Soft blades of grass took turns tickling my face until they had successfully woken me up. My senses brought in the smells of dirt, grass, and dog. I lay on my side, my back pressed against that of a warm fluffy creature. My eyes too tired to open, my mind began to wander around my situation, trying to come up with ways I could possibly take back my Nether Fortress. It wasn't until a while later that I realized my night hadn't been filled with nightmares. The realization struck me in a way, I couldn't even think about it properly. The dream I had had wasn't exactly pleasant, but it wasn't too bad either. It seemed as if I had just done the impossible. I could never get a moment's rest without waking up in a pool of my own sweat. Had I reverted somehow? Impossible. I must have just forgotten the nightmares.

     It was the dog who rolled off the ground first. I decided to wait there and allow my body to heal a bit more. The rest seemed to be working as well. What were once searing pains had dwindled, becoming short of an uncomfortable soreness. Of course, if I moved the pain would likely spike up again. I would just have to hope it wouldn't last. I could hear the dog walking away into the forest, then back over to me, before jogging back between the bushes. Though the light pried at my eyes, I kept them shut. That comfort given to me by the fish last night still had its calming effect over me, and I was in no rush to look alive.

R-r-rwoof!

     I heard the mutt growl at me from ahead. What did he want? Another fish? I ignored the domesticated wolf, hoping I wasn't making a mistake by doing that... Wait, what if he was growling at a monster, or worse? That idea set into mind, my eyes shot open, anticipating to see the dog glaring up at something hovering behind me. Something that wouldn't allow me to sense it by any other means than sight, hearing, and all the other basic human senses I guess. So, it almost annoyed me when my eyes opened, seeing the dog's deep brown eyes landing directly on me. Underwhelming because I couldn't see any threatening shadows looming over my own. Instead, I saw the dog sit as he stared me dead in the eyes, head tilting as he did so. What was this? Was he begging me? Waiting for me to get up?

     Tired, I decided to be stubborn. I rolled over onto my other side, my back to the mutt, and listened as the animal appeared to grumble under his breath. I then closed my eyes, refusing to move even as the domesticated wolf limped over to me in an excited hurry. The dog pawed at the back of my hair again and again, as if he knew that would annoy me. Unfortunately, I was never too slow to anger, so I turned to snatched his paw after the dog made it clear he had no plans to stop.

     "No!" I spat at the mutt. He only barked back at me as I released his paw. "What on earth do you want anyway?" I asked, annoyed. The dog answered by quickly reaching over to my shirt to pull on my sleeve. Then he let go and began prancing back towards the bushes. I tilted my head. He wanted me to follow him? Why? Could he-? If he could, I better not stick around much longer. I thought I had killed him, but who knows, he might have managed to survive.. and is now on another revenge trip. Shivers brought me to my feet, and I was up as quickly as my weakened form could. "Do you sense someone?" I asked the dog. He spun around in a circle, sticking his tongue out as he looked up at me. It didn't appear that he was frightened; then again, I had no real way of telling what that looked like.

     Before I followed the dog into the thick of the forest, I first limped over to the creek to drink some more of it's fresh, cool water, as well as stick my tingling ankle right in to cool it down. The dog thought that smart, and followed my lead by lapping the water and dipping his paws in as well. Once I felt more ready for a long day of walking, I let the mutt take the lead through the shrubs, to a deeper part of the woods I wasn't even sure existed. Was I tired? Of course not!

     I was exhausted! It wasn't the kind I had felt in seemingly forever either. Often I would feel tired when I was low on energy, but this was different. Before, all I needed was to stop fighting or whatever a moment to catch my breath and mentally recharge. When I was injured enough, all I would have to do was wait, but this was different. This form of tired continuously begged me to do something, and I had no idea what! First my feet were affected by this. They began feeling sore. Quite norma, I guess, after days on end of walking; but it had only been a few hours! Next up were my legs themselves, and then even my hips. Somehow my back and shoulders even were overcome by this soreness. Worst part was, I didn't know how to fix it! At least I wasn't the only one. The domesticated wolf's steps had slowed since the beginning of our journey, his limping more prevalent. My own injured leg absolutely hated having any weight upon it, preferring to force my other leg into further suffering by making it take up the slack. At least, my back was feeling a lot better. The bandages over the large cuts were successfully keeping the wounds from opening up again.

