Kiyo sprinted between the trees along the frayed gravel path. In the distance, a hefty crunch of leaves stomped out in some creature's wake was all the boy had to go off of. Its rapid aggressive charge between the thick wicket of the treeline was a near blur to the naked eye. But Kiyo had to push forward, there was no second-guessing himself. He had to find Daisuke.

“Daisuke!” Haphazard breaths squeezed their way out of Kiyo’s lungs. “Where are you?” He yelled through cupped hands, his face creased from anxious jitters that rippled across his body.

Snap! Crack!

Branches broke beneath Kiyo’s every step, his pace increased in the life-or-death chase to catch up to the noise. Cutting through the wind, his gaze locked onto his surroundings. Only trees could be seen in the dreary atmosphere within the woods. The road beneath him wearing thin as it drew close to its end. The farthest any workers dared to go into the forest.

“Daisuke!” Kiyo shouted, voice growing hoarse.

Up ahead lay the deepest concern within the moment. The edge of the paved route; the track used to get back home to escape any imminent danger. Beyond it unknown and unmarked land.

He slowed down and came to a halt at the end of the pathway and tried to spot any hint of Daisuke’s presence. Nothing. A slight wave of exhaustion settled in as stress built into Kiyo’s chest. Spinning around he peered through every narrow gap between the trees yet only came up empty-handed. Unable to find his friend, he found himself completely alone in the forest.

“Daisuke! I’m over here!” Kiyo cried out at the top of his lungs. Cupping his hands over his mouth, he gave a last-ditch effort to draw Daisuke back. A way to calm his worries while not having to go any deeper, to stay away from his greatest fears. The unknown.

Silence. No response returned with the wind blowing through the wisps above, their sweet call too enticing to make out another’s voice. For most. 

“Kiyo!” Daisuke called out in the distance, his voice wavered by desperation.

Kiyo jerked his head forward and stared into the mesh of trees. No carved route between them, only bits of vass alongside the sporadic tangles of roots. A difficult walk for the ordinary person alone, but the looming threat tipped the scale in favor of the forest. The creatures drooled from hunger, antsy to jump their prey within this enclosed space. A human death trap.

As his breaths grew quicker, the realization set in. Where he was and the infinite possibilities behind what could be lurking out there, waiting for the right moment to strike him down. Riddled with nervous shudders from head to toe, Kiyo stumbled back toward the path. It was his one chance of definite survival. But he couldn’t leave his friend behind. Could he?

Kiyo fell ever so still and stood there for a few moments, mind stuck debating what to do. He was too young to think rationally, too childish to contrive an actual plan of action. Yet through it all, the call of his friend was enough to tug at his heart. Fueled by a desire to take off and help Daisuke regardless of what lay beyond his sight.

Sucking in a few quick breaths, Kiyo pumped himself up. His body rejuvenated with a little confidence boost to muffle the stress within, the loud thumping in his head. Running low on time he made the decision, and so he ran.

Crunch-crunch-crunch! Crack! Snap!

Each step weighed down by purpose as he darted toward his loose idea of where his friend was. Fingers clenched tight into his palms, he grasped onto that single fleeting hope. A lonesome callout of distress. Daisuke’s voice freely carried along the wind.

Kiyo couldn’t lose his only friend, his only source of happiness.

“Daisuke!”

“Kiyo!” Daisuke yelled back, his voice distant and washed out.

Kiyo could only bolt in that direction without hesitation; worry fresh on his brow. His hair flew back into the wind with each sudden charge toward Daisuke. Only stagnant as he briefly paused to call his friend's name.

“Daisuke!”

Nothing. Silence filled the air as Kiyo spun around, but there was no movement in sight among the trees. Exhausted he slumped over against a rugged tree, hands keeping himself up as they propped onto his knees. He wheezed through the dire strain to regain his composure enough to continue running, to find his friend. That’s all that mattered at the moment.

Whoosh!

Kiyo’s head flew back as he stared at the forest in front of him. A little thrown off by the scurry of wisps tossed into the air, he peered into the beeline footpath left in their wake. A clear route that trailed off between trees away from him. The tracks covered as the wisps swayed in the air back down to earth.

Tluck-Tluck-Tluck.

 A few subtle clicks bounced off the trees into Kiyo’s ears, an unearthly noise that blocked out the blessed whistle of the wisps above. Kiyo scanned the area in front of him for any movement, for any living thing in the midst. But it was empty, lifeless.

Nothing but brittle dead wood trees filled his view, the forest's edge far out of sight. He was lost. Fear set in as he found himself unable to spot the path, to see his friend, to get out. Panic twisted in his stomach into knots, chest pounding from the stress he put off.

Eyes broadened and lips quivering, Kiyo pressed back against the tree to spot whatever was near him. The creature was still out of sight, but Kiyo could feel it. Hairs raised on end, goosebumps popped up across his paled skin. All he could do was wait for the creature to appear, to come to him. It was only a matter of time.

Thump!

“Daisuke?” Kiyo muttered sluggishly, face paler than usual.

Without warning a flurry of footsteps ran up from behind, Kiyo was too stricken with fear to look as he shook against the tree. But he had to. Head slowly turning over his right shoulder, his chin brushed against his tattered overshirt as he peeked at the presence behind him. There was nothing there, an empty lane of trees all he could see.

Whoosh! Snap!

A sudden presence dropped from above, feet planted into the mesh of roots. Kiyo jumped forward from the burst of noise, face reeled back in terror.

“Gotcha!” Daisuke shouted amusedly, delight tugging at the corners of his lips.

Kiyo’s heart nearly burst from his chest at the yell from behind. Petrified, he stumbled forward onto all fours. Beneath his impact, a pile of wisp leaves and gravel scattered out across the ground. His palms were torn open from the serrated bits of rock he fell upon, blood wiped off on his tight sun-dried leather leggings.

