The forest leaves were so dense they blocked out the sky and very little light filtered through. There were no clear trails through the Evoldo Forest as it wasn’t often traversed so the trees grew thick and gnarled roots and branches interwoven with vines. Thick brambles and moss filled in the gaps making it rather difficult to trek without losing one’s footing.
None of it bothered Breyze one bit. She was floating on the wind, just behind Zephyr, with Pree on her shoulder. She drifted over every obstacle without a care, just watching was causing Kindle to feel a little jealous. Even Zephyr had use of his Wind Step to climb atop the mangled roots taller than him. At least Zephyr waited for Terbius to toss her up to keep her from slipping on the moss when she landed, he’d grab her by the hand and not let go until she regained her footing.
“Hey, Zephyr?” Kindle thought it was too quiet in the forest given all the rumors about it.
“What’s up? Need a break? We can stop for a bit,” Zephyr paused mid-stride.
“Nah, this is nothing. We can keep moving,” Kindle shook her head and kept on walking. “I was wondering, why meet up in this forest? I thought it was cursed or something.”
“Cursed? I thought it was Demons,” Ter tilted his head thinking about it.
“I thought humans avoid this forest because it’s considered sacred ground,” Pree had heard of it in his travels but recalled hearing about a temple somewhere within.
“No way,” Zephyr scoffed. “Humans don’t come here because it’s a pain to get around. The area is rich with mana and the plant life eats it up, that's why it’s so dense.”
“Really because I heard the people that go in never come back out,” Kindle narrowed her eyes.
“Probably because it’s easy to get lost in here,” Zephyr shrugged. “Last year Erik and I got lost here for a little over a week. Obviously we made it out just fine. We were drunk for most of it too.”
“Is that supposed to make us feel better?” Kindle scoffed.
“Speaking of, why didn’t he and Aliya come with?” Breyze drifted closer to Zephyr. “If I knew this was optional I would have stayed with them.”
“They are meeting us at a sunken town,” Zephyr stated. He smirked at her and crossed his arms, “What are we not good enough for you?”
“I didn’t say that,” Breyze said quickly, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. “I just don’t want to miss out on what happens between them. It’s quite the twist they got stuck together despite Aliya’s hatred of the idea.”
“You think they’ll be alright?” Ter looked concerned.
“I know Sigmis is with them, but still,” Bius huffed, crossing his arms.
“Honestly, I’m surprised you suggested splitting up like this, Zephyr,” Kindle snickered. “I thought you of all people would want to keep a close eye on him.”
“Erik isn’t all terrible. I know he’ll keep her safe,” Zephyr put his hands behind his head and slowed his pace a bit. “He’ll always put a Spirit before himself.”
“Wow, you're talking about Erik without disdain? Maybe there is something in these woods,” Kindle smirked at him.
“We were friends for two years before he ditched me with my gun,” Zephyr pouted. “I am allowed to condone and condemn him all I want!”
“Two years, huh?” Kindle didn’t think they really knew each other that long before the incident given how upset Zephyr was when she first met him. It made her realize she didn’t really know much about those two. “Why do you think he bailed like that? He’s been so stubborn to stick around ever since the capital.”
“I don’t have a damn clue,” Zephyr grumbled under his breath. He sighed and looked up to the leaves rustling in the wind with a solemn expression. “Even if he wanted the gun for himself, he did win it fair and square. He didn’t have to run. Honestly, I wish he would have stayed.”
“You two must have been close,” Ter placed a hand on his chin thinking about how Erik was acting since Zephyr joined and made it seem like he was trying to make it up to Zephyr the best he could.
“You think he stuck around Aliya hoping to see you again?” Bius asked, sharing the same thoughts.
