I briefly debated taking the beach path against the forest path, but Fukase and I both agreed that the forest path would be far more entertaining. Besides, the forest was what had drawn me to this island in the first place. It would be a waste not to explore it.

I pulled out my map of Yakushima, something I had procured from Yohio's room in our cabin. Although there wasn't much civilization on Yakushima, there were enough landmarks to navigate by.

The forest path wasn't too long and therefore didn't run a risk of us getting lost, but wasn't disappointingly short either: a suitable adventure for two unfamiliar amateurs. We settled on the most direct path to the small town by a different beach than the one we had docked at.

And so, we steadily made our way through the dense foliage. I couldn't help but feel envious of Fukase's light, gentle steps as opposed to my cranky stumbling that was sure to alert the entire forest of our presence. Despite the noise I was making, however, there was still plenty of wildlife to explore.

Light, gentle birdsong permeated the crisp air, as well as the ringing of cicadas in high summer: they were singing a song just for us.

"Oliver, are these yakusugi trees?" Fukase asked, his voice hushed as to not disturb the quiet serenity of the forest.

Sure enough, yakusugi trees towered above us, stretching their branches to the vast, hidden sky. The ones closer to the beach had a more ashy color to their bark, but as we trekked further inland, their colors grew richer.

"Yeah, they are," I confirmed.

"Do you think we'll get to see Jomon Sugi?"

Jomon Sugi was a gigantic sugi tree, believed to be the oldest in Yakushima and possibly in all of Japan. In the unlikely event that we actually sought it out, it could take days to hike all the way there.

"Probably not. After all, it's closer to the center of the island. We're just remaining on the outskirts for now."

Fukase pouted slightly, but I knew he understood. Even with a map, in a dense forest where almost every tree looked the same, it would be more than easy to get lost without a guide. Besides, we had to get back on the ship before my brother did, or we'd be in huge trouble if he found out.

Only Fukase would get pouty over not being able to go see a special tree, I thought adoringly. It was these strange qualities about him that were so endearing.

Our hike continued on in quaint tranquility; as I got more acquainted with the land, my footfalls grew softer and more adept, only stumbling occasionally. Just as I finished that thought, I tripped on what seemed like a mound of rocks and mud and was sent flying—

Only to be caught by gentle, firm arms wrapping around my torso and immediately hoisting me up.

"Watch it," he hissed. I was shocked at his sudden change in tone before he continued, "you almost fell on that."

"That what?"

"That."

"Where am I looking?"

He tilted my chin, looking from over my shoulder and pointed to a small heap of sprigs and leaves by the base of a tree.

"That."

It took me a minute to figure out what it was. There, hidden in the undergrowth, was a bird's nest.

"I don't know why it's on the ground, though..." Fukase mumbled.

Only then did I notice how close he was to me—his breath tickled my jaw as he spoke. I felt color rush to my cheeks, but nonetheless tugged him along by the hand and ventured closer to the nest.

"It probably belongs to a ryukyu robin, then," I murmured, kneeling and pulling Fukase down with me. "They often migrate to sea-level forests during the mating months and until August, so it's not totally unbelievable that we'd find one."

As we crept closer, a soft chirping was heard. We both peered over the edge of the nest to find a mother robin feeding her babies.

Fukase gave a slight gasp of astonishment, and it took everything I had not to do the same.

From somewhere above us, we heard another robin's call—high and elegant and sweet.

"It must be this bird's mate signaling danger," I explained. "It thinks we're predators."

"We should probably get going, then. I don't wanna scare them..."

The female bird in the nest responded with a call much more shrill and peculiar.

"Yeah, let's go." I stood up, only to realize that my hand was still glued to his. I let go gently, not wanting him to get the wrong idea from any abruptness.

We continued on through the dim forest, pointing out more birdsongs along the way, as well as any interesting insects that caught our eyes.

It wasn't much longer before we reached a clearing. Not exactly a clearing, to be precise, but the trees certainly thinned, signaling a change in terrain. A bit more sun filtered in from above us, and signs of wildlife were fewer and sparser, too. The trees here seemed smaller and younger, as if this place had only been opened up mere decades ago.

Wait.

If there was a change in terrain, then...

What about the forest path we were supposedly following?

