13 "The forest of the giants"

I stood by the railing, we seemed to be on the roof. I turned to Felix, and he just glanced at me.

"Why are we on the roof, Felix?" I asked, and he just turned his head away from me and walked over to the railing.

"Did you know there's a forest nearby? Of course, it's one of those swamp forests, but. I thought maybe you'd like to pay a visit." He turned to me, and I crossed my arms, looking at him.

"Swamp forests? Aren't those where Forest Nymphs live?" I asked, and he nodded, pointing at me.

"Mhm, good job. You're not stupid, I'm surprised." He said, my expression turned into a glare.

"I do know about the different types of Freaks. And, for sure I don't want to cross a Forest Nymph. Don't you know how fucking terrifying they are?" I crossed my arms, looking at him.

"Oh yes, how it scoops your eyes out from the back of your head, to regain its sight, yes I do, indeed." He turned from me and walked alongside the fence.

God, he was so annoying, but I was too scared to hit him in his face at the very moment.

"Just shut up, Felix," I muttered under my breath, as I sighed. The evening chillness was slowly creeping its way in under my gloves, deciding it was time for me to get shivers.

"It's getting colder," I muttered, shivering. He glanced at me, handing me a scarf.

"Wrap it around your shoulders." I looked down at it, and I did as he said.

It was a little warmer with the shawl.

"Thank you." I looked at him, he didn't though, he just walked in silence, with a small nod after those two words.

He approached a set of stairs going downwards and walked down the steps. I just followed, the stairs were quite steep step downwards, so I grabbed hold of the railing on the side to not trip over my feet.

We finally walked onto the ground, we walked out of the building area, the rifle on his belt, dangling by his left leg as he walked the sandy field.

"So, what do you think? Of this place." He continued walking, asking and not even turning his head in my direction for a second.

"It's fine I guess," I said, walking.

The awkward silence stood in between us, and it felt as if the two of us tried to say something to each other, but it only came out as silence. Or just didn't find the right words to say at the very moment.

"I think this place is an absolute shithole. We're not even a clan, we're not a faction. We're just a community of collected rookies and shitheads that have no idea what they're doing. Ya know?" He turned to me and looked at me.

It felt like Felix was Carter at that moment. How alike the two were. And how much I missed Carter.

"You have quite the variety of words, Felix." I chuckled under my breath, and he patted my left shoulder with his hand.

"Weirdly better than most of the people in here. Some cannot even read, nor write. But Amelia is holding classes for such matters." He walked, and I followed.

"Classes?" I looked up.

"Yeah, classes." He walked the sandy path, and I just followed.

We approached the forest. The moss hanging off of the at least a couple of hundred feet trees, being brushed by the wind, and getting scattered around the forest, the smell of the damp ground, and the soaked grass that keeps continuing to soak your boots.

"Watch your step, and be careful," Felix said, just walking down the path, I followed.

Maybe I found the little handful of hope Hayes was talking about. I found a simple roof that had at least some temporary, false safety, and maybe a new home.

He glanced at me, sighing.

"Are you cold?" He looked at me, his fingers wrapped around the half-broken flashlight, that flickered more than it functioned, pointing at the dark and hollow distance of the mossy forest.

"No, I'm alright." I watched my step, staring down at my feet, making sure I don't trip.

"Alright." He walked in front of me, the rifle dangling by his leg, but clasped on tightly on his belt.

"So, where are we off to?" I asked, trying to watch my step and catch up to him at the same time.

"Just keep silent and follow." His other was always on his rifle.

I just nodded, keeping my mouth shut and following along.

We entered a small clearing and the two of us stopped

"So, will you finally tell me?" I asked, I was getting slightly annoyed.

He kept silent, just looking around, the rifle was now in his hands, he was holding it.

"Hello? Fuck, can't you speak?" I frowned, crossing my arms.

"Keep silent, Alexander." He didn't even turn to even glance for a single second at my face.

"No. First, you drag me into this- Swampy death-trap, now you ignore me- What else? You'll start throwing me into random shit like this? You know what? I'm tired. Fuck you, Feli-" He put his palm over my mouth, his expression changed into a concerned, scared, even a terrified glance.

He silently pointed up, as the giant thing scanned the area.

It was one of the Forest Nymphs. It stood by the couple-hundred-meter tall tree, right before the two of us.

