Chapter 15
"Longing"
A gentle breeze made its way through a quiet forest, weaving through the woods while tenderly blowing Adrian's ashen hair.
Adrian wandered silently through the wild exhausted, his steps were loud in the midst of silence. The scent of cinnamon alike was instantly piercing into his nose, making him miss the smell from Earth.
Huh… that smell is kinda similar to a smell from Earth… cinnamon maybe? Oh… I miss my ordinary life…
The forest was embraced by tranquility, swallowing it in its entirety. Adrian's lips were slightly twitching by the cold air, with his mouth ceaselessly emanating warm haze like a steam train that was accelerating.
His surroundings became more cold with the bone-chilling air stinging his soft cheeks gradually, sooner or later, he would be definitely sent into a pit of death if he did not find anything or place to heat up himself now.
Um… the air… I must find something to heat me up or to protect me from this chilling air.
A new objective was immediately made in his mind, the prince then hastened his steps in worry, with his heart rattled rapidly. He then noticed that his red scarf was gone in the catastrophic event he had gone through, scattering himself and his friends far away.
In the way of searching for a sanctuary, Adrian's gaze sometimes narrowed intently to a few embedded arrows on the old trees. His mind was swirling and rotating like the terrifying storm that tore the wooden boat which himself and his friends rode on, his thoughts indeed full of anticipation for something that maybe was lurking on him now.
The arrows certainly indicated that the forest had been explored by someone that Adrian never knew, even worse, a faint scent of rotted blood soon punctured into his nose with a sense of dread, of course. Adrian was able to see a few dried crimson splash on the aged branches, and few on the lifeless ground.
Even at this very mindless and full of questions time, Adrian confronted another absurd and unexplainable occurrence that looked like the matter was endless. High in his ears, quiet voices once again whispered into his ears and left confusion in the prince's heart.
Those voices again?... What is wrong with me!? Do I have any problem with something beyond explanation?... Adrian drew his eyes and looked around in bewilderment, his hair was furiously fluttering like a flag!
The voices were resembling a few voices that Adrian knew. Rosey? Ludwig? But it does not stop there, the voices were rambling in madness or such. It likely lingered in his ears, delivering Adrian into puzzlement that seemed to have no end.
"Adrian…"
"Would you come back to my lap?"
"I'm scared… Do you really abandon me here all alone?"
"Would Mother Earth be disappointed if you truly fell into treachery?"
That name was… unfamiliar indeed. Adrian noticed that the voices mentioned the word "Earth," however, he still found that odd and strange.
Who the hell is Mother Earth!? Does she even have any connection to me? How odd! Adrian mumbled to himself, raising his eyebrows by little.
Ultimately, the seeking of Adrian met its end. The young prince discovered a giant tree, its color was naturally painted darkish. The tree had the shape of a hollowed-ancient tree, the hole was surely enough for a human to go in like an animal in search of protection from predators.
Like it or not, Adrian was lucky enough to find a place in the midst of the wild. Without hesitation, he slowly crawled into the hole with a heavy breath. He turned his body slowly yet in a calm motion, enabling him to see his surroundings without worrying anything about dying from the cold.
However, the haven did not protect him enough, the gelid air was still able to pierce his skin in an instant. The method Adrian wished to work in a situation earlier was instantly shattered, sending him into the brink of hopelessness.
The wind then was whispering into his ears once more, it furiously blowing the surrounding like a lesser storm. A few twigs fell down from above, a few leaves scattered around the ground like in an autumn.
"This is a nightmare... I would rather choose to live normally like in my previous life…" Adrian muttered quietly, his gaze was blank like an empty canvas.
In the rising of the cold atmosphere, Adrian wished nothing more than to have the psychology-baneful nightmare to end. Yet, hope would still flicker for the Star.
Adrian soon heard a sound of cracked branches from a distance, yet his heart was still filled with doubt of going out from his slowly-shattering comfort zone.
Shit!... This is not fun… Adrian pushed himself back, trying to hide as possible.
Adrian was not certain about the sound, it could be a hungry monster, or perhaps a lustful thing that hunted for a prey that could probably relieve their sinful passion.
A sound of footsteps was going nearer as the tension began to soar, Adrian's heart rattled with concern of what was going to happen if that thing was able to find him.
Until a voice similar to a boy's voice echoed into his ears, "H-hello?"
