Chapter 2: Waking Up
Blackness swirled into a mixture of white and grey that swivelled and squirmed. Breaking through the neutrality was a small spark of gold that twinkled softly before dropping down and disappearing. Followed shortly after was another one. Soon enough there were fireworks of gold shimmering across Amu's line of vision.
A bubble of white exploded and dissolved all traces of any other color, leaving a thick coat of black to splash across whatever Amu was looking at.
There was silence surrounding her and a refreshing breeze that trickled over her skin.
Her ears felt clogged. Surely there must have been some noise wherever she was. It wouldn't come across as a shock if the explosion of colors had made her go deaf. Perhaps she went blind as well.
A wave of nausea pounded against Amu's head just when she was beginning to think she was dead. Her eyelids were too heavy to open. She felt the cold ground swirling beneath her cheek as she lay motionless. The dissolving color behind her eyelids seemed to swirl before bubbling right before her.
Shifting her tongue around her parched mouth, she attempted to open her eyes again.
The brightness of the indigo sky made her squint and shrink back into the forest floor. The leafs and twigs underneath her crunched as she dropped her head back onto them.
The noise made her eyes open again as she cautiously scanned her surroundings. The abundance of trees was so thick, it was almost impossible to see through them. Rays of sunlight beamed in through the small slits in the branches higher up. Specks of dust could be seen floating in the sunrays, dancing around each other before they vanished into the shadows once again.
Propping herself up on her elbows, Amu slowly pushed herself off the ground and stared at the trees that towered over her. A soft bird call echoed throughout the forest as a breeze ruffled the leafs surrounding her. Amu jumped at the noise and squeezed her eyes shut. She must have been dreaming. Why else would she be in a forest? Cities in Japan weren't ones that came with forests such as the one she sat in now.
When she opened her eyes and saw that she hadn't moved locations, she laid back down into the pile of leafs and heaved a sigh. How long did it usually take her to wake up from a nap; two hours, maybe three?
Crossing her arms stubbornly, Amu let her eyes shut. She could wait that long. She wasn't about to go wander around an unfamiliar woodland without some sort of map. Even a compass would be handy. But, since she had neither of those items, she lay in silence.
Until she felt the resonance of drums rumble through the ground beneath her.
She shot up in alarm. Straightening her posture to get a better look around her, Amu frowned, recognizing the sound as a tribal song of some sort.
Slowly rising to her feet, Amu found she nearly fell back down. Her legs felt so weak - almost as if she hadn't used them in days. Bouncing a couple times to get her knees back into gear, the pinkette slowly stepped onto the dirt pathway a few feet in front of her to see if she could find the source of noise.
A cold shiver splashed down her spine when she realized something - maybe she didn't want to find out who was making that music. The forest held an ominous feel to it as she stood alone in the middle of the abandoned pathway, giving her the impression that no one was to be trusted.
Another gust of wind tore through the trees and whipped Amu's hair around her face.
The beat of the drums seemed to grow louder and at a faster pace.
Amu found herself unable to move her feet. Soon enough, wild, chanting voices joined in with the drums. She knew if she didn't move soon, she'd meet these inhabitants whether they liked her company or not.
Her heart raced and her blood pumped loudly. Her mouth became drier by the second as she completely froze in place.
A hand wrapped around her wrist. Her heart nearly jumped out of her ribcage at the electrifying contact as she was pulled into a nearby overgrowth of branches and bushes.
She started to kick, opening her mouth to scream when the hand removed itself from her wrist and covered her mouth. She felt the presence of another human behind her, her back pressed to their chest. From what she could tell, it was a boy that held her captive.
Breathing quickly, Amu felt her palms beginning to sweat as she fought off the urge to cry.
She could feel the boy shift against her, his body heat spreading to her cold arms.
"Shh..." he whispered in her ear.
She immediately obeyed him. His hand was removed from her mouth shortly after.