“He has been clingy towards Aliya in particular,” Kindle thought back to how much he was trying to protect her more than the rest of them back in the capital and saved both Zephyr and Aliya from Sigmis when he lashed out. Erik would always try to talk to Aliya even when she didn’t want him to. “Even when she knocks him on his ass he always gets back up with a smile. Honestly he doesn’t seem like a bad guy. I always thought it was strange that Aliya was so harsh on him when all he wanted to do was help her.”
“He is a good guy, he tries to hide it,” Zephyr agreed. “It’s not entirely Aliya’s fault she’s that way, it does seem worse than usual though.”
“What does?” Breyze tilted her head. She had her notebook in hand and was writing down notes from the conversation she was enjoying listening to. “Why is she acting like that?”
“It’s complicated,” Zephyr’s face contorted trying to come up with an answer they might accept that wasn't entirely a lie. Aliya never liked anyone talking about it unless she approved and he hated even thinking about it. “Most of it was a result from The First Order, also how I acted after the fact might have influenced her more than I thought. Like most Spirits, I didn’t want to trust humans for a while even though some had saved us. I needed them to prove their worth for the longest time before I accepted them. Erik was different though. I was at such a low point without Aliya around and after a bad argument with Lios. Erik showed up in my life one day and pulled me out of the dark bitter hole I was in. We just had fun for almost two years getting into all sorts of trouble, drinking the night away. Even when we were lost in this stupid forest we had a blast just messing around, we didn’t care whether we got out until we ran out of booze.”
“I can see why you’d be so upset with him,” Kindle was starting to get their relationship a little more hearing Zephyr talk about it.
“I’m more upset he left than the fact he took Regulus. I feel like it hurt him as much as it did me.” Zephyr let out a heavy sigh. “The first time I tracked him down, I found him while he was asleep. I was going to steal it back but he was crying when he said my name in his sleep. It broke my heart more to see him like that, I couldn’t just steal Regulus back like that.” Zephyr stopped moving and closed his eyes. “So I decided that every time I’d track him down from then on I’d try and fight him for it, we used to spar all the time just for the hell of it and make wagers over it so I was hoping that he’d eventually come to his senses over running from me. I never thought it would be Aliya that would keep him around. There’s part of me that doesn’t want to find another inanimate tether for her so that he can stick around but the older brother in me is worried about his womanizing charms.”
“I think she has that covered,” Kindle snickered and patted him on the arm, thinking of all the times Aliya shot Erik down or smacked him because of it. “I think she’d rather kill him than see him in any romantic light.”
“She was like that with Gwen too,” Bius thought about when Gwen first met Aliya.
“Gwen must have picked up on it,” Ter waved his finger remembering how quickly Gwen had stopped acting flirty towards Aliya after her icy glare.
“Yeah she’s never been into the idea of that kind of relationship with anyone,” Zephyr let out a chuckle as he started moving again.
“She didn’t get it from you did she?” Kindle asked out of curiosity. They were pretty similar as siblings.
“No, she was like that even before I had a chance to become an overprotective older brother,” Zephyr shrugged. “I started stepping in to save the poor saps from that icy glare and sharp tongue of hers. Besides, that cold side of her scares me to death. It gives me the chills thinking about it.”
“It is pretty scary,” Ter shuddered.
“It’s like a switch is flipped,” Bius’s voice was just as shaken.
“Exactly! And she can go back to normal in no time flat!” Zephyr stopped and pointed at Terbius. He was glad someone else understood.
Zephyr tilted his head towards the canopy again. He had been reading the wind to try and sense what was around, attempting to locate some landmarks he could recall in that section of the forest. He mainly wanted to get them to the river so they didn’t have to keep trudging through trees. He could tell that not far from them were two distinct areas where the trees were more spaced out, but given they were on the edge of his perception he couldn’t determine whether it was the river or just the clearing with a statue that poisoned the soil.
“Everything alright?” Kindle looked at him with an air of concern given the pensive spaced out look he had.
“Yeah I’m just trying to read the wind to figure out where we need to go,” Zephyr smiled down at her. “Stay put. I’m going to get above the trees for a bit to see if I can spot the river.”
