My leather boots flattened the grass and herbaceous leaves that sprawled across the soil. Each footstep made a subtle squelch from the moisture in the ground; rainwater was retained between the stands of nature and the earth. I grabbed Aria's hand as she used her free arm to push off the soil and climb out of the hole. Aria rubbed her hands together, removing the dirt and dust from her palms.

Behind us, the mix of clay, rock, and sediment collapsed, partially closing back up the hole we exited from. I looked around, and the trees were nothing like those around Yandria. The trees were wide, tall, and sprawling. In the distance, some trees shot above others. These giants of the forest cast shade, depriving the nature below it of light. The trees mostly painted a spectrum of green, from the lightest limes to the darkest greens. Within the canvas of leaves, odd tinges of yellow, orange, or even purple were painted.

A deep pan of forest encircled us. The large valley surrounding us was walled in by sprawling elevations containing snowy mountain tops at its edges. We were a drop in a bucket of a chaotic mixing pot of nature.

"It's beautiful," I whispered, my jaw agape. I had lived nearly all of my life between city walls. I was born in Yandria, and as the capital of the Holy Orian Empire and the home of the Highlanders, I was accommodated with everything I could ever need: food, shelter, goods, and occasional luxuries. Of course, I'd been on pilgrimage to surrounding towns and trudged through the accompanying forest. But comparing that to what I witnessed would be an understatement.

"I thought you hated the outside? Had a change of mind?" Aria said. She dusted down the back of my cloak, trying to rub the dirt out of it.

"Well, I'd still prefer to be back in my basement. But seeing such unique nature is still stunning." I pulled my cloak away from her and aggressively rubbed the debris off myself. "Besides, how are you holding together? Everyone just 'died' from what we could tell! Now we're somehow still 'alive' in the middle of nowhere!"

"When I saw the way to our parents was blocked and made my way back to you, I told myself I would stay strong until we were safe because that's what they would've wanted me to do. I still don't think we're safe Twel now, are we?" Aria gave me a gentle yet reassuring hug while looking around the forest herself, taking in the surroundings. "I don't see anywhere to settle, and darkness may fall soon, so setting up camp may be a good plan."

I gently hugged her back, the bound book I was carrying wrapped around her back. Aria was more than I could ever ask for in an older sister. I needed to let her be vulnerable too one day, but she was right. We didn't know what lurked in this forest, and being inside the chamber might be all fine and dandy, but without food, a heat source, or water, we were doomed. I noticed a metal stick on the ground near the hole we just exited from. "This was the torch you used to light up the hallway, right Aria? Did you extinguish it?"

Aria shook her head and looked out into the horizon. She replied in a distracted tone, "It dimmed the closer we got to the exit before fading away while climbing out."

"Energy doesn't come from nothing, and I imagine the chamber was powering the lighting. We'll need to make our own light source if darkness falls outside the chamber. At best, we could go back inside to steal the bedding for warmth," I picked up the metal sconce and examined it while Aria began to walk off in front of me. "Hey, where are you going!?"

Aria turned around while pointing behind her, "See, just off to the left in the distance. That's a river! It'll have flowing water, which is probably a good first stop."

I swear, if she trips and falls like the dolt she is, I'm not helping her. I quickly caught up behind her. I stayed close to her side as we walked across the edges of the upper plateau. Trees began to pass us by as we winded across the forest path. Every time I began to slow, Aria encouraged me to keep up, seriously? I knew Aria had far more experience in nature, but giving me chances to catch my breath couldn't hurt.

"Oh — wait a second Aria! I found something," I ran between some trees to a group of small bright orange mushrooms with tiny white dots. I placed down my bound book on the ground for a moment so I could analyze it. I knew it! I've read about these: 'Pheon Caps'. From my memory, they were technically a powerful 'effecting reagent' for tracking locations.

Stolen story; please report.

Typically, alchemy consisted of a catalyst, effecting reagents, a neutralizer, and an activator. Neutralizers negated unwanted effects from reagents. Activators typically brought out desired effects from reagents. While catalysts allowed reactions to happen more effectively. The core of everything was the effecting reagents that determined — well, the effect.

"Aria. These mushrooms only keep together in families. When you separate one from another, its spots point back towards its original family. This is perfect, and I don't even need to do any alchemy here. We can use one of these mushrooms to find our way back near the chamber if we need to!"

