Mary Katherine, or rather called MK looked around, smiling, being back in the embrace of her second world.
The sunlight filtered in, soft and warm, escaping from gaps where the cover of leaves left, showering the most gentle light around the world of the beautiful nature that calmed her spirits. Dewdrops lay on the pure green leaves like studs of diamonds when the light reaches their surface, dazzling and adorning the scene beautifully to a human's eye. Trees held high and proud, tearing across the low canopy and reaching towards where the sun lay bright and strong.
That urge to meld into this beautiful scenery pulled into her soul, her heart suddenly shrinking into a tiny ball, into that tiny spot where now her heart yearns to be. Living in the place of freedom, tangled among the trees and leaves, along with the hummingbirds that gives a brief dab of their feather colors to the air in front of her while they whiz through.
Here, as a walking, massive human, they are the slow coaches, they who are pulled back by the hands of Time. She couldn't help but place a bitter smile on her face. Well, this was reality for her.
But at the least, looking at the bright side, she was still able to communicate with Nod, the... boyfriend she met at the wild adventure that swept her off her feet and introduced her to the hidden tiny world in the forest, thanks to her dad.
Speaking of him...
"Mar-I mean, MK!" The daughter smiled at the goofy voice and her approaching father, running in a awkward pace and thrashing and tripping on thick objects. Sometimes MK couldn't resist but laugh. "Come, dad, I'll help you carry that stuff." The redhead reached out to yank a yellow, stained bag of bulky machinery out of her dad's back. "Hey, this is light. What are you bringing in this bag?" The girl stashed her hand in and rummaged around, and came across a pesticide. "What?" A scrunch of confusion lined her brows.
"You know that place you placed a red pin at?" MK's dad headed with a question, taking some other tools like fertilizer, other gardening tools and such. "I've been venturing further, and I came across this dry land which looked like a dessert compared to the other side of this forest. Seems like the leafman aren't taking care of that place, so I decided to make a garden out of it."
"Are you serious?" MK broke into a huge grin that spread from her ear to the other. "But I thought you weren't really into gardening-"
"Well, you are, as you said a few days ago." Her dad hastily adjusted the bulky helmet that allowed him communication with the little creatures. "Besides, I think it would be quite nice if you would invite your friends there."
"Oh, dad." The girl laughed as she trailed on with her father in a narrow path littered with twigs and pebbles, the sound of the crickets and their massive feet crunching the delicate ground the only things breaking the silence. "Thanks."
"Well, if it isn't for my daughter MK, I wouldn't do it." The goofy man spared a chuckle, and ran off deep into the arms of nature. "Now, come on!"
MK turned back into that gentle smile that she always had for her father, her heart warming, and she tucked her hands into her jean pockets. She barely took one step forward when something swooped over my field of vision, like a blurry block of the sunlight. When the thing tore through the air to the behind of her, and her reflexes quickly followed the dark blur that contrasted eerily with the forest peaceful greens.
A crow.
MK felt herself gasp in horror, icy hands clenching her stomach. She hadn't seen a crow ever since the pod had blossomed and the new queen rose to throne, since she grew back to her original size after that adventure. The crows were the rides for the darkness that attempted to plague the forest, the horrible, twisted creatures from the dark side of nature.
She turned back, and her eyes widened.
A few flocks of black birds shot to her, tearing through the air like arrows. A scream pushed itself to her mouth, but her lips are sealed, yet her eyes were wide with the sight.
Without second thoughts, her legs took control, and curiosity led her speeding to the direction of the crows.
It took a few minutes of frantic chasing to let her get the instincts to take over and realize she just abandoned her father, which sent waves of panic and guilt to wash over her spirits. But it didn't stop her curious motivation to get her to where the crows went. Faster, they went into a area where sunlight came down icy and cold, and a chill was sent down her spine.
As her green-blue eyes lingered as the crows finally settled, it was on a stiff, thick tree with no leaves at all, the dried parts all conquering the place, the edges of the branch sticking out like small daggers branched. Gnarled roots punched against the fertilized black soil like a dagger stabbing paper, reaching around the dry ground, almost touching the tip of MK's bright red sneakers. But there was a odd sight, where the tips of the branches, were creeping with a shiny, flat sleet of steel.
The tree perched like a royal among commoners, a evil king among slaves. There was no canopy of trees protecting creatures from sunlight, but the sunlight was dark and dim here. Around the dead tree, crawling like white ants, was thousands and thousands of shiny insects. There was no doubt they're not the Boggans, but they didn't look like they're a ally to nature. MK surged forward, fear starting to leaden her legs, and took in a violent breath.
Then her fingers surged forward, to pluck a little creature out among the tiny groups of iron, squiggling things. For once, MK wished that she didn't reject her dad's help to get her helmet. Right before she can risk her sight and take a closer look at it, a sharp pain shot up her finger, and she dropped the creature with a hiss of pain.
As soon the creature's legs landed touched the ground, a speck of iron started to spread through the buttress roots, seeping the attention of MK's from the blood seeping out of her index finger to the appearance of the iron.
She crept down, and tapped the ground with her good left index finger, to see a sharp clang, the satisfying sound of steel.
Suddenly, a distant cry of pain sounded, just entering her audio field, raising her attention. That voice...
Her stomach twisted, and she turned back, everything about the insects shaded from her memory, only one thing remained. "DAD!" She screamed, and ran forward, her heart starting to plummet to the abyss of darkness. The scenery zoomed from her, the path clearer and wider, as if to usher her to hurry back to her dad.
Sunlight gave her a clear vision of what was in front, but it couldn't stop what was bound to happen next.
Before the redhead could react, a sharp wind catapulted her to midair like a forceful hand, and there was a tornado, grabbing her hand and sweeping her around. MK screamed, all the sudden of this and the horror brought to this situation all forced into that scream, and slowly, as the wind carried on, her soul slipped off her body, into the world of nothingness.