Wirt x Reader - Remember Me?

The Wood

    Weeks passed. You didn’t address the fact that Wirt had been a classmate of yours in grade school. There really wasn’t a proper time to ask him how he’d been, seeing as how you only had one class with him and after school Greg filled the walk home with tales of his day. You didn’t mind, though, because Greg was fun to listen to. It seemed like he had fun at school with his friends – he had a different adventure every day.
    One day Greg asked a peculiar question. “Hey, Wirt, can we go to the park today?”
    Wirt looked down at him with a slightly irritated expression. “Why? You just got out of school, don’t you want to go home and relax or something?”
    You smiled at Wirt’s response. Both of you knew that Greg knew no such thing as ‘relaxation.’
    “But Jason Funderburker wants to visit home! You said we would go out when the weather is nice and it’s not hot anymore!” Greg exclaimed, staring up at Wirt with a pleading expression.
    “…Jason Funderberker?” You said in confusion.
    “That’s the name of his frog.” Wirt explained briefly as he continued to stare down at his brother. For an instant it seemed that he would manage to keep his stern appearance, but he gave in with a defeated sigh. “Fine. But we have to be home by dark. There could be all kinds of crazy things in the park…”
    Greg nearly jumped up and down in excitement. “Yay! Thank you Wirt! (y/n) can come too, right?”
    Wirt shrugged, looking over at you. “You can come if you want, but you don’t have to, (y/n).”
    You smiled slightly, saying, “Sounds nice. I don’t think my dad will mind..”
    By this time they had reached their house, and Greg was already running inside. Wirt walked in too, looking back and saying, “W-We’ll be out in five minutes, okay?”
    You agreed to meet them outside, then went into your own house. There you changed clothes into something a little more suitable for the park, jeans with boots, and a t-shirt with a jacket over it. You put up your backpack and went back outside, texting your dad to let him know where you were going. He responded within seconds, saying to be back by nightfall or he’d call the park rangers. You knew him long enough to understand that he really would do that, so you took it rather seriously.
    Wirt and Greg were waiting for you outside. The former had changed into a long-sleeved shirt and jeans, and the latter was wearing the ringer tee you first saw him in. Greg was also carrying a large frog, presumably Jason Funderburker. It let out a low ribbit as you approached the two.
    “(y/n)! Let’s go!” Greg exclaimed, his excitement growing by the second. You nodded in agreement and followed behind the boy as he skipped gleefully along the sidewalk. Wirt walked beside you, completely silent. He appeared to be anxious about something.
    “Hey, Wirt, are you alright?” You asked, seeing his worried face.
    “Hm?” He said, quickly changing his expression, “Yeah, I’m fine.” He stared straight ahead, falling silent once more.
    “Okay then…” You said, “You just seem really wistful.”
    That seemed to jolt Wirt away from whatever he was thinking about. “Oh! Sorry.” He replied, glancing over towards you before looking down at Greg. “I guess I’m still tired from school.”
    Within minutes you reached the large gates that lead to Bendle Park. It was a large area situated outside the city, atop the first of many large hills. In total the park was just shy of two thousand square miles of forest. But as long as you stuck to the beaten trail, you would be fine. They were marked, and several signs laid along the paths. As long as you didn’t run haphazardly through the woods, it would be difficult to get lost.
    Unfortunately that is exactly what Greg did. The younger boy took off down the nearest path with Jason Funderburker in his arms, laughing joyfully as he dove into the sea of trees. Both you and Wirt chased after him, but he disappeared within minutes. Greg was so caught up in exploring that he’d strayed from the path and gone his own way, but neither you nor Wirt knew that. Your run slowed to a jog, which slowed to a walk.
    “Do you think he’s okay?” You asked, concerned about him. He was much too young to fend for himself if something bad was to happen.
   “Yeah.. We’ll find him soon.” Wirt said, trying not to sound too worried, “He always came back last time we were in the woods.”
    “Okay.” You said, sighing in relief. It was good to know that this kind of thing usually happened. How could it not with a kid like Greg? You walked along with Wirt in silence for a minute or two, observing the forest around you.
