The Crooked Silhouette

Chapter 4: The Forest of Eve

Approximately ten seconds ago, the pitch dark enveloped him in The Forest of Eve. He went there to look for his friends, as he said to Yagi, The King of The Capricorn Valley that he encountered. Yagi happened to arrive there through a door called The Deity’s Gate – a door appeared in the mid-air from a magical power. At least it was comprehended as so by him. He underwent warp and watched how his limbs and even head detached from his abdomen and flew everywhere in the infinite wall of transportation. Unlike Yagi, he was sure gag hit him in the throat but it manageably held by him.

            Right as his view was obstructed by another darkness, he discerned the surface his feet have safely alighted. Rubbing his forearms together as his limbs have returned to him, the murky view faded almost in no time and a bright view of a forest replaced it. He blinked in confusion – not understanding how the time has changed in ten seconds.

            “It’s not the time changes – well, it does. But it’s not like how you grasp it personally,” Yagi put his hands around his waist, analysing the location they have arrived in The Forest of Eve. The sky, the flora and fauna, and the air felt like Dimensional-ish, which meant Tatsu and him have arrived there safe and sound.

            “It’s quite hot to begin with,” Tatsu fanned his face with his palm, “I barely see The Sun but it’s hot – as if The Sun is right above your head,” he lifted his head upward, “Wait, is it noon already?”

            “It seems so,” Yagi propped his chin, thinking of the next step he should perform, “The time flow in The Dimension has too much difference to The Earth’s. Spending one hour on The Earth may consume around ten hours in The Dimension. Since I’ve been there for half an hour, I guess it has passed five hours after I’ve left.”

            Tatsu scanned his surrounding – the tall trees scraping the sky, the colourful fruits ripened on them, the bugs buzzing around them, the taupe-coloured ground he and Yagi stepped on, well-groomed shrubs alongside the lane. He never discovered what The Forest of Eve on The Earth looked like since he went there at night. The nation was prohibited to enter The Forest of Eve because it was said as haunted – whoever went there might be missing later on. Unconsciously, he and his four best friends have been another victims of The Forest of Eve. He immediately acknowledged the reason behind the disappearance then.

            “Let me conclude one more time.”

            The Human tailed Yagi picking up fruits from the trees. The colours were already alien to him, and the shapes lessened his confidence to consume the fruits appetizingly. Who have seen an oval banana? Judging from the shape and size, he was not even sure if it was banana or papaya.

            “We basically have two worlds exist and complete each other,” Tatsu kicked off, “The one I live in is The Earth, and the one we are at now is The Dimension. I am a Human, and you are The Zodiac. Honestly I am afraid of your height – gigantic!”

            “I know, right?” Yagi smirked as he was true about his frightening tallness. It might be normal to those from The Dimension, yet it was not to those from The Earth. 170 centimetre was the average height of The Humans – far smaller than the locals or precisely closer to a dwarf. Dwarves were usually found in any Valleys but it was one of the rarest creatures in The Dimension.

            “You, and another four of The Zodiacs, were hurled to The Earth to fetch us – five of us. All of you acted from instructions of a Spirit named Tsuya. Surprisingly that Tsuya is too similar to me. Correct me if I’m wrong,” Tatsu helped Yagi collecting the fallen ripe fruits from the ground.

            Yagi nodded in response of Tatsu’s abstract. “He has psychic power, compared to us – Having an untouchable ability is a dream but witnessing him applying on Sasori The Scorpio scared us,” he frowned as if Tatsu stared at his facial, in fact he was not due to too preoccupied looking around, “Duh, I really hate it that I saw the incident clearly.”

            “What incident?” Tatsu handed the fruits to Yagi. Yagi’s pockets were filling up with fruits since they were shockingly big and enough to keep some food stocks while braving The Forest of Eve.

            There was a rather shady tree three meters from the spot they noticed its presence. Yagi signalled Tatsu to rest there since it would be another five hours before the sun set. They had to reserve some energy too, or they would unable to prepare themselves in fighting enemies.

            “One of us, Sasori The King of The Scorpio Valley, attempted on ambushing him during our meeting with Tsuya The Spirit. Well, frankly I cheered for him since we all knew Sasori has the worst temper among ourselves and he might win the mini war, but the happiness lasted shorter than we’ve expected. Tsuya demolished Sasori’s tail and indirectly brought him to paralysis,” Yagi fished out their crop onto the grass and settled down. Tatsu undoubtedly followed, sitting parallel to him, “We, The Zodiacs, have some features of the constellations we represent as. For instance, Sasori. He is from The Scorpio Valley, hence he naturally owns some traits of a scorpion – Yes, the same scorpion on The Earth as how you know it looks like.”

            Tatsu watched Yagi wiping the fruits with leaves instead of washing them in clean running water. Looking around and he understood why Yagi did so – There was no river to clean the fruits. The colourful fruit did enthral him but he was unable to conceal his ambivalence. He even squinted when Yagi bit the fruit and tastefully munched together with the audible crunchiness.

            “Does it tasty?” Tatsu bluntly asked.

