(Forgot to post last week lol)

=Moose's POV=

"So... Where are we?" I asked. We were now in an oak forest, the trees pressed so closely together that it was hard to navigate in a straight line. I squinted up through the leaves, barely able to see the blue sky through all the green.

"Good question." Nathan replied, walking ahead of me. He used his sword to cut through the dense plant life so he could at least try and clear a path. It had been half an hour since we lost Sabre and Memory in this dumb forest.. and honestly, I wouldn't doubt it if the dang thing was alive by now. Like, Nathan and I might not have very good senses of direction, but I'm sure we could tell when we were going east or west.

"SABREEE! MEMORYYY!!" I called out, hoping they could hear me, but unfortunately I got no replies. I huffed and crossed my arms as I followed Nathan. "I hope they're okay." I muttered, Nathan nodding in agreement.

We walked in silence for a few minutes before coming to a clearing. "Finally.." I said, looking up towards the sun, which was just starting to set. "Man, I hope the others are okay." Nathan spoke, turning to face me. I nodded. "Yeah. But then again, for all we know, Sabre could've just gotten himself into more trouble.."

Nathan stared at me for a moment before putting his hand on my shoulder. "Hey, you've been acting different since the whole laboratory incident. Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, bending down slightly to be eye-level with me. I blinked, a bit surprised at his concern.

"I just.. I don't know, I don't feel the same, I don't feel like myself, and I don't like it," I admitted, "like, how are you so calm about this? Knowing you had a past life? Having memories that don't feel like yours, but somehow are? It's all so confusing.."

Nathan seemed to think for a moment. "Well,  I think we had different reactions to this. We may be close friends, but we are still two very different people, George. Yeah, it's kinda confusing for me, having memories that don't feel like mine, but I'm still me despite that, and you're still you. You're my best friend, man." He said.

I paused, mulling his words over as my eyes drifted towards the ground. I smiled a bit. "Thanks, Nathan." I said. He pulled me into a quick hug before letting go. "Let's go find Sabre then, huh?" He smiled. I nodded. "Yeah."

We continued on our way together, occasionally calling out for our friends as we walked. The sun soon vanished beyond the horizon, and the stars began to show.

I stopped and looked up, Nathan stopping as well. "Where do you think they are?" I asked. Nathan shrugged, a worried look on his face. "Not sure.. Wanna try calling out for them again?" He asked. 

I cupped my hands around my mouth at this, taking a deep inhale. "SABRE!! MEMORY!! YOU GUYS OUT THERE!?" I yelled. There was a short silence, before sighing. "We lost the-"

"I'm here! I'm right here-" A small voice called from behind us. I shrieked and turned, Nathan turning with me. There stood Memory, the small Steve stiff with nervousness. It seemed as if they regretted calling out to us, but it was too late to take their words back.

"Memory, hey! You're okay!" I called, a smile appearing on my face. Nathan gestured for Memory to come over, which only caused the smaller to look like they wanted to disappear.

"Is Sabre with you?" I asked as Memory slowly, and very carefully, made their way over. They shook their head. "No.. uh, he isn't. I tried sensing him, but he isn't in the forest anymore." Memory said quietly. Nathan rubbed his head. "I'll never understand how Steve powers work, even if I was one in the past." He mumbled. I nodded in agreement.

Turning back to Memory, I asked, "So you can sense Sabre?" Which caused Memory to stiffen. "Well- uh-" They started, "You know how as soon as you guys entered the forest a few days ago, you started remembering things and familiar places began popping up at random?"

We nodded.

"That's kinda because you entered through a highly concentrated area of my magic, which sent you all to my forest, which is called the Forest of Memories.. I can sense who is where here, and I vanished earlier because I was trying to find Sabre, but he seems to have found an exit point. I was just now able to catch up to you two." They explained. 

"Ooohhh.." Nathan and I chorused. That made a lot of sense, actually. "Thanks for telling us, dude." I said, smiling, which caused Memory to nod a bit. I bet they were smiling a bit behind their mask. 

"Hey, since you can sense people in this forest, can you lead us to our other friends, Shark, Rainbow, and Galaxy?" Nathan asked. Memory seemed to flinch at Galaxy's name, but nodded. "Yeah, sure.. this way." They said. 

We began walking, Nathan and I following as Memory led the way. It was a new moon tonight, and yet no mobs made their way through the trees. I hoped Sabre was safe.