The Fickle Forest

The sole resident of Sky moon stood, afraid but intrigued enough to stay in the wolf’s presence. 

“Don’t mind them…” He said to the dog, “ they’re a lot like where you’re from.” 

Much more threaten, different, but obscured together and equally suffering. The wolf tilled the ground with it’s fore paws, two times, then turned to face the looming forest. His name, the boy’s name, he heard it somewhere in the darkness, he knew it; his mother was looking for him. The youngest child never answered to her call, instead, he stepped to the dog who bowed his head to him.

“I’ll be back, mother.” He whispered, then spoke clear, “ Take me to my brothers.”

Still cold, less dark, but more wet, the wolf and the boy stuck close to one another-three meters apart- as the fresh and rotted smells mingled. These woods were called the Fickle Forest, and he heard it wasn’t always made of damp ground and dead trees. Once upon a time, these woods were as, or better, covered in lush green leaves, bright and colorful berries, and various animals which pranced without a care in the world. Humans never stayed here too long, as the title suggest, the seasons and kinds of creatures in here shifted void of rhyme or reason; however, there were few that never moved. Now, him and the wolf came upon bones; normal one minute, like those of a deer or rabbit; then the opposite, like bones the size of the trees themselves. It was unclear how long they’d been that way, untouched by time, and what end or part they came from eluded him as well. Sound eluded him. Them, as the nothingness of this gloomy forest swallowed them whole-figuratively and literally. Wasn’t long before his guide disappeared before his eyes, yet he wasn’t seeing in the first place. He was thinking of that lingering breath that ceased to threaten him, yet still haunted him in the silence. The boy’s eyelids slumped, he trudged regardless, but a giant bone, much bigger than the others, welcomed him with a gigantic hole. Still dense in his hands and on his feet, the bone lured him to march farther and farther through uncertainty. Into the tunnel he went, unconcerned whether there was an end. All of a sudden, the earth violently shook. Once, then twice, then three times all around him. He could hear the rumbling of it all around him, shaking him as well, cracking the bones he took refuge inside. They eventually collapsed, in turn he closed his eyes, but why was it lighter? Upright beneath a tree with the wolf in his lap-in his arms- the young man temporarily was relieved…then the rumbling continued. All around him from animals never before heard. Maybe they weren’t animals at all. 

“Hello?” He called once he stood, “Is any body out there?”

No one was, at least for a second, but a gravely booming voice changed that.

“Huumaaaaann,” It said, pushing the branches back from mere words, “ you have returned too late!”

Catching the sharpness of it’s tone, he slunk away from the tree and looked fruitlessly for the beast.

“For w-what?” He loudly stammered, “Please, I’ve lost my brothers. Tell me it’s not too late to travel the mountains.”

“Mountains?” Another booming voice asked, this one much calmer than the other. “You’re so small. Humans cannot climb mountains.”

“Not true,” A third voice swatted the branches in yet another direction. They surrounded him. “he speaks of the cloud people. Remember? Long ago the—(Shut up!)” The first creature shouted, shouted so loud it cleared the fog between them, shouted so loud he saw the towering figures. While it was still dark, he could see they had four limbs, stood on two, and wore clothing just as he. The three of them, one with short hair, one medium, and one long, looked no different from a human besides their size, and that was enough to calm his worried nerves. 

“Hey!” He called between them, “ You look just like me!” 

“ Impossible.” The one with long hair bellowed, “You take me for a fool!? Where is that which you’ve promised?” He folded his large, thin arms, and the other big men shared this stand-off approach. Even with it clear the child had no clue, their harsh eyes descended a wave of hate upon him, a feeling he had yet known. Sharp pain traveled his palms to his mind, tensed his body and refocused his spirit. He saw this wolf, still besides him, with his hand in it’s mouth-only letting him out when meeting those golden eyes. 

“I’m sorry sir,” He cupped his hands around his mouth, “ I know not of what you speak.”

“ He is a liar” The medium hair growled.

 “You’re a liar” The short hair sighed.

“ That is common between us, but are we to take it from an infant? One who plays us as fools to send us a mutt.” The oldest looking one screamed, screamed so loud, yet it sounded…so familiar. The boy covered his ears as they continued, “ They starve us, then they come to us?”

“ You starve yourselves.”

“ and you hold us back!”

Somewhere in the debate, the focus completely shifted from the boy and towards each other. His fear somewhat cleared once they slung an insult this way and that, stupid this, idiot that, and again he had a feeling he seen this before…and silently looked on.

“ Mother Left me the cloak! It is mine!”

“Mother wasn’t around to see the cloak,” The youngest one shook his head. “ I’d take an infants side over a deceiver like you.”

