Boy in the woods(1)

I sat in the living room on my grass bed, which doubled in size over the years. It really was pretty comfortable. It's been hours since papa ventured deeper into the forest, it was something akin to a habit he did that started after mom's death. However, something seemed a little weird. He'd only be out for about 30 minutes, but this time was much longer.

'Hmm, did he get lost, it's nighttime too' I thought, peering at the moon from the window. The hour of the moon is essentially when the moon forest becomes a living hell. Monsters wreak havoc like crazy. When the sun rises, the ground and trees would have pools of blood splattered everywhere.

'But, I've gotten stronger so I won't be in danger if I head out a bit….oooh maybe I CAN TRY TO HUNT A BIG ONE' I thought jumping up from the grass bed. "That way, papa can be happy and finally get some relief for once...hmmm what should I catch?" I puffed my cheeks and tilted my head left and right.

Most monsters I caught were already well known. The only way to fix this was to go deeper. I felt a shiver. The End Zone. It was the largest section of the forest, much larger than the Hollow Grove area. A place where the moon refuses to shine, sometimes when I was near the area, it would look pitch black, not a sound could be heard there. I always felt alarm bells ringing in my ears each time I approached.

I opened the door, an ominous Crrreeeak echoing, and peeked outside. White fog had settled upon the ground, the trees in the forests looked bleak and pale. The air smelled of decaying flesh and blood, stifling the atmosphere. The pungent tang oozed from every direction, finding fresh air was pointless. I stepped outside and closed the door quietly.

In the dense shadows, I saw no movements. Not a sound could be heard, it was as if the forest was still, like time freezing over.

``Weird, the smell and fog is normal….but...why is it so quiet?' I decided to trek cautiously and hopped in the trees, cautious of making a loud sound. I moved with haste, the trees blurring like after images. Thanks to my eyesight, I was still able to scour the land regardless of the speed I was going in.

' nope….not here...or there….not here either' I looked frantically for even an insect, but I couldn't find a single monster. There was something else, I felt more restless than usual like my skin was tingling. I sharpened my eyes yet still saw nothing.

I didn't know what this feeling was, but it felt similar to a foreboding, like something deadly was approaching, but it wasn't directed towards me.

[Mono 1]: We have to find papa quick, something bad is coming!

[Mono 2]: Maybe a quick snack wouldn't hurt…

[Mono 5]: OOOOH, what if papa's been hurt, worst yet, kidnapped, nononononononono!

I stepped up the pace and searched some more, but then, a small whiff caught in my nose.

"???!!!!"

I stopped immediately.

It had a sweet smell.

'OOH, could it be papa? I only know him to have that sweet smell!!"

But, it wasn't just one smell. One was much fainter, while the other was nearby, the only problem was that the rotten decayed smell was quite putrid and strong, almost masking the two. If it wasn't for my good nose, I might have missed it.

[Mono 5]: OOOOOH! AWESOME *Claps*

"Mufufu, of course !" I nodded confidently.

I dashed towards the source of the smell. 'Hmmm? This is…' The direction I was going wasn't even deep in the Hollow grove, instead, I was going the opposite direction where the Greeney section lay.

[mono 1]: Need to find papa, he might be in danger!

'Right, maybe I should stop….'

[Mono:2]: MAYBE ITS FOOD!!

' Hmm, I am a little hungry, ooh what if it's a new ranked monster!'

[Mono 3]: GAHAHAAA, lET'S SEE SOME FRESH BLOOD YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEA!!!!

" um….'

[Mono 4]: oooh, what if it's a poor lost soul…

' Haha, maybe it's just needless worry, there's no way an idiot would come in these woods, this is a fantasy novel but have a little realism.'

As I chuckled silently to myself, the sweet scent led me to the entry zone of the hollow grove. There lay a small boy whose body was covered in small scratches and bruises. Some were red and bleeding others were turning a pale blue looking swollen.

'EH!?" I exclaimed in surprise.

[ Mono 4]: AHAHA GO ME!

[Mono 3]: Tch

[Mono 1]: Why would a child be here?

I shook my head out of my daze.

The small boy was sitting under a broken tree stump that looked like it was cut in half by a monster. I looked around, but the stillness of the atmosphere was still there, not a single monster in sight.

' Was it a Scythe Manti?'

a large bug-like creature that blended in with the bark of the trees. They lived towards the exits of the greenery. They had large sickles as sharp as swords and sliced things in half without a moment's notice. I had a few scuffles with those things myself, it's best to have a good eye if you ever want to catch them by surprise. Like all bugs, nothing but pests.

I tilted my head and stared at the boy who was still crying.

' oooh, he's quite cute!' I felt a pang as I squealed inside. The boy had light brown hair, akin to chestnuts. His face was a little red, as if being in the sun for too long, but he still had fair skin. He was quite cute, a couple of years later and he'd be a hit with the girls!.

He wore a white cotton shirt that was laced with holes. Patched suspenders were attached to his shorts, one of the buttons was missing, causing the suspender straps to fall. He looked to be about 1-2 years younger than me.

' OOOH, he's a farmer boy! My first human in soooo long, well my second but he's my first because he's around my age!. Wow, I'm feeling a little nostalgic for some reason haha.' I admired him for a little while longer.

' Welp, too bad he's an idiot for coming here. you reap what you sow, I'm already busy as is' I shrugged and was about to turn back around…

" Sniff...sniff….mom...it hurts" I flinched.

'Wait, those lines….' Somewhere deep in my head, I recalled lines which I read from the book, My heart pounded as I slowly turned and faced the crying boy.

' next, he says…'

>I wish I wasn't so weak<

OOOOOH, MARBLES!!! It was him. The small boy before me was the main character of the novel!