Leaves swayed overhead. Dappled sunshine gentled the woods around him. Birds sang, and bugs cried out in concert.

Levi blinked. He sat up. Leaves fell down, and he looked down to find himself sitting in a pile of them.

“The hell…?” he muttered.

A half-dozen steps thumped his way. Levi turned.

Rose rushed up, her wrist high in the air. She jumped in place, then ran over to Levi and leaned in, straddling him with her fingers so she could see him better with her between-the-finger eyes.

“What?” Levi asked, pushing her fingers away.

Rose skittered back. She bounced in place and let out a high-pitched rumble.

“You’re awake,” Handel translated morosely, following behind Rose at a moderate pace. He stood a little taller than normal, but only about seven feet tall, not his previous towering height. As he walked, he swayed left and right, dodging the patchy sunlight.

“You shrunk,” Levi commented.

Handel lowered his head. He nodded. “I need to get smaller.”

“I think you’re fine like this. Lots of advantages to being large.”

He shook his head. “Too easy to get too large. I need wiggle room.”

Rose turned to look at him. She rumbled.

Handel shook his head. “No.”

Levi looked from one to the other. “What happened? Why am I here?”

Rose jumped in place and grumbled.

“You passed out. We didn’t know what to do. Where to take you. So we took you to the forest.” Handel looked up. He lifted a hand. A vine wound off a tree and circled his wrist, almost caressing him. “You’re safe here.”

Levi blinked. “Are you…like, the next coming of TerraForm?”

“Who?”

“The lady who made this forest, like, thirty years ago,” Levi explained.

Handel blinked at him. “No?”

“I mean in that you’re the caretaker of this place. The one who looks after the forest.”

Handel gave him an even blanker look.

Levi put his face in his hands and took a deep breath. With effort, he looked up. “Sorry. I get weird after I d…heal a lot.”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Rose rumbled, tilting to the side.

“You seem more stable, if anything,” Handel translated.

“Yeah. That’s a problem. If I’m stable, I can break. It’s bad. Real bad.” Levi went to shove himself upright.

Black wobbled before his eyes. He fell back on his ass. His body slumped forward, arms and feet splayed before him. He stared at the ground, catching his breath. His heart thudded in his chest, cold and fast.

“What’s my status?” he asked, lifting shaky hands.

Rose tipped, confused. Handel squinted.

DEBUG: Corruption Level HIGH [URGENT] | Ability Points non-degraded | status DEGRADED [worsening]

“Fuck.” He rubbed his face again. “Fuck.”

Rose rumbled.

“What’s wrong?”

Levi lifted his face out of his hands and smiled. “Nothing. Where’s Maury? I need to talk to her.”

“Who?” Handel asked.

“Uh…right. You don’t know. Fuckin’…where’s Fira?”

“She left. Went to get something,” Handel said.

He stared at his hands for another few seconds, then shook his head. “No, forget it.”

“Forget it?”

Moving slowly, Levi pushed to his feet. “I’m just hungry. That’s all. You got any food in this godforsaken wilderness?”

Rose bobbed, then turned onto her side and pointed.

“There’s a pretty good dumpster that way,” Handel added.

Levi chuckled. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. Show me the way.”

Rose nodded. She scurried away. Handel followed after, stepping from shadow to shadow. Levi pulled up the rear. He ducked his head and shoulders a little, keeping his center of gravity low. The two of them led him out of the forest and into a back alley. Dirt spilled over the street. The edge of the alley’s tarmac was still jagged from where the forest had burst through, and bits of shattered concrete still tangled up in the plants at the edge of the treeline. An overflowing dumpster full of noodles, sauce, and fried chicken awaited them. The noodles hung limply, and the chicken was a little sketchy-looking, but for dumpster food, it wasn’t bad.

“Nice, nice nice nice,” Levi said, swaggering up to the dumpster. He grabbed a handful of noodles, gave it a sniff, then took a big bite. Cold and off-flavor, not quite right, but not so wrong as to be disgusting. He kept eating. His energy came back as he ate. The anemic headache faded, and standing up straight didn’t hurt as badly.

At last, he backed away. Patting Rose on the knuckle, he grinned. “Thanks for the tip, man.”

Rose chirped, bobbing happily.

He looked at Handel. “You sure you don’t want to be big? People kill themselves to get huge.”

“Yes.”

“Fair enough. Hey, you two, listen. If you ever need a hand—”

Rose rolled onto her side and spread her palm, in an approximation of a shrug.

“Okay, fair. Look. Just say the word. I’ll be there. Okay?”

Curling back up, Rose gave him a thumbs up.

Handel nodded. He climbed up into the forest, and Rose followed. The two of them vanished into the green depths again, leaving Levi alone with the dumpster.

He looked at it, then chuckled. “Should I go climb in? Since I’m trash.”

The forest faded behind him. The road stretched on. Birdsong and insect chirps were replaced by the hustle and bustle of city traffic.

Footsteps, close behind him. Levi pulled out his phone, but it was dead, the screen black. He sighed, then turned. “Alright, White Fang, I—”

Nothing. The street stood empty.

Levi frowned. He peered around him, just to be sure, but he walked alone. Cars parked on either side of the street. A cat trod along, shrugging its shoulders with every step.

“…Am I going crazy?” he muttered to himself.

He turned on with a laugh. “As if I could go more crazy. Come on. Let’s keep moving.”

--

“Did he hear you?”

“I don’t think so. He only stopped for a moment.”

“Fall back. Give him more room. Remember, this has to be natural.”

“Right. But what a catch, huh? Wonder why he suddenly showed up on the cameras?”

“…We aren’t the only ones looking for him.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah. So let’s move quickly, get the job done, and put it all behind us.”