The "yes" slipped from Alara's lips more like a resigned sigh than a conscious decision.She still felt her heart racing—not out of fear, not out of courage, but from a deep unease she couldn't quite name.Maybe it was just stupidity.
Kalel simply nodded once and turned, starting to walk ahead as if her answer had been obvious."Not even a 'thank you'?" Alara muttered.
She had followed him; there would be no turning back after getting into the car toward an unknown destination. Her sharp eyes observed the scenery through the window, a small mischievous smile curving her rosy lips."Is this like one of those movies with camp flag wars?" she asked curiously, glancing at the boy.
Kalel remained silent, shooting her a tired glance, making her huff.The car came to a halt, and Alara looked around, raising her eyebrows in confusion.The driver wore a mischievous grin, as if suggesting something utterly perverted. After all, what would two young people be doing entering a forest alone?
"What are you looking at?" she snapped at the driver, her voice sharp.Alara was ready to start a full-blown argument with the so-called "pervert" when Kalel clamped a hand over her mouth, giving the man a faint smile before thanking him and stepping out of the vehicle.
"Could you not be so... loud?" Kalel asked.
Alara didn't have time to argue back; he was already disappearing into the forest.She looked at the dense woods with a long sigh. She was already regretting agreeing to this madness.Where was her head when she decided to follow someone she had practically met yesterday?
"Aren't you coming?" Kalel called.
The first thing she noticed was that Kalel walked as if he had been born in that forest—silent steps, relaxed body, easily dodging twisted roots and low branches like he was part of that world.Meanwhile, Alara...
She tripped over the first trunk she tried to cross."Wonderful," she thought, rubbing her bruised ankle while Kalel kept walking, seemingly unaware.
The forest was dense, the trees so close together that the sky was barely visible. The little light that filtered through created silver patches on the damp ground, as if ghosts were moving around them.Alara shivered.She hated forests.She hated plants.She hated walking.
"Why didn't I stay at the hotel? Why didn't I hide in the closet? Why—?"
CRACK.A branch snapped under her foot, loud enough to wake half the forest.Kalel stopped and turned to look at her.Alara raised her hands innocently."Oops."
He said nothing. He just turned back around and kept walking."He must hate me," she thought, biting her lip. "Great. I'm killing it."
As they advanced, the forest seemed to change.The trees bent over them, creating natural tunnels.Soft whispers traveled through the leaves—like the very air was telling forbidden secrets.The shadows stretched longer, even without any change in the light.And still, Kalel looked completely calm.
Meanwhile, Alara was quietly spiraling into panic."He probably has night vision. Bet he's some alien cat hybrid or something."
While lost in her thoughts, a furry creature—maybe a demon squirrel—ran over her foot.Alara screamed.A high-pitched, desperate scream.
Kalel stopped again, looking back.She cleared her throat."It was just... a very aggressive rock."
Kalel blinked slowly, like he no longer had any expectations from life.Alara's face burned.
"Perfect. Now I'm the joke of the forest. If these trees could talk, they'd be laughing at me."
After half an hour, Alara was sweaty, scratched, and covered in tiny cuts.Her hair, once neatly styled in the last town, was now a nest of leaves and twigs.She let out a loud huff.
"How many calories have I burned? Can I count this as a lifetime workout?"
She sat down on a rock, breathing heavily, pulling out a water bottle from her backpack and gulping greedily.Her lungs burned, her legs screamed for mercy.
"What?" she snapped when she saw Kalel staring. "You think I can't handle this?"She jumped up dramatically and started walking again, stubbornly following Kalel, who only looked confused by her sudden burst of energy.
The terrain started getting steeper, but Alara, in her usual stubbornness, decided it was a great idea to overtake Kalel and "prove" she could be fast too.She picked up her pace, swinging her backpack awkwardly as she passed him on the left.Kalel just raised an eyebrow, not changing his stride.
"Go slow," he warned in that neutral tone that carried no real concern."Relax! I know what I'm doing!" Alara boasted...
Right before the ground disappeared from under her feet.
She didn't even have time to scream.The cliff, hidden under leaves and roots, swallowed her like a hungry beast.One second she was running, the next—plop!—she was airborne, flailing like a ragdoll.
"AAAAAH!"
Kalel, right behind her, instinctively reached out to grab her—a terrible idea.As he caught her wrist, her momentum yanked him along, sending him tumbling headfirst down the hill.
It was pure chaos:First, Alara rolled over Kalel.Then, Kalel spun in the air like a fallen log, crashing into a bush.Next, they became a tangled mess—arms, legs, backpacks—forming a mass of screams, broken branches, and flying mud.
Every rock found a bone.Every root tried to snag their clothes.And gravity, merciless as ever, dragged them further down.
"I— I— I HATE NATURE—" Alara tried to yell, only to be cut off as she slammed her back into a jutting mound of earth and bounced forward like a sack of potatoes.Kalel beside her let out small grunts—more of resignation than pain.
After what felt like an eternity (or five chaotic seconds), the world finally stopped spinning.Silence fell over the forest.
The two of them lay sprawled on their backs, covered in mud, leaves, and scratches, staring blankly at the sky.Alara let out a muffled groan.
"...am I alive?"
Kalel blinked slowly, trying to process what had just happened.And then... he laughed.
At first, a short, rough sound—as if he had forgotten how to laugh.Then, a low, warm chuckle that filled the heavy forest air like an unexpected breeze.
Alara turned her head toward him, incredulous."You're... you're laughing at me?"
Kalel turned his head to her, a smile still playing on his lips, and simply said:"At both of us."
She huffed, crossing her arms awkwardly (since half her body felt like jelly)."Great. Now I'm humiliated and the punchline."
Kalel laughed again, louder this time.Alara tried to look angry—but it was impossible not to laugh too.
They lay there, laughing like fools, as if for a brief moment, all the world's shadows had forgotten to chase them.It was a fall.A ridiculous, painful, dirty fall.
But for Alara, it was also the first real step... toward something she couldn't yet name.The beginning of an adventure she was only starting to glimpse.