Oasis

The trees pressed in around her in the dark evening light. An untrained ear could mistake the soft hum of the forest for silence, but Serena knew that with such a quiet there had to be something nearby that was keeping all other animals at bay.

Amongst the quiet sounds, there was one that stuck out, one that sounded like water lapping slowly against a smooth shore, the wind the only thing around to cause any movement at all. She looked around, trying to find where the water source might be, and when her eyes settled upon a thick wall of bushes, she knew that the water must be behind them.

It had been three days since there had last been a source for any that precious life-saving liquid, and the last of it had run out that morning, so the idea of a drink was one that took over as soon as it appeared. She had been fine as far as provisions were, a myriad of berries providing themselves to fill her pack, but some root that she found the day before looked like another safer root, causing her an undeniable thirst the night before, depleting her water more rapidly than she would have liked.

The barrier of bushes was thicker than it looked, but as she approached the sound of water grew louder and she could be certain that the water source she heard lay behind it. The barrier was at least twice her height, oddly tall for what appeared to be regular rose bushes, so while she could have climbed over it, she determined it wasn’t worth the risk of falling, and instead fought her way through the sickeningly sweet smelling, but dangerously sharp branches. When she attempted to use her sword, it only seemed to make matters worse, the bush wrapping around the blade with more intensity than it did around her skin. It wasn’t clear to her why, but the sword was returned to its home and she pressed through. Serena emerged on the other side covered in scrapes where her skin was exposed, small nicks in her clothing where it wasn’t.

The area that she broke into took her breath away immediately. She had found a lake that was small enough she could easily see the trees on the other side, but large enough that she would likely get tired if she were to try and swim directly across it. The trees that she could see around the edge of the lake were many different varieties, some that she had never even seen before, that created a gorgeous array of heights and colors - pine trees with rich green needles and pointed boughs, birch trees with their stark white bark, two different kinds of trees whose leaves appeared to be spun out of precious minerals, and willow trees dipping their long branches down into the water, lightly caressing the surface and making as little of a disturbance as possible. The emerald leaves of the rose bushes that appeared to wall off the entirety of the little oasis, only interjected occasionally by the bright white or vivid red roses, speckled around like gemstones.

The lake itself was a deep blue, and had there not been the slight breeze that caused the movement she had heard, it would have seemed frozen over, or covered in a sheet of glass to keep it preserved. She walked over towards it cautiously, noticing that while she had heard the forest for miles on the outside, it seemed as though she could only notice the sounds that were coming from within the bushes. She knelt down at the edge of the water, soft sand trickling through her fingertips as she ran a hand through it. The dark water was clear, but she couldn’t see very far down, and she had the feeling that while intuition told her the sand was just below the surface this close to the edge, if she were to plunge an arm in, she would not feel the same soft sand that she was currently kneeling on, but would instead encounter only more of the cool water, and possibly something more sinister.

Her thirst overtook her reasoning though, and she reached to her pack that she had set down and pulled out a water skin, bringing it to the surface of the water. She only dipped it under as much as was absolutely necessary, her need for water not completely overruling her brain. When the skin broke the surface of the water, the soft breeze that she had been feeling fled, stilling the water save for the ripples that came as a result of her action. She quickly pulled the skin from the water, a deafening noise in the silence, and when nothing followed it, she sat back on her heels, carefully bringing her container to her lips, and drinking the water slowly. It was sweet and cold, something slightly off-putting about it. She was careful not to drink all of it in one gulp, despite her desire to do so. She had been an adventurer for many years and she wasn’t going to make the rookie mistake of downing an entire skin full of untested water after a full day’s hike with none on hand.

