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If asked, Sword couldn't tell you who initially got him into the hobby of hiking. If he had to guess, it was probably someone who used to participate in the Flipside tournaments Sword used to compete in. Those were beneath him now. Illumina had given him a new purpose: a follower. Despite that, Sword still enjoyed finding new forests to walk through and today was no different in that regard.
Today he would be walking through Blackrock in a forest far from the KOROBLOX Administration. Far from the dangerous Inphernals of Blackrock that could harm him.
Sword arrived at the forest's edge under the blanket of darkness that came with the setting sun. Sword had always found the dark crimson trees of Blackrock fascinating and it deeply upset him that he would soon be unable to see them.
The breeze that whistled through the trees immediately eased Sword. He had heard this sound many times over the years, even if he could no longer remember how many times he had heard this sound.
Sword walked forward, his face remaining straight as he passed through the boundaries of the woods. There was a time where he would have smiled as he crossed the boundary but those times had long passed. Even if he were to muster up all of his strength, he knew his face would remain in its stalemate.
Sword kept going, savoring the remaining sunlight he could, taking in the last of the rapidly fleeting warmth before the breeze of the night fully set in.
As Sword went, he kept losing himself in thought whilst equally taking in his surroundings. Surroundings that were now becoming less visible as the sun had dipped beyond the horizon
In response, Sword kept waking, his boots crushing any fallen, red leaves as he kept his orderly march. He knew at some point he had walked at night and he stewed over this, trying to locate any other significant details. Nothing. He couldn't remember any details, he just knew.
Sword wanted to try and think about it more but he felt an overwhelming sense of impossibility. It was as if trying to figure out anything about the memory was the equivalent of trying to sift through a sea of oil.
He kept walking, his face and march unchanging despite his brief internal paralysis.
It wasn't long before the nighttime critters began scurrying about. Sword had always liked birds, even if he couldn't remember why.
A few midnight crows suddenly fluttered overhead, rustling the leaves around their homes. Sword didn't so much as flinch.
It was getting late. Sword wasn't sure how much longer he could keep walking. The midnight breeze was ever present and was slowly getting to him. The twisted shadows of the trees almost seemed like long, black claws trying to reach out and grab him from either angle.
He wasn't too thrilled at the idea of turning around and walking back the way he came, either, but it was dawning on him that coming at this time certainly wasn't his best idea.
This led to Sword finding a tree stump to sit on. His thoughts finally stopped racing. He had come here to take in nature and instead of doing that, he had been dwelling on memories that were impossible to reflect on.
While it was hard to tell what flora was in front of him, the fauna, on the other hand, came to him. A midnight crow landed nearby. It hopped around, grabbing onto a fallen nut before tossing it back behind itself. Then it stopped, its glowing, red eyes staring straight at Sword.
Sword wished he could mutter something. A simple “Oh look at you, such a lovely creature” would have sufficed. But his lips didn’t so much as move, the very thought of talking seemed too much, as if his mouth was wired shut by an unseen force.
The crow, entranced by the glowing humanoid in front of it, cautiously hopped closer. Sword stuck out his hand as the bird hopped closer before leaping up onto his hand as Sword retreated his arm back.
The crow stared at Sword as Sword stared back at it. There was a moment of familiarity. If Sword wanted, he would have tried researching his memories but he didn’t. He wanted to be in the moment. He could dig through that oil pit later.
Just as the crow was there, it had flown off, leaving Sword alone once again within the dark forest.
Now alone, and with nowhere else he could be, Sword decided it was time to sleep.
He found a place amongst the trees to rest in. He climbed up into the branches and layed there for many moments, his mind finally quiet as he fell into darkness.