"Twel, you're a genius! I don't know how you remember this stuff! So we now have a permanent compass back to the chamber?" Aria gave me a pat on the back, smiling.

I used my pocket knife and cut the root of the largest mushroom within the cluster. The spots on the mushroom slowly shifted downwards toward their origin. I placed the mushroom inside my small leather reagent bag on my belt.

"Well — not exactly. The mushroom will likely deteriorate enough that its spots stop responding within two days of picking off the tree's root. But generally, they are very rot-resistant." I turned to Aria before she could open her mouth, "And before you ask, it's highly poisonous, so not edible. Definitely — not edible."

"Well, you answered all of my questions!" Aria gave a thumbs-up and continued walking; her stomach was practically rumbling, and I couldn't lie; I was getting hungry too. I picked up my book and followed her. I felt more hopeful about the whole situation. Maybe my knowledge of alchemy could really help us here.

We had reached a part of the plateau where it began to descend into the lower basin of the forest and towards the river. My legs were aching, and my stomach rumbling. From my estimations, it would take longer, if not until sunset, until we even got close to the river. I kept my eyes out for any more alchemy reagents. Every so often, I'd see a colored moss or strange flower and pick some of it up just to experiment with later.

We descended lower into the forest. The trees swallowed us up, and a sense of claustrophobia grew. With that, the deep rumbling sounds of the forest matured. Strange creatures let out screams and laughs. Calls of birds echoed louder, and scattered footsteps of small critters dashed between the vertical blinds of the trees. We had grown quiet and began to take our footsteps in unison.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Aria jumped excitedly, breaking our gap of silence as she began to separate apart a leafy bush. I jumped in fear for a moment, her excited calls surprising me.

"Uhm, found something?" I tilted my head, leaning down to see what excited her.

"Mhm! I think these are the same berries I've gathered before in Yandria! Amberberries. Look at the harder top, squishy bottom, and bright amber hue. Even the smell is the same."

From what I remember, they were useless in alchemy, so there was no way I would've spotted them. "I would've never caught that." I blinked a few times.

"Duh — you never go outside and forage. I'm surprised you even spotted those mushrooms back there. I foraged for food frequently when we were low on coin. That's why we are a team Twel! You know the — uhm — potion stuff, and I know the survival stuff." Aria sniffed the tiny round fruit, taking small bites out of it. She nodded in approval before picking them off the bush aggressively and into her palm.

"Yum!" Aria's eyes lighted up as she threw a few berries into her mouth. "Here! Try a few Twel!" she handed me a bunch yet kept more to herself.

I guess our diet had to change now, and if berries were all we had, I'd have to make do. It looked like Aria knew what she was talking about, and she clearly tried them first, so it couldn't hurt to try just one, especially since I was so hungry. They appeared clean and without infestation. Their outside had a wet, glossy sheen. I took a bite. It was sweet, and it tasted tangy yet orangy with a burst of fruity freshness.

"Let me help you pick them." I hastily began to assist Aria in gathering the delicious fruit. Every berry that wasn't eaten, I funneled into a fresh leather pouch on my belt. My bag was running out of space, but these were too tasty to ignore.

We finished snacking, and my pouch was full of berries to the brim. We continued deeper into the forest now with renewed excitement. Every so often, I tugged and played with the book in my hands, trying to open it, but it wouldn't budge. Damn it, what's inside of you. I know it's important!

I took a deep sigh and looked up into the sky. But at that moment, I noticed something. I noticed something off, a blur resolved — above us was a creature with long limbs stretched between two trees with red darting eyes. The dark black fur had two sharp front teeth. It was directly above our heads. It grew larger. It was — falling!

"Aria, watch out!" I shouted and pushed her into a nearby bush. She was heavy, but my weight overwhelmed her. I dived into cover beside her and wrapped my arms around her waist.

"Huh!?" Aria answered with her remaining breath, covering her head and closing her eyes.

In the exact spot where we were standing, a primate-shaped blur slammed into the ground from above. It smashed down and displaced the soil in an explosion. Its size was smaller than expected, but it was equipped with large, sharp, jutting teeth, a drooling maw, sharp silver claws, and a thick layer of sable fur. Regardless of what this creature was, it was not happy. It was hungry. It smelled fear.