     After half a day's travel, the dog haulted next to another creek to drink from and rest besides. Call me an animal, but I was feeling so hot and exhausted at the time that I didn't stop as the creek's edge, walking into the middle of it and even laying down in the gently flowing liquid, using a flat rock to prop my head up on. It was actually quite relaxing, considering the entire day before had been nothing but walking.

     "Do you have any idea where we are going, or are we just running?" I finally asked the dog from still within the water, my burning muscles refusing to move at the moment. It was pointless asking the nearly wild animal a question, but it felt as if I would be more productive doing so, somehow. As expected, the dog didn't answer, but he did like the idea of cooling off in the creek, plopping himself down in the water a little further up stream. My bored eyes watched as some of the dog's large hairs floated on the water's surface right past me. I made no attempt to react, however.

     Food.

     Oh yeah. The idea came as the absence of such a substance was realized. Sitting up quickly -- regretting it for a minute -- I began peering through the forest for some good vines. Exactly my kind of luck: the slightly different foliage around us wielded none of the vines I was looking for. Only the thick, coarse vines which were pretty useless in most crafts. However, I did see a decent stick that I could sharpen to pierce the fish as they swam by. Only problem was that that would be a lot harder. But, I could make it a little easier if I somehow kept the fish from leaving a certain small area. Exactly. Inside an enclosed space, they would be trapped, and doomed to fall by my hand eventually. The fastest way to do that would be with logs. I stood slowly from the water, walking over to the other side of the creek where I saw an already leaning tree. Now's a better time than never to test if my strength had returned. Short story shorter, it did. The corners of my lips rose into a crooked smile as I watched the log fall over the water after a few good shoves. I'll admit, it was much harder than it used to be, but at least it was possible. I could feel my inner pride returning to me with the feat of strength. The dog: definitely surprised. For a moment he even looked at me as if thinking I were some kind of immortal, which I sort of was. I just smirked back at him, wondering if he would run off and flee in terror after finally getting a glimpse of who I truly was.

     ..Realizing suddenly that that could happen, I took mental note to try my best not to look threatening towards the dog as much as possible. He would likely run off someday anyways, after he was all healed up and no longer needed someone to stick with him, but the thought of him running away too soon was just.. unsettling.

     I continued blocking off the stream on both sides of a small school of decently sized fish, slowly closing them in with large rocks until they were trapped in a small circle of stones, their only way out: jumping. With the skills I had gained over the years involving aim and plunging one's blade into the heart of another, I grabbed my newly sharpened stick and began jabbing at the fish. It took a while to get used to the illusion the rippling water gave, but once I was able to see past that, it was fish after fish impaled by my wooden spear. Pretty soon I had seven fish in total, allowing the smallest of the bunch to escape once I was done hunting them. The dog panted happily behind me. When I turned to face him he wagged his tail, already sitting impatiently beside the pile of bloody salmon. The extra aiming practice had, on top of regaining a portion of my original strength, reminded me of the powerful self I once was, giving me certainty that I would, eventually, become that strong once again. Even though he tried.. Null just couldn't keep me down.

     I sat near a toasty fire, waiting for the fish to cook over it, the dog sitting not too far away from me this time. Like last night, I wasn't able to light my hand on fire; just heat it up enough to catch a stick on fire, which, in that situation, was fine. What worried me, though, was why. My flames used my own raw emotions as fuel. In this state of mind that would make nearly half of my defensive moves practically impossible! How could I ever defend myself now, if my own flames refuse to return to me. How much more of me is missing..? Will I ever truly get my powers back?.... What now?

