Chapter 002: Where
"Cough… cough… cough—!"
My chest felt as though it were being crushed from the inside as water forced its way out of my throat. I coughed violently, my body curling forward against the pain.
"Ueekk—!"
A wave of nausea surged from my stomach, and I vomited the river water that had rushed into me.
I collapsed onto the ground, both hands bracing my trembling body.
"Huff… huff… huff…"
My breathing was choked, heavy, hot. My heart pounded wildly—
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP
—as if it were trying to break through my ribs.
It took me several seconds to make sure I was still alive.
Then—
"Hah!" I blurted out, my body jolting.
I looked around—
and my world immediately turned upside down.
"Where... is the river?!"
The place where I stood—or rather, where I had washed ashore—
was not the riverbank in the mountains.
Not the shallow water that had dragged me under.
Not the sound of my family calling out in panic.
Instead, all I saw was unfamiliar land. An unfamiliar sky. Unfamiliar silence.
"I... I'm sure I almost drowned just now..." I whispered, as if begging the air itself for an answer.
My body tensed again. The panic that had briefly subsided crashed back into me—harder than before.
"What is this?!"
My head snapped to the right—nothing.
To the left—nothing I recognized.
"Where am I?!"
I spun around, searching for the river, searching for voices, searching for anything familiar.
There was nothing.
"No... I've never been here..."
I looked up at the sky—the sky felt wrong.
I looked down—the ground was unfamiliar.
I scanned my surroundings again, quickly, anxiously, until I nearly became dizzy.
"Where is this?!"
I swallowed. My throat still burned, but the fear hurt far more.
"I don't know this place... I don't recognize this place!"
Everything felt wrong.
Too wrong.
"No way... I have to be dreaming... maybe I'm still unconscious... maybe I passed out..."
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Hoping.
Praying.
Then I opened them.
I was still here.
I shut them again, even tighter.
Swallowed against my trapped breath.
Opened them.
Nothing had changed.
I repeated it—four, five times—until my knees began to wobble and even my own voice sounded unfamiliar.
"No way..." I whispered.
My voice trembled, as though it might shatter.
The last thing I remembered was:
the water dragging me away,
my chest burning,
Kak Gavin shouting,
my hand failing to reach the surface...
But this place...
had nothing to do with any of that.
I stood frozen.
The wind brushed against my skin, yet it felt cold and unfriendly.
A sense of dread slowly crept upward, climbing from my spine to the back of my neck.
My heartbeat surged again, wild and uneven.
I opened my mouth, but only a trembling breath escaped.
I was alone.
In a place that made no sense.
In a world I did not know.
The first air that entered my lungs felt unfamiliar—more humid, heavier, more... alive.
My body was still soaked.
My heart still slammed against my chest as though I were drowning in the river only seconds ago.
But the world I saw when I forced myself to stand—
left me speechless.
I was in the middle of a forest.
But not a forest I knew.
The trees towered high—far too high. Their trunks were enormous, covered in thick moss until they resembled ancient pillars holding up the sky. Massive lianas coiled around every branch like giant ropes. Giant ferns spread their broad leaves, forming natural umbrellas that shielded the ground from sunlight.
The canopy was dense, layered upon layers, allowing sunlight to descend only in thin shafts—spotlights piercing the green dimness, dancing with the humid dust drifting through the air.
I looked upward.
Just how... big is this forest?
The sounds hit me almost immediately.
The songs of unfamiliar birds—high-pitched notes I had never heard before, like echoes from species yet to be recorded. Insects hummed in rhythms that almost sounded electric. Leaves rubbed together in the wind, creating rolling whispers that resembled the long breath of the forest itself.
Everything was loud...
yet somehow still silent.
A silence that made me realize I was nothing more than a tiny speck resting in the lap of this gigantic world.
"Wow..."
The whisper escaped before I realized it.
Part awe.
Part confusion.
Part fear.
My feet carried me forward in small steps without conscious thought.
The ground beneath me was soft, a mixture of damp soil and fallen leaves. Each movement released the scent of earth and vegetation into the air—an aroma too pure, too strong, like a world that had never known asphalt, exhaust fumes, or humanity.
I swallowed.
Not because I was afraid...
not entirely.
But because my brain was beginning to process something.
This forest...
felt old.
Very old.
Far older than any forest near the tourist areas back home.
There were no signs of cut trees.
No traces of people.
Every corner felt wild, dense, overflowing—as though the plants here had been growing freely for thousands of years.
I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to steady my trembling breaths.
On one hand...
it was beautiful.
Incredibly beautiful.
Beautiful enough to make my chest ache.
But on the other hand...
I truly had no idea where I was.
And for the first time since regaining consciousness, a thought whispered through my mind—
This is no longer a place where my family can easily find me.
Anindira took a small step...
one...
two...
THUMP!
Her feet stopped abruptly.
Without warning.
Her body reacted faster than her mind—as though instinct had slapped her awake and told her to stay alert.
"What am I supposed to do now?!"
The question echoed through her head, sharp and piercing, making her chest tighten painfully.
The confidence in her steps vanished.
Her movements slowed.
The tiny hairs on her arms stood on end—not because of anything supernatural, but because her body understood how small she was amid the giant trees towering like pillars of the world.
The sounds of the forest remained.
Loud, even.
Birds calling back and forth from different heights.
The hum of summer insects hidden within the undergrowth.
The rustle of wind sweeping through leaves hundreds of meters above her head, like distant waves that never ceased.
Yet that was exactly why her unease grew stronger.
The forest was not silent.
But she felt...
something was ahead.
Not something she could see.
Something she could feel.
Faint.
Disturbing.
Her heart tightened.
Her breathing became shallow.
Anindira swallowed, her body trembling slightly without her realizing it.
Her eyes swept across her surroundings, measuring every shadow, every beam of light slipping through the immense canopy above, thin spotlights revealing just how dense this forest truly was.
Her jaw tightened.
A fierce battle raged behind her gaze—survival instinct against the logic forcing her to remain rational.
She paced back and forth in short steps, restless, like a small animal that sensed danger but was forced to choose which direction made the most sense.
"I don't know what's out there..." she muttered quietly. "But I don't know what'll happen to me if I turn back, either..."
Ahead of her, faint but constant, came the sound of flowing water.
Not a roaring torrent—more like a medium-sized river cutting through an ancient forest.
A river?
Or just a small stream?
"If that's really a river, then there's a good chance people live nearby..." she thought, forcing her logic to stay upright.
"And even if nobody does, at least I can get water. I can survive by following it... They're definitely looking for me right now... Until help arrives, I have to survive..."
She closed her eyes and drew a long breath, allowing her heart to calm down a little—
even if only a little.
Logic pushed her forward.
Instinct pulled her back.