Wings of Fire: Secret of the Bushes

Chapter 11

This was the rainforest. Everywhere around him, Persevere could see leaves swaying with the wind, but he noticed something was peculiar. There was no sound – no bugs chirping, only a sound of gentle breeze that blew constantly that swayed the leaves. Persevere realized that there was no light yet he could see everything so clearly; the forest was covered in this peculiarly bluish hue.

Persevere walked along ahead and as he did, he could hear the water splashing ahead of him. He trotted along to where the sound came from, but as he got closer, he realized how familiar the path was.

Then it hit him, this was the same path he took during that night. 

Persevere rushed over, heading to a familiar pair of trees that acted like a doorway towards where the incident happened. Persevere's heart raced in anticipation to what he might find, all while the splashing continued from beyond the thickets.

Persevere froze. He didn't know what to expect from behind the leaves. It was the same place where He died, but he didn't want to see it all over again. However the continued splashing called to him like Its asking him to come closer.

Hesitantly, Persevere pushed through. He half-expected the dead body to be laying down on the same spot on the ground. Instead he saw a crouched figure by the pond. They were tossing rocks into the pond.

A scavenger? Persevere thought. He hesitated to step forward, but he wanted to get a closer looked. Slowly he approached the scavenger, trying not to alert them.

He walked carefully, then the scavenger stopped what they were doing and turned to look towards Persevere with a curious look. His heart leapt. The scavenger gave a look of recognition at Persevere and smiled before continuing on throwing rocks into the pond.

Persevere paused. It couldn't be. This was his friend. He's alive!

Persevere got close and then proceeded to sit beside them. The scavenger was skipping rocks over the pond. Every time they threw the rock, it unnaturally kept hoping over the pond's surface until it hit the boulders on the other end. The scavenger occasionally glanced back at Persevere every time a rock hit the boulders to show a moment of pride before turning back and doing it all over again.

Persevere relaxed. He hadn't seen the happy face of the scavenger in a long time. Persevere could almost shed a tear.

Then the light started rising on the horizon.

Was it day time already?

The light encapsulated the horizon with a bright white light that broke through the thick forest. The backgrounds of the forest shone a similar bright light. The scavenger stood up and turned to look at Persevere. They bowed at the rainwing before turning and heading towards the horizon. Persevere was perplexed. They're leaving. Again.

No! Don't go! Persevere tried to shout but he couldn't find his voice for some reason.

The scavenger headed off, the light was getting bright.

No, dont! Please! Don't leave me!

Tears welled up on his eyes as the scavenger walked into the forest. The scavenger turned back one last time, giving him a reassuring smile before turning to walk deeper into the forest.

"THIMBLE!"

The light blinded Persevere. Then everything became black.

***

Persevere groaned. He was feeling sore everywhere. As he opened eyes, he could see a figure resting on his snout, their head laid over their arms as they rested on his snout.