How to Get Home

Running through the completely unknown, unfriendly place, the boy suddenly reached an edge. Edge of the forest, edge of the ground, edge of the cliff. The exact same place where he started. He did nothing, he just made a loop! What now? Is there no way out? He curled up by the mossy rock and weeped, hiding his head in his arms. What is he going to do now? Can he even survive the night here? How is he supposed to go home?

'Why are you crying, child?' suddenly sounded an unknown, but gentle voice. Startled boy quickly raised his head and jointed to the side. Someone was standing right next to him. He didn't even notice! He took a quick glance at the person. Person? There stood a tall figure, right in front of him. They were wearing a hood from under which he only saw a human-like mouth but animal-like flat, brown, wide nose. Their skin seemed dark and their silouette was covered by layers of long, decorative robes. But something was off. Poking out above the hoodie there was a pair of antlers. Medium-long and pretty branched antlers that looked like made out of a stone. Or a gem? Angular, almost perfectly geometric, reflecting light like clear glass. Boy looked down and gasped. There were no feet... From under the robes he saw a pair of hooves! He glanced back up at the confused creature's shadow-covered face.

'Oh worry not young one, I'm not going to hurt you', the person assured and reached to give the boy a hand. Their palm seemed normal, only had dark and a bit pointy nails. Boy hesitated, but in the end grabbed that hand and stood up with the person's help. They were so tall!

'Y-You're...!' he stuttered.

'An Animalius, yes. You must come from the land of humans if you have never seen one. But you can call me Nobu', answered the kind deer-man.

'Nobu... I-I'm Draven!' boy quickly recalled about manners. 'W... What is this place?'

'People call it the Crystal Forest. Very unoriginal if you ask me... This is the land of Gemonises and we're on one of it's highest peaks!'

Boy got pale. What does that even mean?

'Gemo....nises?', he repeated. Nobu gestured at the boy to follow them as they turned to go deep into the forest.

'Come, child.'

Draven hesitated. But in all reality, he had no other choice. Nobu seemed to be nice and kind. Maybe they'll help him. He followed them into the woods, now feeling a bit more confident. If Nobu's from around here, then maybe they know their ways here.

For some reason, the forest around suddenly felt more... Friendly. More kind and forgiving. Was it Nobu's influence? Or was it just because his fear eased a bit? Hard to tell.

Nobu stopped under a short tree wrapped by purple glowing vines and reached to it with something in their hand. The leaves then moved and melodical chirping could be heard, as quite a big bird flew down and sat on Nobu's forearm to take the offered snack, some kind of fruit suppositely. Animalius gestured at Draven to come closer.

'Take a look at this beautiful one', they said, lowering their bird-occupied arm so that the shorter boy could have a closer look. The dark feathers on the bird's wings and tail were so long! And the tips glowed pink and violet. Then the bird turned its head to the boy and he could see what Nobu wanted him to see. Its beak was dark, shiny and looked like made out of a purple gem.

'The beak...!', he gasped. 'It looks just like your antlers!'

'That's right, my boy', replied Animalius nodding, 'This forest is filled with creatures growing gems for their beaks, antlers, horns, claws, teeth... That's why they're called Gemonises.'

'So you're also a Gemonis?'

Nobu chuckled a bit, reaching out to put the bird back on the tree.

'You could say I am.'

They then went ahead again, this time going towards some thick bushes. Then found the tiny space between and used it to move the leaves out the way and show the boy a beautiful clearing beneath them. It was still dark night, but the grass seemed to glow blue and pink, the water in the stream running across the meadow had a bright, cyan color. Around it walked big deer-like animals on long, long legs, with wide and big gem-antlers and horns on their noses. Their fur had spots and patterns that also glowed. Everything in this forest seemed to glow! Among them there was also a group of smaller, fuzzy and long creatures with six legs and tiny cute horns and a bit further from it, something that looked like a boar but with long floppy ears and much, much bigger crystal tusks. Its butt also was spotted with glowing dots.

'Woah....!', gasped Draven.

'All creatures here have the crystals somewhere on their bodies. It's the only place in the world where you can find it.' explained Nobu, seemingly enjoying the peaceful view themselves.

