The sun is shining brightly above as we are making our way down the mountain. We decided to take an outdoor path this time in order to see the beautiful landscape. I never knew such beauty lay just a little ways off. I have so much to explore, so much to see! Blake is walking ahead of me, pointing at any single animal that we come across. It’s adorable how much he likes animals, especially squirrels. There are so many flowers on this mountain, even… Wait, is that?! No way!

“Blake! Blake! Blake! Come here! Quickly!” I say excitedly as I move my hands.

Blake looks at me confused and comes to me. I crouch down and point to a beautiful star-shaped flower. It has white petals and lots of yellow circles in the centre.

“I can’t believe we found one of these! I’ve never seen one before! It’s a Leontopodium alpinum!” I say happily, almost giggling.

Blake crouches down and looks at the flower.

“Looks like an edelweiss.” he comments with a thoughtful expression.

“That’s because it is! It’s the common name for it! Back home we call it Cliffhanger’s Flower! They are super rare, we mainly only see them in textbooks! Do you see those white petals? They are so delicate and beautiful, you can barely believe it can live in such harsh climates, but it’s one of the toughest flowers out there! Oh, and for some artistic flare, you can use it as a symbol of devotion in your songs!” I say happily as Blake nods.

“Wow, didn’t know this flower was so impressive!”

“Technically it’s florets clustered in four flower heads, so you could say it’s four flowers in one!” I joke.

“Hehehe! Can’t argue with the science!” Blake replies.

“It can vary plant by plant, you can have up to five hundred florets and twelve flower heads. But the petals only max out to fifteen. Look! It looks like a star! Have you ever seen one before?”

“Yep! They are quite common here! That’s why we even have one on our flag.” Blake answers with a smile.

“Wow!” I say in awe at the idea. “I wonder what other cool plants and fauna are out there!”

“Guess you’re going to have to find out!” Blake says and winks! “Come now! We have quite a lot till we’re down.”

He stands up and holds out his hand with the same kind smile he always seems to have. I take his hand, and he pulls me up.

“You’re very strong!” I say, trying to hide my blush a little by scratching my nose.

“I’m an adventurer! I need to be strong!” Blake says proudly and flexes in a dramatic pose.

“Ok! Let’s go! Quite a lot till we’re down!”

“Let’s go!” Blake shouts happily and takes me by the hand while running at full speed down the path.

“Woah! Slow down!” I say while laughing but he just puts out his tongue at me and grins in defiance.

We run like this for a minute, till I can barely breathe.

“What do you like doing in your spare time, Elwyn?” Blake asks as he finally slows down. “When you are not doing science or art, I mean.”

“Wait! Air first! Answers… Later!” I manage to say as he chuckles. “Phew! I enjoy reading science articles and books!”

“Oooo! What kind of books do you read?” Blake asks with curiosity in his eyes.

“Fantasy, I like the escapism!”

“Ha, always thought a scientist would always be about the reality and truth!” Blake teases.

“Nah, reality is overrated, now fantasy, that’s where the good stuff is!”

“Hahaha!”

“I’m joking, ironically, I wanted to learn science specifically because it brings wonder into our world! I didn’t know about how much it takes for the world to just function or how much magic there truly is around us, metaphorically and literally. This saying works better without thinking of the actual magic.” I admit.

“Speaking of magic, are there many purple wizards in your country?” Blake asks.

“Nooooo! Of course not! Indigo Island, the land where purple wizards come from having many purple wizards, impossible!” I joke with a grin.

“Oh yeah, geography!” Blake says and blushes while running his hand through his hair. “I’ve never left Verdant Island, so my geography kind of sucks.”

“No worries, I’m terrible with geography too!” I admit happily and pat him on the back. “But still, it’s in the name, dude!”

“Not really! Green is in the name here, but you were fancy and called it indigo!” Blake defends himself.

“They are the same!”

“Nuh-uh! Indigo is somewhere between blue and purple!” he replies triumphantly.

I roll my eyes amused.

“We called it that because purple clothes were hard to make in the past, so we mainly wore blue even if we are purple wizards, so the country was called indigo. Still, damn bro, you know your colours!” I say.

“Of course, I do! I’m a misunderstood artist!” Blake says and throws his hair in the wind with flair.

“Ok! Onwards we go!” I say, trying to hide my laughter while pushing him ahead.

“But I wasn’t done winning the argument!” Blake complains.

“Oh yes, you were!”

“Nuh-uh!” Blake says annoyingly.

“Stop saying that! I can hold my laughter for only so long!” I say as he burst out laughing and I do as well. “You evil!”

“What?! I am an evil genius of comedy and drama!”

“Sure, you are!” I comment.

We make our way almost all the way down while laughing and joking around. Blake teaches me how to hum some of his favourite songs and I teach him some indigo-specific words! The night comes back once more as the sun goes to sleep and the moon takes its place. It’s cold once more, but I’m starting to get used to the cold of Verdant Island. Blake is telling some stories and jokes excitedly while I nod and smile. I’m laughing happily at one of his jokes, when, suddenly, he freezes and just looks with shock at something. I look concerned at him. His eyebrows shoot up and his emerald eyes sparkle. The moon behind him is making him look as if he’s glowing as his long hair flows with the wind. He has his mouth slightly open, a little fog coming out of it with each gentle rise of his chest.

“Blake, is something the matter? Blake?”

“Elwyn! Look!” Blake says and turns my head to where he’s pointing. “Hot springs!”

