Mystia

Chapter 11: Light Forest

Chapter 11: Light Forest
"Ok I have a joke for you." Said Milo as he and Lau sat under a tree in the Light Forest. "Oh no, not another one of your dad jokes." Lau groaned. "You love my dad jokes!" Said Milo, feeling offended. "No you love your dad jokes." Lau corrected. "Fine, we love my dad jokes." Milo laughed. "Shut up!" Lau said, whacking him with a gust of wind. "Ow! Why do you always do that?" Milo questioned, as he moved his hair out of his face. "Calm down scaredy cat. It's just the wind, it won't hurt you." Lau said. "I'm a fox actually." Milo corrected. "Oh you sure are." Lau mumbled sarcastically. "Ok uhm... how does a penguin build its house?" Milo asks. Lau sighs and rolls his eyes. "How?" Lau asks unenthusiastically. "Igloos it together." Said Milo. Lau smiled and rolled his eyes. Milo smiled back and playfully punched Lau on the shoulder. Not only did Milo love to say terrible dad jokes but he also liked to say terrible pick up lines. "Do you have a map? I'm getting lost in your eyes." "No but I got a GPS which stands for girl please stop." Lau said in a sassy voice. Milo rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Hey at least I'm trying to lighten the mood around here." Milo defended himself. "The mood is fine." Lau said, confused. "Well I just mean that I'm so bored. All our friends are busy and now we're just here at home with nothing to do." Milo complained. "Hey! You don't like hanging out with me?" Lau said, feeling offended. "No I love hanging out with you but there's just nothing to do." Milo groaned. "Well then find something to do." Lau suggested. "Ugh ok." Milo stood up and so did Lau. They looked around the forest but there was no one around. All of the sudden the two boys heard rustling in the bushes. Milo transformed into his kitsune form, with his fox ears perked up in alertness. Lau held out his hand ready to use his air powers in case there was danger nearby. Over the years Lau and Milo always went on adventures together and had to fight off monsters so they were used to it by now. But usually only nice creatures lived in the Light Forest. Even then they still had to be ready for anything. Out of the bushes emerged a group of forest spirits, their ethereal forms glowing in the sunlight filtering through the trees. They approached Lau and Milo with smiles on their faces. "You must be Milo and Lau! We have heard of your adventures and you Milo defeated the mighty dragon Amaya using your hypnosis powers! You saved our friends, the dark spirits. Thank you!" One of the forest spirits said. "You're welcome." Said Milo as he transformed back into his human self. "You two are our heroes!" Another spirit said. "Awe thanks, it was our pleasure." Milo said smiling and feeling proud of himself. Lau and Milo exchanged glances and smiled. The forest spirits waved goodbye and ran away into the forest. "Wow, we're heroes. I'm proud of us." Said Milo with a laugh. "More like you're a hero." Said Lau looking kind of sad. "What? No you're a hero too!" Milo said, putting a hand on Lau's shoulder. "But you're so much stronger and braver than I am. And more powerful. You're a kitsune and I'm a stupid wind spirit. You're this majestically powerful creature that can control dragons and I'm just- air. If I had to be an element spirit why did it have to be wind and not something actually cool?" Lau said not even realizing what he was saying. "What? Don't say that Lau. You are amazing. The wind is powerful and beautiful. And you're so powerful you can cause tornadoes and hurricanes!" Milo said, trying to be encouraging. "Why would I want to cause those?" Said Lau. "Well- ok you have a point but still don't be so hard on yourself hun. Maybe I am amazing which means you are friends with someone amazing which makes you amazing." "Wait, so I'm only amazing because I'm friends with someone amazing?" Lau asked. "What no! I mean you are amazing no matter what and being friends with me just makes you extra amazing." Milo said, smiling. Lau rolled his eyes. "If you say so." Lau mumbled. "Oh sorry I didn't mean to ruin the mood." Lau said regretting admitting the fact that he felt insecure. "Oh no it's ok Lau." Milo said, patting Lau's shoulder. Lau smiled. "Want to play tag?" Asked Milo. Lau nodded. Milo then transformed into his kitsune form and used his super speed to run super fast. Lau followed him as fast as he could. They continued playing tag for a while until it was getting dark. They sat next to each other on a log. Milo was still in his kitsune form and Lau was using his powers to make swirling shapes in the winds. They watched the sunset and darkness crawl slowly into the sky. Lau patted the kitsune on the head. His fur was soft and comforting. Milo smiled and scooched closer to his friend. Milo placed his head onto Lau's lap.They sat in silence, enjoying the night and each other's company, lost in their own thoughts. The Light Forest was quiet now, the only sound being the rustling of leaves in the wind. The night had set in, and the stars twinkled in the sky. Lau felt content, and he knew that he was lucky to have someone like Milo as his friend. Milo, also, felt grateful for Lau's presence in his life. Together, they