Oh, man, I am going to have to go back and edit some details of this story at some point! Maybe once I'm completely finished posting it, or maybe just whenever I feel like going back and changing it if that happens before I'm done. But at this point, since I know you guys aren't going back and rereading to check that all of the tiny details are the same every single time you read it, just assume that this day happens later than I originally wrote it. I have it like the day after Eve tried to get Seth's memories back and failed, but now I'm thinking it would be a lot better later, so I'm changing it to maybe a couple weeks or months. I'll figure out which specifically when I go back and change it, but for now just assume it's later instead! I'm going to use the excuse that this is my first chapter story and I hadn't planned far enough ahead to realize that I wanted it to be longer XD
It was a miracle that Seth realized before he got too far.
He'd been walking away from the river for a while before the thought occurred to him that if he wanted to find something important, it would probably be best to stick near it. With this change in plans, he was also grateful for the fact that he'd stuck to one solid direction so far and could pretty easily turn back around. The slight detours he'd taken didn't change the general direction, and he wasn't necessarily looking for exactly where he had parked the boat anyway.
So Seth went back to the river. He kept a wary watch for whatever he thought he'd heard in the quiet, but it still didn't come back. However, Seth found himself recognizing the places where he'd heard the sound (the voice, his mind insisted, but he wouldn't entertain that thought). When he finally got back to the river, he wasn't at the same place he'd started, but he could see his boat a ways downstream through the dense shrubbery near the edge of the river where he stood. Good thing.
If he followed the river, he'd likely find something more important than he might just walking through the woods with no destination. Civilizations tended to be built alongside water sources, so he was bound to run across something if he stuck with the river, rather than the chance of wandering aimlessly for hours through the woods. Seth wasn't sure where he might find, but the boat seemed to have something in mind when he let it take him where it may. (That led him to wonder if clever boats had a sense of priority or purpose, if the boat had somewhere he was supposed to go planned out, but that train of thought was not exactly useful here.)
The babbling of the river was a welcome relief from the unnatural silence of the rest of the woods, even if it was just a temporary mask for the lack of life-induced sounds. Even this noise seemed quieter than usual, however, which made Seth wonder if the stillness really was for lack of life or if there was some force actively covering up the sound that did exist.
He glanced both ways at the river and decided to follow it upstream. Whether it really was a natural silence or if it was caused by something removing all of the sound, neither sounded very good to him. He would be glad to be out of these woods as soon as possible- though he wasn't sure that would happen at all on this adventure. It might be entirely inside the woods. Seth supposed that confronting some being in some creepy woulds did count for an adventure.
He wondered if the noise from the river would repel a silence-monster, if it would want to live where it could be actually silent. Then, if he was really looking for it, it would probably be better to leave the river, but if he was looking for people, it would be better to stick with it. But Seth wasn't in the mood for second-guessing and changing his mind multiple times; he was staying with the river now. Besides, if that meant avoiding possible evil forest monsters, that was all the better.
Since he wasn't sure what he was looking for, Seth treated the walk like it was in itself the adventure. And wasn't it, in a way? It was part of the experience. He was outside, not stuck underground in the dark (although, if he was looking for an adventure location based on good lighting, this wasn't it). He made a game out of jumping over brush and exposed roots. He picked up pebbles from the edge of the river and tossed them in, laughing when they hit the water.
Before long, the woods began to thin out, and more light shone through than before. Seth walked a bit faster, wondering what was up ahead. The forest continued to change noticeably. It took a while for the full change to become apparent, but when it did, it sure did.
Seth almost couldn't believe this was the same forest he'd originally entered. Here, the trees grew freely, the sunlight reached through their leaves and brightened the ground, and animal sounds were evident. It was a very nice sort of place for a walk.
And in his attention to his surroundings, Seth failed to notice a clearing up ahead until it was almost too late. This place he'd stumbled upon was almost like any other forest clearing, with the clear, noisy river babbling through, except for the stone bench halfway hidden within the trees off to the side. It took Seth a moment to notice that there was a person sitting there.
He instinctively backpedaled, hoping that the person hadn't seen him, until- wait. He recognized the girl in front of him. He would recognize that dark hair anywhere.
in twilight we cling to the things that we know
where the hours end, i will look for you
my raging moon
