"Why would you have to be here...you startled me, Orion."
" I'm really sorry, Honey. But I won't say I did not mean to do this." He said, and started walking towards me. I stepped back and pulled out my hands motioning him to stop- he handed me the box he'd been carrying.
"What is this?"
"Why don't you look for yourself." Orion was staring at my face, it was kind of intimidating -the way he looked. So I turned around to look into the box. The sweet smell of chocolate filled the air.
" I knew you had to be the reason they were sold out," I said, trying my best to not show my stupidly smiling face. "Thank You. But they surely aren't the sole reason you're here today, are they?"
"Ahh! I wonder." Orion smiled and turned around. I, kind of, knew he wouldn't let me know the purpose that brought him here but I tried anyway. He did not ask to accompany me into the woods, and I think that's for the best since I really liked to spend this little time alone. "Nyx," he said, "be careful and return before nightfall. I haven't heard good things about the woods, and you definitely wouldn't want me to organize a rescue operation if you get lost there." I nodded and we walked our ways.
I started walking inside the forest, trying to remember if any of the trees look familiar. They don't. Even though I have been coming here year after year these woods do not seem to change at all. I wonder why people fear them. I've been told stories of people finding unusual things in here and how they avoid these at all costs, specially after dusk. I have never seen anything unusual here though. I walked further into, looking for that one birch I've been marking for last five years. I draw the sixth line and get ready for another year in this wonderful place.
I could finally breathe the air that is filled with the smell of leaves, wildflowers, some things dead and decayed, and of course- chocolate cake that I carried. I sat under the tree and started eating the cake, reminiscing the day I arrived in this town- these woods were the first place I noticed with this really dense aura. I wasn't sure the source of it is what I was looking for and I still am not. I could feel my powers nullify in here, like some force working against me, and the snow crystal would not contrast my powers. That should only mean that another precious stone is in work here.
I decided to cover the other end of the area, the one where I haven't been to until now. The sun being overhead meant I had about four hours to cover that part. As I started walking east, a path seemed to have been made, more like a desire path, so I followed it instead of wandering off aimlessly. Someone must've been coming to this place and I guess I know who it might be.
It felt like I had rambled for hours but there was no end to it. The woods looked all the same all around and the road keeps going. For a minute I wondered if I had been walking in circles, so I sat down silently. I looked up to see the view, there was a weird feeling inside me- I've been here before. But when? I was sure of coming here for the first time. It was then that I heard - like whirring, hitting against rocks and ground- it was the sound of a stream, I was so sure of it that I was leaping through following the sound. I ran to the south and there it was, a creek.
"This could not be...." I was delighted. The woods had had water flowing in between and there it was- a willow by the other side of the creek. A really old and enormous Willow stood there in all its eerie but alluring form. I looked up to its top and stood mesmerized.
A flashback - me waiting by the old willow, looking around impatiently for someone.
When I opened my eyes I felt dizzy so I sat down. I saw something similar in my dream this morning. The view from back there, this willow, I had seen it all before. But what was the meaning behind it? And why do I only remember it in parts.
I had so many unanswered questions now that I couldn't contain myself. So I ran back to the road I came from and made it out but it was already dark by then. All the way I did not look back until I was at the exit. I had one final look of the woods and then I turned around to head back home when he appeared right in front of me- Orion.
"What do you think the time is, Nyx?"