Never Knew

Nature

Ayame's Point of View

I was alerted as I heard leaves crackle around me.

"It seems that your own body forced you to sleep." Said Tesshu as he looked down to me.

"What...happened?" I said as I opened my eyes. "When did I end up sleeping?!" I asked, I didn't even remember falling asleep?

"It was not me, so how would I know?" He said as he kept walking. "Sometimes the body can over power the mind."

All I remember was sitting and watching the moon, I didn't remember falling asleep or even moving?

"Come on, it is time to go." Tesshu said.

I got up and got ready to leave.

I felt like something was off... but I couldn't quite name what it was. It was as if there was a shift in the environment.

I brushed the feeling off and tried to gather my thoughts.

We began to walk.

"Where to now, since we have not found Rikimaru?" He asked.

I sighed.

I knew that looking for Rikimaru was uncertain, but for some odd reason, I thought I would find him. I didn't want to return without him, but something felt different, I felt that I was needed back at the village.

"I have to return back to Gohda castle, something is telling me that I need to return." I said as I stopped walking. I looked down at my palm, the cut was still healing. There was a scab forming and I could feel it. I tried to stretch my hand so that I could get used to the pain.

"Very well, I will accompany you to the village and leave once I see that everything is back in order." Tesshu nodded.

"Alright." I said as we started walking again.

It was early, so if we don't make any stops, we should be at Gohda castle by night fall. With whatever I was feeling, the sooner I could get there, the better.

I watched as the colors of the sky changed as the sun rose. I could feel the breeze of the wind brushing through my fingers and hair. The sky was clear and there was hardly any clouds in sight.

"There is a big storm coming." Said Tesshu.

"What are you talking about? The sky is clear, how could you say there is a storm coming? I mean, there's barely any clouds."

He smirked and then took a deep breath as he shrugged. "Nature can be similar to people, you can assume you will know what is going on to happen from what you see with your eyes. When in reality, there could be a complete and drastic change within a short amount of time, and you would have never known." He paused. "We can know seasons and assume how the weather will be, but it does not mean that the weather will be that way. I've seen it rain in the winter, and I've seen drought in the spring. Nature can be unpredictable, but sometimes, if you really focus on little things, you can pick up the signals that nature sends us."

"Look, all I know is that the weather is clear, and that I need to go back to Gohda castle, storm or no storm" I said.

"Just because you may want that, does not mean that nature will allow it, but what do I know? I'm just here to make sure you get back to the village."

The walk back felt so long and endless. It felt like no matter how many steps I took, I was not going very far.

My mind began to wonder as I walked. I could feel the blood circulating in my palm, the cut still stung.

Where was Rikimaru?

Why was Kagami expecting him?

Why do I feel this gut feeling to return back to Gohda castle?

Is Princess Kiku okay?

Is Lord Gohda safe?

Hundreds of question began to flood my mind.

"Ayame." Tesshu whispered.

I snapped back into reality as I felt his hand on my shoulder. I saw Tesshu motion for me to duck and he placed his finger over his mouth so I knew to stay silent. We had finally returned to the forest, so we were ahead of where I thought.

Tesshu motioned that we move behind some trees. I looked at him and made a face to indicate my confusion. I was trying to understand what was going on.

I heard steps coming towards us and some mumbles. There were people coming towards us. I aimed my grappling hook to a branch so I could hide in the tree. Tesshu silent moved around the tree and slowly climbed up.

As I stealthily hid in the tree, I moved my hand to move a branch and it reopened my cut. I felt the sting throughout my hand and I held in my pain so I wouldn't make a noise. I moved my hand up to look at the cut clearly. As I looked at it, I noticed the sun beaming down on me. I took off the cloth around my hand which was bleeding.

I felt the brush of the wind swing through my fingers, and my cut. It felt as if the atmosphere was suddenly changing.