     A small shiver reminded me to snap myself out of it, so I did, instead looking at the fire. I hadn't gathered enough wood, I could tell. I had traded the needed extra wood for some rest, and now, I would have to venture out again to grab more.. again, into the dark... Which I totally wasn't afraid of in any way, shape, or form! Pfff!

     "Keep watch over the food." I instructed the dog as I stood on my unwilling legs. The domesticated wolf just stared at me as I prepared to step from the circle of light... Into the darkness.. Without my powers, or even a weapon... Eh! I was fine.

     Slowly, minding the cast as I trudged through the bushes again, I made my way further and further from the camp's light... Let's just hope that dog hadn't dragged me out of my sleep earlier that morning because there was someone close on our tails..

     "You're so stupid." A voice. A feminine voice; one weak, as if taking their last breath. Was the forest here to mock me again? I was quick to crouch, readying myself for an attack of some kind.

     "Who's there? Show yourself!" I shouted into the woods.

     "Ehehh.. he's never going to learn.." The same voice bounced off each of the trees echoing throughout the forest.

     "Learn?! What are you talking about?! I don't need to learn anything!" My anger began to flare, shown through my brightening eyes.

     "UUGHH! This is pointless!" The now distant voice, which sounded like it was coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once, only triggered me further.

     "What the heck is pointless!? Show yourself! Show yourself- or I'll burn this entire forest down to find and kill you!!" I threatened, though it wasn't taken as such. Instead, the shadows of the rustling leaves mixed with sounds of laughter. So much laughter. So many laughing. The trees were taunting me with their laughter. They sat in a circle around me, taunting and teasing me, shadows forming dark faces out to destroy me.

   "HAHAHAHA!!!"
   "Booo!"
   "Oh how pathetic! He can't even fight!"
   "Hahahaha!"
   "Pathetic child! No wonder they don't feed him."
   "Where's the real fight?! Booo!"
   "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

     I could barely stand. My fists clenched so tightly I could feel my own heartbeat through them. Sweat ran down my forehead. My knees quaked beneath me. My head snapped this way and that at any shadow which made any sudden movements. The anger built, as did the trembling. I had no idea what to do, where to go, how to escape this.

     "..-P-.. PATHETIC! You pathetic trees think you c-can mock me!? D- do you even know who I am?! I will destroy you!! All of you!!" But, still, they continued.

   "What a monster!"
   "Hahahaha!"
   "Pathetic! He can't even use his powers correctly!"
   "Where is his strength now?!"
   "He will never defeat him! He is too weak!"
   "Haha! Can't even defend himself! How pathetic!"
   "HAHAHAHA!"

     My jaw locked, shoulders tight, I tried my best to rationalize aloud, "T-t-trees d-don't talk! I know what you are! You are just a bunch of helpless trees! No! Less than that! You are already nothing but ash beneath my feet!.. Uh, Yu-yu-you can't-t talk! I SAID, you, can't, TALK!-" Suddenly I was shoved onto my back. A heavy foot landed on my stomach and held me there even though I tried my hardest to break free. Looking up into the being's eyes, my own widened in pure shock. No... H-he found me..? Already?!

     Through pure darkness, two piercing white eyes shined down on me. A dark chuckle rose from the being's throat. "Stay down, you little brat." The recognizable voice warned. Just a little lighter in pitch than I last remembered. My breathing was all out of sorts. Both my hands grabbed onto the rock solid foot and desperately tried to pry it off of me. When that didn't work I resorted to punching his leg, which was both a lot harder and much more energy consuming at that angle, in that moment. The trees all around continued with their twisted cheering,

   "That's right! Teach that brat a lesson!"
   "Boooo! Unfair fight! Not interesting!"
   "How is it even possible for him to be so pathetic?!"
   "HAHAHAHA!"
   "Yeahh! Beat his brains in! Make him wish he were never born!"
   "I thought this was supposed to be actually interesting!"
   "Boooo!"
   "Ugh! Just finish the twerp off already!"