And indeed, they are! In front of us, a small cave entering into the mountain is filled with steam and warmth. Bubbly water is playfully playing in small lakes as the cavern walls get covered in moisture.

“I wanna go inside! Come on! Let’s take a bath! We can just stay in our underwear and then we’ll dry them with some magic! Oooo! I’m so excited! I haven’t taken a shower in four days!” Blake says enthusiastically as he drags me into the cavern.

“Wait, we’re not taking turns?!” I ask with horror.

“Nope! It will be more fun this way!” Blake says happily.

“Wait! Me, with you? In a hot tub. Close. And shirtless?!” I say as I panic, my face getting redder and redder by the second.

“Uhhh… Elwyn, your face is a little…” Blake comments as he points at me.

“I gotta go! Bye!” I shout as I run away.

I stop a few meters away.

“Phew! That could have been awkward!” I say with relief.

“Too late for that.” an amused voice comments behind me.

“Aaaaah! Blake! Why are you not in the hot springs?”

“Wanted to check up on you?” he offers and leans on a tree, listening face and all. “You suddenly seemed very scared. You don’t have to…”

“No no! I would love to join you in the hot springs! It’s just… It’s just…” I say as I look at him and my face gets red as I look at his stupidly pretty face. “I’m a little shy.” I manage to finish.

“It’s no worry! You can go after me, ok?” Blake says kindly.

Suddenly, I remember what he said this morning. I just have to have courage! Courage time!

“No! Let’s go in together, gotta have that courage, right?” I say, trying to play it off cool.

“You sure?” Blake asks and I nod. “Ok! Let’s go!”

The two of us enter the cave once more and take off our clothes before entering the water. It feels like a warm embrace as I sink inside the little pool. The soft bubbles of the hot spring swim around me and the steam fogs up my vision. I take a deep breath, the warm air calming down my senses as I relax. Blake enters as well. I look at him and then look away, putting half of my head in the water. He’s so muscly! How is he so muscly?! I take another peek and then look away once more. Blake sits next to me and then moves closer. He smiles and puts his arm around my shoulders. I look at him with surprise and he winks. I sit straight, my head finally being out of the water once more. We look at the roof of the cave. There is a little hole in it through which we can see the starry night. Thousands of stars sparkle and glimmer while the puffy clouds lazily travel across the world. I try to not show how flustered I am, but damn, I can barely even look at him. We stay like this for a while, me trying to ignore his huge biceps and pecs while he looks at the stars above, when suddenly, Blake talks softly, in a serious way I’ve never heard him use before:

“You know, there was one more reason for why I came into the forest.”

Immediately, I look at him, and I forget about the muscles, I forget about the fact he’s only in underwear and extremely close to me, I forget that he’s way too hot to be real, I just see him, Blake, the kind musician I’ve met in the forest.

“I uhm… How do I say this… I came here because… Because my last show was a bit of a failure. Very few people showed up and financially, I lost so much money.” Blake says, having a bit of difficulty getting the right words.

“Are you scared of failing the next one?” I ask, my intuition already giving me the answer as he looks at me.

“Yeah. That’s why I told you to have courage, because I feel like I have none anymore. I love being a musician and an actor, but if I keep failing, I’ll lose it all. That’s why I’m here, I’ve always been scared of this forest, so I thought if I enter it and save it, it would also make me less scared. I also thought it would prove that I can’t fail since I did something impossible.”

Blake sighs and sinks a little in the water, taking his arm off my shoulder.

“You won’t lose it all! Failure is a part of life. It’s normal to fail, just as it’s normal to be scared. Being scared of failing doesn’t make you a coward. You’re facing your fear right now, that is not cowardly behaviour.” I say with a gentle voice.

I turn towards him and move closer. I take his hand from under the water, squeezing it lightly. I look into his eyes with determination and he looks at me, surprised.

“You are an amazing person, Blake! I’ll be honest, the past two days have been terrifying, but also amazing. And that’s because of you! If there is anyone who can make people enjoy almost any show, it’s you! But we all have failures occasionally, it’s something unavoidable. Don’t let one failure stop you from enjoying the journey ahead of you! You have so much creativity and so much joy to share with the world! You can’t know how it will go. After all, the future is a mystery, but that’s the beauty of life, right? Even if you have occasional failures, if you are determined and work passionately, you will never truly fail in a fundamental way, you’ll just get back up and continue fighting. I believe in you, Blake Hart! And, whatever happens, I’ll be there to support you! You don’t have to prove anything in this forest, heck, you don’t have to prove anything to anyone, just continue doing what you love and being yourself. You’ll always be unstoppable that way! Never give up and have the courage to confront what lies ahead!”

Blake looks at me, a few tears flowing down his cheeks. He’s blushing as his eyes are full of emotion. He just hugs me and I hug him back.

“T-that was beautiful! Thank you!” Blake says as his hug tightens. “Elwyn, I know you’re scared and on edge as well. Anyone would be if they were trapped in a forest. And it is even harder with all the stress of moving to a new country, but, whatever comes your way, we’ll face it together! I care about you! And I’ll always be by your side, just like you’ll be by mine! You know that, right?”

I gasp, my eyes sparkling, almost not believing the words I’m hearing. I smile and just lean back once we stop hugging, finally feeling relaxed.

“Yeah!” I answer, almost whispering. “The stars are very beautiful tonight.”

“They sure are!” Blake replies as we lean on one another slightly.