“Why’s it so dark?” Lomi asked.

“Because the sun cannot reach here,” I said, glancing to the treetops above us.

Very faintly I could see little spots here and there. Sunlight peeking through the thick leaves and branches, only rarely and only for a moment. None of the sun’s rays reached us down on the ground, no matter how much of it breached the treetops.

“Wasn’t this dark at Lilly’s house,” she complained. She was walking closer to me than usual, and not just because the path we walked was overgrown with grass and weeds.

“This path is a little special,” I said.

Lomi sighed, and looked to our right. She studied the trees around us, and the darkness that loomed over everything with a strong gaze. Had she seen something? Or at least, thought she had?

We were alone. Other than the trees, nothing else was here.

Not even bugs crawled around here.

Only trees, their roots, and the grass and weeds lived in this section.

And even if there had been something out there, lurking in the dark… there was no way she could see it.

Odds were she couldn’t even see more than a few feet away from her.

“I don’t like it here,” she whispered.

“We’ll be out of here soon,” I reached out to pat her lightly on the head. Her thick fuzzy ears tickled a little. Did she need a bath?

Her ears twitched, as if in annoyance, but she said nothing. In fact she drew even closer.

“The forest at home wasn’t like this,” Lomi said.

“As I said. This place is a little special,” I repeated.

“How so?” she asked.

Although usually I’d not care to reveal such things, I knew it would probably help her remain calm.

“A very powerful monster died here, a long time ago. Its blood soaked into the land, and ever since it’s been like this. No matter how bright the day, it’s always… dark and quiet,” I said.

“A monster?” she asked, suddenly sounding even more worried.

Woops. Maybe I shouldn’t have used that word to describe that beast.

“Well, something like it. You probably can’t smell it, but there’s an odd lingering scent here amongst these trees. It scares off all animals and insects. It’s actually a miracle the trees and plants survive, without anything to support their ecosystem,” I said.

“Eco…?” Lomi’s confused whisper told me I had said too much again.

“Basically this place is seen as poisonous, or dangerous, to animals and bugs. Thus why it’s so quiet,” I said.

“Is it dangerous for us?” she asked.

“No. As long as we don’t stay here long, or eat or drink anything that grows here,” I said.

“Oh…?” she looked around, and I knew what she was thinking.

Eat or drink what?

Nothing was here. Though I’ve had grass gruel before, but I doubted I could let such a young girl endure such a poor meal.

“Other than our dim world around us, what did you think?” I asked her.

“Think of what?” she asked, glancing up at me. I noticed how her eyes squinted as she did.

Seemed this place was much darker to her than it was to me.

“Of the Owls, and their home,” I said.

“Oh! Yes… they were nice. Lilly was nice,” she said quickly.

Lilly was, I noted. Not Windle.

“They’ll visit you occasionally, at your new home. Make sure you’re nice to them when they come,” I said.

Lomi happily nodded, and for a brief moment her smile casted aside her worries and fear of the darkness around her.

Rounding a larger tree, I felt a small breeze go by. One that was a little too warm for the current winter air.

Yes… this place was odd. I couldn’t blame Lomi for feeling out of place here.

Nothing normal belonged here. And even though our kind were far from normal… we were still seen as normal to the true oddities of the world.

Lomi, like all the others I've brought along this path acted the same. On edge. Worried. Scared. It made how fine I felt here all the more strange, and made me realize just how different we were.

I tried not to think too deeply on what that really meant.

For a short while we walked in silence, true silence. Not even the warm breeze made any noise. The leaves didn’t rustle. The grass and weeds didn’t sway. Even our footsteps were oddly… quiet. And not because I was intentionally trying to walk silently.

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“Was Lilly pregnant?” Lomi then asked.

Frowning, I wondered if neither had told her.

“Yes. She was,” I said.

Lomi’s head tilted, and I wondered what she was wondering. A childish thought or something different?

“They have seven kids already?” she asked.

“They do. One is dead. Six still live, as far as I’m aware,” I said.

“Seven children…” she whispered.

“A large number… but not so for those of us who live a long time,” I said.

“They were old?” she asked, finding that more interested than anything else.

“Compared to most, yes. There’s only a few amongst the society older than them. The snakes we’re going to meet soon are similarly old, as you’ll probably realize upon seeing them,” I said.

“Oh…” she groaned, as if upset to find out that her new home was going to be full of old people.

“You’ll be old yourself one day, Lomi. Might as well get over it now,” I said.

She sighed.

Poking her in the ear, I smiled as she made an odd sound and stepped away from me. Only for a moment though, as she scratched her ear. Once the itch was done, she returned to walking by my side.

