Journey to an Unknown World

New Land

   I suppose this was where I tried to find out what the tree meant myself. 'Open the bark', had been its last request from us. But what kind of a request was this? How could we possibly open up bark without any tools, and which tree did we do that to? I certainlly didn't want to harm the speaking tree. Narina didn't look up to the task either, seeing as she had backed away a bit the moment it spoke.

   Nothing made any sense to me anymore. First, we were just exploring the forest. Then, somehow we ended up with more trouble than we needed. I didn't want to remember abandoning my sister for the first time. Suppose this wasn't the time to even bother, either.

   "What now?" her words echoed the thoughts in my mind. Her eyes gazed intently into my own, sinking in with every passing second. I took a deep breath, gathering together the wits I had lost.

   "Not sure," my arms crossed across my chest. "the tree did say we had to open the bark. That's probably the only kind of hint we're going to get."

   Narina shook her head at me.

   "What about the pale grass-?"

   "Not very helpful. It still leads us to the same spot." 

   With a small twitch, my sister approached the tree that had spoke. Her right hand laid itself on the old bark with great care, avoiding any spot that may cause more splinters. The ones from earlier were still stuck into the skin. The sight of it caused my face to twist into a small grimace. Those needed to be taken out as soon as possible. But she didn't seemed too concerned with it right now, and I wouldn't force the task onto her.

   Nails brushed past the darker parts of the trunk, creating small rivers as they went. Bits of the bark slipped down the rest of it and fell onto the pale ground. It almost seemed to be devoured by the very grass it was planted on.

   "Jane." the sound of my name drew my attention to what my sister was doing. She was staring at a small piece of the bark. It was barely hanging onto the rest, silently crying as it did so. 

   Gently, I eased up beside her, tensing briefly to test and see if the bark would explode like the last time. It was better for one of us to be completely unharmed than both of us injured. Wouldn't do much good then. Then again, one of us being injuried wasn't good either.

   "What is it? Did you find out what that tree meant?" I asked cautiously, waiting for a negative response. 

   "I think so..watch this." Carefully, her nails dug slightly into the dark bark. More screamed a silent song as it was peeled from its creator. This however did not stop my sister. She pressed on with her work, peeling very slowly. I had no idea what she was doing until she was done; a pale, bared door was waiting for us on the other side of the bark. So that's why the bark was darker here!

   Awed, I stood waiting as she gently touched the inner skin of the tree. It shivered, causing the air around it to become ice cold. But this, despite the fact we did not wear any heavy clothes, didn't bother us in the least. But the area around us was effected.

   The grass shrunk away with a loud cry of protest. Small bits of ice coated the tip of each blade of grass. It caused them to lower, adding to their shrunken state. The trees paid no mind to the frozen assault, seeing as the branches only waved a bit under the weight of the ice. Whatever was on the other side of the door, it couldn't possibly be good. Not with the way the rest of the forest was reacting.

   Still, what's done is done. One of us had to take the step into this new 'destiny', and it more than likely was going to be me. So, with a heavy sigh, I approached the door. It gave another shiver as my fingers brushed the pale wood. More cries erupted from the forest, but it was distant now. Or at least, it was for me. 

   "Step back. We don't know what will come from this door, and I'm in no mood to take risks now." I felt myself tremble at my own words. Whether she saw it or not, she got the hint well enough. Nodding curtly, she took two steps back, wrapping her arms around herself.

   Steeling myself for what was about to come, I carefully gripped what I assumed to be the handle to the door. It was ice cold, like someone just took it out of a freezer, brought it to this forest, and glued it tight to the wood. But there of course was no sign of that happening.

   "Be careful." I turned my head towards her voice. Even from this distance, it wasn't hard to hear the whisper. She had to be pretty scared to keep her voice down that much. 

   My only response was a small nod as I turned my focus back on the door. Tightening my fingers around it, I slowly started to pry the door open. It creaked and cried, bits of wood falling to the ground below me. My sister crepted closer with every inch, trying to see what was behind the door. Not much good came out of that however; it was pitch black on the inside.

   Nevertheless, it peaked our curiousity and we were ready to figure out this. As I finished opening the door, the whole thing just...came off. Nothing supported it from the beginning, by the looks of it. Should I have waited then?

   "Are you sure you still want to do this?" I couldn't help but ask that. Whatever was on the other side was not safe in the least. We both knew this by now, and we've both had time to regret what we've gotten ourself in to. I had to be sure she wanted to go through with it.

   All I got in response was a curt nod, and then we both moved into the darkness.