Chapter 9: The Trapped Tree
I decided to set out for the Death Temple since it was about 3 or 4 already. As my shoes padded through the soft grass, I thought about how Lydia always seemed to appear at the most unexpected moments. I thought about it for a while and eventually made my way to the Dark Temple.
As I saw the door to the Death Temple, I immediately backed up…right into a trap! A rope fell from the tree that I had passed under only moments ago and bound me tighter than yarn on a spool of thread. I instantly groaned at the thought of having to make my way out of the trap, or what Lydia would do if the saw me like this. What had made me recoil, you say? The Grim Reaper itself was the door. As I tried to bite my way out of the trap, I looked for a place to hide. I noticed nothing but the tree around… except for a small indenture into the ground. "That'll have to do," I figured and crawled over to it. As much as I was biting the rope, it seemed to wrap itself tighter. Eventually I could barely breathe, so I stopped biting. I sighed to myself. "Why, of all the ways to go out, does it have to be like this?" I complained to myself.
After a while of just sitting there, I felt a paw on my back. I knew instantly who it was, and closed my eyes while hoping she would go away. "So there you are!" Lydia sang. "I've been looking all over for you. By the way, what happened? You look like you're about to pass out." "If you can't notice, I'm all bound up here, and yes I am." "Hehehe… I could have some fun with this." Lydia taunted. My eyes started to open wide with fear. "You wouldn't." I bluffed. "Try me." Lydia heartily replied.
5 minutes later I was hanging up in the tree, suspended there by the same rope. Lydia was beaming from ear to ear. " I have a little surprise for you, Nydall." Lydia shined. "Alright, what is it?" I asked, too occupied with hanging from a rope to try and guess. Lydia slowly held up a feather. I immediately know what was coming and braced myself. When she starting tickling me I tried to resist, but to no avail. I bust out laughing as hard as I could. "Please, stop!" I begged. "What's the magic word?" Lydia shined. "Please?" I whined. "Nope, that's not it." Lydia tormented. "You probably remember my original reason for coming here."
"Not on your life!" I yelled. "Well, then I guess I'll have to keep tickling." As I resisted giving in, the feather tickled my abdomen once more. After about 5 to 10 minutes, I couldn't resist anymore. "Alright! Alright! Fine! You win! I'll freakin' kiss you!" "Not kiss me," Lydia spoke. "I want you to go out on a date with me." I instantly regretted my mistake of being trapped in the net. "Alright, forcible kissing is one thing, but I already told you that I'm not looking for a relationship." I refused. "Well, okay then, keep being tickled." Lydia retorted. As the feather approached me, I struggled to get out of the rope. This caused the strain to become so intense that it squeezed me unconscious.
When I woke up, I was untied and it was starting to become the evening. I was also lying on the ground, with Lydia preforming mouth-to-mouth on me. "You didn't have to do that." I weakly reassured. "I wasn't planning on dying" "But your heart rate started to drop" Lydia protested. "I didn't want you to die, obviously." Then, without warning, she swiftly reached her arms out and bear hugged me. I was quite surprised. "Hey, this is new." I thought aloud. "Just don't put yourself at risk like that again." Lydia warned, her voice rather shaken. She stared into my eyes and all I could see in them was pain and worry. "Well, I'll try not to." I promised.
As Lydia helped me up I realized that maybe I was being too harsh on her. After all, she was a person too. I unpacked my house outside of my Magic Backpack and Lydia's stomach growled. "I'm guessing you haven't had anything to eat since we first met, huh?" I wondered. "Yes, I have, but they've been small. I was too busy following you around." Lydia meekly replied. "Alright, you stay here. I'll go and get some berries , and maybe some more comfortable bedding." I offered. "But you're so weak! You can't go out in that condition! Lydia protested. "My wwind's starting to come back, but I see your point. If I don't come back in 20 minutes, come after me. If I'm collapsed on the ground, you can do whatever to me tomorrow." I gambled. "But-" Lydia started to speak. "I said I'm going." I reinstated, cutting her off.
