The Weight Of The Forest

He hated this forest.

Years of marking the trees, years of collecting food, years of picking wood, years of searching for animals.

Sora had no words to describe how much he hated this damned forest.

The forest had swallowed more people than it could ever digest, and caused too much death, while it gave so little.

Bitter berries, useless wood, skinny animals.

Sora had travelled the forest daily for years, and only now was he realizing how much disgust he felt upon seeing the green vegetation covered in a thin layer of snow.

But, it was a needed evil. Without it, people would starve, so he would keep coming here every single day, because even if he hated the forest, he loved the village, and he was the only one who could come here.

Sora looked around the forest with a frown of concentration, looking for footprints that revealed the presence of those damned Corrupted, but found nothing.

'At least in this area' added Sora mentally, holding the white sword that a few months ago had been about to end his life. 

Life in the village had continued, even if Oliver's death had changed a lot of things.

The tragedy in which Teresa lost her life, the first time a Corrupted appeared, had been the wake-up call for them, telling them that they were not fated to have a peaceful life, no matter how they desired it.

But they had learned, trained, and improved, to make sure it wouldn't happen again. They swore to be ready, to not let tragedy happen again to those living with them.

How naïve they had been.

Why would the efforts of a small group of people matter? How would their meagre and poor efforts amount to something?

Even with all their training and preparation, all they had done was bang their heads against the wall, only hurting them even more in the process. Oliver, who had been the person who took charge when Charles died, was a well-loved member of the village due to his readiness to help, his talent to play with the kids, and the sincere heart that always listened to the problems the people around him had with empathy, had died.

All because a single Corrupted had appeared, that was all it took for them to lose someone, even when they had believed themselves ready.

A feeling of impotence and hopelessness had taken over the village, as they comprehended that even their best efforts weren't enough to stop the world from turning, but this time, Sora had not been able to mask his feelings behind a smile.

Which had only aggravated the mood in the village, because if Sora wasn't smiling, how could they?

The only way the villagers had to drown their dark emotions was by throwing themselves to work.

The one beautiful snow plain was now riddled with deep holes and narrow crevices to slow down any Corrupted that might want to attack again, even bigger rocks had been lifted to the high ledge using all means they had, and the wall to the snow plain had been completely blocked, leaving Sora no other option but to use a long rope to walk through the wall of the mountain to reach the forest. As dangerous as that was, as the rope breaking was an added risk, they had already been humbled.

The moment a Corrupted attacked them, they would die.

Of course, that was not absolute, another 3 attacks that happened before they could do all that had proved they could fight back.

There were certain weak points in the Corrupted, such as the joints and the neck, that broke the rusted machines a bit easier. Their movements slowed down the longer they stood in the snow plain, which seemed to be the expanse exposed to the sky that didn't keep the relative warm the forest had with the tree tops blocking the sky and holding the warmth inside, but that was not all.

It had been a despairing moment for Sora, when he saw the Corrupted chasing him even while a group of 3 alarmed villagers were just next to the Corrupted.

Had they been attracted to him? Had Teresa and all the other died because of him? Had Oliver been killed by the Corrupted that was only seeking him?

No one had blamed him, which had hurt more than any word, but they were allowed to adapt their strategy. Sora would stand on the ledge, while the Corrupted simply stood looking at him, and once a few hours passed, the villagers would engage in combat while Sora stood near the Corrupted to draw his attention.

But despite their advances, they understood that a single Corrupt could one day bring disaster again, so instead of defending and fighting them off, they chose to avoid combat, even if meant Sora would need to take extra risks.

Which Sora was more than glad to take, even if using the rope to reach the forest was an almost irrelevant one. Because now more than ever, the forest was dangerous.

Dozens of Corrupted erratically wandered along the silent mass of trees, smaller vegetation and animals they seemed to ignore, and only their slow movements allowed Sora to avoid them. 

But the white-haired man understood that he needed to know more about the Corrupted, mainly because they were their main and maybe only foes. How were they climbing the wall if they were this clumsy? How had he deactivated that one year ago? Why were there these many white Corrupted if the Construct from Babylonia told him they were very rare? Why was he being targeted? Was it because he could resist the Punishing Virus in a way he didn't comprehend?

So he went on everyone's back and started poking the beehive.

The slowest Corrupted were his practice targets, ones he touched after walking through narrow trees the dumb machines tried to walk through only to get stuck. The inoffensive Corrupted missing limbs like their legs or arms were his way to vent his pent-up rage, even if by the end of the 'battle' he was the one with hurt feet.

And so, Sora quickly understood a bit more about the situation they were in.

The Corrupted in the warmer zones, meaning the deeper parts of the forest, were better. Not only about strength, even if that was also a fact, but overall they were better.

They were faster, smarter, and more coordinated, and their reactions were simply better.

