responding? Why is nothing happening aside from the rain? There's no signs or any response to my telepathy at all! Why?
I need to find someone, or something. Anything related to the Silverwolves and White Foxes! I have to find them! But... Where do I even start...?
(Mimin... I can hear you.)
Ah! This voice! Finally, someone responded!
(Fluffy! What took you so long to respond? I was worried that... Never mind that. Where are you now, Fluffy?)
(Behind you.)
Eh? Seriously? I thought I checked everywhere, so how did Fluffy sneak up on me... Wait, why do I smell blood?
...What is this? When I turned around, there's a... Wolf? I can't really tell what kind of wolf it is, but it's huge in size. It's lying down on the ground, and missing one of its ears, with blood flowing out from where it's supposed to be. There's also some blood dripping from its hind legs. It's fur is completely drenched from the rain, which is nothing like the fluffiness of, let's say, Fluffy's fur.
(So much blood...! Are you alright? What happened to you? Were you caught up in this whole mess as well?)
I don't recognize this... Wolf? But, this is a really bad situation! This wolf is going to die at this rate! I can't leave it alone now, when it's in this state!
I took out my pink towel from my storage magic, and pressed it against the spot of its missing ear, where the bleeding is the most serious. In this rain, however, I don't think it's going to help much, and I don't have anything else that I can use.
I don't see Fluffy, even though he said earlier that he was behind me. But since he responded, that means he should be fine. He was also with everyone earlier, so that probably means everyone is fine, too. I think I can spare some time to help this injured wolf first.
But, how do I communicate with it? I used telepathy earlier, instinctively, but this wolf probably can't use telepathy, so it can't hear me. Not all animals and beasts can use telepathy, unlike beastkin.
I have no better idea, so I tried using telepathy anyway, hoping that it can hear me.
(So... do you have a home to return to? I'll try my best to help you, if I can.)
(...What do you mean, Mimin? Do you not recognize me? To think that you lived with me for eight years, and you still don't know who I am.)
(...Eh?)
As it said so, it made eye contact with me, as if expecting me to understand something important.
What is this... What is it talking about all of a sudden? How does it know my name, and my age? Lived with it for...?
(!? You're kidding me... Fluffy? It's you?)
(Of course it's me. Who else can I be?)
I take another look at the wolf's appearance, which doesn't resemble the Fluffy that I know, and looked at its eyes again. This wolf's fur is not fluffy at all. I recognize its blue eyes, which is similar to a Silverwolf's, but... This is Fluffy?
(No way... You're joking... This isn't happening...)
There's no way Fluffy can get hurt to this extent! He's really strong, so there's no way anyone can easily hurt him... Right? But, there's no other explanation, except that this wolf in front of me, is Fluffy.
(Fluffy! What happened to you!? How did you end up in this state!? Also... Where is everyone else? Please tell me that they're safe!)
(...)
(Why aren't you saying anything, Fluffy? Everyone else is fine, right? They have to be! The Silverwolves and White Foxes are two of the strongest beasts, so there's no way everyone is... Right?)
(...Face it, Mimin. The reality is right in front of your eyes. Stop trying to lie to yourself. I'm probably the last one.)
(...)
You're kidding... You can't just look at me seriously and tell me that everyone is... There's no way this is happening!
(And, just look at me. I'm not going to be able to live much longer, either. I struggled just to drag myself to see you one last time.)
(...No... I don't want to hear that! You promised, remember? You promised that everyone would live together happily, forever! You can't break that promise now!)
(Haha... Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like that's a promise I can keep.)
(Stop saying that, Fluffy! You're going to survive! Where's everyone else? I'll go find them, just tell me where they are, and... Also, how did you get hurt? What happened to the forest? Why were there so many flames and explosions earlier?)
(I'm sorry, Mimin. You had to experience this on the day of your eighth birthday...)
(That doesn't matter right now! Your survival is much more important, as well as everyone else!)
(Promise me, Mimin. Promise me that you'll continue living, even without us Silverwolves and White Foxes. Promise me that you won't do anything foolish.)
As Fluffy said so, his eyes start to close slowly, and his movements become sluggish. This is really bad...
What should I do...? The bleeding isn't slowing down at all, and my towel is dyed completely red from all the blood. Is there nothing more I can do to help Fluffy? For some reason, no ideas come to mind. But I have to figure something out soon, otherwise...!
(Hang in there, Fluffy! I'll think of something! I'll stop your bleeding somehow!)
Quickly, think! There has to be something that I can do! Also, there's still no response to my telepathy from anyone other than Fluffy.
(...Fluffy?)
Fluffy isn't moving or talking anymore. His body is also starting to become colder, as the rain continues to fall.
(This can't be happening... Fluffy, hang in there a little longer!)
But, what can I do!? Even if I say that, I still don't know how I can help Fluffy at all.
(Fluffy, please respond if you can hear me!)
...
...But nothing happened.
(Fluffy, please! Don't do this to me!)
...
...But nothing happened.
(Don't leave me alone...)
...
Is everyone... Is everyone really... dead? Was there nothing I could have done? All the events that happened today... I'm still so confused about what's happening. It's all too sudden.
"It hurts..."
Why does my chest hurt again? Why am I crying again? I feel like all I've been doing recently, are crying and having heartaches.
I've been left behind. I've lost everyone that I considered my family. What do I do now? What am I supposed to do? How can I continue living by myself?
I didn't... I didn't even get to see everyone else one more time. I only got to talk to Fluffy before he...
"..."
Is this what it feels like? To lose everyone that I cared about?
Is this what it takes, for my wish to be fulfilled? The wish that I made last night, to the shooting star...