The moving creatures kept jumping from one place to another. He couldn’t see them nor locate them as the fog made the task impossible.
What made it even weirder was that the monsters weren’t attacking him or trying to get close to him. Instead, they simply kept moving around as if they were playing some kind of game with him.
They weren’t making any sounds or even showing any hostile intentions and that made Arthur question his own senses. ’What the hell is this?’
Several minutes passed that way before Arthur finally lost his wits. “Stop running around like idiots and do something I can react to! This is stupid!!” He yelled loudly with an angry look on his face.
Arthur weirdly found this behavior even more stressful than dealing with hostile enemies simply because a hostile enemy’s intentions are simple to understand while these things are still a complete mystery to him.
’I’m going to lose it if these idiots continue jumping around like mischievous kids!’ He thought to himself.
However, what Arthur didn’t realize was that his simple yell had actually changed something. The creatures suddenly stopped running around as they quieted down. Arthur could feel their presence behind the fog, but couldn’t really see them still.
’Did I piss them off?’ He mused as he gripped his sword tighter. At that moment, he suddenly heard a whisper.
“Should we?”
“I don’t know.”
“He seems angry.”
“Maybe he wants some food.”
“Does he look angry to you?”
“Very.”
A soft conversation ensued between the two things beyond the fog. They were talking in whispers but due to the quiet nature of the place, Arthur heard them very clearly and could even recognize which one of them was talking every time.
’Huh? They can speak?!’ He almost blurted out loudly. ’What kind of monsters are these? They have human voices and even a soft tone!’
The last thing Arthur expected to face was talking monsters. Especially ones that didn’t sound like they were speaking a demonic language. Instead, they were speaking words that he could very much understand.
“Hey, show yourself.” He snapped out of his shock as he called for the two creatures.
“Psst, he is calling for us.”
“Should we come out?”
“Maybe.”
“What if he doesn’t like us?”
“We must run away then.”
The more Arthur heard these two things speak, the more confused he got about what they truly were. ’Are these even monsters? They sound more like humans than monsters at this point.’
But, naturally, how could humans exist in such a place? Nobody can truly live in a forest like this, can they?
’I’m thinking about this using my normal common sense. This world works differently. Could there actually be people living in this forest?’
“Hey, I’m not going to harm you if you show yourself. I just want to talk.” Arthur said as he lowered his voice.
“He says he won’t harm us.”
“I guess he isn’t dangerous then.”
“Yes, he seems nice.”
After hearing those whispers, Arthur suddenly noticed two silhouettes appear in the distant fog, shrouded in its veil. He instinctively got ready in case he was mistaken about his judgment. Whether they were really humans or monsters, he had to be careful.
But, when he saw them, his eyes widened slightly. The two silhouettes that appeared weren’t that of humans, nor were they of monsters. These creatures were extremely short with small in stature. They had big eyes and thick red hair that covered a good part of their heads. They looked very youthful, like human kids.
’Dwarves?’ Was the first thought that came to Arthur when he saw these two. Their appearance was extremely similar to the fantasy dwarves Arthur was very familiar with.
“Mmm…” The two dwarven kids looked at Arthur curiously from afar.
“Uh, hello there,” Arthur said awkwardly, not knowing what he was supposed to say in such a situation. “It’s a very nice weather, isn’t it?” He asked.
’Like hell, it’s good weather, you idiot! It’s literally humid and foggy!’ Cursing his lack of communication skills, he waited for the dwarves to respond.
The two looked at him for a moment before they said. “Uncle, what are you?”
“What am I?” Arthur raised an eyebrow. “Uh, I’m a human…”
“A human?” The two seemed very confused as they looked at each other. “Wait, is he talking about those… humans?”
“It seems so.”
“What? So he must be lying to us. Humans are not good.”
“Mm, what are you both talking about?”
“Uncle… You’re very dangerous. Don’t get close to us.” They said.
“Huh? I said I’m not going to harm you neither of you. I’m just a traveler passing by this forest, heading north. I lost my friends in the fog. Do you know where they are by any chance?” He asked.
“… Friends? Other humans?”
“Yes.”
“There are many humans… We haven’t received a human in this forest… Ever since we got here.” One of the kids said in a low tone.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“We can find your friends. But, you must promise us that you won’t harm us.”
“Of course, I won’t harm you.” Arthur nodded quickly. These two kids didn’t seem hostile so he had no reason to actually harm them unless they attacked him of course.
“Pinky promise. You must give us a pinky promise that you won’t harm us.”
“…” Arthur froze in his place, completely stunned. ’Is this kid… serious? Does he think a pinky promise going to make it impossible for me to break it? Oh well, I guess they’re very much kids in that regard.’
Trying not to laugh, Arthur nodded. “Fine, we can pinky promise.”
The two kids then stepped forward toward Arthur until they stood in front of him and looked up. Because they were very short, Arthur towered over them with ease. ’Wow, I finally met a person shorter than me. This is a historical day.’
With a small proud smile, the boy crouched down to their level as he raised his hand and showed his pinky. One of the kids then extended his hand and held his pinky.
“I promise I won’t harm any of you.” He said. “You shouldn’t harm me either.”
“We promise.”
Moving their hands down as if they were sealing the contract, Arthur finally retracted his hand and stood up. “What can I call both of you?”
“I’m Serko!” The one with slightly longer red hair said.
“I’m Finlay!” The other ones added with a smile.
“… Serko, Finlay… Nice to meet you, I’m Arthur.” He said. “So, can you lead me to my friends? I’m really worried about them.”
“They shouldn’t be that far away from her. It’s easy to get lost in the fog if you don’t know where you’re going.” The two turned around and started walking. So, Arthur grabbed his horse and followed them on his feet.
“How do both of you not get lost in such a foggy area?”
“We have been living here for a while so we know how to navigate it. Isn’t that right, Finlay?”
“We do. It’s very easy to find the path.”
’… So they were living in this forest after all. But, for how long did they live here to memorize such a massive place?’
Arthur immediately felt off about that part. But, seeing how the two were seemingly enjoying their time, he decided not to pry too much into their business. They were after all still strangers.
“Do you live with your parents here? Where are they?” He asked casually, trying to change the subject. But, the response he received made him halt in his steps.
“Hm? Parents?… What’s that?” Finlay asked as he looked at Arthur.
“Huh? Your mom and dad. Where are they?” He asked again, thinking that they didn’t understand him quite clearly.
“Mom? Dad? Do you know what he’s talking about, Serko?”
“No, Finlay. These are new words to me too. Is he perhaps speaking another language?”
“…”
’You must be joking right? They don’t have any parents? How did they survive in this place without adults? They look barely old enough to walk and speak.’ He thought to himself with a deep frown. The situation quickly turned very eerie again.
“Do you have any other friends or family with you?”
“… No, we’re alone here.” Sekro shook his head. “We have been alone ever since we came here.”
“How did you two survive in this forest alone?” Arthur looked around him again. The forest looked like it came straight out of a nightmare no matter how he tried to see it. There was simply no way two kids could actually live alone in such a place.
“You’re really weird… Arthur.”
’I’m not the weird one here!’ The boy struggled to keep his nerves together. ’Ok, I need to calm down and take one step at a time. Let’s not jump to conclusions about these two.’
“Can you find my friends first? We can talk later about all of this.” He said. ’I need to find them first. Then, we will deal with whatever this situation is.’
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3