Drop [On hold]

Forests Song

It was always quiet there. Although she couldn't place why, she knew the silence of the woods like one would know a catchy song. She listened carefully, taking in every detail of her surroundings.

The leaves in the tall oak trees rustled softly. A snake hissed as she passed it by. Water droplets fell, softening the earth beneath her feet. And her footsteps. The way the leaves crunched under her feet.They were like the drum beat, consistent, always on time. Never too slow, or too fast, never late, nor too early. Perfectly paired with the leaves, like a tambourine, and the water drops chiming in every so often, like a triangle.

She found herself humming before long, keeping in time with the rhythm set out for her.

Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.

Whoooosh, whoooosh, whoooosh.

Plat, plat, plat, plat, plat.

She loved the woods. Her home certainly didn't compare. Her village was built up in a flat area, covered with wet sand. It rained often, leaving murky puddles that the children would splash in, and stick their hands in, feeling the smooth mud. It was foggy more often than not, and the small lake was dirty, no doubt full of parasites and insects. It was surrounded by sugarcane, tall and soft green. The only way it was safe to drink, was when it was boiled in either a kettle or over a fire in a pot. The roads were made up of stones with flat tops, pressed into the ground. Lined up on either side were houses, built from bamboo and dried out sugar cane stalks. You could walk a full loop of the village, just by following that path. The lake was in the center, not that it brought any sort of aesthetic to the village. It was still drab, foggy, dreary, wet, dirty and unpleasant to look at. It wasn't the most advanced civilization. Technology, apart from simple craftsmanship and weaponry, was foreign. Her world was advanced, of course. Her home however, was not. That was just the way it was.

Her home was in the middle of an oak wood forest, near the Drop. The Drop wasn't a very fascinating thing to anyone. No matter what direction you went in this world, you would reach one. The world was just there, with many points at which you could fall off. They just so happened to be very close to one. It didn't matter too much. The Drop was far into the forest, away from the village itself. They were simply careful as to where the children played, and how far people were permitted to go into the woods. It went without saying, that she had never gone too far in, no matter how much her curiously begged for her to press on. She was obedient. All insubordinance was to be stomped out immediately, like a campfire. If it wasn't done, a wildfire would spread. No one wanted that, thus no one made any daring choices.

She knew her walk was coming to an end soon. She would reach the lonely post at the end of the road, that remained forever stuck in the mud, and would have to start her trudge back. Until then, she enjoyed the song the forest was playing for her. The rain began to get heavier. She wasn't discouraged. She pulled her hood up and kept skipping along, her boots squelching in the wet dirt of the trail.

"Drop it."

She froze the minute she heard the voice. Who else could possibly be there? It came from behind her, further back down the wet trail.

"Did you not hear me? I said drop it."

She pulled her cloak tighter around her, enveloping herself in a warm hug. What was she to do? She felt oddly comforted doing this, but couldn't place why. They were getting closer. Someone was running. No, not just someone. Sometwo.

She tried to think of what could possibly be going on. Someone was being ordered to drop something. But what? Did someone need help? Was it really even her problem?

Her thinking was interrupted as someone whizzed past her, dark hood up, cape flying behind them. His clothing was caked in mud. He was kind enough to leave her untouched, and just ran past. The next two men, however, pushed her out of their way, yelling frantically at the other figure. She fell sideways, hitting a nearby tree and sliding down. Her baggy, white pants were now stained, dirty water soaking through. If it hadn't been her problem before, it was now. She got up and started sprinting, pushing her legs to carry her past the post as she reached it.

Before long, she had caught up. It took all her concentration to avoid slipping in the slick terrain. She had to watch her step, and keep a close eye on her targets. They didn't appear to realize she was there. They too, were focused on their prey. The men stopped suddenly, and she slid behind a bush, paying no mind to the cold, damp ground. She watched vigilantly, taking in the situation. They had the other figure up against a tree, unable to move. She saw the men pull out knives, threatening the figure.

Undetected, she started to climb up a tree, staying out of sight in the canopy. She made her way to a long, thick branch behind the two men. As she did this, she listened in on the conversation. The figure (whom she could now see clearly to be completely covered, cloak, gloves, headscarf and all) was pleading with the men. His voice was laced with sugar, attempting to buy time. The two men however weren't sold, and snapped back with venom tainted remarks. Whatever it was they were harassing him about, they were being impatient and rather unfair.

The girl was now where the figure could see her. She tried her best to make it clear she was helping him by pointing to the men and making a discreet cutting motion over her throat. He no doubt caught her out of the corner of his eye, but didn't call out to her in any way. He kept his focus on the two men, not wanting to give her away.

She reached into her back, pulling the bow that was slung over her shoulder off. She grabbed an arrow from her quiver, and pulled it back on the string, letting it fly. It zipped through the air, and lodged itself just above the figure's hand on the tree. As the two men turned, she knocked two more, this time aiming straight at their feet. As they were distracted, she saw the other guy jump back at the tree, somehow building up the momentum to leap cleanly over the men. He landed on all fours, and launched back into motion, propelling forward. Before the attackers could decide who to go after, he was sprinting away again.

One of the men cursed, and flung at knife at the young woman in the tree. She turned her body, so her shoulders were no longer parallel to her hips. The knife flew by, and was then lost in the foliage. The attackers, still frustrated, ran after the cloaked man, leaving the woman behind.

She followed.

From branch to branch, she struggled to keep up without being heard. The two men gave up quickly, getting lost in the thick forest. She wouldn't be so easily shaken. She kept going forward, easily seeing where the cloaked figure went from above. Her mind was racing, her legs shaking, begging to stop. She was tired, but not so tired that she wanted to give up. No, not yet. Up ahead, she could see a thick wall of vines and leaves. Interesting.

There wasn't much time to dwell on it. She ran straight through it, flying through the air.

But there were no branches to land on. She was mid air, unable to grab onto anything. Not a single other tree lay in sight.

In the brief seconds she remained airborne, she wished she was a bird. But soon enough, she realized she was a tree, and planted her face in the ground.