Dream of the Forests

 

        

            Ayaka descended into the mists of sleep, drowning, then plummeting through the darkness beneath. Further, she fell through clouds and blue skies. Along the mountainside she tumbled, wailing, grasping at the plants; but in vain, for she slid down, into the forests of another world, a place like the world she knew when awake, but a place where she no longer fully knew herself, nor the past, or what the future was supposed to be. 

            I have to keep going. If I stop they will catch me. And if they catch me ... 

            How long Ayaka fled through the wilderness she didn't know. She was only certain she could not stop. And she ran as fast she could. The leafy branches and evergreen boughs were a blur in the periphery of her vision. From far above, through the lacework of branches, daylight penetrated in feeble shafts. Her breathing grew ragged as she pushed through the dense groves. Due to profuse perspiration, ribbons of her long dark hair plastered to her brow and the sides of her face. Her clothes were torn in many places, begrimed by mud and stained with crushed foliage. Though she forced herself to the brink of exhaustion, she could not yet allow herself to rest. If they fall upon me they would kill me, or worse.

            Wending through the mesh of trees, ducking under low boughs, and stumbling over dense brush, Ayaka looked back over her shoulder time and again, afraid she would see the swift servants of the mists. After a few more hills it seemed she was alone, and so she permitted herself to slow a little and breathe easier. But remember, appearances cannot be trusted. If she knew one thing it was that the killers would never stop coming for her. Her only hope was to reach somewhere protected before they closed the gap. Picking out her footing across the slopes, she noticed that she wore split-toe doeskin boots, and a travel kimono. While pressing on she wondered how long she'd been escaping now? How many hours? Days? She could not remember, but felt it might've been longer than days, maybe even as long as she had been alive.

            Coming over a low rise grown with tall conifers, Ayaka stumbled into a dell. Gasping, she rested her hands on her knees. Although she needed more air, that wasn't the sole reason she'd stopped. Gauging the surrounding terrain she realized she didn't know where she was going. Now that she thought about it, she had little notion of where she'd come from either. Disoriented, fogged amnesia, seized her with rising alarm. Think! Try to remember! Eyes wide, she wheeled in circle, panting while beholding the dizzying columns of towering pines and twisted limbs. Which way? To a growing sense of whirling terror, Ayaka became aware she was completely lost.

            Cast in this desolation of abandonment, she fell to her knees and wept in resignation. But remembering what was coming and just waiting for the darkness to take her was worse, and so before long her instincts stood her up kicked her legs back into motion. Staggering on the uneven ground, Ayaka shoved on. She wove between the endless maze of trees, falling more than once in the high brush, then getting back up, balancing against the boles and shoving forward. Brambles stuck in her hair and the edges of her clothing were ripped on branches that seemed to reach out for her in an attempt to slow her down. One of the hard-edged sprigs cut across her cheek, drawing blood. In her frantic escape she lost any trace of sense of direction that might have lingered as to where the enemy was coming from. What if I am running straight into them? Is this forsaken forest without limit? If the shadows did not track her down first, then surely she would perish in the wilderness's indifferent solitude.

            "Please." Ayaka could barely continue jogging when she started to call out, her voice weak with fatigue. "Help. Where are you."

            She called again and again, keeping her voice low so as not to inadvertently lead the enemy to her.

            Who am I calling to? If she'd ever know the person's name, she'd since forgotten. The only thing of which she was fully certain was that this person was someone very close to her, someone she loved, and who loved her.

            Throughout her weary flight, Ayaka searched for a landmark, or any sign of familiarity that could serve to guide her. By and by she came to a tumbling stream. This region of the forest was vaguely recognizable. I've been here before. Though she could not remember when, she trusted the intuition. Suddenly she knew which way to go. With hope lifting her she followed the brook's moss-grown banks. The rivulet would lead her out of this wooded labyrinth and to the home she had dreamt of returning to for so long. Ayaka hastened. Once I get there, everything will be alright. It's a place no manner of evil can ever trespass.

                Eventually, hours later perhaps, the stream leveled and brought Ayaka to the edge of the forests. Through the spaces between the pillared trunks she discerned greater daylight, and slivers of a wide, green meadow. Cautiously, she approached the fringe of the woods. Open land was often more perilous than the concealment the deep groves provided.