'Are those, like, real? Like, valuable?', asked amazed boy.

'You mean, the crystals? Seems like it. People find it very rare and fancy', nodded Nobu.

'Does that mean people come here for it?' the boy then asked, finding hope for himself there. If he could meet another human, they could take him back home! But his question seemed to upset Nobu. They let go of the bush and proceeded deeper into the woods.

'Unfortunately, yes. They tend to invade this peaceful place with their weapons and dogs, all for shiny goods to sell or wear.'

'That... Sounds bad, then...', replied Draven, only now figuring his question wasn't the kindest to ask someone who's partially an animal.

'Some of them learned a more peaceful method though. You don't need to hurt the Gemonises. They shred the crystals everywhere, all it takes is to look.' Nobu stopped walking to pick up a shiny piece of dark blue gem. 'As they grow, their crystals keep falling off and regrowing stronger and bigger. Sometimes they lose the pieces in a fight. But it always regrows. Here', they handed the gem to the boy. He took the gift with curiosity, examining it closely in his hands.

'Don't you collect it too?', he asked, finding it logical.

'Of course not. It's like nails and teeth for me. You don't collect your nails nor teeth, that's gross', Nobu replied honestly.

'Oh...'

Draven got kinda silenced there. He didn't think of it that way... They went on in silence for a bit. Boy kept looking around, wanting to appreciate and remember what he can from this unbelievable journey. He saw some more animals in the bushes and shadows, some small and innocent looking, some big and hairy, probably predators.

'Where are we going?', suddenly he asked, recalling he has no idea where could Nobu be leading him. Animalius glanced at him surprised.

'You seemed alone and afraid. Don't you need a shelter for the night? I'm taking you to my home.', they replied a bit confused.

'Oh...!', boy was genuinely surprised. 'That's... So nice of you. I didn't think you'd do such thing for me...'

'Why not?', asked Nobu, still going only they knew where.

'Um... Because you don't know me... And you just trust me like this?'

'Well, you are just a young, lost boy, aren't you?', Animalius glanced at the boy and smiled kindly. Wow... What luck he had to meet such a kind person. So trusting and caring!

'Are you, like... A guardian of this forest? You take care of it?', he asked then. Nobu's clothes and their nice attitude made him think of some good caretaker.

'Me?', Nobu chuckled a bit. 'I just live here. The forest is already protected by the spirits.'

'Spirits?!', repeated Draven, getting spooked by such answer.

'Yeah. Doesn't your land have spirits? They're everywhere. In the air, the trees, the grass...'

'I've never seen any spirit...', replied hesitant boy. Were there spirits where he lived? If there were he would have seen them, wouldn't he?

'Not everyone can see the spirits. They choose whether or not they want to be seen', explained Animalius and then took something out from under one of the layers of their robes. It was some kind of an instrument? It had the mouthpiece but the rest had weird, irregular but kinda round shape with holes.

'Are spirits dangerous?', asked the concerned boy.

'Only if you anger them', replied Nobu, then put the instrument to their mouth and played a simple, short melody. Suddenly the forest got illuminated. Some colorful, glowing orbs appeared flying up into the air around them, swirling around and shaping into various forms. Some looked like flowers, stars or leaves, some like weird jellyfish or butterflies. Then from between the trees came various creatures. Completely silent, glowing, foggy and semitransparent creatures, going around and past them, running to the animals that suddenly gathered around to meet them. Draven followed them with his eyes, but once he turned around, he got blinded by another light of mysterious sorce to for a second. Bright like a sun, there was a huge form made out of light in front of them. Only after his eyes got used to it, he could make out the shape. There stood a huge glowing deer, taller than the trees, majestic and proud. Nobu got closer to the boy and bowed low before the apparition. Then, seeing Draven not moving a muscle, they nudged him discreetly. Only then boy shook away his fear and shock and quickly followed the animalius, bowing as low as he could. Surprisingly, the huge spirit moved and bowed as well, before turning around and walking away until it disappeared into thin air, with all the spiritual and normal animals following it into the darkness. Only then Nobu stood up, but Draven didn't. His soft knees gave up and he fell on the ground, trembling and breathing heavily.