How far did I lead us astray? Moreover, how could I not notice?

I glared at my map, shooting daggers at it as if that would get us back on track. The sun was high enough in the sky that I could safely say it was already past noon.

Fukase's silent steps slowed to a grinding halt as he noticed my ire-filled gaze. He didn't even have to ask what the matter was—we were lost. All he offered was a sigh of quiet understanding.

"I'm sor—"

"Don't bother." He wasn't even upset. The blankness in his tone was terrifying. "Don't apologize to me. If I go missing here and no one hears from me again, it's not like it matters. I was just living my life idly and in utter solitude anyway. But if anything were to happen to you..."

His gaze met mine and a pang of guilt hit me like a bullet train at full speed. What had possibly happened that caused him to have such a grave outlook on life? This had never happened, he'd never spoken like this before—

No. Now's not the time to spiral. I needed control, I needed to be grounded if we were to get out of here.

"Nothing will happen to me. Nothing's gonna happen to either of us," I said, more to myself than to him.

Pleasant birdsong continued to permeate the air, far too cheerful for our current circumstances, and I turned back to the map. Such a change in terrain as the one we had stumbled across had to be noted somewhere.

I was so absorbed in studying the map that it took me a few moments to be cognizant of the lack of birdsong.

The air seemed to still and grow heavy.

And then, footsteps.

My head snapped up. Those footsteps were far too loud to be Fukase's; he was hardly in front of me, anyway. The sound of those footsteps were further away, somewhere ahead of us.

Fukase glanced at me, then in the direction of those unnatural noises.

"Is someone there?" I called tentatively.

The air unfroze, and they ran.

"Hey, wait!"

Without a moment's thought, I ran after them. This could be our chance of escape from the forest, perhaps from this island entirely.

I didn't have to look back to know that Fukase was following me swiftly. The mystery person's blonde hair flashed as they navigated expertly through the ever-thinning trees, as if they'd run this as an obstacle course thousands of times just for sport.

An attempt to lose us. I gritted my teeth and sped along.

The trees thinned further and were replaced with towering shrubs and bushes. I sharpened my vision as much as possible, trying to catch a glimpse of our rather subpar guide, but they ran low and close to the bushes, allowing them to obstruct my view.

Twigs and low-cut branches tore at my jeans, but still, I ran with Fukase close in tow—

Until I skidded to a blistering halt.

Fukase just barely stopped himself from crashing into me, and we clutched onto each other to keep one another from falling.

Wheezing and gasping for breath, I gingerly peered over the precipitous dropoff. It fell for some fifteen meters before another layer of land took over with a waterfall that crashed and roared beneath us.

I backed away from the precarious cliff, nudging Fukase further behind me. Within seconds, he had already caught his breath, but I needed more time. Whipping out my map, I scanned the contents with furious eyes.

We could only be at Okonotaki Falls, one of the few notable waterfalls on the island.

Fukase cleared his throat behind me. "Um, I'm sorry. For what I said earlier." I blinked at him, puzzled. "I know you're worried and just trying to do your best to get us back. It'll be fine. We'll find a way, so—"

"Find a way? What way?" My eyes grew misty. "We're lost on a hardly-inhabited island that we know virtually nothing about with some shady weirdo out here trying to lure us possibly to our deaths—" I choked back a sob.

I wanted to show Yohio that I could take care of myself, that I'd be fine on my own. I had to prove that I wasn't the same scared little eleven-year-old boy back in London, quivering over my friends' disappearance. And of course, I just had to do it on a sparsely-populated island in the middle of nowhere.

I felt Fukase firmly gripping my arms, trying to ground me from my growing hysteria, but it was to no avail. His hands were too warm, and my body was too cold, and the cicadas were too loud and the wind was too strong and the water roared in my ears—

And as suddenly as the onslaught began, it disappeared. 

A/N: Surprise, I'm back >:D

Sorry I've been gone for so long. It's been crazy recently... but I'm really trying, I promise. The next chapter shouldn't take too long. 

I think I'm going to set the goal of finishing this by the end of the year, but we'll see how it goes. I'm going to work towards creating a better workflow for myself!

There are a lot of other projects and ideas I want to explore soon, so stay tuned~

Catch ya on the flip-side!!

~Stargazer