TF Chapter 68 Awakening

***Nathaniel***

"Its been two months." The voice entered my ears, calm, as if there was nothing that could ruffle its owner, a woman. Also, there was this finality about those words, like some sort of resolve...

"So what? Bora, you wouldn't be chasing after death, right?" That was most definitely Danny. And he seemed to be having trouble dissuading the woman. Weariness was something that no one could fail to detect within his voice, as it sounded like this conversation had happened so regularly he had gotten tired of it.

"Danny, we need to search for a water source, food, other people...and many other things. Its a pain to always have to distill water from the plants with such a crude method. You...(sigh)"

Two months? Was that how long I had been out? Time really flies when your consciousness is murky.

"Bora, I know that. But you are the only expert here who can take care of senior Nat. What if you die off somewhere? Will he live? I know next to nothing about nursing people."

"So, all of this is about your precious senior Nat. You aren't even seeing me as a person, is that it?" The voice had risen a small amount even though it was still somehow calm. Danny...(sigh)...it looked like he still hasn't acknowledged her.

"Two months ago, you stumbled upon my landing place, all injured and beaten up. I tended to both of you without any scruples yet here you are, still treating me like a stranger. It hurts you know. If Nathaniel wasn't here, I would have most definitely abandoned you after bringing you back from death."

"...don't try to explain anything, I know your type...you care about benefits more than anyone else. All your friendships are superficial, only useful if they can further your goals. The only perso-no, even Nathaniel, you don't really take him as a friend, no, you gaze at him like he's your lottery ticket. You remind me of a certain man and my siblings...and not in a good way!"

After those words, I heard footsteps heading away my from me. The words at the end had contained too much emotion, particularly sadness and loneliness. What had she experienced?

Another set of footsteps heading away also entered my ears. People have a propensity for change, but was Danny capable of it, or was he simply going to stay the same?

I sighed after the place became empty within my senses. Wait!? I had sighed?! I tried moving my limbs, only to feel that there was absolutely nothing wrong with them, a surprising development. Even if two months had gone by, there was no way I should have been able to recover this fast, let alone with a full recovery! I had been kicked around like a football, though with less malleability than the ball itself, causing my injuries to be so serious that I wouldn't have been surprised if death had finally won out this time.

I opened my eyes, with the blue specks of light from the ceiling failing to elicit something within me for the moment. I was still wondering what could have made me receiver this fast? There was some lethargy within my limbs as a result of my muscles not working themselves out, but all in all, everything was okay. I had vivid memories of hearing cracking sounds from within my body, yet here I was, with not a fracture within that I could feel. This was bizarre. Something wasn't right and I was going to ask those two...right after I managed to stand up.

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The hide of some beast I didn't know had been turned into my clothes, a skirt and a vest, all black and glittering, not to mention uncomfortable as hell! It was akin to wearing a plastic bag!

I wobbled after getting on my feet, my legs almost failing to center themselves well, but they ultimately succeeded, allowing me to take in the view of this small shelter.

All its walls were shining, with the blue specks providing a soft starry glow that made me feel as if I had been dropped straight into a fantasy setting. There was only a single exit, being blocked by what looked like a leaf, with the same starry blue spots. The blue light illuminated the crude items in the room, from stone bowls to sharpened wooden spikes. There were bowls which were filled with what appeared to be herbs, with their pungent smell already making me uncomfortable. The light was too dim for me to truly make out the contents, so I gave up, opting to instead try and start taking my first steps outside.

Now that I was in a relaxed mood, I had this vague feeling that I was lighter on my feet, as if there had been some heaviness before.

Whatever I was stepping upon didn't appear to be ground though, and since it was also blue specked, I had a hunch that this was a branch from one of those trees I had seen earlier, during my battle. It also alerted me to the fact that I might be high up in a tree, with any wrong step having the possibility of causing my death. I didn't trust the leaf walls around as I was scared that they wouldn't be able to support my weight, so I stopped in place and allowed my feet to adjust to the new stimulus.

A few minutes later, I pulled the leaf curtain to the side, allowing some light to fall onto my retinas, which elicited some intense blinking as I tried to adjust to it. Apparently, two whole months had passed, meaning that all they had been looking upon had been darkness!

When my eyes finally managed to get used to the light, what entered my eyes was a gloomy sky that was covered in dark grey clouds, the ones that signified that rain was about to fall. Some part of me became disappointed at the fact that I hadn't seen an overcast sky as my first scene after two whole months, but the world was like that. The wishes of a simple creature weren't much in the grandness of the universe.

The moment my gaze lowered though, was when I became blown away. It was simply too breathtaking! The myriad flying creatures which were adopting a symphony of colors, the black blue specked giant leaves that resembled the night sky...it was simply too beautiful! Was this what I had been missing all along? This view alone beat all the sceneric memories I had accumulated all my life!

Many branches and leaves were almost blocking my gaze, but not as much as when I had been on the forest floor. But this was far too beautiful! It had far surpassed the forest floor below!

This had most definitely been the machinations of Bora. There was no way Danny was able to come up with such an idea!

"Wow! Senior! You have awoken!?"

A voice filled with so much surprise and way too loud almost led to my death as I leaped up, almost falling off the tree branch.

"Danny! That was rude!"

I shouted back with such rage that the man flinched, and shrunk into himself in mock fear. What a pain! Danny was a pain!

"How are you?! Are you okay? You should be resting! What are you doing outside? Hey! Are you listening, senior Nat? What..."

I tuned out the rest. The way he was jumping around me gave me the chills. Even girlfriends don't act this happy! There was a need to keep a distance from this guy, or else...

"Where am I?"

"Ah! On top of a tree."

"I can already see that. Where are we in relation to our landing points?" Danny liked playing around too much. And what was that smile, like that of a kid that had just been given their favourite candy? I hadn't paid much attention before but Bora's words were now playing in my mind. This expression wasn't that of someone who was truly relieved that their friend had recovered. There was something creepy about it. Was he regarding me like some sort of object?