'What... Was that?! It was huge and glowing and....!', he yelled out of shock, terrified like he never was.

'That was the Guardian. They make sure the forest is safe, lead the creatures when they migrate or seek for water or shelter and heal the trees and plants. It's a very strong spirit... Only because of them, the hunters didn't invade this forest completely', explained Nobu, putting away the instrument and offering boy a hand to help him get up. 'Fear not, my child. The Guardian trusts me, you are safe with me. Come, we should go now. You need some rest.'

Draven was still a bit shaken, but he grabbed onto Nobu's hand gratefully and slowly got up.

'Y-Yeah... I've had enough for today', he nodded. Nobu then led ahead again. Luckily the rest of their walk went peacefully, without anything stopping them. They passed some more creatures, glowing plants and moss and after passing some weird holey rock formations looking like arches to go through, they ended up in front of an extremely huge and thick tree. Why was everything so intimidatingly huge in this place? As they walked closer, the stairs became visible. Wooden stairs going around the tree, ending somewhere behind. Nobu walking towards it only made Draven sure they're going there.

'Woah! This is where you live? In a tree?', he asked surprised but impressed. He didn't know what kind of house to expect from someone like this Animalius, but didn't think it would be this. Do they have a tree house? They got to the stairs and Nobu started climbing it, their hooves making a bit of a loud sound as they stepped on the wood. Draven did what he could to match the pace with Animalius's steps, but soon it got pretty difficult. They were going so high up, no wonder he got tired! And he had no idea how long are they going to climb. But then, he noticed something. A huge tree hollow, big enough for a person to fit in. That was where the stairs ended. Is that where Nobu lives? In a huge tree hollow? Animalius did in fact walk inside of it, having to bend down to dodge the upper edges of the hollow's entrance with their antlers. The boy fit perfectly though. Inside was dark, but since he couldn't see the walls, he guessed it's rather spacious. They were standing on something soft, like... Moss? Soil? He couldn't make it up in the darkness.

Nobu stepped forward and once again, pulled out their weird little instrument to play a short melody on it. Luckily it was different from the previous one... Once they did, the tree hollow got illuminated by what looked like hundreds of fireflies, flying around lazingly or just sitting on the walls. Woah... It looked so pretty and magical. Now in the nice light, he could finally see what the inside looked like. The hollow really was pretty spacious and tall. The walls were covered with a soft looking, thick material with various patterns embroidered on it. Now that he could see Nobu in light, he noticed Animalius's robes had very similar patterns on them. He looked around and to his surprise, he saw normal, wooden furniture around. Like a table, chairs, wardrobe, cupboards, barrels... Even a soft looking sofa made of the same material he saw on the walls. In the corner closest to the entrance was also a fireplace, tightly secured by rocks, with some kind of semi-opened pipe going on the wall, probably leading the smoke out. Woah... For a house in a tree hollow, it looked so cozy and functional! He didn't see a bed though. But he did notice a ladder. And as he followed where it went with his gaze, he found out there was some kind of a second floor, built with wooden logs. How tall was this hollow? As he was looking around, Nobu was already by the fireplace, cooking something in a big metal pot. Draven didn't even hear their steps. The floor was made of soil that already grew some grass and moss. He stepped closer to the Animalius.

'Take a seat', said Nobu, noticing the boy next to them, 'You must be hungry! Let's eat together before going to sleep.'

Boy did as Nobu asked and walked to the table to sit down. After such a long and difficult day, it felt so good to finally rest his feet a bit.

'Did you build this place yourself?', he asked, unable to hold his curiosity.

'No. My ancestors built it, long ago. I only renovate from time to time', explained Nobu, stirring in the pot. Soon the smell of vegetables and herbs filled the whole place. Right... Animalies probably don't eat meat. At least not the ones like Nobu. Animalies looking like predators probably do? It's hard to tell... They're weird creatures.

