Dated 10/26 - Patches of rain, mid-afternoon.
Halloween RE: Sven & Sahalie, someone has been collecting bones and left them in a neat pile.
Amidst his duties to the Ridge that Sven had taken upon himself in his yearning to more quickly become an adult, it had taken nearly a week for him to traverse the tunnels once more in search for his friend. What would she think of him, having taken so long to reunite with her? His journey had been filled with anticipative dread, but this did not delay him further. Whether he was to be met with joy or disdain, he had learned from Piety that not knowing was the worst of all options, and in this scenario, such a sentiment went both ways. Not only did he not want to allow fear of rejection to keep him from forging this friendship, but how would it be fair to Sahalie, to leave her wondering why he never came back as he said he would?
This time, he avoided the foggy hollow, despite how much he was drawn to the ghostly place, and he was rewarded for his discipline. Within the Fen he had found her, and the boy had barely been able to contain his relief when she met him with mirth rather than disappointment. It did not take long for the duo to move past the happy reunion and settle upon exploration for the main course of their play date. As happy as he was to be accepted back into the black smudge's life, Sven cared not how far their romping took him away from the tunnels, nor did he think to count the minutes it would take him to return back home. In fact, he was detached from the true movement of time, for it did not seem to take as long to reach the Red Fern Forest as it truly had. It still seemed as though their fun had just started an hour or two before.
Nothing of depth was discussed between the two. Sven did not bring up the many changes that had occurred within his life since last they met, nor did he hear of anything from Sahalie's end. Instead, they had been transfixed on what was around them, from one small discovery to the next. Everything to the pale boy was some kind of new, but nothing they stumbled across was like what awaited them within the red sea. Unknowing of what lay ahead, the boy instead was thoroughly enthralled with the peculiar fauna of this forest. It seemed as though they were swimming (through an ocean of blood, though he dared not utter such morbid things to Sahalia), and if they ducked their heads below the ferns, it was as though they disappeared into something very secret.
The idea quickly came to him to instigate a game of tag, something his mother used to play with him when he was very young. He was hesitant to initiate it however, wondering if perhaps that was only for babies as @Skoll had never tried to instigate such a thing before. Yet as the minutes ticked by, he could no longer resist the urge, and a single opal paw slithered out to bat against his friend's leg, the word "tag!" the only thing left of him as he darted off into the cover of crimson ferns.