On the walk away from the village, Ralph tells me what he knows about the area. Just like me they all woke up, but unlike me they had entire lives they were taken from. None Remember when they had gotten there or even the events leading up to it. Although Talia and Lj don't say a word to me, they send small whispers to Ralph, who telephones it. Apparently they went four days without a village or any other structure. They found a village, the one I was in, during the fourth night, what they described was hell. They said they kept their distance, because during the night, the village was alive. Bonfires, and smoke out of every chimney except one, the forge. I told them about the forge and apparently they had never found it. Looked through every house that was unlocked, which for the most part was every house. But apparently they couldn't get the big doors open, even with a large stick. This last part came after a hurried whisper from Talia. When I told them I'd just flung it open they looked at me confused. Aside from the forge, in the morning there is no evidence of the villagers from the night before, or there victims. During this time they saw multiple people try to go into the village, none came out. The only indication of them after going in, is the screaming and the way the fire glows just a little bit brighter. Something tells me they saw more than this, but I keep quiet, not wanting to upset them. They'd caught a few of the human/non-human's, only characterized by there inability to talk or seem at all human. They said that a small number of them come in the day, but never more than a group of 3.

By the end of this long talk we find ourselves at the very edge of a lake, a waterfall feeding it from a hundred feet. Ralph collected my jaw from the ground and make a flourish with his hands.

"This is home base. Well behind the waterfall anyway but we spend most days out here."

The only words that crossed my mind came immediately out of my lips.

"Why would you ever go back to that village?"

I was thinking of his claim of catching more than one human creature. And looking at the scenic view that they could enjoy instead.

"Because, there are others. We haven't found any besides you just yet. But they're out there, potentially about to fall into whatever it is."

He finished this with a gesture in the general direction of the village. I hadn't thought that they were there intentionally, I had thought they were getting supplies same as me.

"Well thank you for being there regardless."

And I was sincere, the thought of being surrounded by fire and strange beings did not appeal to me. Ralph waves it off with his hand as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"I would have done the same for anybody I think our best shot at surviving is sticking together. But if we are going to be, I think it's time we learned your name."

A question I feared was coming from the moment I asked theres.

"I don't know. I woke up with no memories, or any idea who I am."

They all stare at me as if a horn had grown out of my head, or they don't buy it. Ralph looks to Talia and Lj who give a shrug, he claps his hands.

"Good enough for me, well I can show you where you'll be staying since you have seen the outside."

He walked the perimeter of the body of water taking 5 minutes to get to the other side. He walks directly into the thickest part of the forest, on the other side he's not visible at all. He comes back through with a shit eating grin.

"Just messing with ya, there's a trail on this side."

Talia and Lj seem to be in a better mood, as I turn around and see them giggling amongst themselves. Ralph disappears one more time, leaving his hand to gesture me forward. After passing through the thicket, the other side is not at all what I expected. It's almost a tunnel through the woods, trees making a thick canopy and even thicker walls. My jaw is once again on the ground by the beauty of the sun through it. It's a small walk to the rocks beside the waterfall, but the view is well worth it. Ralph and Lj with great effort move a large boulder revealing an entrance. Well entrance is being kind it was more of a rabbit hole the right size for a human. With great effort Ralph shoves his way through the small opening almost knuckle dragging on the floor. One by one Lj and Talia enter the hole, the latter barely needing to duck. With a big sigh, I step forward into the dark grey co-

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"Welcome to Casa la Ralph."

I barely see his grand gesture as I look at the walls and ceiling of the cave. Almost every inch of which was colored by a low light moss, was it also giving off heat? The waterfall may have been majestic but this cave was just dazzling. Most of the lights gave off a light green but certain sections were colored off slightly. Lj sees me staring at a dark purple space right above a small bed, he clears his throat and motions his head to Talia.

"Talia, can you make them change color?"

Talia puts her arms together and glares at Lj, then she looks at the floor.

"I don't know, I thought I was going crazy with the whispers when we first got here. But it turned out that it was them, they talk, very, very quiet but if I try hard I can hear."

By the end of this statement she is beaming with pride at her skill to understand the moss. She walks along the cave letting her fingers graze the moss, leaving trails of different color. When she sits the moss around her seems to grow brighter. I rub my chin at the thought of talking moss, then with no luck, I put my ear to the wall, and hear no whispers.

"Talia can you do this with just the moss or are there other plants as well."

Talia shakes her head.

"It's only the moss, and only in this cave. We went and tried to find other caves like it but their moss is silent."

I stay staring at the moss as thoughts rush around my head. Could it be that the cave is a creature, or maybe the whispers are actually each bit of moss. I sit down on one of the rock formations and the moss behind me starts to strobe. I immediately stand to my feet and see the flashing green growing. The others all seem to be just as concerned as I am, apparently flashing is not as common as changing colors. Talia looks to the moss beside her and tilts her head.

"They don't... Like you."

This part finished more as a question then a statement. This left me feeling a bit distressed how do you get moss to think your not a bad guy? In the end of I placed a hand on the moss, all colored drained away from it.

"Uh hey, moss creature, I don't know what I may have done to piss you off but, I'm sorry."

The moss seemed to like the apology as color started to creep towards my hand. It connected with my hand and sent a jolt up my arm to my heart. Before my hand the moss started to become more alive. At one point it took on the look of ocean water and started little waves that made Talia happy. Before I knew it, it settled back into its dark green, with color only remaining around the young girl.

"It must be tired, those shows take a lot out of it. But it says you are forgiven, he also called you a strange name, it was Cama I think?"

The name rings a familiar bell but I can't seem to put my finger on it. Ralph interrupts my thoughts by slapping my back aggressively.

"See the plants are good for a lot, even remembering your name for you I suppose."

He lets go a guttural laugh that genuinely warms my heart, hard to think they'd survived as long as they have. Not to say Ralph doesn't look capable, but Lj is a string bean looking fellow maybe a hundred fifty pounds soaking wet, and Talia is even smaller. I take a closer look around the moderately sized cave, I see a small stock pile of random berries and give a questioning glance to Ralph.

"Oh those haven't been looked at yet so I wouldn't eat them. The moss lets Talia know if something is edible or not but it seems to sleep immediately after so we do one a day or so."

The more they talk about the moss the less their situation makes sense. The moss provides warmth and light in this cold cave. But more than that it even lets them know if they shouldn't eat something. In this case it knew my name, before even I knew my name. But the question that just won't leave my mind is what does the moss get out of this? As far as he could tell the moss was perfectly able to survive on its own. Unless...

"Talia, does the moss ever talk about being lonely?"

Talia seemed to be taken aback, looking almost defensive after the comment.

"How did you know that? Can you hear them too?"

And with that it clicked into place, the moss simply didn't want to be alone. The heat, changing colors, all of these just gimmicks to keep company. Thinking about the moss before Ralph's group depresses me. So alive, and yet stuck in a grimy cave underneath a waterfall. With a more heartfelt touch I tried with my all to get the sympathy across to the moss. It went crazy flashing pink and orange at random intervals, it seemed like it was angry. Talia had her ears covered and cowered in the corner Ralph and Lj both took a step towards me. I held up my hands in a surrender before Talia called them off.

"Ralph, dad, it's okay Cama didn't do anything wrong. But Cama, the moss asks very LOUDLY that you put your dark blooded sympathy where it belongs."

"Huh? Where does it belong."

She clears her throat and looks at the floor.

"This is the moss talking not me, 'whatever abyss made you'"