Village Of The Forgotten

"Xiaoyi, wake up it's morning." Weiyuan said while peeking his head into the tent.

He took his head out and started taking down their alarm system. He did not like their sleeping arrangement. He felt as though she had slept much longer than him. She might have woken him up too soon as she doesnt have a phone on her and my phone is dead.

Soon he could hear rustling in the tent.

'Good she's getting up.'

"Good morning."

She slowly got out of the tent looking around. Nothing but woods as far as the eye could see.

"Do you think it is possible to get another person? We will be able to sleep longer and won't have to be up alone as long."

Weiyuan was more concerned about sleeping than being alone. He could feel the grogginess already start setting in and the day has just begun.

"Where do you expect us to find a third person? You think some trustworthy, great cook, funny and overall exciting person is just going to bump into us in the woods?"

She looks around while she says that hoping that she did in fact manifest what she said. After sweeping her gaze back and forth a few times she did not see anyone approaching.

They both let out a sigh. It doesn't hurt to try. They continued to pack before setting on their way.

"Before we get a new party member we need to first know what we bring to the table. I am pretty, smart, and can carry the bag for a couple hours a day." She said proudly and arrogantly.

"I am the strength of the group and carry the bag for maybe 10 hours a day. I am also the one that fixes your traps. Maybe I can find two party members so that both of them are useful." He laughed, however soon regretted his joke.

Although carrying the bag was a lot easier now that he was stronger it is still a little outside his comfort zone. He could feel the bag start to be pulled upward from behind making him lose control of his balance. He then had the entire bag flipped over his head sending him to the floor as he tried to regain his balance.

"Yeah, hopefully those two people leave you and join me." She pouted and walked away.

Their journey was going very well. They have not come across anything hostile since their departure the day before. They were now entering more rigorous parts of the mountains causing the woods that surrounded them to slowly disappear. They continued to follow the destroyed earth road however, the gaps in its structure were growing more and more.

After a couple more hours they realized they were lost.

"Which way is Tharlas door facing?" Xiaoyi looks around trying to orient herself as though she was in Tharlas cabin.

"It faces west which means we just need to go in the opposite direction."

He lifts up his arm and points in one direction. Then turning slightly and doing it again and again till he makes a full rotation.

"I know the sun is different but do you think it still rises and falls in the same direction?"

Xiaoyi was about to pick a direction and just go straight from there so they wouldn't get lost. The only issue is when going through mountains they often change their direction to go through an easier path.

"I don't know. It's now a red color. Does that help?"

"No, why would that help?" She scolded. "Lets just pick a direction and go from there.

"Rock, paper, Scissors, shoot!"

Weiyuan reveals a fist while Xiaoyi has her hand out flat.

"Haha! I get to pick. Let us go in that direction." She points off to where the mountains aren't so rough.

"We need an explorer to help with directions. That should be our 3rd party member." He said while following her lead.

The air was cold and getting thinner as they continued. The only thing odd about this was that they weren't going up the mountain.

They both began to hear distorted whispers. The whispers soon became clear and sorrowful.

"My poor boy." "Why have you left us?" "The village needed you." "You always loved her more than us."

-1 appeared in both of their vision.

"We need to leave." Weiyuan said while turning around.

The voices continued about a man who chose love over his village. They soon noticed fog wrapping around them encircling them from all sides. They tried going back in the direction they came from but to no avail.

When the fog receded they were in a small village with houses made of mostly brick huts. The voices stopped and it was silent. Not a bird chirping or a bug buzzing could be heard.

A green window popped up for Xiaoyi spooking her as she did not summon it.

'Village of The Forgotten

Quest: Find the source of their sorrow before they find you.'

"What?"

Xiaoyi looked around a little panicked. She had no idea how they got here or why they had to find something. Who was looking for them?

"Xiaoyi, I don't think that person wants to join our party." Weiyuan said while pulling out a sword he was gifted from Tharla.

She turned around to see a weird type of jiangshi. This one was not human but a beast man zombie. He had dull gray ears and half of a tail that resembled a wolf's tail. His body peeling from the decay.

She had become petrified, unable to move due to fear. She knew things like this must exist in this world however, she was hoping to never see one. It started to approach her as she stood there scared to do anything.

Seeing as Xiaoyi was not moving, Weiyuan reluctantly ran at it to attack. He swung his sword with all his might as he did not know how much strength he would need to kill it.

His sword effortlessly cut though the side of the zombie, making its torso slump to the side. The zombie now looking at Weiyuan lunged at him at speeds he was not expecting. The hand came flying at him so fast he could barely bring his arm up to protect his head.

"Ahhhhh!" He screamed as 4 fingers plunged deeply into his arm.

The scream brought Xiaoyi back to reality. She quickly pulled out her rapier and stabbed the zombie through the chest where the heart should be. The zombie turned its head around and looked at Xiaoyi while cracking of its arms could be heard.

While the body was facing away its arms and head were now facing her. She was mortified again. She watched as the arm came up to slash at her however before it could do so a sword swiped through its neck.

With the zombie's body landing on the floor motionless, she quickly looked at Weiyuan. His upper arm had 4 deep white holes as if someone had shot him repeatedly in the arm. Blood was flowing out quickly from the wound.

"Here t-tie it up for me."

Weiyuan handed her one of the poop rags that was hanging on the outside of the bag he still had on and sat down.

She quickly wrapped it around the wound and tightened it a little to stop the bleeding. Tears began to flow down her face. She had been with him for over 2 weeks now. He is also the closest thing she has had to a father in months. Now because she was frozen he was hurt and may even turn to a zombie.

"Hey it's okay, I'm fine now." Weiyuan smiled as he noticed her tears.

"I-I don't want you to turn into a zombie, I w-won't be able to k-k-kill you." She cried while hugging him.

She suddenly heard a stick break and opened her eyes to see a couple more approaching. She looked around and there were 7 more that had shown up.

They both hurried up and saw an opening. They both nodded and ran.