"Who are you!?"
The voice made Michael jump in fright. He is out here alone in the wood if a human wants to approach him they could make some sound or has some light. They rarely surprise other people because if a person is scared they could kill someone in their surprise too.
Michael, however, didn't have such a killing creation, he only dashes out and grabs one firewood to act as a touch. he then surveys his surrounding to find the source of the voice.
nothing
Other than his campfire the surrounding is in dark. With the fire sound dominating the silence Michael look around more thoroughly.
'Am I hallucinating? Maybe the water has really gotten into my head.'
"Is there anyone there?" He said in an average voice, not too loud so it attracts the monster but not too low so the other person might not hear.
"Yes!" the voice whisper in his ear.
"AHHHHH A ghost!?" Michael screams and swings around the firewood in his hand. It didn't hit anything however, he discover something. A white young boy putting his finger on his mouth.
"SSHHHH the monsters are going to notice you."
"....W... Who are you."
Michael lower his voice seeing that the other party meant no harm. However, he still has his guard high up.
What appears in front of him is a kid that looks to be around 10-13 years old by boniha standards. He had long red hair and bright red eyes common on the Boniha island. He wears green light armor and has a long sword on his back.
"You are able to see me!?" The kid looks quite surprised.
"A...aren't I supposed to see you?" He asked with a shaky voice that was not too loud but, internally he is screaming. He just encounter a ghost! The evidence all adds up. The kid moving with no sound and his voice sound a little off.
"yeah... well, no no, not that at all. I am glad that you are able to see me. Someone hasn't seen me in quite a while. Last time they just ran from me. I don't know why." the kid answered quickly.
'Really!? You don't really know?' Michael yelled out in his head. "You haven't answered my question. W..Who are you?"
Every time Michael talks, his anxiety increases. Michael appeared to be afraid, and the young boy chuckled.
"Oh sorry, I haven't introduced myself, silly me. Hello, my name is Brava I'm in the Boniha tribe and about to enter the trial this year. Who are you? Where are you from?" Brava answer with a friendly voice. He assumes that Michael is from somewhere else so he makes sure to tell him
Seeing Brava's friendly gesture he can't help but answer "I...I'm Michael, I'm from the mainland I think? but I've lived in Boniha for 6 years already."
Since people always tell him that get back to the mainland he assumes that he is from there. Michael is still reluctant to talk to Brava, the majority of BOniha people hate him however Brava doesn't seem to care.
"Really!? Why haven't I heard of you before?" Brava's face looked puzzled "Anyway I've seen you earlier.... why are you backing up like that?"
"Is this a new way to bully me?" the friendly gesture is still foreign to Michael, especially from people his own age.
"HAHAHA" Brava laugh "Why would I bully you? I don't bully the weak and you don't look like you like to be bullied either so what's the problem?"
Michael still suspicious quickly ask "Really?"
"Mark my word! I, the sneaky Brava won't bully you. If you don't believe me I can also put my mom's name on the line.."
"Alright.... alright, I believe you." Upon his confident word, Michael has no choice but to believe it. He put the firewood back into the pile and it around the fire. He glanced at brava whose height is around 150 cm and ask.
"What are you saying earlier?"
"Oh, seeing you wander around the forest earlier, I could tell that you want to find an alma fruit right?"
"Yea..." Why can people stalk me without my knowledge? are my awareness that bad?
"No your awareness isn't bad, I am just too sneaky"
"....."
Michael's face is too easy to read too. He needs to fix this!
"Anyway, I could find an Alma fruit for you but, you have to do one thing for me."
"What do you want?"
"I want you to be my friend!"
"????"
Michael now starts to be wary again. On the Boniha island that worshipped strength, why would someone want to be friends with him? He is weak and could only rely on traps to hunt monsters. So this loop back around to him getting pranked? They are finding new ways to bully him!
"Are you bull..."
"No no no!" Brava wave his hand aggressively "Well, you see I have this curse where I can't be seen by anyone."
"....."
"Really, I'm not lying to you! With my special condition throughout the years, I'm often ignored. Even my own mom couldn't see me sometime! So, I really want a friend."
Michael could feel the sadness coming from Brava's voice. This touches him deeply in his heart. He also doesn't have any friends. His only friendly interaction with people the same age as him is Lyala when she was 6-7 years old so, Michael is really delighted by Brava's request.
"Really?"
"Yes"
"You won't regret this?"
"Yeah! I can't be more sure about this. If you don't believe me I could even put my mom..."
"OK! I believe you now... Let's be.... friends..." That weird word coming from his mouth... Friends... Michael smile.
"Sure thing Michael! can't wait to play together, but before that, take out your pinky." Michael follows his instruction and put out his pinky. Brava then wraps Michael's pinkies with his. Even though it felt like he just wrap his fingers around the air.
"This is a sign of friendship Michael! It's called pinky promise! remember it well." Brava smiles brightly at Michael and turns back "Now let me hold my end of the deal. Follow me."
Micheal grabs a fire torch and follows Brava into the forest. Deeper into the forest Michael could hear the sound of monsters lurking in the darkness. Brava leads him into the dark forest with only him visible at the front.
"Brava... are you sure that there's an alma fruit here?"
"Brava never lied! trust me this one is really delicious."
"OK..."
They arrived at a strange-looking tree that Michael found earlier. Michael is shocked by the tree with its water vein and nutrient vein visible, the trees stood tall. However, its height is shorter than another tree in the forest. This makes the tree stick out like a sore thumb. Brava giggle seeing Michael's shocked face and assume that he didn't see this before.
"Michael this is the alma tree!"
"There's an alma tree?" Michael doubts Brava's word. Everybody in the village agrees that there's no alma tree. In the record of the village, there's only an alma fruit and its stem. If you're lucky you can find a leaf decorated on the stem.
"Yeah this is a new addition to Boiniha island, you don't need to know how it got here but, you only need to know one thing, the tree grows alma fruit!" Brava points upward into the darkness "Don't believe me? try climbing it. There will be an alma fruit about 10 meters up. I will lead the way."
"OKay..."