song of the forest [current version]

❝chapter two❞

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♫pov: asiza♫

I felt it before it happened. Time seemed to stop as I processed what had just transpired. I hadn't imagined that my cover would have been blown so quickly. This person, whoever they were, was more perceptive than I'd expected.

I never should have thought my abilities would hold up under the immense pressure they were under. My skin tightened and twisted and split, and colors flickered all around me. I was fairly sure the colors were physical and not a product of the emotions that hung thick in the air, which meant that the worst possible thing had happened.

They stumbled back, their back pressing against a tree. An acid green scream burst just under the surface. I attempted to pull my body back together, to pull together any form, but I was shifting as rapidly as their emotions.

"Don't scream." I managed. My words seemed to frighten them even further; the colors were all intensifying to the neon rush of panicked shock. My primal instincts were in chaos, threatening to spill the storm into the rational part of my brain. I fought to keep my emotions under control. "I need you to calm down. My power is emotionally driven and empathic. If you panic, I spin out of control."

They closed their eyes and sucked in a breath. Water from their soaked hair ran down their face in rivulets. A torrent of brightly colored emotion emanated from them, stronger than I'd felt from anyone in a long, long time. Slowly, the colors cooled and paled. My mind quieted enough for me to take a solid form, and I coalesced back into the body of Owen.

"What are you?" They choked. "And what the [FROG!] just happened?"

"Keep your voice down. I'll answer all of your questions later," I promised.

"Wait. Stop. If you won't tell me what you are or what just happened, then who are you? Because you're sure as hell not Owen."

"My name is Asiza." I was aware that I probably looked insane right now. That was reinforced by their stricken expression, eyes unblinking as they stared into mine.

They covered their face with their hands, letting out a low groan.

"Another question," I added. "And one much more reasonable, is who are you? Because Owen was most definitely not the one they were looking for."

Riven dropped his hands, his expression turning from shock to incredulousness. "More reasonable? I have nothing to hide. My name is Riven, and that's all I need to tell you because there's nothing you need to know."

I shook my head and moved towards the water. "Your dad will be worried. Let's go."

Riven followed me warily, keeping his distance from me as we swam back in the direction of the beach.

We came back ashore. It took everything I had to keep myself looking like Owen, which meant I spent the rest of the time at the river doing whatever Riven directed me to do so we wouldn't look suspicious. This wasn't hard, as Riven's father and Owan's father were deep in discussion, each sipping from a bottle of beer, and seemed fully absorbed in their conversation.

When it was time to leave, Riven pulled me behind his dad's car. "We're going to talk about this later. A lot. And you're going to answer all of my questions. Do you understand?"

"I don't doubt that we're going to be doing a lot of talking. And I won't answer anything until I know something about you." I countered. "Go home." I jogged around the side of the car and got into Owan's dad's car before Riven could threaten me.

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song of the forest
©rowan maybe 2023