A/N: Surprised to see another update that soon? Trust me, so am I. XD This was originally from my story "100 Fish in the Sea," chapter 35: Adventure, and chapter 71: Animals. I decided to extend on it. I still have trouble with portraying children, so my apologies for that. Terra's still eleven years old and Aqua's ten.
Thank you: TopazDragon98, Amulet Misty, Gohan Roxas, and outofthesun, my brilliant beta. :)
~ "I wanna go on an adventure and find the secret treasure that's hidden deep in the Dark Forest." As soon as he had said that, his eyes started to glint. "So, what do you think? Or is little Aqua too scared?" ~
It was another normal, sunny day in the warm, utopianLand of Departure, which meant that the two pupils could be found outside, sitting near the huge lake. Both children had taken off their shoes, so they could put their feet into the cool water. It had a rather pleasant effect on them, making it feel as though it wasn't that warm anymore.
However, this time they were unable to decide what to do with the free time they had on their hands. Master Eraqus had been kind enough to stop their training earlier than usual, so now they could do fun things for the rest of the day... That is, as soon as they figured out what to do. At the moment, though, they didn't seem to agree that easily.
"I don't really like playing Hide and Seek," Aqua admitted softly, not daring to look her new friend in the eyes (because what if he would laugh at her? Sure, he had never done it before, but that didn't mean he never would).
"What did you have in mind, then?" Terra questioned, resisting the urge to let out a deep sigh.
Honestly, Aqua was so shy and quiet. Sometimes, she gave him the feeling that he might scare her if he acted like his usual self. Well, at least there was more than enough time to let her open up more to him. Though that was easier said than done.
The blue-haired girl bit her lower lip. "Well, we could watch the clouds, or race each other, or play tag, or maybe even-"
"No, that's boring!" Terra objected harshly, interrupting the bluenette girl in mid-sentence.
Aqua frowned lightly, wondering why in the worlds he was always so incredibly bossy and mean to her. What had she ever done wrong? Or was it a typical guy thing she would never understand?
"Okay, then what else do you want to do?" Aqua asked, cautiously.
She didn't know Terra that well yet, but if there was one thing she had learned since her stay here, it was the fact that you should be very careful around him.
"I wanna go on an adventure and find the secret treasure that's hidden deep in the Dark Forest." As soon as he had said that, his eyes started to glint. "So, what do you think? Or is little Aqua too scared?"
"N-no…" she replied, her voice quavering.
Except that she totally was. She had never set foot in that particular area of this world before, but her intuition was telling her that it was a dangerous place that she should avoid at all costs. There just was some kind of dark aura that came off the place.
Terra smirked, seeming oblivious. "Good. Then let the adventure begin…"
He rubbed his hands together, quietly thinking of which way they should go.
"Wait, how do you know there is a treasure in the first place?" Aqua questioned, hoping that this would make him change his mind.
The dark-haired boy ran a hand through his chocolate-brown hair. "I just know, okay? Every forest has its secrets and treasures, so I figured that this one does, too. Well, if your questioning round is over, I really wanna start with our quest. Ready?"
The younger pupil nodded and gulped, knowing that she wasn't going to like this. Then again, it wasn't like she had any choice. If she refused now, Terra might never want to spend his time with her again and he was the only person who was around her age. She could only imagine how extremely bored out of her mind she would get after a while.
May the gods help them...
The forest seemed so... full of life. It was a beautiful sight, really. Birds were chirping everywhere from between the thick tree branches and no matter where Aqua looked, she would spot all kinds of flowers and beautiful butterflies fluttering around the plants. Unfortunately for her, this scenery changed, because, the closer they got to the heart of the woods, the darker it became, to the point that Aqua almost wanted to hold Terra's arm, just to be sure she wouldn't lose him or get lost herself. This quiet part of the woods was really creepy. No, creepy was an understatement. The girl's home world was always so full of light and happy people that this area frightened her.
It was as though they had entered a different world; the trees here had more ominous faces and scary animals could jump them from every hidden, dark corner.
Aqua gasped softly, but audibly when she heard the sound of some unknown creature not too far away from them. It sounded like something big enough to be able to swallow her in one bite. Brr...
"T-Terra, I really don't like it here. Can we... go b-back again? Please?" Aqua whispered. She was far too scared to raise her voice, because then that beast would be able to hear her, too.
"Not yet; we haven't even started yet. You wanted to see this, right? Then what's the problem?" Terra asked, giving her a sidelong glance.
He wasn't sure why, but the boy had started whispering as well, looking around him as if he thought that someone was listening to every word they uttered.
"Well…there are animals here. Big animals. Scary animals," she replied, shivering at the mere thought of meeting grizzly bears or hungry wolves in this part of the forest.
They would obviously stand no chance if something like that happened to them.
The brunet sighed lightly. "Aqua, nothing will happen, I promise. I'm here with you, right? I'll protect you from anything that will cross our path, so you have nothing to worry about, okay?"
To prove his words, he took her hand in his and squeezed it slightly, giving her a small, but warm (and very rare) smile that she returned with a shaky one of her own. "A-alright. I trust you."
"Good. Now let's go. We have a long way to go if we really want to find something awesome."
Aqua nodded.
With that, the duo continued their trip and the bluenette felt more at ease now. She didn't know if it was because of Terra's gentle words, or because he refused to let go of her hand, but either way, it worked. In fact, she was kinda starting to enjoy this... if only a little. Aqua knew that as long as she was with Terra, things would somehow be all right again.
To be continued...
A/N: Gosh, Terra's such a meanie here, but at least he made it up in the end, right? (And he most certainly will in the next chapter.) :)
Next chapter: "Uh-oh. That doesn't look good."
