Trekking Through the Forest

Westley limped over and collapsed in front of Arlo. His face was pale and his veins pulsed with a tinge of black. He had been struck by the bee's poison.

Arlo gasped and kneeled down to support him.

"Westley! How could this happen?"

Westley felt his highness' shaky hands supporting him and felt awful. He was supposed to support him, not the other way around, but as he lost sensation throughout his body he felt fear. A deep fear from the darkest place in his heart. He felt fear that he would die too early, and not be able to complete the mission his King had sent him on.

"It's my fault. I was careless." When he was struck with the poison, he knew he wouldn't survive. He planned to succumb to the poison on the battlefield and leave Arlo in the hands of the soldiers, but when he heard Arlo begging the veterans to escort him to make the antidote, a chance for survival appeared.

Perhaps he was delusional from the affects of the poison, but he felt that sending Arlo into the forest would be safe. After all, they had just wiped out a large amount of creatures so the sounds of battle probably scared away anything in the vicinity.

This was how he was going to convince the veterans and rationalize his decision.

"You all look capable. We should have taken out the most dangerous creatures in the area so you should be able to assure his safety. Take a few more men if you want."

Not that he didn't like Arlo. In fact, he almost treated Arlo as his son. Everyday, he trained and supported the young Prince. Even if he didn't like him, he would have eventually just from being around him so much.

"Please hurr-" Just as he was about to plead for them to hurry, he looked up. Whited-over pupils filled with concern, plastered onto a determined but adorable face stared back at him.

"Don't worry uncle Westley, I'll go get the antidote right now. Just hold out until I get back, okay?"

He watched from the floor as Arlo called for some soldiers to carry him into his tent, and then walked into the forest under the protection of five veteran soldiers.

As the soldiers placed him on top of the soft pelt of an animal, he realized that they had mistakenly placed him on the young master's bed.

"You've got it wrong, my bed is over there."

The soldier shook his head while covering him up with another luxurious animal fur.

"The Prince's orders. He said specifically that you should rest here."

Westley's face paled even more than it already was, and a sinking feeling appeared in his chest.

'I've done something horrible.'

-

As Arlo stepped past the tree line it seemed as if he had entered a new world. No longer was there a view of the light blue sky nor the feeling of the flat dirt road.

This place was filled with sounds of chirping and buzzing. Vines hung down from the innumerable branches that formed a canopy above them. The canopy trapped condensation inside the forest, leaving a layer of dew on all the plants.

After walking through for just a minute, their clothes were soaked and it looked like they had gone swimming instead.

The veterans grumbled at this but Arlo sped through without even noticing. His senses were turned to maximum trying to find the necessary ingredients to make the antidote potion. He jogged through the forest while perfectly circumventing any dangerous creatures.

As he sped through the dense foliage, sticks cocked back like a bow and smacked into his ankles. Bushes with thorns struck mercilessly, leaving tears and trails of blood throughout his white robe.

He had never been into a forest before and wanted to stop and marvel at all the beautiful sights, but the thought of Westley and the other soldiers prevented him. As an apprentice poison maker he knew a lot about poisons, and based on how quickly it took affect on Westley he knew he didn't have much time if he wanted to save them.

He passed by many plants after only a brief glance. Yellow, with petals. White with eyes. Some with thorns, and some even had holes that sprayed a pink gas when he moved near them.

He started to worry if he would even have enough time, then he saw it. A tree larger than any other stood in the distance. It had multiple vines twisted around it's body, and out of those vines grew pink stars.

The pink stars were the main ingredient he needed to make the antidote. As long as he got those, everything would be okay.

In his excitement, he dashed over, wishing nothing more than to feel the herb in his hands when he started to fall. The tree that was just out of reach flew higher and higher until all he could see was black.

He slammed hard on the ground, and a crack echoed throughout the space. Due to the shock from the fall, he was unable to brace himself and ended up landing on his foot. The pain shot through him as he struggled to take a breath.

He rocked back and forth on the cold stone surface, gasping for air. As a young boy of only four years old, as well as the Prince of a small Kingdom, this was the most pain he had ever been in. He struggled to manage the pain as the world spun around him and black dots filled his vision.

'No I can't pass out! Everyone's still waiting for me! Westley's still waiting for me!'

As the only apprentice to the three-star Poison Master Zed, he couldn't fail here! If word got out that he was unable to make an antidote in time resulting in the deaths of so many soldiers, his master's reputation would be ruined!