As I exited the house, I wondered where any berries might be. It was hard to see because it was so late. I spotted a red shell, ate it, spit out the koopa inside, found a broken tree branch, and lit it on fire to make a makeshift torch. I was relieved I could see now. "Know where to find some berries?" I deliberated. "There have to be some around here." As I searched bush after bush, the coarse branches scratching my arms a bit, I found a berry bush. I picked the berries and put them in the front pocket in my Magic Backpack. "Hmm… there were only a few on there. I need more" I worried. I decided to gaze up and discovered that I had really picked the berries off a sapling of a tree. I saw many berries up in the trees. "Awesome!" I thought to myself, picking enough for a few meals.
As I made my way back, I realized that I was a few minutes late by my self-imposed deadline. "Oh, no. I need to hurry back, or.." My thoughts were interrupted by my tackling, courtesy of Lydia. "I knew it!" she screamed at me. "You planned on leaving me in the dark again!" "If you're really that paranoid, then I feel kind of sorry for you." I blurted back. "Did you just call me… PARANOID?!" Lydia trumpeted as she backhanded my cheek. "I've woken up to burglars before. I've had more than my fair share of danger in this world. Don't you ever call me paranoid again." "I'm simply stating the truth. If you ever slap me again, I'll make you regret it." I retorted. "I was just coming back to the house when you tackled me, so could you please get off?" "Fine, but no funny business or I'll pin you down again" Lydia demanded.
As we stepped through the forest, I wondered how Lydia survived when she wondered about how everything in her life could go wrong. It seemed like it would slow someone down. I was so lost in thought, I accidentally walked into my own wall. "Ow, I can't believe I walked into my own wall." I talked as Lydia giggled. "Well, I must've startled you pretty badly then." Lydia assumed. As Lydia sat down, I unpacked half the Goomba-sized berries I had found in the forest and halved those as well. "Here. I guess this is supper." I nonchalantly offered. "Thanks!" Lydia thanked as she bit into one. As we both ate, Lydia slowly inched her way toward me. I didn't notice her until she was right beside me and I could feel her breath.
"You know, this has been a pretty good night, in my opinion." Lydia whispered. "I guess. It's just like any other night except I got tackled." I responded. "Yeah, sorry about that back there." She grabbed my paw, and I wondered what she was up to. "I like how you think that I'm really just going to give up because you think you don't like me." She said with a stoic face. "Think? Lydia, I already told you, I don't want-" I was cut off by her forcing her mouth onto mine yet again. My cheeks instantly turned blood-red and I backed away. "Why do you always kiss me like that?! I already told you I don't like it!" I angrily shouted. "I do it because every time I do, I see that bit of curiosity and brightening in your eyes. You're starting to blush as well. You might want to sort out your emotions, Nydall." Lydia attempted to explain. "Just because I blush doesn't mean I like you. What if the roles were reversed? You'd blush as well!" I countered. "You have a point." Lydia accepted. "But have you ever considered that maybe it's due to some form of attraction? There's a reason why people blush, you know." "There's a clear difference between attraction and confusion, and I'm generally known to blush at both times." I answered. "Fine, keep denying it. One day, thought, you'll realize that you do like me." Lydia called back. "And when you do, I'll be here to receive you." I slipped my paw away from Lydia's and shot back "Good night. I'm going to bed."
I got up as calmly as I could and treaded to the leaf pile, realizing that I forgot to get more comfortable bedding. As I started to fall asleep, I felt Lydia's body weight against mine. "Someday, Nydall." She whispered into my ear as she wrapped her arm around my body. I was too half-asleep to really care, so I went with it.
That night, I kept having weird dreams about Lydias trapping me from all directions and demanding that I go out with them all whilst trying to pin me down. I kept dodging them as they "POOF!"'ed away, only for more to appear. Eventually, there were two left. One caught me and held me in place while the other one slowly started to come my way. That's when I woke up and marveled at what I saw.
