I slowly open my eyes and look around. Golden light is pouring into the icy cavern as birds sing happily outside. I yawn a little. This was a really good sleep! But also, I’ve had such a weird dream. The ramp stopped, so we must be at the top. I get up happily and do a little stretching. Blake is still sleeping, so I poke his face gently to wake him up.

“What the. Stop that!” he says with an amused expression.

I poke him again with an evil grin.

“Ok! Ok! I’m up! See?” he asks as he gets up and does a grandiose gesture.

“Hahaha! Yeah, I see!”

“Ooof! I’m starving! Wish I’d brought more supplies! I ran out last night.” Blake says sadly as he checks his pockets.

“No worries, I still have some cookies! Not the healthiest, but still delicious!” I say and hand him three chocolate cookies from the pack in my hoodie.

“Wow! You’re a lifesaver! Thank you! Hmmmm! These are delicious! Where did you buy them?” he asks as we walk towards the exit.

“Oh, from the store near the park in the city. I do miss my Grandma’s cookies though, they were incredible! Much better than these store-bought ones.” I answer.

“I love cookies! You’ve got to teach me that recipe later!”

“Sorry, secret recipe, family only!” I joke and wink.

“Oh! What if I turn up the charm?” Blake says and bumps into me with a seductive expression.

I blush immediately and push him away.

“Dude, stop that!” I say while laughing.

“Eh, was worth a try! After-all! I am Blake, actor and musician extraordinaire! You could say I have some charm.”

“I’m sure you do!”

Blake fakes offence and joke-punches my arm gently.

“How rude! I’ll have you know, I am a beloved musician and actor! Best of the class! Top of the school!”

"Oh, tell me more about your school! I'm curious what theatre and music school was like!" I ask

“It was lots of fun actually! Very difficult, but every day, there was some cool new thing to learn or play. I miss it sometimes, but I still have lots of friends from there! Here, look.”

Blake takes out his phone and shows me pictures of his friends going to coffee shops and visiting new cities.

“I’ve always loved travelling and exploring. When I was little, I wanted to become an explorer! But music and theatre were way cooler in the end!”

I chuckle.

“I always wanted to be a scientist! So, I studied biology and chemistry! Here, look at all these plants I’ve collected throughout the years! I give them names! It’s not the best when I write a thesis to call my Echinocactus Frank, but hey, it helps me memorise them! I also do art! I'm not the best at it though.” I say as I take out my phone as well.

I show him some of the art I made, and his eyebrows jump in surprise.

“Wow! Those are really good! Baking, art, science, what can’t you do!?” he asks.

“Baking is just grandma. I can’t do it at all! I’m mainly just a scientist, it’s not that special. I wish I travelled more instead. I could have seen so many plants!”

“Don’t say that, any talent or ability is special in its own way. And I think your art looks amazing! I want you to paint me one day! And when we get back, you've got to show me your plant collection!” Blake replies seriously.

I chuckle and smile.

“Then, we shall do it! We just have to get out of this forest first. By the way, how many concerts and plays you've been in? When we’re back, I’d really like to see some of your old ones.”

“Ten of each so far, and one musical! Quite amazing they were! I really think you’d like them!” Blake says enthusiastically.

“I really want to! Maybe we could watch them together?”

“I’d like that!” he answers and we both smile.

“Any hobbies? Besides playing music and theatre.” I ask curiously.

Blake thinks for a second.

“Damn, bro, you got me there! You’ve crossed out my main things!”

“Need a moment to remember who you are?” I tease him and he smirks mischievously.

“Nah! I could never forget such greatness! I love writing letters to my friends by hand. Feels more real, you know? I also like collecting musical instruments, even if I can’t play them! I’ve got this violin back home that I’m sure you’ll love! It has elegantly sculpted trees on it and painted leaves on the bow! It was a thousand bani, but hey, quality costs! You really should swing by to see it!”

“Only if you play me something for free!” I joke.

“Fair play!” Blake replies and winks. “Do you have any pets?”

“Yep! A dog! A golden retriever! His name is Bandit and he’s adorable!” I answer happily.

“Oh my god! I’ve also got one! His name is Banjo! Look!”