Adrian was snapped immediately, he pushed himself back harder and intentionally ignored the question. The unknown boy stood before Adrian who tried to hide inside the hole, and so Adrian was able to see a pair of luxurious ashen-shoes that the boy wore.
With the nameless boy who slowly tried to crouch down and see the full picture, Adrian breathed improperly like a coward or perhaps an animal in danger.
Before Adrian soon realized and remembered that everything was only a game, his surroundings and all that he saw was unreal. In the moment of soaring tension, Adrian tried to encourage himself by assuring himself that everything he saw was only a game, and the Star did not care anything about death now.
His eyes were blank like a meaningless void, before the young prince immediately jumped forward and stormed the unknown boy in an instant. The probably-harmless strike sent him and the foreign boy onto the ground, it was hard and quite hurt…
"What are you doing!?" The boy screamed, with Adrian slowly clenching his right hand and likely tried to land a punch on the innocent boy.
"Wait! I-I'm not a monster!" The boy declared aloud, stopping Adrian who tried to punch him in the face.
Adrian's serious face soon turned into a face of puzzlement, he slightly tilted his head and raised his eyebrows by little as he looked at the boy in confusion.
He instantly observed the boy's outfit, indeed. Adrian with a twitching lips then spoke to the boy in bewilderment, "Huh?... W-who are you? I thought you were a monster…."
The boy breathed heavily, with Adrian then slowly sat back and looked at the boy who was panicked and terrified. In the moment of silence and awkwardness, Adrian tried to interpret what was going on.
W-what the… what the hell is going on, I'm misunderstanding an innocent boy!? Adrian sternly stared at him, with his eyelids twitching by little.
Adrian then withdrew his hands and slowly stood up in a calm motion, wiping the dust from the insane strike. The young prince then took steps forward, withdrawing his right hand out to the boy, offering him help.
With a little doubt, the boy glanced at Adrian in confusion, after confirming that Adrian was also an unharmful person. The boy then slowly took Adrian's hand as he slowly stood up, although he felt a little pain.
"I-I'm sorry for doing that, I don't know that you're a human, I thought you were a monster that tried to kill me..." Adrian muttered, he looked down in guilt and a little embarrassment.
The black-hooded boy then responded lightly, nodding at him and fine with that misunderstanding, "I-it's okay! I also thought you're a lost animal or something unharmful… but everything is fine, you don't have to worry about that!"
"Also, my name is Nairda Hovor, you can call me Nairda! Nice to meet ya!" The sweet boy added, landing a pure smile toward Adrian.
That style of speaking was familiar… it ultimately flickered and snapped Adrian's mind, sending him into a shock and disbelief that a stranger had the same style of speaking as someone he knew…
Adrian's eyes widened absolutely, with Nairda slightly tilting his head in curiosity and looking at the shocked prince. Adrian soon tried to act normally, and then murmured to Nairda as a response, "Y-yeah! So this my turn to introduce myself!... Well, my name is Cadeyrn!"
Adrian then intently observed Nairda's outfit… it was normal, indeed. Nairda in the prince's eyes was depicted as a black-hooded boy, his hair flowing in ashen color! He also wore a thick gray coat, of course in order to protect himself from the cold. His ashen long-trousers also had the same purpose.
It's quite normal, I guess, nothing special. No sign of something strange, he's a human! Adrian examined, looking at Nairda in certainty.
"Is there anything wrong?" Nairda asked quietly, swaying his arms while looking at Adrian who was silent.
"Um… nothing, nothing…" Adrian mumbled awkwardly, trying to curl his lips into a smile.
Nairda then threw a question toward Adrian, his question was simple, "Cadeyrn… would you like to go to my house? It's cold outside here!"
Faced by a question such that, Adrian instantly accepted the offer without any doubt in order to increase his chance of survival in this unreal world. But before that, he asked for permission from Nairda.
"S-sure? But is that okay?" Adrian questioned, playing with his fingers in worry.
"I don't mind it! Well then, let's go to my house! Follow me!" Nairda declared excitedly, his voice echoed through the Peaceful Forest.
"O-okay…" Adrian replied lightly, following Nairda behind as the two slowly began to head toward Nairda's house.
With the two heading toward a great mansion, a comfortable haven better than the hollowed-tree that Adrian used as a sanctuary. A warm relationship between the two began to be weaved, like a string of bonds.