Chapter 3

"The Forest of Firefiles." Here, legend and stories say that this nest of trees blanketed by wispy layers of mist, located beyond the distant mountains, is an enchanted place. Unlike what most can perceive from the deceptive naming words like "enchanted" and pretty "fireflies", the forest is no "magical" and "happy" place.

Many have heard before of the old tales and rumors of villagers and travelers from the past attempting to enter the forest, whether for convenience sake to get through to the other side where a nearby town could be found, or simply just from a stupid challenge initiated by foolishness. Every single one of them(according to the records) have all mysteriously vanished into thin air, never to be seen from or head from again.

It was speculated by majority that they all lost their way amongst the labyrinth of dense thicket and heavy mist, unfortunately having made their end either from falling over a cliff or starvation. However, some of the older folks claim that they all apparently were "punished" by the forest god that resides within the mountains who watches and guards over the forest protectively. It is said that the trespassers either were dealt from the god's wrath or denied from the god's protection of the youkai(demons) that dwelled amongst the forest lining.

Presently, many people scoff at the idea of a "forbidden" forest and do not bother much about the sea of trees beyond the Honshu Mountains. The old stories of evil demons slaughtering those who enter the forest have long since died down over the years. Now "The Forest of Fireflies" is often passed to be a scenic site of interest, a place yet, which till today is still very shrouded in mystery.

Hotaru's POV

I had no idea what I was doing. Here I am, following a complete stranger whom I have only known for an hour! I mentally sighed as I trudged on the grassy floor trying my best to keep up with Takeshi-san ahead.

We were tracking through the forest in front and the skies casted above the distant mountains were shaded with a crisp shade of orange. It certainly was very odd to me that the sun would have started to set so soon, not believing that my sense of time telling was at a complete off today.

As we walked on further into the trees trying to catch the track of the youkai we were on, I unconsciously found my eyes raising up from watching the ground for obstacles to laying them on the back of Takeshi-san. I didn't know why, but a feeling of nostalgia overwhelmed me immediately as I watched his back profile at close-up range. I had the strangest urge to reach for the hand that swung with every step he took up the hill and firmly clasp them to mine. His back overlaying with Takeshi-san's appeared to me in a split second and I instantly shook my head to clear the image.

"Come on Hotaru!" I mentally chilled myself, "He is not Gin, stop with this delusion at once and stick to the mission of finding Jaakuna no Yagi!"

As I pondered with my bewilderment, I did not realize that Takeshi-san had stopped in his tracks and as clumsy as I could ever be, I crashed head first into him.

"Hotar-!" He exclaimed with surprise and in a flash I felt myself falling forward with him beneath me. The ground never met us and as the sharp wind slapped against my face, my mind went into panic mode; WE WERE FALLING DOWN A NEAR-VERICAL STEEP CLIFF!

I screamed in terror as I saw the trees below us get bigger in size. I guess this is it…goodbye forever, Gi-

The last word never came as I felt myself blacking out from the shock before I heard a 'THUD!'

Natsume's POV

Honestly I was not very alarmed when we tumbled off the cliff. I was so used to jumping off high obstacles in the past in order to avoid youkai chasing after me and the Book of Friends in my possession that even free falling at 10meters no longer frazzles me.

The shriek was what jolted me into distress. Hotaru-san was not I, she does not know how to land properly from falling at high heights. I mentally cringed at myself for my thoughtlessness and instinctively pulled her now unconscious body into my protective embrace, planning to use my own self as a makeshift cushion to soften her fall.

I squeezed my eyes tight shut as we plummeted nearer to the forest floor beneath us.

'THUD!'

What I felt underneath was not the pain and the cold hard floor, but rather a soft and warm bed of fur. Wait…Fur? My eyes flew open to take in the pure white fur around us.

"Nyan...Nyanko-sensei!"

Nyanko-sensei was in his beast form, Madara and had managed to rescue us in time to break our fall using his enormous body.

Immediately an imaginary angry pulse appeared on his head. POOF! In a white screen of smoke, I fell bottom first with Hotaru-san above me from Nyanko-sensei's giant back.

"You ungrateful brat, you dare call me fat!(aha it rhymes^_^)" Nyanko-sensei now back in his cat form, voiced his displeasure at my feet.

"No, Nyanko-sensei, I was simply complimenting you for saving us. After all it is thanks to your beast size that saved us." I reassured him. By the way, how did he ever know what I was thinking then?

"Stop your mental questions, it's annoying." Nyanko-sensei huffed. Seeing my look of bewilderment, he merely scoffed, "In case your wondering, I went off to borrow this power of reading minds from a friend such that I can help assist with the hunt of finding that pest of a youkai with my book by tracking down his thoughts."

So Nyanko-sensei was actually worried about me and the search progress and did not irresponsibly run off to find sake, I sighed in relief.

"No not the first one. After all it is the search of my book we are dealing with! Now help me load the girl onto my back again, I found a trail of that youkai's thoughts leading up North to the dense forest ahead. We are going after him!"

Nyanko-sensei transformed back into his Madara form and I gently carried the unconscious Hotaru-san bridal style on to Madara's back. She stirred in her comatose state and I felt a hand grasp mine as I laid her down.

My eyes widened in wonder as she snuggled closer to me. "Gin…" she breathed.

Again that name again. Just who was Gin and what did he have to do with Hotaru-san? I wondered as I felt Nyanko-sensei leap off into the air and towards the mysterious forest before us.

Little did I know that this mental note I had would come into play during our journey to hunt down the Book of Friends in near time.

3rd POV

Dark…

Cold…

Silence…

An opening within the mountain was leaking an ominous aura as it proceeded inwards to join up its winding passage with an open cavern ahead. In the cave located in heart of the mountain, a lone silhouette could be seen basking in the moonlight that leaked through a crack in the rocky ceiling.

The figure opened its eyes gradually to face the moon directly. It was wearing a fox mask, which blocked out most of its face, except for its hair, an eerie shade of startling silver that could be seen sticking out on their ends from the sides of the mask.

The figure suddenly seemed to have caught the interest of something as we see it rise from the center of the cavern, moving away from the sole streak of moonlight that only lighted up the spot of the cave of which it once sat. The figure then turned away and melted into the darkness never to be seen.

To be continued…

….

A.N: ahaha, I'm very sorry for being away from story for a long time(-_-|||). This is the third chapter having been produced from a disease called neglect and major writers block. I'll try to keep this more updated in the future, but for now enjoy:)