On a gigantic branch, a pale-skinned boy slept, peacefully lulled by the breath of the wind passing through the leaves. His black hair reached his earlobes, a white lock fell over his forehead, and a small beauty mark beneath his left eye gave his face a particular charm. Kenzo was sleeping deeply, his body finally resting after the colossal effort of the previous day, but his sleep eventually began to fade, and he slowly opened his eyes.
Barely awake, his gaze naturally turned toward the horizon, instinctively searching for the one thing he wanted to check first. – « Good… I can see it. »
The smoke.
It was now to the south of his position. Over the last two days, the fire and the smoke had moved farther away, but always in a straight line, in the direction he had predicted when he left the eighty-meter trunk to come to this tree. The trajectory remained consistent: someone was moving, slowly but surely.
Kenzo got up and stretched at length. He began warming himself up a little, rolling his shoulders, loosening his legs, then climbed down from the tree as quickly as his body allowed. He knew his day would be simple in appearance, but exhausting: run, keep running, and try to reach the smoke before the fog or the night stopped him.
Once on the ground, he took a deep breath. – « Here we go. »
He immediately took off toward the smoke.
Kenzo ran with all the focus he could muster. The ground was soft and uneven, littered with thick roots and broken branches that could easily make him trip if he wasn't careful. The wind moving through the forest lashed his face at regular intervals, and the density of the trees sometimes made the air vibrate in an almost strange way, as if invisible whispers were moving through it.
He could hear his own breathing in his ears, strong and rhythmic. His heart was pounding hard in his chest, but unlike the previous days, he felt stable, confident. The reinforcement granted by the Young Shoot's heart was still working through his muscles: he felt faster, lighter, almost made for running.
With every step, he felt the earth give slightly beneath his soles, but he found his balance quickly, as though his body finally understood how to adapt to the terrain. The black bark armor he had gained the day before absorbed the shocks and reduced the unpleasant friction. His breathing stabilized, and even though fatigue was present, it was no longer crushing.
What was new was that strange sensation in his mind. A faint perception. Almost an instinct.
He could weakly sense where certain Void Creatures were. A simple feeling in his mind, almost as if an invisible needle trembled in one direction whenever he got too close to one of them. It helped him avoid dangerous areas.
Still, he had to accept that his run would be far from a straight line. If he had been able to run without interruption and without detours, two hours would have been enough to reach the smoke. But he had to adapt, to constantly change direction, to go around zones where he clearly felt a creature waiting for him. He also knew that the Young Shoot he had killed had probably been unique in its behavior. It was alone because it was a Deviant… the others have to be at least in pairs… he thought, frowning. – « I can't see myself fighting two of those monsters at once. »
The forest was vast, alive, almost breathing. Sounds of cracking wood, rustling leaves, muffled footsteps sometimes echoed far away, but Kenzo stayed focused on his path. He had a clear objective now, and since he was finally in shape again, he was not going to let this chance slip away.
After several hours of running, he finally spotted a water source. He approached slowly, watching every corner of the area. Nothing moved, no Void presence could be felt. He took the opportunity to stop at last, bent down, and drank for a long time. The water was cool, almost icy. He took out the mushrooms he had kept from the previous days, ate them quickly, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
He breathed deeply. – « I feel good. »
Then he started running again.
This time his pace was even faster than before. His feet struck the ground hard, but his steps remained precise. He avoided obstacles without slowing down, sometimes slipping between two tightly packed trees, leaping over a fallen trunk, circling around an area he could feel was dangerous. He moved like a serpent without even using his ability.
After a while, he reached an area that immediately caught his attention: the trace of yesterday's fire. The ashes were completely cold, and the wood partly damp. The place had been abandoned for some time. Kenzo crouched down, ran a hand over the ground, and observed carefully.
Then he noticed something unsettling: a huge indentation in the earth, right beside the fire pit. As if something massive had settled there. – « The person wasn't alone… »
His gaze hardened. – « Is it even a person after all…? »
Doubt began to settle slowly into his mind. Something or someone was making fire. Something or someone was moving through this Fragment. But the traces did not really match an ordinary human presence.
He resumed running.
Two hours later, he reached the site of the camp from the day before yesterday. Once again, the ground showed clear traces that someone had stayed there. The wood was overturned, the grass flattened, the ashes scattered by the wind, and there was the same indentation in the earth. But this time, that was not all: Kenzo spotted several footprints in the dirt.
He straightened up immediately, his heart beating faster. – « They can't be very far anymore… »
He accelerated, his excitement growing despite himself. His heartbeat rose, the tension in his muscles too. He wanted to know. He had to know.
That was when he noticed the sky had turned gray. – « I've moved away from the zone of the giant trees… I wonder how tall the fog will be here… »
He swallowed. He did not really want to find out alone. At the very least, he wanted someone with whom to face all this, someone who could share the weight of that terrifying forest.
He accelerated again. His legs burned, his breathing grew louder, but he felt that he was getting closer. And finally, he saw a silhouette in the distance.
His heart leapt.
– « At this point I'm not in danger! » he thought, convinced that if it had been a Void Creature, it would already have thrown itself at him.
So he shouted: – « Hey! You there! Wait! Turn around! »
He was still about a hundred meters away, but the silhouette heard him and turned.
Kenzo ran closer, and when he could finally make the person out completely, he froze, his eyes widened, and his heart nearly skipped a beat.
– « Lucian??? »