Angelo looked over to the side and stopped.

"Uhhh, " he awkwardly turned back to Duncan. "the corner isn't here..."

"What?" Duncan asked.

"Welll... I don't really know *exactly* where the base is. I, uh, count the trees starting from the corner and go from there..." the winged boy scratched his head.

'... I'll have to walk more?! AAAAARRRGHHH!!!' Duncan's face twitched.

"W-well then, let's just go to the corner?" the survivor suggested. 'Man he's lucky he technically saved my life.' he silently thought.

"Okay! It's that way!" Angelo pointed towards the stretch of bare dirt.

Duncan quietly sighed as he walked along the bare strip with Angelo doing a silly march to his right. On his left a weak and moist breeze crawled out the colossal forest.

'... If the fire tree and water bug place was eerie, this place is outright scary! I mean, just look at it! If I didn't know any better, I'd think a serial killer was hiding in that darkness.' the boy looked over to the naked ground.

"Don't you think... This whole section is weird?" he failed to look Angelo in the eye. "I-It's all bare, there's no plants or anything."

"It is weird! You know, it's like this everywhere! Every place I've seen has been surrounded like this. I wonder why..."

"Hm, I'd say it's because of the shadow those big trees make, but if it's everywhere then... I dunno." he tapped his chin.

"Then, we can figure it out together! Right?" the angelic boy had a broad smile.

"Oh, uh, yea." his eyes opened in slight surprise.

'That does actually sound kinda fun. I've never been with someone else interested in this sort of stuff...'

The survivor's eyes latched onto the titanic tree trunks. Each trunk was the width of a house, taking the two half a minute to pass by just one. Their thick roots bulged the forest floor covered with decaying matter and fungus. Despite that, the woods were spacious, trunks were space out by about half their width or more.

'I feel as if I've been shrunk to the size of an ant...' he looked up.

As the trees grew upward, hulking branches sprouted and looked to be boasting their own little landmasses that dripped with life. The very top was painted with bright green illuminated by the sun. Small silhouettes could be made out flying at the very peak.

"Hey, uh, you been up at the top, no? How is it there?" the boy asked.

"Yea! It's really pretty, but also scary. A lot of things tried to eat me..." the angel replied. "But don't worry! At the bottom there aren't a lot of things that want to eat you. It's safe!"

'Not a lot of things. Meaning there are things. Oh boy...'

The road ahead bent right along with the mountainous forest and silver woods, obstructing the view beyond.

"Hrmp! I'm getting tired. " Angelo whined. "Let's hurry up and get to the base so we can rest-"

From the corner of his eye, the angel noticed a flying creature plummeting down towards him.

"Run!" he yelled as he pushed the survivor away.

Angelo's wings sharply twitched and ejected a single feather like a javelin that aimed for the sky blue elongated sharp bird.

The feather hit the animal with an ear ringing bang and a dark orange fireball that roasted the bird black. The creature harmlessly fell down in the far distance.

The winged boy warily scanned the surroundings. Upon noticing that it is safe, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" he turned to Duncan.

The boy had stumbled backwards and was now leaning up against a tree covering his ears with closed eyes. He carefully opened his eyes.

[Coward.]

"What was that?!" he got up.

"A very angry bird! Those like to dive in to someone and stab them and then eat them from the inside!"

"..." Duncan was speechless as he looked across the sky.

"They're normally in a group... But I don't see any anymore. Even if there are more, I'll blow them up! No need to worry!" the angel assured.

"Uh-hu..."

'What do you mean blow them up?!?! How'd he even do that?? WHAT IN THE-'

"Come on, let's hurry up before more come!"

***

The two boys made it across the bend and continued down the path. The forest beyond slowly shrunk off to the left as it gave way to wide plains filled with yellowish green.

"Oh! We're pretty close!" Angelo said. "Wait, I think I can find it from here..." he ran up over to the silver woods.

'It's right on the eleventh one...' the angelic boy counted the trees starting from the one in the corner where the forest wall abruptly turned to form the border with the plains.

Duncan stood in place, waiting for Angelo.

"Follow me!!!" Angelo yelled out from the distance as he turned to run.

'Whaaaa...' the survivor's legs cried with him.

They ran ahead until Angelo stopped at one of the gaps between the oversized grey trees. He stepped behind and recounted.

"Yup! This one is the eleventh!" he looked over to the tree on his right. "Let's go!" he charged into the dim woods.

'... I don't like this...' Duncan stood just at the edge with an uncertain frown.

He took a step ahead, the ground filled with decaying dark brown matter crunched under his foot. He walked in the middle close behind the winged boy, careful to avoid any of the uneven cresses caused by the trees' roots. Tiny insects crawled and flew as they nibbled at rot and each other.

His nose was tickled by the cool air filled with spores from the fungi peppered around. Mycelium wrapped itself like barbed wire over immense fallen gray wood and blobs of organic matter. Mushrooms in exotic shapes loomed in the dark scene, ranging in size from tiny to many times bigger than the boys.

Little light made it past the thick tangle of branches and webs covering the area above. Even in the middle of the day, the woodland looked to be illuminated by bright moonlight transversing in an apparition of fog.

"Three... four... five." Angelo muttered to himself as he turned left and walked diagonally.

'I REALLY don't like this place... ' Duncan's hairs stood on end as he remained vary of bugs and anything else that might be hiding in the shades.

"Two... And it's right there!" the angelic boy stood in front of one of the towering trees. He grabbed the bark of the tree, pulled it off and set it on the ground.

The screen shaped moldy dark gray bark gave way to a hollow dark room sized volume inside the tree's trunk. The winged boy entered with a hunched back.

"Come on in!"

'... ...' Duncan eyed the surroundings, sighed, held the drone in his hand and carefully entered.

As Duke neared the entrance lights framing his cameras eased into being bright enough to make the inside as visible as the outside woods.

"Oh, thank you doggy!"

[Darkness fears me.]

The space inside was a moderately spacious semicircle carved out of the tree's cortex and forest floor. A myriad of different items were sorted and displayed along the edges of the clean floor while the center was clear of clutter.

One corner contained a small heap of bright red berries, another corner had sticks of different shapes and colors stacked on top of each other. Another had a pile of different rocks while opposite was a clump of different dried up fibers. Next to the berries there were piles of hard nuts and seeds in different shapes and sizes.

"This is the food side." the angel presented one of the corners. "And this is the not food side." he framed the opposite one.

"I... see..." Duncan analysed each corner of the abode.

The angel plopped down on the ground, his knees bent up to his chest. He gobbled up a handful of berries.

"You should try these, they're really sweet!" he tapped on the floor next to him.

The survivor awkwardly took off his dark green backpack and sat cross legged next to the winged boy. He dropped the backpack down next to him with a thud as he popped and stretched his shoulders.

Angelo handed him a fistful of tiny bright red berries. Duncan took the food and scrutinized it in his hands.

'Hopefully this one doesn't have any side effects...' he ate some of the berries.

'Wow! These are like bonbons! Seriously, how is this stuff so sweet?' he gulped down the rest.

"They're really tasty. Thanks." the survivor said.

"Yea! No problem, have some more if you want!" Angelo handed more but Duncan shook his head.

"Not hungry right now, sorry."

"Okay!" The winged boy ate the ones in his hand.

'Wait, so like, what now? What're we supposed to do now?' Duncan thought. 'Uh, like, get more food? Water? Stuff?' he mentally checked off items and tasks.

'Hold up...' the boy felt a dark omen.

"So, uh, where's the bathroom?"