The Swan and The Pirate

Blue Leaves

The black some finally disappeared, and my vision was regained. I was still on all fours, but the ground wasn't wooden anymore, it was dirt. I sat up and lookad around me too see blue nature all around me. I was in the Blue Forest. "For the love of God," I mumbled irritated as I got up from the ground, wiping dirt and grass off my white dress.

I started looking around for the exit, but I guess I was too far inside the woods. If only I had payed more attention in Yuba's classes. All around me on the ground were blue pumpkins, and next to me was a scarecrow. It was oddly creepy, and my heart skipped a beat when a small crack formed on its head. No, this wasn't a scarecrow. This was a Reaper.

I held my breath as I tried slowly manouvering myself away from the Reaper, scared for my life. I could almost hear my heart beat out of my chest as I placed my feet in the little spaces between the pumpkins. As I moved away from the first Reaper, I noticed several others placed near the pumkins. Almost guarding them. I started picking up the pace as the pumkins grew less and less. 

I saw a big tree further away, and thought I could hide in that until morning. Who knew all the kinds of danger awaited in the Blue Forest, especially at night. I don't even know how I survived all of those Reapers. Not one woke up. Were they waiting for someone else?

I removed my golden swan broche before I started making my way to the gigantic tree and placed it on the ground. This way I was easier to find. I noticed a path with trees lining it, so I followed that. It led up to the huge tree. All the trees in the forest had blue leaves, but these trees very oddly more blue than others. Suddenly, some of the leaves began to fall. Almost like it was on command. I thought this was like a rare beauty in dark times, and caught a couple of the navy leaves. 

But something didn't feel right. The leaves began falling faster and in larger amounts. I noticed my eyelids get heavy and my feet started moving slower. I shook my head to wake myself up. Why was I feeling so blunt all of the sudden? I looked up at the trees in confusion, but that soon turned into realization. Sleeping Willows. 

A new fear spread in my body as I forced my body to sprint towards the big tree. If I collapsed in this path, I would most likely be buried by leaves and killed by some creature. No, I had to keep going. For every leap I took, I got closer to the tree. To safety. 

When I was just a couple of meters away from the trunk of the tree, my legs gave in to the Sleeping Willow's anesthesia. I had tried holding my breath, but it didn't matter if I breathed it in or not. As long as the leaves touched my skin, the effect of the trees would affect me. I began desperately crawling towards the tree. I couldn't give up. Not now. I felt my muscles get weaker and my eyelids felt like lead.

With one last desperate crawl, I reached the trunk of the tree and collapsed on my back. The last thing I saw was the blue leaves of the tree above me before I gave in to sleep. I hoped that someone would find the broche and save me, but most of all, I hoped that Hort was ok.