            “Trust me, it is,” Yagi offered him another unknown fruit to Tatsu, “This is one of the specialty only The Dimension has. The fruits here are always eatable unless they have rotten. Theoretically we have poisonous food, but there’s no fruit contains harmful substance to us. Poison is only for animals. But,” his eyes dropped to the timid Tatsu sitting while watching him filling up his stomach, “I have no idea what food Humans do eat. So I- uh- don’t know what to give you.”

            Grumbling stomach lured Tatsu to have a bite of those bizarre fruits. He and Yagi was not the same species – He was a Human and Yagi was a Zodiac. Evaluating from the loftiness has already declared their discrepancy. He picked one fruit and gulped as he drew it closer to his mouth. It did produce fragrant aroma and while his brain ingested the smell, his teeth has already chewed one mouthful of a turquoise apple. As the result of swallowing turquoise apple, the sweetness evidently derived and abolished his doubt away. He sensed nothing affecting his digestive tract as he ate more of the turquoise apple, endorsing the possibility that Humans like him were capable of living there perfectly convenient.

            “You’re right, Yagi. This is delicious!” Tatsu could not help himself from eating more and more of the fruits Yagi has offered him to have a meal together.

            “You may plant the seed and leftovers in the ground,” Yagi demonstrated one to Tatsu. He was eating an oval banana, and planted the banana peel into the ground near him.

            Watching the ground engulfing the banana peel gave Tatsu a fright but he brushed it off by doing it himself too. He had apple leftovers hence he plunged it into the ground. Similar process occurred before his eyes which satisfied him a lot to the point he attempted on another apple consuming. This time, it was peach in colour.

            “This could reduce pollution and food waste,” Excitement caused Tatsu’s voice to raise as well, “The Forest of Eve here surely has 1001 secrets behind it.”

            “The Dimension is the world without contamination. You can literally drink the river, eat the fruits, and sleep on the ground safe and sound – omitting attacks from the creatures,” Yagi allowed Tatsu to have half of the portion of their harvest, “The Forest of Eve and The River of Adam are the examples of locations we and other creatures of The Dimension could theoretically visit but practically banned. We cannot go to other Valleys – I cannot go to The Angels’ Valley because I’m a Zodiac, and The Weather cannot come to ours as well. I haven’t tried going to other Zodiacs’ Valleys, but we met every month so I find it unnecessary to do so. But all of us can step on the ground of The Forest of Eve, or dive into the water of The River of Adam, since they’re basically everyone’s.”

            Tatsu delightfully received the fruits. Yagi was indeed a nice Zodiac that deep inside he wished for other Zodiacs to be as kind as him too. “Then why are you banned from coming here?” he chewed a blue watermelon Yagi has impressively chopped open with his bare hand.

            “You remember the door we saw before reaching here?” Yagi scooped some of the blue watermelon with a leaf designed as a spoon, “It’s called The Deity’s Gate. I guess it should be a gate, but it means it is the entrance to The Earth or the exit from The Dimension. A gate fundamentally separates two regions, yes? The Deity’s Gate divides The Dimension and The Earth. We are banned from entering it on our own accord. The Deity of The Forest of Eve will enrage and one may be hurled to The Hollow of Cain.”

            “Did we- meet The Deity once we arrived here?”

            “Today is an exception,” Detecting Tatsu’s stuttering tone meant he has begun perceiving fear against the creatures of The Dimension, and it was possibly because he has mentioned about The Deity. “That Tsuya Spirit has requested for permission. So we could walk around her only for today.”

            Tatsu ogled at The Capricorn, bewildering in his conscious mind. “Who is actually that Tsuya?” his sight dropped onto the blue watermelon he was faithfully swallowing as three scoops more to its final consumption, “I mean, you are forbidden from coming to The Forest of Eve and The River of Adam, but only a few words from him could allow you instead.”

            “He is only a Spirit, but none of us could divulge who he actually is. He is more superior to any of us. The incident between him and Sasori is the best example we could take as lesson. His au fait with The Dimension is vast. The authority he has gained just by living here for twenty years hounds us.”

            The heat has eased a little. Shadows fell to the east which meant the sun has located in the direction of the west. Yagi inhaled the fresh air – he could barely do so if he was not doing the task Tsuya has assigned. He shifted at the lying Tatsu. Sending off a gentle gaze, he estimated Tatsu has been anxious for the whole night looking for his friends. He wondered if the other four Zodiacs have captured them, but he hoped they really would. If that so, sooner or later he and Tatsu could reconcile with their friends.

            “Shall we keep on going?” Tatsu rose from his back, stretching his joints to refresh himself. He almost nodded off as breeze blew gently against his face.

            They tidied up the shady spot they rested themselves. Yagi led them through the narrow path in The Forest of Eve. Since they were in a public place, they might encounter any other creatures and it worsened if they dilly dallied too much. Yagi had the responsibility of taking care of Tatsu since he was one of The Humans he and The Zodiacs ought to take to Tsuya. Tsuya must be waiting for them at the Headquarters.

            Wait a minute.

            One of The Humans is Tsuya’s weakness, eh?

            Yagi caught a glimpse at the stumbling Tatsu. He really has thought he has found Tsuya on The Earth since the face was too alike. Claiming that he had no other sibling and twins, the confusion grew as he deemed to investigate Tatsu’s background. There was no way that Tatsu and Tsuya had no relationship before this.

            Is Tatsu Tsuya’s weakness?

            Then why we should bring another four Humans?