            Like a wary doe in a country of bear and wolf, Ayaka stepped beyond the forests' border, and out of its sheltering shadows and into the sunlit grasses where the stream flowed. She squinted in the bright noon. A lush veldt extended before her, fed by many trickling rills that had made the expanse a wetland in many stretches. Across these marshy fields stood another imposing line of trees. Beyond these forests, faraway, loomed unknown mountains, hazed bluish-purple in the atmospheric distance. Behind her, from whence she'd come, was a similar horizon of birch, evergreens, and remote promontories.

            The familiar place she had struggled so hard to find wasn't here. It never had been, she realized. Then where were you going? And if you don't know, where will you go now? She shook her head in sorrowful regret. These lands were completely foreign to her. Where was Gurinhirizu? Shenobi? She couldn't even fathom in which direction the Southern Kingdoms lay. She began to wonder where in all of Isodoro she was? It startled her to comprehend that she was more utterly lost than she had ever conceived possible for a person to be. She wanted to cry, but managed to stifle the urge. Such a release of emotion was pitifully futile in this situation. There was no time for it. At this very moment the shadow-swathed assassins were knifing through the wildernerss, hurtling towards her. But were they only coming from the forests behind her, or might there be others stalking the forests before her?

            Unable to decide which direction to strike for, Ayaka froze. It seemed she would die out here, alone; for not only did she sense that she was immensely far from home, but perhaps further from any help. Warm tears filled her eyes. Don't give up. Not yet. You promised. Think hard. A path had to exist leading out of the wilderness, one she could follow to another destination she needed to reach. However, in such a huge and untamed country, she feared she would never find a trail back to any remnant of a place she knew.

            Lost in this vast isolation and hopelessness, Ayaka looked into the empty blue and whimpered some prayers, to the Gods and Heavens. She could not wait for divine guidance however. Time was slipping away. They were still coming. They would never stop coming. She had to do something.

            Shielding her eyes with a hand, Ayaka surveyed the topography, while also listening closely for any revealing sounds. There were waterfowl in the fens' brooks, and other birds in the trees, but by and large the forests were strangely subdued. Hardly a breeze stirred. It was so very quiet, as though a greater absence prevailed, one she could not yet decipher.

            "Where are you?" she called out. Still she could not remember his name. "Please find me. I need your help on the path I must follow."

            Over and again she muttered her entreaties, but no answer came. There she stood for a long while, not knowing which way to take even a single step.

            She closed her eyes and listened, not with her ears, but as a leaf that waits for the wind to touch it, hoping that it can be carried far, perhaps even over mountain and across ocean.

            North - her prescience told her. Maybe it was just her imagination, but this guiding nudge would have to be enough.

            Ayaka steeled herself with determination and started forth. She stepped through the burbling swish of the stream and into the waterlogged glades, directing herself towards the forests on the opposing edge of the wetlands. After traversing those mysterious woods she intended to make for the bluish-purple mountains. Soon she was knee deep in the cool fen water, steadying herself with hands held low to either side as she waded across the tall lush green of the flooded meadows, and towards her new, uncertain destination.

Author's Note

Reviews

[C. Rose]

I like that before this chapter she had a similar, though briefly described, dream.
"Then where were you going" the use of second person here threw me. Perhaps italics would help.

You know how published books have excerpts from the text on the back cover. I imagine the first paragraph of this chapter will be that excerpt.

I'm leaning toward thinking this is a dream - though with the 'can't remember how she got there' and the mists, it is possible she has amnesia and forgot the attack on Shenobi and is running.

I guess I'll have to read to find out!

This is the type of chapter, with Ayaka's perspective consistent and nature everywhere - and strong emotions - though the direct fear is new - , that I enjoy most.

[C. Rose]

Oh. I just noticed the title is Dream of the Forest. Guess that answers my question of it is a dream or not.

[Kurayami]

This is a great short story. Excellence choice of words. I really like it. I tried to find flaws in this story but couldn't find any. This short story is simply perfect.

~Kurayami

[Kuandio]

Hi, thanks for looking at it. It's actually a chapter though, a very brief one in a japanese feudal fantasy I'm writing called Sakura Dream. I'm flattered you thought it was that good. Thanks again