“Where are we going to go? You are the only one who can get us through this maze of trees,” Kindle placed her hands on her hips.
“Can I get up there too?” Breyze asked quickly before he could do anything.
“I don’t know, can you?” Zephyr smirked at the small Wind Spirit floating eagerly next to him. “The canopy is pretty dense here. It’s tricky to get through without using Wind Step.”
“I want to try it!” Breyze shoved her book in her bag and set it down.
“I think you can do it, Breyze!” Pree jumped off her shoulder and sat atop the bag. Even though they were Kinbound he was a Fire Spirit so he wasn’t able to dissolve into wind with her, but he was proud to see that she was trying to learn something for herself and not just to write it down.
“Have fun!” Bius grinned at them.
“We’ll be waiting!” Ter said with the same cheer.
“Shouldn’t take more than a few seconds,” Zephyr laughed. “Treading lightly and standing tall…” He looked up and quietly started readying a magic arte so he could make a platform for himself since he couldn’t hover like Breyze. He disappeared into the wind with Wind Step and solidified again high above the trees. Just as he started falling he pointed below him and a glyph appeared, “Solid Air!” He landed on a transparent disc that appeared where the glyph once was.
“That wasn’t so hard…” Breyze had resolidified just above the canopy and floated up to be right next to him.
“You are picking it up fast,” Zephyr smiled proudly at her.
The sea of leaves stretched out for as far as the eye could see in all directions around them. In the distance the only thing that rose above the trees were the mountains to the North and South. They couldn’t even see Lambertine’s Belfry from where they were, instead there were dense clouds forming where they had just escaped.
“A storm?” Breyze tilted her head confused. She always sensed one coming but the air around them showed no signs.
“Must be because of a powerful Spirit,” Zephyr knew from experience if he couldn’t sense it on the wind that it was generated by a Spirit. He glanced around to the clearings he was sensing and noticed the one to the North was a long thin gap in the canopy whereas the one South of them was a round enclosed space.
A gust of wind picked up and Breyze was about to be carried off by it. Zephyr reached out and grabbed her hand.
“I know the view is stunning, but don’t get blown away,” Zephyr laughed as he pulled her closer to him. He could tell the storm was heading their way. He wanted to at least get to their destination before it did. “Let’s get back down so we don’t get separated from the others.”
Zephyr held onto Breyze so she wouldn’t get carried away on the wind again and jumped off the barrier he was standing on. Before they hit the canopy of leaves they dissolved into the wind. The wind swirled and reformed their bodies safely on the ground.
“That was really cool!” Breyze bounced with excitement.
“You’re a natural at it,” Zephyr beamed at her. He looked at Kindle who was leaning against a tree trunk and Terbius who was tossing a bolder back and forth that was twice their size that they clearly made themselves. “Well there might be a storm coming from the West. Now that I know where the river is it shouldn’t be hard to get to the coast from here. The river bank that leads to the beach is much easier to navigate than these trees. It’ll be smooth sailing from there to the ruined city.”
“Will we be able to take shelter there?” Kindle tilted her head. As a Thunderbird, storms were where she best thrived but she was worried about how the rest of their little group would fare.
“Yeah, Erik and I camped there for a couple days,” Zephyr started walking towards the river. “I think we should be able to make it before it swings through if we keep at the pace we’ve been going. If not there are a bunch of caves set into the cliffs we need to drop down to get to the beach.”
“A little rain never hurt,” Ter crossed his arms.
“Let’s go all the way there!” Bius cheered.
“It is where we are supposed to meet,” Pree jumped up on Breyze’s shoulder. “Even if it does rain a bit before we get there the worst that can happen is that Miss Breyze can’t take any notes.”
“I’ll just have to remember everything, I guess,” Breyze huffed, but she preferred the idea of the abandoned city over a cave.
“Well straight to the rendezvous point then!” Zephyr grinned and led onwards towards the river.