were invincible. The bond they shared was unbreakable. Suddenly, Milo sat up, looking excited. "I have an idea!" he exclaimed. "Let's go on a night adventure!" Lau looked at him skeptically. "A night adventure? In the forest? Are you crazy?" "Come on, Lau! It'll be fun! Trust me," Milo said, smiling. Lau hesitated, but he knew that Milo was right and he didn't want him running off by himself. "Okay, but we have to be careful. The forest can be dangerous at night," he cautioned. Milo transformed back into his human form, and the two boys stood up, ready to explore the unknown. The forest felt different at night. It was eerie, and the shadows seemed to grow longer. It wasn't as scary as the Darl Forest but still scary. But the boys weren't scared. They had each other, and that was all that mattered. They walked deeper into the forest, their footsteps muffled by the soft ground beneath them. The trees towered above them, and the branches formed a canopy, shielding them from the moonlight. Suddenly, they heard a rustling in the bushes. Milo transformed into his kitsune form, ready to attack any danger. But instead of a monster, they found a group of fireflies. The fireflies were glowing brightly, illuminating the darkness around them. Milo and Lau watched in wonder as the fireflies danced around, creating a magical aura around them. For a moment, the boys forgot that they were in the middle of a forest at night. They felt like they were in a dream. But the spell broke when the fireflies disappeared into the night. Milo and Lau continued walking. It was hard to see. All they could see was what looked like a black void that went on forever. Eventually their eyes got used to it a bit and they could faintly see the shapes of eachother and the trees. They walked for what felt like hours in complete silence. Lau then heard something from afar and followed the noise, forgetting about Milo. Lau walked toward the sound for a while even though he felt like it was a bad idea. He felt a chill go up his spine and then he realized that he had walked too far. Lau was almost 100% sure he was now in the Dark Forest. He couldn't really tell from how dark it was. It's somewhere you don't want to find yourself in, at night. Especially if you're not from there or the creatures aren't familiar with your presence. Lau looked around as his heart began to race. "Milo!" Lau called out but no one heard him. "Milo!" He called out again but still no answer. His heart was racing more and more and the wind around him began to swirl. Sometimes when Lau got anxious his powers got out of control. He tried to calm himself down but he began hyperventilating. Milo was no where to be seen. Suddenly, Lau heard a deep loud growling noise coming from behind him. He turned around quickly and saw two red eyes reflecting in the darkness. His heart skipped a beat as he realized that he wasn't alone in the dark forest. "Milo!" Lau screamed for him one more time, but he knew that he was probably too far away to hear him, Lau closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to control his feet. He then slowly opened his eyes and raised his hand, ready to unleash a powerful gust of wind. But as he feared, the creature that was growling behind him was too fast for Lau. The next thing he knew, he was slammed against a nearby tree. He fell to the ground, feeling dizzy and disoriented. He tried to stand up but he felt a sharp pain in his leg. He looked down and saw a deep wound on his thigh. Though Lau was made of mostly wind he still could bleed. Blood was oozing out of the wound, staining his clothes. Lau tried to crawl away, but the creature was already on top of him. He closed his eyes, already accepting his fate. But then he heard a familiar voice calling out his name. "Lau, where are you?" It was Milo's voice. Lau felt a glimmer of hope, knowing that his friend was still looking for him. He weakly called out to Milo, hoping that he would hear him. And then, as if by a miracle, Milo burst through the bushes, transformed into his kitsune form. He saw Lau and the creature and acted quickly. He jumped in between them, using his super speed to attack the creature quickly with his claws. The creature tried to attack them but Milo was too fast. In a swift movement, he used his hypnosis powers to put the creature to sleep. He then grabbed Lau and carried him in his arms, running back to the Light Forest as fast as he could. Lau looked up at Milo's face and smiled softly. He felt safe in Milo's embrace, his wounds still bleeding but the pain slowly starting to fade. They finally made it back to the Light Forest, where Milo laid Lau down on a soft bed of leaves. He then used a spell he has learned from Nerine to heal Lau's wounds, and the bleeding stopped. Lau opened his eyes and saw Milo smiling at him. "You saved me," Lau said weakly. "Of course I did. I told you, we're a team. We're heroes, remember?" Milo said. Lau smiled, feeling grateful for his friend's presence in his life. "I don't know what I'd do without you," Lau said. Milo smiled wider and hugged Lau tightly. "You don't have to worry about that. I'll always be here for you," he said. And Lau knew that he could always count on Milo, no matter what