A Place To Rest

Raven rushed through the forest at a relatively brisk pace. He had no idea where he was going, but for some reason, he felt somewhat reassured. However, he did not let his guard down one bit.

At this time, night had already fallen. Little fireflies fluttered around in the dark, giving a little illumination on his path.

For some reason unknown to Raven himself, he had left the main pathway and branched off into the forest. At this point, he was already lost, but he kept on moving. He needed to put as much space between himself and the village as possible.

'Child.'

Raven froze as he heard a voice right beside him. He turned but did not see anything in the darkness. The moon barely lit up anything.

"Who's there?" Raven asked, his voice shaking as his body trembled. Maybe he should have just stayed in the village and waited for death to claim him.

'Do not fear. I mean you no harm...' The voice spoke again.

"Who- who are you?" Raven managed to croak out, his voice a whisper.

'My identity does not matter now. What matters is your survival. For now, go straight ahead. You will see a large tree with a hollow space at its base. Rest there for the night.' The voice said, the last part a whisper in Raven's ear.

Raven gulped and fell to his knees in fear. Tears rushed to his eyes, called forth by his fear. He had been in so much shock earlier that he had been able to control himself, but now, he was scared.

Out of options, he opted to do as the mysterious voice told him. He had no other option at the moment. The identity of this voice was something that left him worried, though. Maybe someone was luring him to his death... He had no idea.

Coincidentally, Raven had no memory of this voice speaking to him when he was surrounded by the villagers at this time. It was almost as if it had been entirely erased from his mind.

Rustle...

The bushes rustled as Raven pushed through. Thankfully, his clothes protected his skin from getting torn by the dry branches as he forced his way past.

"Oof!" He bumped into a tree as he stumbled forward after making it past the bushes. Stepping back, he was taken aback by the sheer width of the tree. As he looked up and took it in, he realized that not only was it very wide, but it was also very tall, its lowest branches towering up high. Or perhaps Raven was just that short.

Raven looked around the tree trunk, walking to the other side before finding a large hole in its base. The inside of the tree was hollowed out a bit, making just enough space for Raven to sit down in it.

As soon as he sat, a wave of fatigue slammed into Raven's mind. His vision grew hazy and he laid his head against the wood, slowly dragged into the dark abyss of his mind.

.

.

Chirp!

Chirp!

Raven's mind was slowly roused from sleep by the constant chirp of birds. His eyes opened blearily and his mind was groggy, as if pulled out of a muddy swamp.

"Ugh." Raven held up his hand and placed against his head. His head pounded, as if he had hit it on a wall over and over again. He swallowed saliva and felt how dry his throat was.

Kraa!

A sharp croak snapped Raven to attention as he sat up abruptly. The sudden movement did not help his pounding head at all.

With his eyes wide and sharp, Raven looked out of the hollow of the tree, spotting a raven that stood behind a cluster of grapes that were still attached to the vine. It croaked again at Raven before hopping away a short distance and taking off into the sky.

"A... raven?" Raven crawled out of the hole and picked up the grape vine. He looked in the direction of the raven's flight and a memory came to him, but at the same time, a spike of pain filled his head.

"Argh!" He dropped the grapes and held his head. He was unable to remember clearly and trying any harder only caused his pain to rise so he stopped trying.

"What's... going on?" He asked himself, looking down at the cluster of grapes again. He picked it up and plucked one grape before popping it into his mouth. A cool, refreshing feeling immediately washed through Raven's body and he closed his eyes. The headache that pounded behind his eyes seemed to become appeased, and his dry throat was also soothed.

Raven quickly swallowed up the remaining grapes before standing to his feet. He needed to keep on moving. He did not know what it was that guided him to this resting place the night before, but now that the day was bright, he needed to continue his journey to the unknown.

He picked up his back and slung it around his shoulders before recalling the direction he had come in and leaving in the direction he had been heading in the night before. As he walked, he tried calling out to the voice, but got no response.

Meanwhile, on a tree branch far away from Raven, a raven watched, its black eyes eerily trained on the small boy's frame.

"Kraa!"

The raven flapped its wings and took off, flying after Raven, but from a distance.