Immediately, he takes out his phone and shows me some pictures. Banjo looks so cute!!!! He’s in almost every photo Blake took. Damn, he loves his dog, no joke! Something else I notice, and chuckle a little once I realise, is that Blake and Banjo look a little similar, both are zany and happy in every photo.

“Don’t think Banjo’s the only golden retriever in the house!” I joke.

Blake grins and ruffles my hair.

“That’s a good one! We should have them play together!”

“Yeah! Bandit’s super friendly, I’m sure he’d like that!” I reply happily.

“Elwyn, you are good at so many things, now I’m curious what you suck at!” Blake says.

“Ok then!” I answer, amused. “The list is actually quite long! Cooking! Unless it’s made with help from grandma, it’s burnt. Memory, absolutely the worst one in history. Math! I need a calculator for everything. Even more embarrassing since I’m a scientist. I can go on!”

“I didn’t actually expect you to answer that.” Blake admits with slight embarrassment.

“What, I’m not perfect, never will be, not exactly something to be ashamed of. What about you? What do you suck at?”

“Anything related to science.”

“Fair.” I admit.

“And also not procrastinating and being organized. Those I can’t do for the life of me!”

“Oh, I get the pain. I also have some problems with procrastination. But it’s ok, anyone does!” I say kindly.

“Yeah, but till the last hour before the thing is due?” Blake asks.

“Ok, maybe you truly have a problem!” I admit and he laughs.

I chuckle as well.

“What is your job?” Blake asks.

“I’m a botany scientist! But I also am doing a master’s right now.”

“Nice! As you can already tell, I’m an actor and a musician!” Blake says proudly.

“Never would have guessed!” I joke.

We walk for a bit as we talk, till we find ourselves outside. The view is breathtaking! Thousands of mountains in the distance with clouds surrounding them stand tall and proud against the golden and orange sky. Birds cheerfully whistle as they fly above us and small bits of snow fall out of the sky. The sun shines brightly between the mountains, painting the world around us in colour and joy. Blake takes a deep breath and just sits down on a rock while looking at the gorgeous sky above. I sit down as well in front of him. The wind is rushing strongly, and the cold is harsh, but the moment is beautiful and peaceful.

“Elwyn, what made you come to this forest?” Blake asks all of a sudden.

I look at him surprised, then at the ground.

“It’s a bit embarrassing.” I admit as I fidget with my hoodie.

“It’s ok if you don’t want to talk about it.”

I take a deep breath and I say:

“No no, it’s ok. You see, I recently moved here, I’m from far far away actually.”

“I figured since you are a purple wizard.” Blake says.

“Yeah, my powers kind of exposed me back there.” I admit.

“No, I actually had a feeling from the moment I met you.” he adds and I look at him shocked. “It was your eyes. And your name is also a good giveaway.”

“Makes sense. Purple eyes, purple wizard. I know that my kind is not very well viewed here.” I reply.

“What? That’s dumb! Don’t listen to that! People are too quick to judge and like to generalise way too quickly! So don’t listen to the purple wizards are automatically bad talk, you are a fun and cool person!”

“I know, it just made me feel like an outsider. It didn’t help that people use words I don’t understand and that everything is well… So different. And lonely. I needed a place to think, so I came to the forest here.”

“I know it seems hard, but in time, those things will become normal to you too. They were made by humans, so humans can get them. You get what I’m saying?” Blake asks with a kind smile.

I smile at him and nod.

“Yeah.”

“And I can teach you some things! For example, a word you’ll always hear is mov, that is just to express that something is cool or nice. Another one is lumina, that’s just a hello. There aren’t as many as they seem, you’ll get them eventually. Change isn’t necessarily bad, sometimes, it’s really good. And other times, it just happens. You have to embrace change, nothing stays the same forever. And most importantly, one day, you will feel like you belong here, it may not happen immediately, but you will one day. Just give it time so you adjust. And about being lonely, in time you’ll make new friends! Sometimes it feels as if most of the world is just full of evil and bad people because we hear about that a lot. But it’s not true! Most people are good, so believe that you will find good people who appreciate you and want to be near you! Yes, there are some bad ones you should avoid, but they are way fewer than you’d believe, just give them a chance the way you want to be given a chance and you’ll be surrounded by friends. You just have to have courage! The courage to accept change and to meet new people! In fact, you already started! You already made a friend! And I may say, he's the best!”

Blake happily points to himself and we both laugh.