"If you have yelled more, or acted out even more like that, I bet we would've been it's a late-night snack for the day." He whispered, I just stood there, frozen in place.

I knew about the Forest Nymphs. They're these tall, thin, with paper-thin skin and two bloody holes instead of its eyes, and nails longer than the branches of the medium-sized trees.

The only thing that's good about them is that they're quite harmless if you manage to sneak past them.

..Because they're blind.

Some say the creatures rip out their eyes because of the pain when they transform. Or the pain of seeing the world as a giant inhumane creature.

He silently started walking, I followed along.

We made it past it and breathed out.

He slumped down onto a quite large rock, and lowered his head, panting.

"I've never thought that they also lived in the forest." He sighed, the rifle rested on his lap.

"More reasons to get the fuck out of here." I frowned, and he looked up.

"You're 22, right?" He asked, and I rose an eyebrow.

"Yes- Why?" I was sweating intensely. It was really warm.

"Then stop acting like a child and start taking yourself seriously." He said.

I stared at him. Was I that childish? Was I really that childish?

"..."

"Sorry." I cleared my throat, sitting down myself.

I sat in silence. I felt awkward. A droplet of water dripped onto my nose, it rolled down and got submerged into my pale skin.

I looked up. A few, after few, then more after more starting falling.

It started raining, and quite heavily. I closed my eyes. I disliked rain, but even if we were in a place that you had to always be on the lookout for, it felt so peaceful.

The silent yet so loud drops of rain hitting the tree branches and the forest floor, felt so peaceful. The cold rain droplets rolling down my hair, and dripping onto my pale hands, that rested on my lap.

"Alec. Come on." Hayes said.

I opened my eyes, he was looking at me, the rifle was back to be clasped onto his belt.

I got up from the stone, and I followed right after him.

He entered an old, fallen tree, that seemed to be a good place for the night. It was dark but closed off and good protection for us for at least a night.

"Wait here." He put his bags and put on his hood. He walked out with the rifle in his hands.

I put my bags down too, just around a foot away from his.

I sat down. The little space within the inside of the log was a little cramped up. Enough for at least 2 people max. But it was safe and spacious enough to spend the night at.

He returned, carrying a bag over his shoulder.

"Here, I got us some wood, to make a fire." He set it down, and I looked up. His clothes were soaked in the cold rain.

"Okay." I grabbed my bag and searched the pockets for some matches. I pulled out the box of matches and lit one up. He set the wood in place, and I tossed the match into the middle of the wood.

He slumped down, taking off his shirt. He pulled out a rope from the bag and tied it up by the two holes in the log's roof.

He hung it up, along with his other clothes. He changed, he put on a warm, fuzzy sweater instead, and a pair of black pants.

He handed me a piece of bread. I grabbed it, I looked at it. The crust was a little burned on the side.

"Oh- Thank you." I ripped a piece off and stuffed it into my mouth. The bread was still fresh, and soft. The flavor was great, the warmth was still there.

He was eating the bread too, in silence. The loud raindrops were hitting the ground from the outside, and some dripping on the fire.

Felix grabbed his scarf, covering the hole with it.

I leaned by the damp wood, resting my head, and myself. I had my eyes closed, listening to the rain.

You. You and everything else. The flowers of the greenest and most colorful fields. You and the shades of blue that coat the ocean. The dry tears remained on my cheeks, coated with more warm and sorrowful ones.

I wish I held that hope. The same one you talked about.

"This world only brings pain and sorrow. This world just sugarcoats it all."

Someone I used to know said. Someone way before all of this. Coming to think of it, they saw the reality sooner than I did. I was living above that coat of sweet, sweet, and pitiful sugar. That coat of little white lies, and happiness and hope that existed once.

Or existed at least within the coat. But it melts sooner or later. Just melts for some quicker.

I opened my eyes again, Felix was sharpening his knife against the rock that he held on the wood floor and looked up at me, putting down the knife.

"It's still late, we'll sleepover here. Yeah?" He looked down at his knife again and continued.

"Mhm," I muttered and laid my head back down.

I let out a deep sigh and closed my eyes again.

I'll manage all of it. Because I understand the importance of it all.

Because that sugarcoat still exists, and I'll make sure I find it.

I'll make sure to find all of it.