She looked around and saw a large oak close to where she had broken through the brambled barrier, and got up from the sand to go and sit and assess her wounds. But as soon as she turned her back to the water, she heard a splash. She whirled back around, hand on the hilt of her sword, but keeping it sheathed. There were ripples fading on the surface of the water, emanating from a location that seemed much closer than it had sounded. She stood staring at the lake’s surface for a minute, expecting some other kind of movement, but receiving only stillness. She half turned back to her pack, keeping one eye on the water as she picked it up. This time there was no sound, no movement, but she thought she might have seen something. She walked over to the tree, a good enough distance from the shoreline that she needn’t worry about her pack getting wet, but close enough to where she had broken through the barrier that she could easily grab it if she had to run.

She picked the water skin back up from the pile of gear and walked back towards the shoreline, slowly enough to hopefully not startle anything that might be lurking in its depths. When she was midway between the tree and the water, she heard a snap from behind her, turning to see who or what was stealing her pack. When she saw nothing, she turned back towards the water and saw something - someone? - sitting on the sand where she had recently knelt, staring straight back at her. The creature that had appeared out of the water was short, not more than two feet tall, but had part of its body trailing off into the water, which made it impossible to tell how long the being might have been. They looked to be made out of some sort of gelatinous material, a dark teal with black pulsing nebulously throughout its body, the outlines of what could only be interpreted as scales barely visible, but hinting that it was less vulnerable than it may have appeared. Its face appeared more human than was comfortable, a thin pair of lips that blended into the body behind it, with round, golden eyes that managed to convey anger. “Just who do you think you are?” a voice cried out, higher pitched than Serena expected from such a large and dark being. The silence of the small sanctuary returned at that time, but still the sounds of the rest of the forest proper were kept quiet.

“I… I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were there!”

“That doesn’t answer my question. Who are you?”

“I’m… My name is Serena. I’m so sorry I didn’t mean-”

The lake lifeform had pulled itself up from the shore, not making a substantial height difference, but enough for Serena to take a step back. “I don’t care if you’re sorry, why are you here?” The anger in the creature’s tone was still apparent. If anything, it surprised Serena that it could even speak her human tongue.

“I’m…” She thought for a moment before continuing. She thought through her initial fear, and realized that whatever information she gave could be used against her. She realized there was no reason to continue to provide information and gain nothing in return. “I’m sorry, I forgot to ask, what’s your name? Or at least what can I call you?”

The creature made what sounded like some sort of hissing noise, but it sounded less angry somehow. “Jesture. Why are you here?”

She realized that this lake entity, Jesture, would likely not provide any more information unless she yielded a little more herself. “I was sent to explore the forest. My town sends one person each year to explore the Great Forest, and this year I was the one who wanted to go.” Her tone became more somber. “Usually whoever explores the forest never returns. I don’t really care either way, but right now it seems that I’ll be the first.”

The comforting noise of the trees disappeared again when Serena said this and Jesture’s eyes narrowed. “You’re one of them? Those adventurers who destroy the forest and kill the creatures until he lets his guard down and someone gets the opportunity to avenge their friends?”

Serena took another step back. “Well, yes. No. I’m not here to destroy anything, or kill anything, I just want to-” Jesture dragged themself up onto the grass, this time swelling up much more menacingly, and pulled Serena’s sword from where it sat, wielding it menacingly. Until this point she hadn’t been too concerned by their presence, but now fear began to seep through her otherwise tough outer shell.

“If you don’t mean to destroy anything, then why do you carry one of these? These only mean pain and destruction, which you claim not to bring, so why bring one?”

“To protect myself in case something attacks me!” The fear crept into her voice more than she would have liked, but it became very real to her that she may not make it out of the gorgeous clearing alive.

Jesture pulled back a bit, evidently confused, it’s eyes narrowing. “What in the forest do you think would attack you?”

“Right now, you! Or anything else that doesn’t appear to like humans and has either my sword or some other way to kill me!”

Jesture looked at the sword, and then back at Serena. “But you weren’t afraid of me before I took this sword of yours.”