“Your face, I can’t believe it!” Daisuke blurted out to his heart’s content.

He bent forward and clutched at his stomach, unable to contain his laughter. Kiyo rolled onto his back and glared at Daisuke between the loose golden fray in his hair. Still recovering from the momentary trauma, he remained stunned in confusion. His face was left colorless from the fear that overwhelmed him.

Wiping the sweaty grin off his face, Daisuke stretched out his arm down toward Kiyo.

“Did you really not see me?”

Kiyo batted away Daisuke’s hand and thrust himself upright. A little sniffle of fright snuck out of his nose, with it a dribble of mucus.

“No. I did,” Kiyo groaned as he cleaned off the bits of grime stuck to his skin.

“No, you didn’t. I watched you run all the way here,” Daisuke said adamantly, joy still present in his cheeks.

Daisuke brushed his hands through his hair and rinsed out all of the little clumps of sweat. The golden tips of his bangs glistened in the heavenly sunlight. Kiyo faltered back amidst his weariness into a tree, too exhausted to think it all through, and stared aimlessly into the canopy.

The crispy yellow wisps flowed back and forth alongside the swift breeze that blew over the forest. It was a brief distraction from the overwhelming dread biting at Kiyo’s ruptured mind. Teeth chattering relentlessly, he clamped his lips shut and huffed out his anxiety through his nose. But he couldn’t shake the various noises that echoed around him, each more frightening than the last.

Not sure if it was just in his head or nearby in the real world, Kiyo curled his legs into his chest. All the shifts in pitches were too much to keep up with against the beating of his heart. The immense anxiety within, flashbacks of home sent aches through his head.

But still, it all could’ve been due to Daisuke’s inability to be quiet.

“Anyway. Kiyo, we’re here! In the woods!” Daisuke exclaimed with wide open arms. Kiyo just nodded silently, his mind still encapsulated by the natural setting overhead.

“How much farther do you think we could get? I bet we can see one of those flesh things now. They have to be close.”

“I don’t know.” Kiyo moaned in disdain, his headache only swelling.

“Oh come on. Guess at least. Like, I bet there’s one less than an eighth of a turn away. At least.”

“Daisuke.”

“Look over there. I swear I saw something. Look, look!” Daisuke said joyfully with a firm point.

“Can we go home?” Kiyo moaned as he slumped down to the base of the tree.

“What?” Daisuke uttered, face crinkled in bewilderment by Kiyo’s abrupt request.

Turning around slowly, Daisuke peered down at Kiyo, eyes stretched wide in disbelief. Kiyo rubbed his head back against the tree, the desire to rid himself of the forest-only building.

“But . . . we just got here?” Daisuke waned pitifully.

“It looks like it might rain,” Kiyo pointed out with a loose lanky gesture toward the sky.

Daisuke followed Kiyo’s pointer finger up to the now cloudy heavens above, the pleasant atmosphere now turned bitter. The earlier clear blue skies were overrun with brutal ash-gray storm clouds lined with a rancid pinkish glow. It was an acid rain storm.

Thunder boomed into their ears and sent a jolt of perturbation throughout their bodies. Daisuke let out a short grunt of heated air from his mouth. Disappointment flooded his face as they continued to gaze into the fragmented sky, plans dashed by an overcast storm front. 

“See?” Kiyo butt in relaying the obvious.

“Yeah, I’m gonna go look a little more.”

“What do you-” Kiyo couldn’t even finish as Daisuke turned around with slight vigor in his step. The early rinse of amusement by the new land around them drowned out Kiyo’s words. Each of them was a downer in Daisuke’s eyes.

“Don’t run off again,” Kiyo called out.

Crunch! Crunch! Snap! Crunch!

It was useless as Daisuke chose to ignore him, his body drifting between the tree line, gone within minutes.

Daisuke’s footsteps munched through the vass, and step by step he ran off. Deeper into the woods to explore it all. Kiyo hung his head over his lap and sighed, mentally and physically worn thin. Mind left hanging on a string.

“Daisuke!” Kiyo yelled sickly. 

The burning in his chest only intensified as he watched his friend fade into the thicket, gone in the blink of an eye. Body weaving between trees he disappeared deeper between the splintered dead woods.

“Daisuke . . .”

No response. Only the mild crunch of wisps echoed back with every step. Kiyo left to clutch onto his ribs as frantic streaks of pain swelled across his body. He gasped for air as he clung to life. His vision blurred, face beat red by the fever consuming him from an unknown illustrious agony.

He toppled onto his side, face cushioned by the jagged gravel. Kiyo stared at Daisuke’s maroon blood-wrapped skinned hide as he merged with the horizon. A muddled blurb vanished between the trees, just gone.

Anguish settled in as Kiyo silently wept, no sound accompanying his tears as they streamed across his face. He was isolated and yearning for the torture to end. To have his friend come back.

But it only grew worse.

The flurry of emotions within him gained traction, and a sharp sting pulsated across his skin. It jolted into his ears, hands clenched onto them as he sprawled around on the ground. Gravel and wisps dispersed into the air.

Like an abrasive heartbeat berating his eardrum, his brain became inflamed by the irritable noise. He gritted his teeth to brace the misery, but one thought overrode it all. His eyes peeled open, pools of water rushing in from his eyelids. Looking for an answer. Where’s Daisuke?

BANG!

The collision vibrated throughout the forest, loud enough to snap Kiyo out of his daze. He slowly propped himself on his elbows, dragging his right arm across his face to wipe off the dried tears. A little whimper hiccuped out of his mouth as he glanced toward the sound, toward where Daisuke ran to.