Night in the Woods

The wind is strong on this cool, cloudy day. After raining most of the week, the storm finally seems to have died down, leaving the ground muddy and covered in fallen leaves. Not many chi are out in this condition, but it doesn't seem to bother little Roze. They grew up in the cold mountains of Colradin, so a little wind won't bother them.

Leaves crunching underfoot, Roze slowly walks through a forest, not having anywhere in particular to go. She just got the sudden urge to go for a walk and left. So she's taking her time to take in the scenery around her, enjoying the smell of the forest after a nice shower. The sky is dark due to the remaining storm clouds, making the afternoon walk seem more like an evening one.

Roze hums a familiar tune to herself, lost in thought as she makes her way down the path. A strong burst of wind hits her, nearly causing her to fall. She shivers as the chill goes through her, "Cold...". Dusting the leaves off her jacket, she regains her balance and starts to walk again, when she pauses. In front of her, a few meters down the path, is a little chibling. "Child..." Roze mutters. She doesn't remember seeing them in front before. Was she so lost in thought that she didn't notice them? A small whimper comes from the chilbing's direction, and Roze starts to wonder why such a small child is alone so deep in the woods. They seem scared and confused, maybe they got lost somehow?

Roze walks slowly towards the chilbing, not wanting to startle them, but they don't seem to notice her. As she gets closer, she can see that they have been crying, and are too lost in thought to notice her. She says a gentle hello, in hopes of getting their attention. The chibling jumps and looks at her, seemingly just taking notice of her. Tears well up in their eyes, but they don't say anything, just continue to stare at her.

"Lost?" Roze asks. The chibling's eyes widen more, but slowly nod their head.

"I-I'm lost..." they say to her, tears in their eyes and fear in their hearts, "I can't find my parents...I wanna go home..."

Lost, so deep in the woods? Roze didn't even know there were houses around here. But she isn't familiar with the area, so she wasn't sure.  

"Home, close by?" If the chibling only recently got separated, then their house shouldn't be too far away, she hopes.

They glance down to the ground, furrowing their brow in thought. "I...I think I remember the way home. Maybe my parents are there... But I'm scared... What if I get attacked by a wild animal? Could you walk me home...please?"

"Birds," Roze responds. The chibling looks confused. "Only birds, no monsters." They nod their head, but the look on their face appears to say that they don't fully believe her. She reaches out her sleeve to them, "We go, come?"

A smile cuts across their face, and they happily take her fuzzy sleeve and hold it tight, "Thank you, thank you so much!"

She smiles back at them and nods, "We go."

The two start their way down the path; Roze leading, but the chibling directing. "I think it was down this way," they mutter to themselves, "Right after that tree with the face, or was it before?" Roze smiles to herself at the little chibling. The village she grew up in never had any young ones, her being the last one born in decades. Seeing one learning and growing made her heart grow warm. A whole life ahead of them, endless possibilities in store for them. Such wonderful, tiny creatures.

Her wandering thoughts dissapear when she sees something in the corner of her eye; another chi? She stops to look at the path ahead, but nothing's there. "Strange", she thinks to herself. Maybe it was just the sunlight in the trees playing tricks on her. She makes to move again, but the tug on her sleeve is gone. The lost chibling is gone, nowhere around her. "Child?", she frantically looks around, but there's no trace of them around. No footprints in the mud, no broken branches in the trees around her. How could someone just vanish like that?

In a panic, she starts to look through the forest around her, desperately trying to find the little one before they get even more lost. The more she looks, the more the panic starts to set in. She doesn't even notice her vision is starting to grow dim. The shadows from the trees are starting to grow darker, creeping in closer and closer as time goes on. She falls to her knees, out of breath and eyes heavy. She looks ahead, but sees only dark shadows inching closer. She closes her eyes to think, and the darkness takes hold of her mind. Fading into unconsciousness, she can hear faint laughter coming from all around her.

"Child..."