“Elwyn, I have one more question, why did you move here? It’s ok if you don’t want to tell me.”

“Indigo Island is very nice, and the culture is beautiful. People are kind as well. But… I don’t fit in very well. The thing is that I’m a bit of a weirdo back home since I like spending my time mainly reading or going to art museums. It also doesn’t help that botany is considered a useless thing in Indigo. I wanted to finally find my place. I heard about how accepting and beautiful Verdant Island was, so I decided to come here. I was so excited at the start. I applied for a master’s degree. Even got a job in a lab. It only starts way later this year, so I have another temporary barista job for now. Everything was amazing at first, but then. Even here, I started feeling like an outsider. This time though, not because I’m judged and considered weird, but because it all feels so unfamiliar. I’m scared I’ll do or say something wrong or that I will never understand the culture. It’s terrifying. And lonely most of the time since my family is not here anymore to be my support. I’m on my own. I know you’re right that it won’t always be like this and that it just takes time. But it still feels so hard.” I say as I play with my hair.

Blake comes closer to me and just hugs me as tears fall down my cheeks.

“You’ll one day find your place! And just like I told you before, if you have the courage to try, you will understand our culture. It’s not as scary and different as it appears at the beginning. And just so you know, botany is considered very cool here. We love plants and nature after all. And again, you are not alone, you have me! And I’ll make sure to introduce you to all of my friends! We’ll make you the most popular guy in town in no time! Try to not think so hard about this and just enjoy life. It feels hard to not plan everything, but sometimes, it’s better to just go with the flow.”

“Thank you.” I say and hug him back.

We stay like this for a few minutes, until Blake says:

“Barista? I didn’t know you liked making coffee!” he teases.

“I don’t actually. I hate coffee! I like tea better, but it was the only job I could get quickly.” I shrug.

“Oh, I have a fix for that! A friend of mine opened a travelling agency and they need a tourist guide! Would you like that better? It would also help you learn the culture faster!”

“Yeah! Do you think I can still apply?” I ask with hope.

“Of course! Just give me your CV once we’re out of here and I’ll get you two in contact!” Blake says with a charming smile.

“Thank you, Blake, I really needed that! When we get out of this forest, I’ll make a few changes. Heck, I think I already did. It suddenly feels as if there really is a bright future for me here.”

“I’m glad to hear that! There is one more thing. You should do more research before moving to a new country, everyone here knows this forest was cursed a long time ago.”

“Yeah, that’s my bad!” I admit and chuckle while playing with my ponytail. “I’m really glad I had this talk with you, it changed my perspective a lot. Still, now I’m curious, what are you doing here?”

“I came here in order to free the forest from this curse! So many people have disappeared because of it, I want to do my best and fix it! I entered through the salt mines, it’s the one exit that isn’t blocked by the spell since it’s underground. What I’m surprised is that you entered so easily, usually, it’s very hard to get in here, people still manage to, through the mines, but just entering from the city is a new one.”

“That’s odd.” I admit. “Also… I want to help!” I say determinately.

“Huh?” Blake reacts with surprise.

“I want to help you free the forest! Last night, I felt extremely scared till you showed up, I don’t want anyone else to feel like that! And I want to help you! Do you have a plan?”

Blake looks shocked at me for a second and even blushes a little. He grins cheekily and winks. He gets up and walks in circles while gesturing dramatically.

“The answer to that question is both yes and no! No one knows what caused the curse! But wait! There’s more! I discovered while looking at dusty old maps that there is an abandoned mansion in the middle of the forest!” Blake says confidently and does a dramatic pause while looking at me from the side. “No one ever dared enter it before! But we shall be the first! With our hearts filled with courage and bravery, we shall investigate that house and use all that information to find and defeat the evil that cursed this forest! It’s going to be tough! It’s going to be dangerous! But we’ve got this, because we’ve got each other! And just like Avery Star once said in book four of Curse Destroyers, we shall not give up or rest till our mission is complete!”

Blake flexes determinately and puts his leg on top of the rock he was sitting on, in a superhero pose.

“Now! Are you ready, Elwyn Redwood? For the adventure of a lifetime?” he asks dramatically while pointing at me.

I just roll my eyes and get up. I approach him and hold out my fist. He smiles and we fist bump.

“We're in this together!” I answer.