You smile as your bare feet dig into the soft soil beneath you. Surrounding you were endless trees, winding vines and wild flowers. The smell was almost intoxicating due to all of the freshly bloomed flowers. For as long as you could remember, this forest had been your home, your place of peace.
You look down at your tattered and dirty clothes, a slight frown on your face. Usually you wouldn't be so bothered by such a thing, but the weather had begun to cool down and your clothes had holes in them. This wouldn't do you any good when winter came in. You never really liked being near your kind, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
You remove your feet from the nice and warm soil and begin to walk along the forest ground. You had majority of the whole forest mapped out, so you knew exactly where you were going. You didn't second guess any of the turns you took and moved forward with confidence. Most of the time you would jump around branch to branch, but you had recently hurt your wrist, and didn't want to injure it further.
As you walk you can hear splashing from the something messing around in the nearby lake. This indicated to you that there would be clothes waiting for you to take. When you peak your head out from a bush, you see that there were two men in the lake. They seemed to be in swimming trunks, so that meant that there should be clothes lying around somewhere.
You weren't sure what clothes would be there, but it would be better than what you were currently wearing. You keep your eye on the two men as you sneak up to the pile that was sitting on the grass by the lake. You notice a hoodie sitting on top of the pile, you grab the hoodie, which seemed to be quite thick and comfortable.
"Hey, what are you doing?!"
Your eyes snap up to see the blond man swimming towards you while the other yelled at you. Your eyes widen and you pull the hoodie over your head and slip your arms in. As soon as it was on you turn around and make a break for it. Before the man had gotten out of the lake you had gotten into the forest and climbed a tree.
You stay quiet as you watch the man enter the forest, looking around. The other man soon joins him.
"What did they take?" the blond asks.
"Just your hoodie." The dark haired one explains.
"What? Why would they take my hoodie?"
"Who cares, let's just-"
Before the man could finish talking he is interrupted when your slip, one of your legs slips from the branch you were holding on to. Your other leg hooks onto the branch and your arms wrap around it. A yelp escapes your lips as this happens.
"Hey, get down here and give my hoodie back!" the blond yells at you.
You whimper as you get yourself back on top of the branch. You look at the pair from underneath your messy hair. The blond yells at you again, causing you to jump across to another tree. You were scared and wanted to escape.
"Wait." The other man yells, although he was less angry sounding than the blond.
You pause and look back down at them.
"Do you live here, in the forest?" the dark haired man asks.
You don't say anything but nod in reply. The man seems to think for a moment before his eyes light up.
"Oh, it's getting into winter," the man begins, "you must need warmer clothes."
You nod once again.
"Well, how about you come down here and we can help you."
You weren't sure if could trust the two; you take one look at the blond before shaking your head. The first man looks over at the blond and nudges him.
"I won't hurt you," he says, "You can keep the hoodie."
You stare at the pair for a moment before beginning to descend. You grab a branch with your injured hand. You let out another yelp as you let go and clutch your hand to your chest. That's when you noticed your mistake. You scream as you fall from the tree, the wind whipping through your hair. Just as you felt you were about to slam onto the ground, you fall on something soft.
You peek your eyes open to see that the blond man had caught you. Your eyes widen and you struggle in his grip.
"Hey, calm down," the blond groans, "otherwise I'll drop you."
That stops you moving. The blond sighs and sets you down on your feet.
"For someone who lives in the forest, you're very bad at climbing trees." The blond states.
"Dirk, I think they're injured." The dark haired one tell the blond, who you assume was called Dirk.
Dirk looks down at the hand you have clutched to your chest.
"Oh."
You take a step back away from the strangers. The last time you had been this close to people you had ended up with too many injuries to count.
"Hey, it's okay," the dark haired man tries to comfort you, "we won't hurt you. I'm Jake."
"(Y/N)." you tell them your name.
"So (y/n), why are you living in the forest?" Jake asks you.
"I.... don't know." You mumble.
The pair takes a moment before one of them replies.
"Well, do you want to come with us?" Jake asks.
You frown and shake your head, taking a few small steps back. Before either of the men could say anything you turn around and run off.
"Hey, wait up!" you hear Jake call.
But you don't turn around and keep running. You have never trusted people and you never will. No matter how much you wanted to, you couldn't take the chance. As quickly as you could you climb up the tree, although your arm was injured.
"(Y/n)!" you hear Jake call out once again.
"I don't think she's coming back, Jake." Dirk explains.
You hear some more talking before you hear them walk off. Once you knew they were gone, you descend from the tree. You slink back to where they were previously, where there was a bag full of clothes sitting in the middle of the opening. You grab the bag and go off to find your small hut.
'Thank you, strangers.'