Sora's crazed laughter had sounded all over the forest the moment he had understood that single fact, but he hadn't been able to hold it. Not only had the village suffered so many losses due to a Corrupted, but the culprits had been an infinitely weaker version than what they were supposed to be.

Sora's intrusive thought had made an analogy that only made him laugh harder. It was as if a mosquito had been blown to a wall by a gust of wind, subsequently crushed, only to find out the 'strong gust of wind' had been a moose's fart.

The village he loved so much wasn't even able to fight back against the weakest of Corrupted, that's how much their lives were worth.

After that, Sora started getting in riskier situations, merely to drown his frustration, but always keeping in mind his responsibility. He hated the forest and wanted nothing more than to eradicate the Virus that so off-handedly had shattered their lives for generations, but the village depended on him.

Because now the murderous virus in the air wasn't the only problem, but there were Corrupted too. No more collectors would be able to take food back, because they wouldn't be able to search for food and dodge the Corrupted at the same time while the air itself killed them.

Sora had remembered feeling a certain sensation of finality, because if he died, the village would end.

What would happen if he encountered an abnormally strong Corrupted? What happens if, after a rainy day, the rope loses its cohesion and snaps? What would happen when he got an illness they weren't prepared to heal? What would happen when he died of old age?

The village was already falling through a precipice, and only Sora's strength was preventing it from crashing. 

But the solution had already appeared. Babylonia.

Last time, the village had been confident about repelling the Corrupted, how could all their effort not be able to do even that?

But now that they were aware, and that end was in sight, they had no other choice but to gamble on their future with Babylonia. The organization working for the 'good of humanity' was a mystery that they couldn't decipher, as they had simply no way to corroborate anything, but they had no other choice.

If only the village was ready to accept that offer...

The more they lost, the more they felt they were unable to leave.

The village, poor, dangerous and ugly as it might be, was the effort of thousands of lives, and they had personally invested so much effort and emotions in it, that abandoning it felt like an insult to all those who had lived and died there.

Sora could understand it, he also felt that leaving the village behind would mean forgetting about Oliver, Charles, Teresa, and all those who died. He had been born in the village, and like all those before him, felt compelled to die there too, no matter the end.

But he had a reason to leave, even if had he been offered the choice, would have liked to stay.

His mother, who seemed to have aged decades in the past 2 months, deserved a life she wouldn't be able to get here. Sora knew that objectively, his mother was just one person more, who had lost less than other people, but she was his mother after all.

But in the end, it didn't matter, because Babylonia hadn't contacted them again.

Maybe their refusal had been too rude, or Babylonia didn't give second chances, but no Construct or human had appeared before the village with either hostility or desire to help.

Crack

The sound of a branch breaking took Sora out of his thoughts, and the white-haired man jumped before looking.

Putting a tree between him and the origin of the sound, Sora looked from his cover, only to see a Corrupted without arms crawling in his direction.

"...." it never ceased to impress Sora how determined these things were, because even if didn't know how wide the world was, he knew quite well a certain part of the forest this Corrupted had needed to cross to arrive here. 

How many months had this machine taken to arrive here at his pace? 

'3 at the very least' thought Sora, looking at the Corrupted with a single arm clawing the ground to reach him.

Were the Corrupted any less determined than the villagers? Hadn't the villagers clawed through snow, hunger and sorrow too? Why was the village the only one to lose, while these things could embrace death with so much ease?

Seeing those pair of red eyes focused on him, Sora couldn't help but feel a new bout of anger passing through him.

So he decided.

The Punishing Virus might win, the village was already fated to die unless these Corrupted left or he felt like having a child that by some miracle might or might not inherit his ability, and by tomorrow the village might die in a giant storm.

But what nothing would be ever able to change is how much he was going to destroy this thing.

CLANG BANG CRRCK

Sora, after making a quick round to see no other hostiles were near, unleashed his rage in the inoffensive Corrupted using stones, wood, his sword and even his eroded and broken boots.

As much as he would have liked to scream his hatred away, and insult this piece of metal controlled by a homicidal Virus only God knew where it came from, he retained enough sanity to understand that attracting more Corrupted to this area near the village wasn't a good idea.

So, until the machine that didn't need muscles, flesh or food to move stopped moving, he rampaged.

--------------------------------------------

'That was quite therapeutical' mused Sora, who wondered if he should try to dismember a Corrupted and bring it to the village so they could have their turn. 'Everyone is on edge, and having a target to vent their hatred might be good'

In a lighter mood now, which ironically came from giving free rein to his darkest emotions, Sora used the rope to climb through the wall of the mountain, a slip away from falling to his death.

Missing a dent in the now-blocked wall.

"Hm!" with a small grunt of effort, as his full bag was quite heavy, he landed in the snow plain, and with a tired sigh, put a weak smile on his face.

Maybe it wasn't that forced, after all he had left that damned forest behind.