Serena was baffled at this assumption. “Yes I was, actually. I just wanted to see if you were going to be friendly or not. I only came into this place because I heard water, which I ran out of this morning. I didn’t realize that I was invading your home. I would like my sword back and then I’ll be more than happy to leave you in peace.” Jesture ignored her request for the sword, instead taking it with them back toward the water, shrinking back down towards what Serena could only guess was their natural size. It was at this point she realized that there was still a large portion of their body in the water, even when they had grown so threateningly, which made her worry about how much more of their body might be lurking down there. When they got back to the water’s edge, they turned and threw the sword into the lake. “Hey! I need that!”

Jesture turned back to her. “Now you don’t pose a threat to the others that live here in the forest, so nothing should have any reason to threaten you back.”

“But what about when I leave the forest? What will I use to protect myself then?”

Jesture’s eyes clouded, becoming more of a dull yellow instead of the bright gold they had been so far, likely signifying their confusion. “What do you mean? Why would you need to protect yourself from other humans?”

“Why wouldn’t I need to protect myself from other humans?”

“But. You’re the same species, surely you get along with one another?”

Serena couldn’t tell from their facial expression, but she assumed it was a joke and burst out laughing. After a minute of laughter, she was able to calm herself down enough to speak. “You must be joking, yes?”

“No. Why would I be?”

“Humans are brutal towards the creatures of the forest, but can be even worse to members of their own people. The men that you usually see crossing the forest this time of year are some of the worst people I’ve ever met, and I’m certain that this time next year you’ll see another one of those brutes.”

“Then why do you want to go back?”

The question shocked Serena. “I’m… What?”

Jesture’s form morphed again and this time they became more humanoid, detaching themself from whatever still lay in the depths of the lake, seaweed wraps around their shoulders as they walked away from the water. “If the other humans are terrible to you, then why go back? You said that the travelers who explore this forest don’t usually come back, but you volunteered to do it. If the odds were that against you returning to your town, do you really want to go back to it? Why not merely accept your fate?”

Serena simply stared at Jesture. They were completely right. She hadn’t made her quest into the forest thinking that she’d return. She hoped she wouldn’t. She hoped for some other village, subconscious plans to settle down there, not speaking of her former life, moving if another from her hometown ever managed to make it through. “I don’t want to go back, but I don’t know where else I could go. I don’t know how far across the forest is, I don’t know if there’s anything on the other side of the forest. But I figured that if everyone disappears then maybe there’s simply another village on the other side. I don’t know what options there are besides dying, finding another village, or going back.”

“Did you ever even consider just staying in the forest?” Jesture’s demeanor had changed. Where before they had seemed ready to tear her head off, they now seemed almost supportive. She wondered how many other travelers Jesture had seen and wondered if they saw something different in her. But staying in the forest? The way they said it, Serena could almost believe it was that simple. Almost.

“But… It can’t be that simple. I would need somewhere to sleep, I would need some way to take care of myself, food to eat, water to drink. What if I got sick? What would I do if I got hurt?”

“When someone respects the forest, you’ll find that the forest will respect you back. You could build yourself some sort of structure to live in, or you could simply sleep outside like the rest of the forest’s inhabitants. I’m sure I know some trees that would be more than willing to help you with that. And you clearly have been able to find food to eat and water to drink so far, so that won’t be a problem. If you got sick or hurt there would be others in the forest you could ask for help. You’re talking to another being and yet you act like you’re the only one here.”

Serena tried to come up with some other argument, but Jesture was right. Humans had created a society to take care of each other, but there were plenty who managed to survive outside of that society. Jesture walked up to her and handed her back her waterskin, full. When they had grabbed it, she couldn’t be sure. “But… Who will I talk to? What work would I do?”

Jesture smiled, their lips spreading to show rows of sharp teeth. “You’re already talking, and you can do whatever work you’d like.” They extended what looked like a hand. “What do you say?”

Serena looked down at their hand, and back up at their face. Their eyes had regained some of their golden quality from before, but it looked less like gold in a forge and more like the gold that would adorn some sort of elegant crown. Serena bent over and picked up her pack, and smiled back at Jesture.