It was an accident

17.

The sounds of the woods spilled out of the pocket dimension before any color had returned. It filled Amelia with a tentative sense of calm before the scenery filled in around her and her jaw clenched once more. The gap in her memory had felt impossibly large and irreparable before today, and the memory she found herself in instantly brought back those feelings of frustration and helplessness as she instantly recognized the memory as the one glimpse into her past she had never been able to make sense of until now. With all of the missing pieces now forced perfectly into place, she understood the implications of what she had witnessed centuries ago all too well. The sudden realization made her stomach ache with nausea. 

Amayeli quickly moved through the forest with her twin brother, Kanata, in tow. The two went at an odd half-run-half-walk pace as the barely older girl urged her brother onwards.

"Come on, Kanata!" She tried to accelerate to a running speed, but stopped momentarily to let her brother catch up. Once he came within grabbing range, she took him by the wrist and began pulling him along.

"Why do you want to go so far from the village, Ama?" Kanata questioned his sister, sounding more confused than irritated, though both tones were present as he was practically dragged through the woods.

"There's something to explore here, I just know it!" The small girl couldn't find the words to explain why she felt the need to go in the specific direction she felt a pull of curiosity from. Maybe it wasn't curiosity at all, it felt almost like the excitement she felt every time she came back from a trip and saw her mother or older siblings again. Whatever it was, it was calling to her, begging to be found by the girl.

Kanata didn't seem to understand Amayeli's reasoning, but he knew his sister. He was familiar with her sudden bursts of curiosity and energy. She had dragged him to many a place for them to explore, sometimes they were old ruins and other times they were beautiful landforms. As they began to close in on their destination, however, Kanata began to believe that this wouldn't be like any of their other adventures. Looking up to the sky, the small boy could see what remained of the smoke clouds that he had been watching with his older siblings merely a few hours earlier. "Ama, we're heading towards the smoke," he warned with a worried edge to his voice as he tried to pull away from his sister.

Amayeli's grasp didn't falter as she tilted her head up to look at the sky as well, noticing the dwindling streams of black smoke. "Huh, I guess we are," she lowered her gaze back to eye level and continued to push forward, dragging her brother along for the ride. Whatever this pulling sensation in her soul was, she was certain it was important and she wouldn't turn back because of a few measly wisps of smoke.

"Ama, listen," Kanata spoke again, his voice made louder by the urgency it held. "We could be going into a woodland fire, that's what the elders thought the smoke was earlier." He began to tug more harshly at their joined hands and dug his heels into the dirt to slow his sister down.

Both of the children halted, much to the surprise of the boy, who slammed into his sister at the sudden stop. The girl payed no mind to the collision and looked her brother in the eyes with an uncharacteristically serious expression carved into her face. "'Nata," she began, her harsh gaze prompting the boy to shrink in on himself slightly, "I know there's something over here, I don't know how I know, but I know. Besides, whatever that smoke is coming from isn't the woods itself, it smells too different. I've seen fires consume parts of woods before, and this does not look or smell like one of those fires." Amayeli turned once more to face forward, walking once more in the direction of the smoke. "Trust me, 'Nata," she did not look back at her brother as she pulled him along, speeding up to a run. This time, Kanata stayed quiet with his worries and followed behind his sister, giving their joined hands a squeeze.