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Prompt 3: Trees stretch in every direction, tall and dark and full of unfriendly shadows. Nothing about the area seems safe, and there is a darkness in the forest. If you travel into the forest, you will find that no matter what path you take, the village is always within sight behind you. Any direction, any distance, any time you spend--the village will always be within sight. There is no barrier to stop you, just a strange, infinitely looping forest. Within the forest you find no recognizable trees or landmarks.‘’
“All of these trees look the same!” Aomori exclaimed to herself in exasperation, smacking her forehead. “And why oh why am I still stuck hereeee,” she whined to herself in annoyance as well.
It was nearly noon and against her will, nature dictated that it was the hour for her to crave for some kind of lunch, if the edibles foraged from the area could be described as such. Aomori was even unluckily stricken with nausea after partaking in some mystery meat, so she at least swore from eating anymore of that and to further avoid further admonished worries from Hokkaido.
She spent a couple of hours wandering in the forest being noticeably lost and alone, not having run to anyone else that comprehended human speech or knew where her illustrious mentor Lepus had gone.
Worse of all, sunlight was dimmer deep inside the forest than outside of it much to her chagrin, so for a while, Aomori had to remind herself that it was still mid or late morning. She was more than aware of the unsettling spooks that ran amok at night, so since the first uneasy night, she was forced to promise Hokkaido that she would be together by late afternoon.
To recap, it all began earlier in the morning. Aomori had the bright idea to investigate the forest under the guise of a patrol. She muttered her plans out loud to the sleepy nodding Hokkaido before her before sneaking out. While it would have been wise to tag team with her twin, she also knew just how easily frightened Hokkaido is... and just how quickly she would dissuade the eager Aomori from this decidedly reckless course of action.
After nibbling on some dried fruit that seemed normal as some sort of disappointing breakfast, Aomori left the relatively safety of their multi-room shelter and into the mysterious forest. She felt that perhaps there is some sort of escape or a trap that they have missed on their patrols together. If she finds the latter, she’ll react to it should she find herself confronting it. If it’s the former, though, then it’d be much like finally winning the crane prize she wanted the most. Oh how wonderful would that be, if only.
At first, Aomori consciously remained on convincingly safe paths. She couldn’t help but recall Hokkaido worryingly tell her to stay on safe paths more than once the first time they patrolled together. So, in a way, she couldn’t help but honor her insistence on practicing safety. Even she couldn’t help but agree that it’d be too risky otherwise. Yet, the temptation of finding *something* of value was much too hard to avoid. Plus, she was growing bored from being overly cautious. ‘If I don’t do something a bit radical, nothing’s gonna happen at all-‘ was the thought that momentarily crossed her mind.
Predictably, Aomori armed herself with a long branch she found and began poking at anything suspicious. She poked at some shrubs, grasses, and even some parts of tree tops that she could poke at. She even climbed one tree, but after noticing the ground appearing murkier than usual the further she climbed, she quickly bounded back down and uttered to herself that maaaybe she ought to avoid climbing mystery trees... lest she injures herself over something that foolish.
Eventually, after well over an hour, Aomori grew unsure about making any further progress so she figured that she should make her way back. Coupled with boredom, hunger, and a gnawing worry that she would get principally chewed out by the worried Hokkaido, Aomori trekked back. Tried to, rather. Initially, she wondered if she was just terrible with directions, but no, it wasn’t that. Instead, she wasn’t just terrible with directing herself back, she was terrible with finding her way out and back into the village.
Aomori coolly continued along, but with no one to maintain her prideful persona and again, she only grew hungrier as time marched onward, she grew annoyed. Annoyed that nothing of value was attained, and that she had to swallow the fact that her individual streak costed her precious hours of time and needless effort.
Whether it was from swallowing her pride or accepting the fact that she shouldn’t be so reckless, she soon found herself back to the entrance of the forest. Aomori felt a strong sense of relief as soon she reached the village. She then inwardly reminded herself to not... do that sort of thing again, that maybe it’s better to just stick together with Hokkaido and Lepus for a while until this mystery unravels.