It was about to get dark, so Sora whistled loudly to signal those on the ledge to not throw the rocks at him, and walked towards the village that was now completely blocked except for a small hole in one side people used daily to wander around the tricky snow plain, as there was a limit to how much time they could spend in their houses without getting mad.

"Sora?" a firm voice escaped the barricade that until now hasn't been tested, making Sora raise an eyebrow.

"Who else?" replied Sora, crouching to enter the village. "Need me to tell you how you thought pushing the wall would make you stronger, so you broke your hand trying to be 'the strongest human to ever live'?"

"...." Matthew, who was about to turn into a teenager, scowled at Sora's sarcasm, but shook his head. "We got a visit."

"....visit?" asked Sora after a brief pause in which he tried to analyse the meaning behind those words.

"Someone from Babylonia" replied Matthew tersely.

"...and?" asked Sora, now with a frown knowing the attitude the village developed against Babylo- well, anything outside the village to be honest. "Tell me you didn't through a rock at them."

"...."

Sora felt like shouting in anger and disappointment, but sighed to calm himself down, even if his restlessness was about to reach his boiling point. After so long, Babylonia had appeared again, bringing them a new chance to at least improve their situation, be it with some help thinning the hordes of Corrupted all around the forest or information, maybe even supplies, and the village had thrown rocks at them.

"It was dark, and she was wearing a white coat" argued Matthew with a tinge of nervousness in his voice sensing Sora's anger.

"What happened?" asked Sora, forcefully calming himself down. 

"She slapped the rocks away" grumbled Matthew, but Sora sensed his impotence and frustration at their 'new and bigger rocks' being useless.

Once again.

"Matthew, I'm about to explode after a shitty day" Sora's terse voice made Matthew sigh and looked at the white-haired man's eyes.

"We kicked her out."

"....." and indeed Sora's reddening face revealed how close he was to exploding.

"Politely" added Matthew hurriedly, realizing the same.

"How long ago did she leave?" asked Sora, throwing his bag to the ground and rummaging through it.

"Half an ho- what are you doing?" asked the wide-eyed Matthew.

"We must have missed each other then" said Sora, picking up a small torch they made with wood and animal grease that only lit up one out of 10 times. "I'm going to look for her."

"Wha- Why!?" asked Matthew with alarm. "You know how dangerous it is at night!"

"We can't afford to lose this chance" replied Sora, standing up with a firm gaze.

"We can" rebutted Matthew with a frown.

"W-"

"Even if we die, we will do so here" interrupted Matthew with a deep voice and a firm stare. "Just like everyone else."

Sora glanced at Matthew, but turned around and walked to the small hole.

"Sora!" shouted Matthew, grabbing the white-haired man's shirt. "We don't need anything else! No one wants to leave!"

"What will you do when I die then?" asked Sora, slapping Matthew's hand away. "Keep killing people in the damn forest to get food? Send more people to their deaths in front of a horde of Corrupted?"

"YES!" shouted Matthew, making a few people notice the ongoing conflict.

"..." Sora stopped to look at Matthew, seeing a pair of angry tears leave his eyes.

"Just like Charles, Teresa, Ursula, Carla, Oliver, Harry and Marcus!" continued Matthew, his voice breaking mid-way. "We live and die together, we are a family! We can't abandon the place they died to build!"

"..." Sora looked at Matthew without uttering a word, understanding where the boy who lost his sister came from.

He also felt the same after all.

"We will keep struggling and fighting" muttered Matthew, whose voice had suddenly lost all its strength. "Until the moment we can't do so anymore. We owe them that much."

"...that's egoism" was all Sora said before leaving through the hole, leaving behind a wide-eyed Matthew. "Because the girl who asked me to get an egg-shaped rock for his gullible brother wouldn't ask that of you."

The fight that had drawn attention due to such a taboo topic being mentioned ended abruptly, leaving behind shaken people who had tried to avoid looking at their pasts. After all, it was easier to believe the dead still had wishes, if only to convince themselves they could still repay those who had departed.

Identifying such emotions and desires as their own wishes was also accepting that life would get harder, because they wouldn't be allowed to take the easy way, as mesmerizing as it sounded.

Sora sighed, feeling his own emotions flaring painfully, but shook his head to focus. He needed to find that woman before she left, and try to get something he could use to aid the village.

Who knows, maybe he could even convince his mother to leave for a happier place, even if it would be incredibly hard.

Because as long as a single person wanted to stay, he would never leave.

That was his responsibility to the village, towards those who had believed in him, and towards himself. How could he look again at Charles and all the collectors who gave their lives for the village then?

When he was a kid, he had been saved by the selfless sacrifices of the adults, and now that he was one himself...

It was his turn.

But the fight had drawn the attention of the people around, so no one noticed.

Sora, seeing the countless red eyes shining in the night, couldn't help but scream.

Why?