"How long does it take you to pluck a fruit?" Malgeen grumbled.
Eunia had been standing on his shoulders for the past few minutes, attempting to grab hold of a fruit they had spotted in a relatively shorter tree; and it was long enough for his shoulders to start throbbing.
"Shift a little to the left, I can't reach it from here."
Malgeen made an irritated noise, trying his best to shift to the left while supporting Eunia's weight, his shoulders shaking in pain.
They had been roaming about the forest in search of berries, but unfortunately they had found none, even though he said they would find them in the forest, which had earned him many remarks from Eunia.
Maybe he did not know much about forest after all. Forests were forbidden to enter. Perhaps it was forbidden because it was too hectic to survive in it. But he had explored some parts of the forest near his house and had found lots of berries in there. It wasn't fair that they weren't present in every part of the forest. If they couldn't get that fruit, he was certain that they would just die of hunger right there.
"How much longer?" He squirmed from under her.
"I've almost got it, just hold on.."
Malgeen felt his feet crushed and his knees trembling. His muscles were starting to give up on him. His whole body ached and then he lost balance as his feet refused to support him.
He fell down on the ground, along with Eunia, with a loud thud.
And she had got the fruit!
Ah what a relief His back hurt like hell though, and his feet felt as if someone had lit them on fire, but atleast they had food now. Food can make any situation better, be it being sad over losing a game with your friends or being stranded in an unknown forest with a stranger.
Eunia swiftly moved from over him and stood up, leaving him lying on the ground.
His shoulders were still burning and he was panting. His whole body ached. He slowly tried to raise his hand from the ground only to find that they were shaking, and he had scratched both of his elbows.
Now that, is going to hurt real bad while bathing.
His eyes scanned the rest of his hands, then his legs for more injuries and fortunately he had found none. Then he tried to get up, but he couldn't. He must be very exhausted for his back to disobey his orders. So he just lay there, his eyes closed, trying to gather up energy.
Eunia was juggling the fruit and grinning like crazy a few steps away from where he lay. She was apparently delighted at her achievement and was more than excited to soothe her hungry stomach.
Then her eyes shifted to the boy, as if suddenly remembering that he was with her.
"Woah, are you dead?" She inquired as she lightly stubbed her foot against his side.
"No, I'm still alive. Did I disappoint?" He said as he opened his eyes and turned his gaze towards the spot where she was standing. "And do not touch me there. It still hurts."
Eunia frowned and rubbed her eyes. She too was exhausted. And they hadn't even been in the forest for more than five hours.
"Need help getting up?" She asked. He would admit, she did have concern in her eyes.
But he did not need her help. He shouldn't need her help. Infact he should be helping her, considering how she was his 'responsibility' now.
So he flatly said,"No" and shifted his gaze to the leafy canopy over him.
Eunia shrugged. "Fine, I'm going to eat this fruit all by myself then."
Malgeen panicked. Deep down he knew she wasn't being serious, but it was food they were talking about here. One can do anything for food.
"No! Wait. I'll try to get up."
Eunia shook her head and grabbed his shoulders. She then lifted his upper body into a sitting position, a little too abruptly, which made him shriek in agony. He instinctively covered his mouth with his hands.
Oh god, what have I done?
The forest boomed with vibrations after his scream. There was noise and movement everywhere. Creatures running about, sounds of leaves and twigs being crushed under their feet. Birds flew here and there and cried in panick. The forest had been silent and now he had disturbed it.
And now the forest would release its horrors upon him.
Malgeen got up with great difficulty, his eyes scanning his surroundings for trouble. How did he lose his control? He had gone through worse situations and he had managed to hold back his screams. Why did he scream now?
He started muttering reassuring things under his breath. He usually did that while he panicked. While Eunia was just standing there, completely oblivious of the havoc that the forest was in.
Malgeen looked at her, bewildered.
Does this girl not know how much trouble we're in right now?
Then he mentally slapped himself for being dumb.
Ofcourse she doesn't. She's eleven. And has no memory whatsoever. What does she know of trouble?
He was going to have to manage on his own. Thats what you wanted isn't it? A voice in the corner of his mind told him.
Shut up, brain.
Malgeen stretched his arms, kicked his legs in the air, to see if his muscles had recovered enough for him to move, which they had.
He grabbed Eunia's wrist and dragged her deeper into the forest.
"I thought we were going to eat it right here-" she said a little too loudly.
"Stop yelling and stay still." He whispered.
"I wasn't yelling." She whispered back, being her stubborn self.
Malgeen politely ignored her and continued to lead her into the depths of the forest. He did not know where he was heading. All he knew was that he had revealed their location to whatever creatures live there. And they were probably coming for them. So it was best to move away from that spot as fast as they could.
He remembered the times he had spent with his mother in the forest. She had once told him to never go straight into a forest, as he would likely get lost. And he was doing the exact opposite of what she said. But it was not as if he had much of a choice.
His thoughts weren't helping either. They were too loud. He couldn't even think. He wanted to chop off his head just to get rid of the thoughts. But he couldn't give up. He couldn't be weak. Not here. Not with her. He would not fail his mother again.
He kept marching, trying not to make too much noise while walking. They could not run. There were too many plants everywhere for them to do that. Eunia though, was crushing every crunchy leaf with her foot. Probably for fun. He glared at her, telling her to stop, but she just glared back.
Was this a joke to her?
Suddenly, he heard a loud thump from behind.
He turned around and swallowed.
There was path, a clear path which was not cluttered with plants and even the trees had bent out of the way. And it was huge.
What creature could possibly cause that?
His gaze went upward and he was horrified, not to see a creature but a person.
"Who are you and what do you want?" was all that came from the person's mouth.