A Lost Hawk

by SketchGlide

Chapter 2: Blinding Darkness

A Lost Hawk

Chapter 2: Blinding Darkness

Darkness, something that Caleb didn't exactly relish in. As he walked along the grassy path into the great forest before him, the world around him seemed to vanish before his eyes.

"...Alright, one step at a time" he thought whilst looking back at what was once a relatively bright clearing of the forest.

As he ventured through the forest he could swear that it was getting darker and darker, as if it was in the middle of the night, which didn't make much sense since it was broad daylight only moments ago. As if the increasing darkness wasn't enough, he couldn't shake this feeling like something was, watching him. There seemed to be something in the corner of his eye whenever he was focusing on the long path ahead, but it would disappear in an instant the moment he turned to look.

"Ugh... how much longer till I reach this village?" he thought. "Blake said that it wasn't very far but I feel like I've been walking for hours"

Caleb thought to pull out his map to reassess his location. This was quickly proven to be a poor choice as the darkness had grown to a state where he felt nearly blind.

"Dammit! why didn't I bring something to light my way!" he shouted.

*Rustle*

A sound emitted from behind him which caused him to freeze in his tracks.

"Wh...who's there?" he asked. But there was no response other than some more rustling. "Blake? Is that you?" he asked again trembling. He didn't get the reassuring voice he had hoped for.

At this point Caleb was considering to simply run, it didn't matter where as long as he could get away from what ever was making this noise. He was no stranger to forests, in fact he kinda liked hanging out in them, they were generally very peaceful places, or at least where he came from. This forest on the other hand just felt... unnatural, with it's mysterious sounds and ever growing darkness. It felt like it was alive and toying with his psyche which now felt like it was hanging for dear life in his head.

"Listen... whoever you are... I'm armed" drawing his blade from it's sheath. "I don't want to hurt you... so take my advise... and leave" he muttered in fear.

This proved to be as effective as his previous method of trying to find out it's identity, no response except for the continuous rustling. Taking heavy breaths Caleb decided to continue walking along the path, he refused to put his sword away and gripped the hilt tightly in his hand in case anything were to attack. He began to walk a little faster, hoping that the noise behind him would fade into darkness like the beautiful light from the skies earlier. Yet it didn't, in fact it felt like he hadn't moved an inch since before.

"Is this noise real, or am I just hearing things?" he began to think. "Is this extreme darkness just playing with my senses?"

The rustling seemed to get quieter causing Caleb to believe his thoughts.

"Sure, of course... I mean it just... happens to people when they're scared" he thought to himself.

The rustling had seemed to cease from making a single noise now.

"Heh heh... guess it was all in my head" he chuckled.

Taking a deep breath he began to continue his walk through the forest and placed his sword back into it's sheath. He enjoyed the silence for a good while until he heard another sound.

"A... flute?" he thought to himself.

This flute seemed to be coming from directly in front of him, although he couldn't see a thing it was defiantly coming from the path ahead. Considering the possibilities that this was just yet another noise his head was making up he tried to abolish it from his mind. This time though it wasn't going anywhere. The flute was still playing a tune, a very warped one, Caleb thought either the player had a broken flute or they themselves were just generally bad. As Caleb walked further to investigate the noise, each hollow note made him all the more weary. The forest seemed to be yet again playing tricks with him as the noise did not seem to grow the slightest bit louder, as if he was not moving at all. Caleb was getting restless and terrified to the point where he could not resist but run after the sound.

"Who the hell is playing this noise?!" he muttered under his deep breaths.

The forest didn't seem to be out of strange tricks or illusions just yet as the noise he had heard seemed to be getting better as he grew closer, each note played smooth and professionally, in fact it began to sound strangely familiar. His... Ocarina?

"Is... he here? that damn thief who stole my ocarina?" he whispered

As he continued to follow the sound he realised that he had long since left the path that he was supposed to be taking.

"Damn!" he shouted at himself furiously. "I just had to go chasing enchanting melodies in this damn forest didn't I!"

He stood there staring at the way he came, considering walking back to try and find the path again. Before he could make a decision though he noticed that the ocarina was still playing, yet it was getting quiet. Against his better judgement he decided to continue following the source of the noise, leaving the chance of finding the pathway again behind.

It had been quite some time now and the noise was leading Caleb through all sorts of twists and turns in the forest before the noise started to fade. Caleb quickly picked up the pace of his jog to a faster running speed, however this didn't seem to make a difference. He then frantically ran faster yet into a sprint,

"No... I... can't... loose... this" he spoke running out of breath.

This was his only lead since his map was practically useless now and the path he had originally planned to walk along was long gone. If he lost this he could be lost in this place for good. Running faster than ever before he furiously chased down the sounds without a second thought for where he was going or what he was running into.

!!!SLAM!!!

He crashed into a low hanging branch in his way and fell to the ground. In the last few moments of his conciousness he heard the melody of the ocarina fade away into the darkness.

---

Arising from the ground with a bloody nose and a terrible headache he noticed that the darkness he was previously drowning in had seemed to let up slightly which filled Caleb with a great feeling of relief. Wiping the blood off his face and the dirt from his clothes he saw a faint glimmer of light through some bushes up ahead. Frantically running up to this light he climbed over logs and under branches to reach his goal.

At last he was out. Caleb ran out into the glorious light of the day like it had been an eternity since he was blessed with it's radiance. Looking back at the forest he could only think one thing,

"Never... again..."

Composing himself he glanced to his right and saw a town with what looked like a castle built on a mountain behind in the distance. Taking out his map he assessed his location and discovered that Ponyville awaited. With a great sense of accomplishment he ventured towards the town.