     Tears began to sting my eyes as I kept them on the one pinning me down, pleading with my face that I might be spared. The being's eyes just narrowed after having a good prideful look around the chaotic forest, finally looking down at me with eyes that said it all. His head tilted with a deranged eye twitch.

     "..Heh, sorry little bro. Gotta give the people what they want." His wicked mouthless grin alone pierced through my heart. My heartbeat increased ten-fold as I searched for any flicker of hope. None. I began flailing under the dark being again as he lifted his stone sword above me, ready to stab. The trees continued to cheer him on, him soaking-in their cheers like a sponge. I tried kicking and hitting continuously, but to no avail. The sword came crashing down on my chest and I screamed bloody murder. I nearly fainted in that moment, lungs refusing to take in anymore oxygen. My eyes squeezed shut as I continued bracing for the pain that surely should have been nearly killing me by now... Only.. there was nothing. No physical pain what-so-ever. I.. I was fine. And... he was gone. They, were.. gone. The trees no longer laughed, or even made a noise. Nothing but soft wind pushing past their branches. I was.. I was fine... What happened?...

     Rustling in the bushes caught my attention, and in no time, a large furry face stood above mine, large tongue licking my forehead and nose as if trying to wake me up or something. I was too stunned to do anything but push the large head away with a trembling arm. My entire body was shaking. My brain felt numb and my thoughts were having trouble forming into words. The dog made himself present again by pawing at my head, then walking around me a little and plopping himself down right on top of my torso. I cringed, but it was honestly much better than whatever had just happened.

     I remembered back to the night before when the same thing happeded, except this night it was much more, intense; I thought I could actually feel the weight of his foot holding me down... How..? Thinking about it was painful enough, especially since I really didn't want to remember all that. I would prefer just eat the feelings away.. maybe even sleep if it doesn't bring about nightmares again.

     With that idea strongly set into mind, I pushed myself up from the ground, needing help balancing from pretty much everything around me. My legs were still so wobbily; I could barely stand. My arms also continuously jittered. I didn't even care to go looking for anymore firewood. I just picked up what I found along the way, which wasn't much.

     When I finally arrived at the fire running on fumes, I poked the charcoal a couple more times with one of the sticks, then fed it into the flames. I added stick after stick until the fire was roaring once again. Finally I could sit in peace.. if it weren't for the trembling still in every one of my movements. If only.. Wait a minute. I decided to try something out that I hadn't actually thought of doing until then. Leaning on my right hand, I lifted my left hand to my head and pressed it into my hair, then I began stroking my scalp just above the ear with my thumb in a constant pattern. I also made sure to focus on my breathing. In, and out. In, and out. In, and out. Very slowly. It didn't work immediately, but eventually it did seem to help. My brain entered a nearly numb state of calmness, and the shaking slowly went away. By the time I let go of my head I was already nearly half asleep. But, I knew I wanted food first before drifting off into what I could only hope would be peaceful rest.

     The dog, meanwhile, watched my movements closely, an almost concerned look in his deep brown eyes. But, as I began sitting up normally again, not about to doze off, his tail wagged ever-so-subtly. The fish looked just about cooked. I grabbed three of the seven fish off the stick for myself and let the dog have the rest. Eating helped wake me up, but the food entering my core, getting eaten away by my inner warrior, helped soothe me further. I ate three full fish -- minus the tails, heads, and guts..and scales, of course -- until my stomach felt as if it might burst. For a little bit I wondered if it would, but it turned out to be just fine. Finally, after a full day, I felt the feeling of satisfaction once again, though mildly this time, and laid down on my side, rubbing the side of my head again for good measure. When I was nearly out, this time not fearing the idea of rest.. at least not as much as before.. through my barely open eyes I saw the dog stand up, walk over to me, and lay down over against my back, using my side as more-or-less his pillow. That just seemed to add to the comfort, though, so I didn't fight it. And, finally... I fell asleep, this time.. on purpose.