The tribal calls were growing closer. Amu silently prayed she and the mystery boy were fully hidden in the trees to not be seen by the Indian-like group.
An unfamiliar noise of what sounded like string being stretched made Amu jump but she didn't dare turn around or make a noise. Before she knew it, an arrow appeared right beside her, along with a muscular forearm that held the arrow poised in a bow. He didn't release it, just simply waited.
Amu slowly inched to the side so that the arrow wasn't just inches away from her cheek. It was pointed in front of them, towards the path.
A boy sporting face paint and an ornate hat decorated with feathers came into view on the pathway. He was leading the Indian tribe that carried drums with them as they howled proudly on their way through the forest.
As soon as the leader appeared, Amu heard the arrow whiz by her ear.
She watched in a stunned shock as the arrow hurdled itself into the boy's hat, sending it shooting against a nearby tree.
The boy threw his hands up to touch his light purple hair, panicking when he realized his hat was gone.
Amu stood, confused. If she had an arrow shot at her, she'd be more worried about how she almost lost her life, not her hat.
In a split second, the chanting group was bombarded by three boys who seemed to appear out of nowhere.
The auburn-haired teenager who emerged from some bushes lunged for the hat, ripped it off the tree, and held the arrow in his other hand. Flashing his brilliant grin, he waved the hat proudly in the air above him. Apparently it was a prize that needed to be won in order for their little game to end.
"Lost Boys win again!" He bellowed.
The remaining two boys who jumped out of the trees threw their hands up and cheered along with him while the group dressed as Indians snarled and protested angrily.
Amu jumped when the boy behind her moved. She had forgotten she wasn't hiding alone. He brushed past her and walked into the open to join his friends. In all honesty, she was expecting him to be some crooked-nosed, squinty eyed creep with rotten teeth. This guy was the opposite. His deep sapphire hair stood up in odd places, the length was just past his ears. Wearing all black, he stood out from the other boys, who at least had a little bit of color to their clothing.
He wasn't cheering with the boys who surrounded and congratulated him, but there was a small smirk on his face. Clearly he wasn't one to care too much about appraisal.
"We'll get you next time, Ikuto," the Indian-tribe leader warned dangerously. "No peasant gets away with beating the king at his own game."
This is when the auburn-haired boy jumped in, slinging his arm around the shoulder of the 'king'.
"Kiseki, you say that every time."
He made sure to ruffle Kiseki's hair before the group of Indians stomped back down the path, no longer playing their instruments proudly.
Amu could have sworn Indians were supposed to have dark skin, but apparently it was different here. Speaking of which… She glanced around the bushes. She still hadn't figured out where she was.
A boy with long, purple hair took Ikuto's bow from him and high-fived the auburn-haired boy. "I do say that we did pretty well for today's game. Didn't take nearly as long as usual."
Ikuto finally spoke, his deep voice in a lazy drawl, "what happened to the plan to have you and Kukai distract the kiddy king?"
The two boys under Ikuto's gaze stared down at the ground.
The auburn-haired boy quickly looked up and pointed an accusing finger at a boy with green hair and glasses who stood off to the side, quietly noting everything down in a little book.
"Kairi's the one who gave us the wrong coordinates!"
"Don't blame your errors on me, Kukai. You and Nagihiko knew perfectly well what the plan was. Now if you didn't stop to pick all those berries…"
"Hey, hey, don't bring the berries into this. Those were amazing."
"Probably poisonous, too," Kairi uttered, unimpressed.
As the two went off on their little spiel, Ikuto seemed to recall Amu's presence and got a mischievous glint in his dark eyes.
"While you were getting your flowers-"
"Berries."
"Whatever. I found a stray kitten," Ikuto announced.
It took a moment for it to register in Amu's mind that Ikuto was talking about her. By the time she moved her foot to start running, the branches were pushed aside and her hiding spot was revealed to four curious sets of eyes.