“ENOUGH! Let’s just get this over with.” The oldest shouted once more, reaching over to grab the middle of a tree and yank it from it’s dirty roots. “ Only the strongest wears it remember?”

How could they act like this?

“W-wait! Hold on!” The boy raised his hands and pleaded, “ What cloak? Was I supposed to bring this?” 

BOOM!

The massive trunk rattled the ground as the colossus’s looked with furrowed brows. 

“No.” The one who first spoke regained that slowness in his speech, “ It does not concern you. Neither does our bouts.”

“I’m surprised he still remains.” The youngest said, “ Are you not scared of our strength?”

“My Strength” 

Each leaned slightly towards the speck now, a little twinkle brewed in every set of eyes.

“You’re…You’re brothers right?”

“Of course!” They collectively, pridefully roared so loud the wolf ducked it’s head and the boy covered his ears. 

“Then…if you fight, and if one of you loses. Someone will get hurt.” He said through a wince.

“…Well, (It’s not like you have a (BETTER IDEA!)” They simultaneously…interjected? 

“ What if you played a game instead?” His voice squeaked beneath their gaze, “ For that cloak. Then you wouldn’t have to risk anything.”

The youth couldn’t quite judge concern in his mother, but this was written all over their large faces. He thought, when the silence returned, that this was it, and turned around to a space he could pass. The mist was filling that tiny clearing until a mighty fusion of sighs forced it away.

“That could work. But, what game do you suggest we play?” 

“ How about we show him the cloak?”

“So he can steal it?”

The brother spoke first lowered a hand for the pair to hop on, the fussier of the three turned gentle in a flash. His huge form slowly sifted through the fog-step-by-step- and stalled before a triangular rock. Nothing was special about the rock itself and the boy came to that conclusion once his hands were on it. A rough, flat, and grey stone corrupted by moss from the bottom up, though it held-on it’s pointed tip, a white and yellow cloak that flapped…oddly. 

“There it is, the cloak which we’ve fought countless times for.” The oldest said, “ Left untouched, unstained, and still as lust—(He’s putting it on)”

Though their hands wanted to stop him, grab him, toss him, smash him, he was a perfect fit and the cloak was still with him. 

“Alright,” His voice cut through the heavy atmosphere like a sword; the boy wore a sure smile all the while. “ here’s my game. It's a game called Hide and Seek, but you’ll be the ones finding me.” 

“All we need do is watch him and go that way.” The middle one said, 

“A test of speed?” The oldest asked.

“You’ll count to thirty (Outloud!) with your eyes closed then search for me. Whoever finds me first keeps the cloak.” The boy said, yet something sounded wrong about that.

“Fine… We’ll play this little game of yours.” “Don’t be upset once I claim the prize.” “By cheating no doubt.”

Right then and there he felt a cold wave flow from every part of the cloak, all meeting inwards to his pit before it bounced right off. The wave was hot now, crawling up his skin to his wrist before rebounding, slowly repeating the cycle. The tiny boy couldn’t piece what this was and grew fearful and took his companion’s maw in his hand. Soft, but brittle, the wolf nuzzled into the boy’s hands as fast as it pulled away; the giants had started counting.

Again, he found himself alone in a dark setting, the wolf that guided him refused to journey any farther and parked himself in the middle of the giants. He it wasn’t so cold anymore; it was…warm. As he wondered through the smog, leaped over branches, and crawled through entanglements of trees, the cloak that kept him from freezing decorated itself in strange patterns on his sleeves. That idle pleasantness was broken when he felt the forest awaken with tremors, laughs, and crashes. Thirty seconds were up, and he was settled with his knees in his arms under a mass of trees. Softly, softly, he breathed softly, but those sounds that stirred around him grew…farther? Closer? Chaotic. No stone was left untossed and tree uprooted while they stomped across the woods, saying, 

“Might as well come out now.” 

Growling “ Where’s my cloak!?”

They must have thought this was a trick? That he had run off with the one thing that kept them fighting…or that they valued. This was unforgivable to the brothers, and it explained why every action they took was done with such ferocity. It only got worse when those noisy feet came crashing down around him. Suddenly, the boy didn’t want to be there…he wanted to be somewhere else, even his old town would do. Cupping his head in his hands, he held it and pinched his eyes closed in the shadow of one large figure. A shadow lowering like a crane to scoop him out, to do what it willed with him…a shadow stalled by the howling of that wolf. In that time, that short time, he wished he was somewhere else, somewhere pleasant where he could feel warm all the time. Where he didn’t have to feel scared. And in that moment;

 he too was gone.