linkingup | IN THE FOREST OF THE LOST

It's a classic wooden box, and clearly loved. Despite how old it is, it's well-cared for and seems to have been left not out of a lack of care, but to be shared with this world, desolate as it is.

Picking it up will play, for all to see:

You're feverish, eyes squeezed shut- the heat hurts so much, nausea washes over you with a heavy force and you've never felt so alone. Eventually, however, you manage to open your eyes and you're in an unfamiliar and... thoroughly messy room. Music sheets and CDs are everywhere, and it's dark.

A young girl sits beside you. She seems both releived and concerned.

"Oh, Mafuyu, you're awake?"

"Kanade...?"

"You need to rest. Your fever hasn't broken, yet. Also, I tried making some apple sauce for you. Would you like to try some...?"

You nod and manage to sit up just enough to swallow a couple spoonfuls with shaky hands.

"Good, looks like you can keep it down... But you're still sweating quite a bit. Your towel even feels warm now... Please, just try to rest. I'll go get you some ice water..."

Before you can think, you speak- "Don't..."

"Huh?"

"Please, don't go... Don't leave me alone..."

Kanade looks shocked, and then hurt, before she manages to turn it into a warm, reassuring smile as she takes your hand.

"Okay. Don't worry. I'll stay right here. Here, hold my hand. I won't let you be all alone."

"Thank...you..."

...

And the fever drives you back into sleep, feeling warm and safe for the first time in... you don't remember when.

... so that's why it's apples?

[ McGillis finds all these memories to be... benign. Normal in a way he doesn't think he's ever experienced or ever could quite understand. To him, the intensity of feelings seems inconsistent to the severity of problems. Yet the feelings, he does understand.

McGillis has always hated going home and avoided it even in his adult age. Comfort could only be found at a friends' house, bathed in warm sunset colors. ]

It's... sweet, no?

[Bittersweet, maybe, but... at least in what felt like a painful memory she had a friend.

Unfortunate that it fell to a friend to care for her in a time like that, but that sensation isn't... terribly unfamiliar, either. If there's one commonality, it seems like she had to grow up far too quickly, too.]

It is. It makes me feel nostalgic.

[ Nothing equivalent had ever happened in his childhood, but it's easy enough to imagine that it could have. ]

[Arven breathes deeply after this memory finishes, as if he’s trying to shake that fever himself.]

Oh, Mafuyu…

[Whoever this Kanade is, he’s grateful that she took care of Mafuyu during such a vulnerable time.]

IN THE FOREST OF THE LOST

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