They moved into the trees, step by slow step.
After the turn, the ground stopped climbing, spreading wide under a roof of trees. Light slipped through gaps up high, dappled and pale where it reached the dirt.
Ethan moved forward, scanning left then right, his gaze steady across each shape around him.
Andrew followed, his footsteps soft on the path. Silence hung around him. His hands stayed buried deep in his coat pockets.
Neither of them spoke.
It was the mountain that did the talking instead. High above, birds moved through leaves. A branch groaned now and then as wind pushed it sideways. Dirt gave underfoot with each step they took.
Quiet never bothered Ethan. His eyes moved without pause, taking in each thing nearby.
Their footsteps carried on, steady beneath their boots, tracing paths between tree trunks with no map or plan. Motion pulled them forward, not choice.
They went deeper, where light thinned and roots twisted across the soil. The village lay behind them now, distant and muffled, as if remembered from another life.
Farther on, the woods grew less dense. Trees stood farther apart up ahead.
It hit Ethan first, not Andrew. The earth dropped away.
There, ahead, the trail vanished into nothing - just air meeting horizon where rock gave way to blue.
A cliff.
Ethan walked straight toward it and stopped right at the edge.
The sight hit him before he could think.
Green covered everything. From where he stood, tree after tree spread across the horizon. Up high, it seemed like a sea made of leaves, shifting softly over hills and valleys.
Empty air hung above - no clouds at all. Not a single structure broke the view. Paths were missing. All traces of towns or cities simply gone. This place held only silence and trunks thick with time.
He stayed there, eyes fixed on the view before him.
He had seen forests before, but never like this. Not glimpsed through glass, nor framed by city paths. Here it stretched wide open, with nothing between his eyes and the canopy below.
It caught him off guard.
"Hey!"
Andrew's voice cut through the air from behind him, quick and pressing.
"Do you want to die? Get away from the edge. Now."
Ethan heard him. Every word landed clear. But his body refused to respond. Not a single muscle moved. His gaze stayed fixed on the forest stretching beneath him.
"Come check this out, Andrew," Ethan called, staying where he was. "Just look at what's ahead."
"Hey." Andrew's voice was louder this time. "Didn't you hear what I said?"
There was a pause before Andrew spoke again.
"If something happens to you, Mom is going to kill me."
Ethan turned his head and looked back at his brother.
Andrew stood frozen a few steps back from the edge, his features tight with that familiar expression Ethan had seen before.
Worry curled beneath the surface, even though he acted irritated. That particular frown never fooled anyone who had watched him long enough.
Ethan looked at him for a moment, then turned back to the view. The quiet stretched between them like a held breath.
His brother was familiar. Yet never fully known, not once in all those shared years under one roof.
Things stayed tucked behind Andrew's voice - the way he'd speak like Mom was always watching. What he truly thought? Almost never spoken aloud.
Still, Ethan saw right through the whole act.
What mattered to Andrew showed up sideways. His concern wore a different face every time.
Instead of warmth, he offered logic dressed as caution. Years back, Ethan caught the pattern. It wasn't distance - it was delivery.
Funny how he'd nag, like clockwork, every time Ethan stepped near rain without a coat. A bit much, really - hovering when there was no need.
Still, Ethan held him close in his thoughts, always. Quiet truth sat between them, unspoken but clear: Andrew's care ran just as deep.
Funny how he kept hoping Andrew might unwind now and then.
Ethan got down on his knees right at the edge where the land dropped off into nothing. He peered over the lip, gaze fixed below.
A sudden idea appeared in his head.
He looked back at Andrew, who was staying put well away from the edge. He had no intention of moving any closer.
The concern in his eyes? Still there. Worse now, really, after seeing Ethan drop down onto his knees.
Behind him, Andrew's footsteps had gone quiet.
He paused. Then the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
"Andrew, come look at this," he said, a spark in his tone, turning his head back toward his brother. "Two bears are fighting down there."
"Hey, what are you doing?" Andrew's voice was loud again. "Get back here."
"Just come and look," Ethan said, turning back to the cliff edge. "It's very messy down there."
A hush came from the space at his back.
"What are you talking about?" Andrew's voice dropped, his tone losing its edge, shifting toward confusion. "Creatures like that don't exist out here."
"Come and see for yourself," Ethan said simply.
He stayed still, gaze fixed beyond the rim, waiting.
Another silence. This one stretched farther than before.
Then behind him, a noise crept up from where he had just walked.
Crunch. Each step landed light, dragging through dust. Not fast - measured, like something watching where it treads.
Andrew was walking toward the edge.
Ethan kept his eyes forward and said nothing. His brother was close enough now - he would see what Ethan was actually looking at.
Footsteps drew nearer.