'How come you live alone? Shouldn't there be your family? Or other Animalies like you?', Draven kept asking, without even thinking whether he should ask about such things. Nobu didn't stop cooking, didn't even look at him. He only now noticed, Nobu was still wearing the hood... Why? But now that he could look at them closer, he noticed the hood wasn't a part of the robes they wore. It was more of a cap? Cap with long, long straps of material going down from it, wrapping the Animalius around. What a weird outfit. He also only now noticed a long, thin, orange ponytail hanging from under the hood. Woah.

'It's a long story', Nobu finally replied, after a moment of silence. Seems like they don't want to talk about it... So the silence fell between them, until the stew in the pot started boiling, making those typical bubbling sounds. The hollow also got pretty warm. So warm Draven started feeling a bit hot. Seemed like Nobu felt it too. They stepped back from the fireplace and started unwrapping themselves from the layers of material their hood-cap made. And like that, they finally took off the hood. Draven was dying to know what the Animalius looked like! For now he could only see their long, brownish animal ears pointed sideways. They put away the hood and grabbed two wooden bowls. Boy was watching impatiently as Nobu carefully poured the stew into the bowls, taking like forever. Then they finally turned around and he could see their face. Still "their".... For Nobu's face looked so gentle and soft, so young! And so not indicating whether they're a male or female! Not noticing the boy's staring, or rather not understanding the reason behind it, Nobu just placed the bowl in front of Draven and handed him a wooden spoon, sitting across the table themselves.

'Eat up. You must be hungry', they smiled to the boy. Draven got flustered and lowered his gaze, grabbing the spoon. But he couldn't help but stare at the Animalius discreetly. Their skin had a weird, greyish brown color. Not really a skin color he was familiar with. That was more of a deer's fur color? Only now boy noticed some kind of bright marks on Animalius's face. He glanced at their hand holding a spoon and got pretty surprised. The dark nails he spotted earlier... Nobu's nails also looked like the gem, just like their antlers! Woah! Then Nobu lifted their black eyes on the boy and he focused on the stew again. Crap, they must've noticed him starring! He finally tried the stew Nobu gave him. It was basically boiled vegetables... But for some reason, it tasted really good. Only now boy really recalled he didn't eat anything the whole day.

'Woah...! It's delicious!', he stated with excitement as he dug in pretty fast.

'You really were pretty hungry, huh?', Nobu chuckled.

'I haven't eaten anything today... Thank you so much...!'

'You can consider yourself lucky I found you then', replied Nobu, busy with their meal. Come to think of it, why would Nobu be up so late? And eating this late?

'Actually... What were you doing out this late?', he asked as it dawned on him now. Nobu smiled again.

'I noticed the whales. Looked like they landed here somewhere, so I came to check. You saw them too, right?', they explained. 'Anyway... How did you end up getting lost in here?'

Draven hesitated, looking down into his bowl.

'I... Came on one of them', he replied, very aware of how unbelievably it sounds.

'Huh? You mean... On the whale?', asked intrigued Nobu.

'Yeah... We had a bet with friends. That we can find the whales and ride them. And, well... I guess I won...'

'Oh that sounds just unbelievable! How was it?', kept asking Nobu, probably being as curious as Draven has been up to this point. Even their ears went up a bit.

'Honestly? Terrifying. It was so high up... I was so scared that I'll fall. And then I ended up in completely unknown place and... You know the rest', explained Draven, the feeling of being completely lost and homesick got to him again, 'I just want to go home...'

'We will figure something up tomorrow', promised Nobu, smiling to the boy, 'For now, you need to rest. You can sleep here, on the couch. I'll give you some blankets.'

'You're so kind, Nobu...', replied the boy, still not believing his luck. They finished eating and Animalius brought some thick and soft blankets just like they promised. Boy sat on the couch and found out it's really soft. It must've been stuffed with something like wool or feathers. Nobu said goodnight to him and went up on the ladder after putting out the fire. That's probably a safe thing to do... Boy wrapped himself in the blankets and layed down. Good thing he was small enough to fit there without a problem. He still heard Nobu's hooves upstairs and some of the fireflies were still glowing but he was so tired he fell asleep pretty quick...