Following the two kids, Arthur walked into the unknown, not knowing where they were bringing him at that moment. He couldn’t even tell if they changed direction or not with how everything looked.
“So, for how long have both of you lived here?” He asked curiously.
“… We don’t know.”
“… Has it been that long?” He raised an eyebrow. Purely from speculation, Arthur could guess that they should’ve not been here for a long time but the fact that they knew the forest very well and the fact that they can’t even remember their own parents said otherwise.
“We only remember that we woke up here. We can’t remember anything.”
‘These two kids seem so lost. Do they have some kind of memory loss?’ He thought to himself.
“How did you survive on your own then?” He asked. “You seem so young.”
“… Hmm, we just built a shelter and tools to use,” Finlay said after thinking for a moment. “We used tools to get food and there is a lake nearby.”
‘Built? Wait, are these the type of dwarves that are good at building stuff?’ Arthur squinted his eyes as he looked at them. He already knew of the common idea that dwarves are good builders, but it was still surprising these two kids could be so good at it that they could survive on their own.
“Arthur, be careful, there is a fallen tree in front of you.”
“Woah! Shit!” Stumbling forward, Arthur quickly held himself before he could fall to the ground. “Thanks for alerting me.” He said as he looked at the fallen tree beneath him with a frown. ‘My senses are completely warped in this place. I can’t even sense a tree from up close. This isn’t good at all.’
Arthur had already realized that if he was ambushed by something in such a fog, he wouldn’t be able to actually sense it before it got very close. That made him completely open to attacks when he least expected them.
“Hmm, I sense your friends from this direction,” Serko said, snapping Arthur out of his daze.
“Really?”
“Yes. They seem to be together.” He added.
“How are you even seeing that? I can’t see anything.”
“We can just see through the fog. It’s not that hard. Can’t you do the same, Arthur?”
“No, I can barely see my hands,” Arthur replied.
“Humans are surprisingly weak, Finlay,” Serko whispered to his friend.
“Yeah, they’re very weak, Serko.”
‘I can hear both of you.’ Arthur sighed inwardly as he focused on the path ahead. As they walked, Arthur finally saw a glimpse of several silhouettes standing far away from him.
“Guys!” He immediately recognized them as he called for them.
“Arthur?”
Hearing his voice, Isla turned around first only to see Arthur arriving toward them in a hurry. “How is everyone?”
“We are fine. What about you?” Isla asked.
“I’m good. Thanks to these two, I was able to find you.”
“Huh?” Isla looked over his shoulder curiously. “Who are they?”
“These are Finlay and Serko. They seem to be living here on their own.”
“…”
The group looked at the two dwarves curiously and a little hesitant. After all, they didn’t know whether these were even monsters or not.
“Don’t worry, guys. They don’t seem to be hostile… So far.” He said. “They’re just here to help.”
“… I wouldn’t take that for granted,” Herculia replied with a frown. “This place looks far too scary to trust anything that lives in it.”
“As rare as it is for me to say this, but Herculia is right.” Emmy nodded. “What are they really?”
Arthur couldn’t find the words to refute their suspicions as they were rightfully possible. He didn’t know what these two are exactly and they could be dangerous as far as he’s concerned. However, for some reason, the two kids didn’t give him any bad feelings when he saw them and talked to them.
Usually, when something is off, he would instantly sense it in his very guts. But, not with these two and he was more inclined to trust that feeling. He knew that it wasn’t wise to do that, but Arthur trusted his judgment a lot and it still didn’t betray him yet.
“Finlay, what are they talking about?” Seeing the group of humans talk, the two dwarves were worried.
“I don’t know, Serko. They don’t look happy.”
“We’re leaving right now.” Isla declared as she stepped forward. “We still have the compass. All we have to do is to continue heading north. We can’t stay here.”
“I agree.”
Arthur pursed his lips as he looked over his shoulder at the two kids. “What about them?”
He would be lying if he said that he didn’t feel curious about these two dwarves and their stories. Their meeting wasn’t just a coincidence and he was certain of that. At the same time, he knew that he might regret it later if he tried to poke his nose in too much. His curiosity has its downsides after all.
“Are you serious?” Danny glared at him. “We don’t even know what they are. They could just be trying to keep us here to kill us. Stop concerning yourself with them.”
“Danny is right, Arthur,” Isla said as she approached him and said in a whisper. “We cannot remain here or we might end up in trouble. This forest… It’s giving me a really bad feeling.”
“…” Arthur pursed his lips as he stared deep into her eyes. He could see the subtle unease within and he could only sigh. “Ok fine, let’s leave.”
“Mm, excuse us but… By any means, are you intending to leave?”
“Hm? Yes.” Arthur replied.
“… That won’t happen.” Finlay shook his head.
“Excuse me?” Arthur asked with a frown. “What do you mean?”
“You cannot leave this forest.”
“…”
Nobody talked for a good few seconds as they didn’t understand what the two kids meant. The way they said that so nonchalantly as if it was the most obvious thing ever disturbed them greatly.
“What the hell are you talking about, brats?” Danny asked as he walked forward. “Are you trying to stop us?” His words instantly put everyone on edge as they looked at the two kids. They didn’t let their seamless appearance trick them into lowering their guards, especially in such a situation.
However, the kids shook their heads. “No, this forest… The moment you step in it, you can never leave. This fog will never let you leave.”
“… Why?” Arthur asked as he sucked in a deep breath. ‘Here it is, the fucking twist. Of course, there has to be a twist, how can we have a smooth journey?’
“We… Don’t know why. But, we have tried to leave… countless times. We could never find the exit.” Serko replied. “Every time we try to leave, the forest pulls us in again. It never lets us go.”
“So you’re saying that there can’t be a way out?” Isla asked.
“Yes. At least, we haven’t discovered it yet if there is one.”
“…”
Arthur ran his hand through his hair as he looked around. “Fucking great.” He muttered. ‘This can’t be it. There is definitely a way out of this place or the game wouldn’t just let us get stuck in such a forest. We have to find it.’
Looking around him, Arthur slowly started feeling the claustrophobic atmosphere grow even tighter. The fog that was before but a smoke screen slowly turned into a jail… A cell that was trying to keep them in there.
All he could see was white.