    Fall had indeed come, and perfectly on time. It was the middle of September, the time that the temperatures began to fall and the leaves changed colors. The woods were filled with hues of brown, carmine, and yellow, and it was utterly beautiful. The branches lost a few vividly-colored leaves every time that the breeze moved them, and they spiraled down towards the ground like graceful ballet dancers.
    “So…” You began, trying to fill the somewhat awkward silence, “How have you been for the last five years?”
    Wirt looked over at you, obviously surprised. “Huh? Oh, I’ve been okay, I guess… Wait, you remember me?” He murmured the last part, “I didn’t think you would, we weren’t friends. Wait, I mean, it’s not we were enemies, I just meant that we weren’t that close. Not that I didn’t like you; because I do like you- did! Did like you! Wait, I mean, I still like you, but- ah, stop talking Wirt.” He gave up and stared at the ground.
     You giggled quietly and patted his back reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I know what you meant. I think. But yeah, I remember. We were in... Mrs. Graunt’s class, right?” You thought back to the nice old lady who was in her last few years of teaching. She was a sweet elderly woman, and was essentially a grandmotherly figure to all of the children she came in contact with. You can’t remember actually learning very much in her class, though.
    “Yeah.” Wirt said, lifting his gaze to meet yours. “I wish we had teachers like her in high school.”
    “That would be great. The teachers now-“ You paused, noticing something that was… off. “Wait, where did the markers go?”
    Wirt blinked, looking around the trail for one of the small white flags that had previously appeared every few feet on both sides of the trail. They were no longer anywhere to be seen. That was bad, very, very bad. Those markers were what kept unknowing people such as yourselves on the right track.
    “I don’t know.” He answered, the beginnings of panic showing on his face, “W-We have to get back.” He turned and began to jog the way the two of you had come, with you following beside him. The pace picked up, going from a jog to a run, then to a flat out sprint. The path was different than when you had come. It twisted and rose in directions that it hadn’t earlier. On the way here it had been almost completely flat, so it made no sense for you to be running uphill.
    Wirt stopped after a minute or so of running. “This is wrong!” He said, his voice rising with panic, “None of this is right; we didn’t come this way!”
    You were alarmed by his sudden fear. “Don’t worry,” you said in an attempt to be comforting, “I’m sure we’ll find the right path eventually. I mean, I didn’t see any trails branching off of it, so we must still be on the right one. Maybe we just didn’t notice these things?” You tried to convince both him and yourself, but in the back of your mind you knew that was impossible. “Let’s… Let’s just keep going.”
    Wirt appeared doubtful, but nodded reluctantly. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Even if it’s not, we won’t get anywhere just standing around…” He walked further uphill until it flattened out, you following beside him.
    Time seemed to have no meaning. It could have been minutes, or hours. The sun began to set, but you couldn’t tell what the time was when you realized that you were lost. Soon enough it the sun had gone, and the two of you were left stumbling through the darkened woods with nothing but moonlight to show you the way. Wirt was becoming increasingly terrified with every passing minute. He kept looking over his shoulder and jumping at the slightest noise. You didn't question him, deciding instead to look for anything that would be familiar.
    But nothing about the forest was the same. It appeared darker now, almost malevolent. Even the sounds of the small forest animals sounded off.
    Then a light appeared up ahead. Wirt was the first to see it, quickly pointing it out to you with a breathless, “Look..”
    The trees appeared to thin out up ahead. You pressed on with Wirt, eventually making it out to a large clearing that held a wooden two story building. Lights were on inside, and faint music could be heard from where you stood. “Hey, maybe they can help.” You said, looking at the structure.
    “No, no, no. Let’s not. It’s creepy, and there could be maniacs inside there.” Wirt said as he immediately turned to walk away. You frowned, grabbing his arm and holding him in place.
    “They’re the only people we’ve seen since we lost Greg, and he could be in trouble by now. We’ll be stuck wondering around the woods at dark if we don’t go and at least ask where we are.” You reasoned, taking a step closer to the building.
    “….Yeah, fine.” Wirt said, reluctantly agreeing. “I guess we could go take a look.”
    The two of you approached the building, stopping at the door. Wirt pushed it open a crack, then all the way. Shouts of joy resonated from inside.
    “Pilgrim!”