“Being old isn’t that bad,” I said to her.

“Are you the oldest?” she asked with an upset tone.

“There’s…” I stopped for a moment, and quickly thought of those older than me.

There were a few left. But they…

“Well, I’m one of the oldest, I guess…” I said as I admitted it.

Had that much time passed already?

“Knew it,” she said with a smirk.

“Yes, yes.”

Stepping over a large root, I waited a moment as Lomi happily clambered over it. I held back from offering to help, since it seemed she enjoyed the challenge.

It took her a few seconds to scamper up, then fall down to the grassy ground.

Lomi brushed her knees off as she hurried to rejoin me, heading deeper into the dark forest.

“How long will we be in the dark?” she asked.

“Few more hours,” I said.

“Oh? That’s not bad…” she said, seemingly happy to hear it.

“Well, it’ll be sunset by the time we escape this dark pool… so technically…” I shrugged.

“Typical… Will we at least be out of the forest today too?” she asked.

“Yes. We’ll reach a large river soon; we’ll follow that to a plain.” I gestured with a finger, as if she could see the river I was pointing at. It was silly of me to do so. Just because I could see the waters gleam already didn’t mean she could.

“Plains?” she asked.

I nodded. “Large fields. Endless they seem, sometimes. We can get some fish from the river before we leave it, if you’d like,” I said.

“Oh! Yes. I would like that,” she nodded quickly.

Lomi grew excited at the prospect of food. I knew by now she’d be getting hungry.

She ate a lot for such a small girl…

A tiny sound drew my eyes from the girl happily walking next to me, and I noticed the far off sound of running water.

We were finally leaving the dark pool.

Rather, in a certain sense, we had already left it. It just would take a few more hours for light to regain its brilliance.

“Wonder how everyone at Ruvindale are doing,” Lomi said.

“Probably bored. It’s still snowing there,” I said. At least, it should be.

“Wish I was bored,” Lomi huffed.

“This isn’t boring?” I asked her.

Her ears twitched. “It is…” she sighed.

Smiling, I gestured to a nearby ray of light. “We’re leaving the darkness, at least,” I said.

“Oh!” Lomi skipped a step as she saw it too.

I could tell a part of her wanted to hurry over to it, so I allowed it. It took us off the path a small distance, but it wasn’t dangerous.

Walking over to the solitary ray of sunshine, I watched the young fox study it closely.

“How’s it… why’s it alone?” she asked.

“It’s stronger than the rest, maybe?” I asked.

Rather it was simply because of the angle. Off in the distance I could see others, closer to the river.

Lomi swung her hand through the ray of light, and the dust that floated in it spun in the air as she did so.

She giggled, enjoying herself.

“Come on,” I ushered her after a few more moments. She happily obliged, hurrying to keep up with me as I returned us to the path.

“Is this darkness why no humans can find Lilly’s home?” Lomi asked.

“Yes and no. The darkness does help. But the real reason is the creature that lives in the forest,” I said.

“Hm?” Lomi glanced at me, and I nodded.

She had been asleep when we had traversed into the Owl’s Nest. I had carried her through the forest last time, so she hadn’t known or noticed. Even if she had been awake, she’d not have really questioned it. After all, this dark pool was only on this side.

“A very dangerous creature lives in this forest. It hunts anything that doesn’t belong. Both the humans and our kind. So humans right now avoid it. They’re scared of it,” I said.

For now they were, at least.

“It hunts us too?” she asked. Although she glanced around, she did so with a small smirk.

She wasn’t scared.

Scared of the dark, but not the creature that lived within it.

Though that might just be because of who she was walking next to.

“Yes. It’s never bothered me though,” I said.

“Did you hurt it?” she asked, smiling at the thought. Probably liking it to the large cat in the mountains near Snowfall.

“Actually no. It’s never tried to hurt me, so I’ve never bothered hurting it,” I said honestly.

“Huh… then… what about Lilly and Windle? Or their children?” she asked.

“They know how to circumvent it. As do those who come and go here,” I said.

“Would I be alright?” she asked.

“Well… no. But you shouldn’t ever have to come here. At least not alone,” I said.

“What if I had to?” she asked.

For a small moment, I was unsure of what to say.

Yes. That was a genuine concern. A real question.

“Well… I suppose you’d just have to try your best,” I said.

Lomi sighed, as if upset that I wasn’t willing to worry for her.

“You’re small enough that it might not see you as much more than a snack, so it might leave you be,” I said.

“Snack…” she mumbled, as if afraid of such an idea.

“A tiny one,” I said.

“I’d be a tasty snack!” she argued.

“A noisy one, at least.”