4 Tree

The sun is up and the birds are yapping ceaselessly. Among the beautiful flowers, a couple of bees are buzzing and small herbivorous animals of all colors are eating and running. Bigger animals have come to the spring with the waterfall to quench their thirst. The black panther or something of the sort is still asleep on a tree further away from here. Near the water, one can see an inconspicuous little green-colored tent made of leaves and branches. Suddenly, a man comes out of the entrance with a knife in hand and messy hair that looks so knotted they seem unsalvageable.

The guy that came out of the weird house made of leaves and branches slowly uses his knife to cut his hair to shoulder length. Before, he couldn't be bothered to care about the state of his hair. They never irritated him in particular, whether it was sleeping or running, he is skilled enough that even handicapped he would find a way to cope. But weirdly, as he looked at the reflection on the water last night. His straight hair reminded him of the Asians of the old era on earth, and suddenly he was reminded of the constant killings he had to carry out around that region. The number of Asian heads that fell to his gun. Even though he was originally a westerner, he came into this world with an Asian looking face, and he couldn't help but wonder if it really was by coincidence.

With that eerie thought circulating in his head, as well as the recurring nightmares of the ghost he seems to dream of more frequently now, he promptly decided to cut his hair first thing in the morning as if the crazy thoughts of paranoia would fall along with it.

He ties his hand-made spear on his back and sets his passable daggers around his waist. With a bored look on his face, he struts towards the road that is about 3 to 4 days away. Today is the day.

^_^

After walking for what seems like half a day, the young man sets himself down near a luminescent tree that he simply called: light tree. The tree is not currently alight and one can mistake it to even be dead with its withered branches and black, hollow trunk. But it doesn't concern him as he takes out some meat jerky he made beforehand and starts to wolf it down. His eyes dart around vigilantly in case a predator smells the food and decides to jump to its death by trying to fight him for it.

He finishes his food and is about to leave when he suddenly gets jerked back by the foot. Looking back towards his foot, he realizes that the tree root has wrapped around his ankle in an ominous manner.

The black-haired man raises an eyebrow in surprise as he did not feel or see the thing wrap around him even though he has been constantly vigilant. With a bit of force, he tries to jerk his foot away, but the rope only tightens without budging. A bit annoyed now, he uses his hands to attempt prying away the troublesome thing. He exerts all of his strength until his muscles are flexing extremely and the veins around his necks are popping out, but no matter how hard he tries, the root only tightens even more to the point that blood has stopped circulating past his ankle.

Seeing the scratch marks around his leg and the unbudging tree root, the man finally realizes that it is a waste of time to try anymore and decides to approach the tree to inspect it.

While walking towards the dead-looking tree, he notices that his foot is feeling less and less painful. By the time he reaches the tree, the root has completely released the guy's foot and he can't help but feel a little relieved in his heart. After all, he still has no idea about how this planet works.

He stares at the tree, almost as if he was expecting it to do something. Finally, he takes out a dagger and monotonously says:

"Let me go or I'll cut you down."

Even though his tone of voice has little to no nuances, with a barely noticeable amount of volume, the coldness brought by his aura and the look in his eyes made it very menacing. But he is talking to a tree, not a person, and therefore when the handsome man starts walking away from the tree again, his foot is once more captured by the tree root. This time it is especially tight.

"..."

With an annoyed and angry expiration, the man comes back to the tree, this time with full strides, and punches the tree with force. The tree shakes and the ground trembles, but not a dent is made. The tree root tightens its hold until his ankle is bloody, but eventually, it lets go.

The man looks at the tree and leaves again, but his ankle keeps being taken no matter what he does. After a while has passed with him trying to free himself in vain, he finally grows tired and can't be bothered anymore. So he nonchalantly sits down by the tree and falls asleep.

^_^

When night comes, he is awakened by the numerous lights shining down from the tree. The branches that were once drooped down and constantly looked like they would break and fly away with the wind are now proudly perked up straight and firmly. The black wood that looked almost like rot is now purer and whiter than snow, almost blinding. If the tree before smelled like soaked wood and mushrooms after a rainy day, it now gives off a light fragrance of the earth, wet sand and burning grass mixed with a mixture of flowery scents. Flowers bloomed on all the branches, reminding a certain guy of the Sakuras the Japanese are so proud of, apart from the fact that the entire tree, including the fragrant flowers, is completely white. Light was coming out of both the trunk and the flowers, and made the tree warm and steamy, but not sizzling. It was simply a beautiful sight to behold.

Unfortunately, the only man able to see this wonder doesn't know how to appreciate beauty as he is not moved at the sight in the slightest. Since he cannot leave, he takes time to observe the little animals and birds of the night coming to take refuge under the tree, where the dangers lurking the nights of the forest can't reach. Each of them has weird shapes and colors, and seem like they would taste quite unique.

He is still contemplating on exotic food when the tree suddenly starts to grow at a visible speed, the lights illuminating its body shine with more splendor and zeal and the heat waves radiating off the tree trunk become more and more intense. The little creatures around the tree don't seem to notice anything as they continue going about their business, but the paranoid man who was once imprisoned by the same tree raises his vigilance to the highest degree once he sees this.

The tree grows until fruits start to pop out of the glowing flowers. At the center of the tree's white leaves, a big flower turns into a medium-sized red ball. The branches lead the fruit down towards a certain man as if to invite him to take it.

The aforementioned man does not trust this seemingly harmless tree. It seems the tree is insisting on making him eat the fruit, and maybe it is even the reason to his capture, but he would never eat a strange thing that came out of a random tree unless he was clear on what it is.

At first, he wants to leave and get back on with his journey to the village. But the tree will not let him leave. It seems he will not be able to go unless he concedes and eat the damn fruit.

With strong reluctance and a bit of anxiousness, the man stretches his hand and grabs the fruit. The tree branches retreat at the gesture and the small creatures finally smell the scent of the delicious fruits. Each takes one and relishes in the taste, while the man at the bottom of the tree is still doubtful and skeptical.

With every cell in his body alert, he slowly but surely takes a bite out of the fruit. Seeing that nothing is happening, he finishes the fruit while staring down the tree. Seeing that nothing else is following, he turns around to leave, this time hoping he will be left alone.

However, just as he takes his second decisive step towards freedom, a pain similar to that of a chainsaw slowly cutting him alive into tiny little pieces rocks his whole body and soul.