Rotten trees grow around the darkness, and the darkness does not reject them—it welcomes them.
When I sleep, I sometimes hear voices whispering about forests. Strange, since there are no forests anywhere near our crater. Occasionally, a single young tree appears, and that is a sign of despair.
Anything young and beautiful has no right to live here. They are greedy; they take whatever will serve them.
"Woooohoo! You can't catch me!" young one shouted."That's not fair! I want to play too!" another replied.
"Oi! Stop fooling around, or Ganmi will come and take you!" Ragga barked.
Ragga is our tribe's cook. Thanks to her, we are never hungry. She can feed seventy-eight people effortlessly, and she's like the mother I never had. Slowly approaching fifty, she is more energetic than most people half her age, always wearing her ritual clothes even though she hasn't participated in them for years… Well, she's the only one who can cook here.
"Oh, Mori! I haven't seen you—come eat with us. These kids don't listen to me at all and run everywhere…"
"They're just kids. Don't be mad; fooling around is their whole life."
"Their fun will be over soon," Ragga said, frowning."Is it really time already?""Yeah. I'm worried they won't be able to cope."
Children under ten have no names. Everyone, regardless of gender, is called a "young one." It's safer if no one stands out… for fear of what might take them.
The dark forest shifts and rots endlessly
....and even awake, I can't escape its whispers.
"So, what do you say? Want to come over for a bite?" Ragga called."Just let me change into my work clothes, and I'll be there."
After the naming ritual, each child must join society by accepting a role. Some clean, some grow vegetables, some build. I am a woodcarver. I carve objects from wood with knives. It's not a popular role, but it's needed. The toy the children played with earlier? Made by me. Unfortunately, with so few trees, my options are limited. This is why I despise this deep crater.
We live in a crater of unknown origin. Hundreds of generations have lived here, yet no one questions its origins. Many tunnels have been dug into the crater walls, but the paths between them are just holes connected by rickety bridges over the chasm. The rock is too hard to dig in most places, so life on these bridges is the norm.
Fortunately, my place is close to Ragga's home.
------------------------------------------------------------
Ready for breakfast, I stood by the curtain covering the cook's cave entrance.
"I'm here!" I called."Come inside," Ragga's voice replied.
Passing through several modest rooms furnished with stone furniture and lotus flower lamps, I heard a shout:
"Oh! Uncle Mori!!!"
"Hel—""Play with me, please!" The forced sweetness of a young one's voice tugged at my heart."What about your sibling?" I asked."He hasn't come back yet. He was supposed to return fifteen minutes ago, but… oh well. That's what happens when you go into the dark abyss."
My heart skipped. The dark abyss is the deepest part of the crater. No bridges cross it; the lotus lamps die in its depth.
"What?! Dark abyss?! Who let you go there!?" Ragga's voice was loud and angry.
"I mean… he told me not to tell you… oops," the young one confessed.
Ragga's face reddened, about to explode, but I stepped in.
"Don't worry. I'll find him as soon as possible before he hurts himself.""B-but it's the dark abyss… it's dangerous," Ragga said, her voice trembling with worry."Who do you think I am? I've been one of the biggest rascals there every day since childhood."
That's why I know the dangers—but I didn't tell her, so she wouldn't worry.
"Okay, but be careful," she said."No problem. Leave it to me, and inform the guards."
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-Young One's Perspective-
20 minutes earlier
I love adventures. I love challenges. I love fun!I don't want to grow up—I just want to have fun forever.
—Hop-hop-hop—
Jumping from rock to rock is pretty hard when there are no bridges anywhere, but I'm determined to reach the bottom and discover the secrets of this place…
Because there has to be a secret, right?
"Haha, my sibling must be jealous!"
The further I jumped down the canyon, the harder it became. The rocks had fewer cracks to grab onto, fewer safe places to land.
"I can't give up! I'm a great traveler!"
—crrk-kkrrashhh—
The rocks beneath my feet slipped and crumbled into the abyss.
"No—!"
—scrrrrchhh—
Before I could react, I was sliding down the wall.
In a desperate moment, my body slammed into a rock ledge, stopping my fall. The impact left my leg screaming with pain.
"Ahh! My leg!"
Snff-snff… "Mom! That hurts… Moooom!"
Tears welled up in my eyes. I hugged my knee and sobbed.
"I don't like traveling anymore… I want to go home…"
-Moria's Perspective-
20 minutes later
As I descended deeper, I paid no attention to anything but my goal. My hope—that nothing had happened to the child—kept me moving. I didn't want to play hero, but through my 17 years, this young one had been like family to me. And his mother… she wouldn't be able to bear it if the worst happened.
—thup-thup-thup—
Jumping from bridge to bridge, I abandoned the normal path downward. People stared as I passed, reminded of my reckless youth.
After several minutes, the bridges disappeared, and even the lotus lamps no longer reached this depth.
"So… he went down this far, huh."
Sliding smartly from one wall to another, I pressed on with practiced precision. Few had ever come this low. Even the curious avoided these depths.
I prayed he hadn't fallen too far.
That thought was broken by a faint sound—
—weeeeh-weeeeh—
!!!
A child's cry echoed up from below. Relief surged through me—he was still alive.
Without hesitation, I slid deeper into the dark, the stone tearing my arms and legs raw. I bit my lip and kept going, until finally—I saw him.
His eyes lit up, filling with tears again, but this time they were tears of joy.
—shooosh—
One big jump, and I landed on the slab of rock where he lay.
"Don't worry. I'll take you home, Rascal."
—boohoo!—
The slab groaned under our weight.
And then—we were falling.
I caught him in my arms and braced. "Here we go again."
The fall lasted no more than eight seconds, but long enough to end anyone's life. Yet, just as long ago when I was a child, something awaited us below.
—Shuuuuu—
We landed in a field of black lotus flowers which are normally blue or pink. Thousands of them swayed, filling the cavern floor with their strange glow.
"Wooow! What is this place? It's beautiful!"
The boy's tears vanished, replaced by wonder, though his leg still twisted in pain.
"Yep. I found this place years ago, but no one believed me. More importantly—your leg doesn't look good."
As I bent to check his injury, the cavern trembled.
—Rooooooooooooooooooooaahhh—
!!!
The roar of a monster shook the crater—not from below, but from the very top.
I froze. Our fall was no longer the most dangerous thing.That roar meant nothing good.