*Loud bang*
*Thud*
*Thud*
Ryuji jumped off the bed scared that the people chasing him found the cottage. He grabbed something and went to the window. He was shocked to see the man outside resembled the man in his dream.
*Creek*
*Door opens*
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - Hello.
(Woodcutter) - Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - I am Ryuji, I used your home as a hideout.
(Woodcutter) - My name is Raiden.
(Raiden) - Who are you hiding from?
They went inside, Raiden was understanding and hungry and they sat down and talked. After hearing what happened he allowed Ryuji to stay as much as he wants, with one condition, to not wander in the forest at night. Ryuji did not mention the time he spent with Plaf training and what they saw.
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - How comes you live here in the forest, all by yourself?
(Raiden) - This is not your main concern, is it?
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - I did have some weird dreams while I was sleeping here.
(Raiden) - What kind of dreams?
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - With a man shapeshifting into a tree.
*Stands*
*Punch the table*
(Raiden) - How do you know about my curse?
*Shocked*
*Scared*
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - What curse?
(Raiden) - Don't act clueless, you just said it.
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - I was telling you about the dream, I don't know about any curse.
*Raiden calms down*
*Sit*
(Raiden) - I was cursed by a witch, to always wander the forests in search of a cure. But as time passes I lost my faith in that magic cure.
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - How it happened, why the witch cursed you?
(Raiden) - I was minding my business in the forest near my house and a hooded lady with a hoarse voice told me to do not to chop any more trees from that forest.
*Pick up the can*
*Gulp*
*Gulp*
(Raiden) - Of course, I couldn't listen to her, because that was my only source of income and I had kids and a wife.
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - What happened to them?
(Raiden) - They are gone now.
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(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - Sorry.
(Raiden) - The day I got cursed, I transformed into a big tree and lost control. All I could do was watch as I was taking my family's life.
(Raiden) - When I transformed back everything was gone. I went and searched for the witch and nothing.
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - And how did you find out about the cure?
(Raiden) - The witch left a note in the forest where I was chopping trees and it was a riddle that I could not decipher. After wandering from village to village, someone helped me understand the riddle's meaning.
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - It was the clue to getting the cure.
(Raiden) - Indeed, but there was something more to that riddle.
*Step*
*Grab*
(Raiden) - See? Those things no one was able to figure out what it is.
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - I know what it is, but I don't know what it says. There is a book in my village that could help.
(Raiden) - I swore to never leave this forest.
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - I could bring the book here if the ones chasing me will stop.
(Raiden) - I might be able to help you with that.
The exit from the forest was far from Raiden's house, but he accompanied Ryuji and there was no sight of the people that were chasing him. Ryuji hurried into the village, grabbed the book, and then returned to the forest.
Ryuji also brought the other papers and maps maybe Raiden would help him find the places marked. When Ryuji arrived at the forest there was peace as if the whole forest was sleeping. He followed the path Raiden showed him towards his house carefully to not be followed. He told Ryuji that his presence in the forest should not be revealed.
*Knock*
*Knock*
*Door slowly opens*
(Raiden) - Come in, fast!
*Step*
*Step*
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - What happened?
(Raiden) - I heard people talking earlier, and unless you were talking alone, the ones chasing you found this place.
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - What should we do?
(Raiden) - I will do what I usually do, get rid of them.
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - Can you not just scare them off?
(Raiden) - If they found this place I would rather not.
*Sigh*
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - I can not agree with your way of handling things, but I can not change it either.
*Step*
(Raiden) - Lock the door after I leave and wait until 5 knocks.
*Nod*
*Door open*
*Step*
*Creek*
*Door close*
*Noises coming from outside*
*Thud*
*Thud*
Ryuji looked out the window and saw a giant tree walking around. Then he vanished between the other trees. There were screams and yells in the forest. Ryuji thought for sure they would be gone. But as those events happened the sun was setting and it was getting dark. Ryuji was patiently waiting for Raiden but nothing at the door for hours. The noises outside continued and the loud thuds kept him up.
When Ryuji fell asleep he had another weird dream, seeing the forest on fire and a lot of trees talking to each other. He could not hear what they were talking about. He was unclear about their intentions but for sure it was not a good one. Then a tree saw him, he thought it was a dream, but as the tree was coming towards him, he could feel it.
The environment, the wind, everything felt real. The tree came to Ryuji and whispered.
(Tree) - Run!
And as soon as Ryuji heard it he woke up with some loud bangs. It was Raiden knocking at the door. Ryuji knocked back once and then 5 more came after.
*Door opens*
(Raiden) - I scared them off.
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - But didn't you say -
(Raiden) - I know what I said, now let's take a look at the things you brought from the village.
*Pick up*
*Fshh*
(Raiden) - I understand nothing of this.
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - Each character has its meaning, when you put them together, voila.
(Raiden) - Here, this is the note that the witch left me.
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - Hmm. . . Can you note these somewhere? They do not seem to be in order.
*Pick up*
*Scribble*
*Scribble*
(Raiden) - And in what order should we read them?
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - There has to be something about this note we are missing out. But I can not figure out what.
*Pick up*
Ryuji picked up the note and rotate it in every way possible but nothing. Then he hold it up against the sun, maybe there was something hidden in the light. He kept thinking but nothing. Then with a grain of luck, he spilled some water on the note and the color changed.
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - I might have found something. We need to transcribe the whole note.
(Raiden) - Why?
(Yoshimoto Ryuji) - Here, the paper changed color, which might be a clue to what we can do with the letters.
After they had everything on the note they poured water on the note and a bunch of little numbers appeared they ordered the letters they found corresponding to the numbers. And they were left with another riddle.