• The smell of cold wet air filled the room. He woke in a cold sweat as he did every night. The dreams he had where of some kind of lost peace of mind that seemed he could never get back. It was about 4:30am on a Saturday morning. He had fond a small house in the forest just about a mile up from a small lake and river. Jahero had been traveling for about three years now, looking for his little brother who disappeared after a large battle with a demon. Jahero has been looking for him sense then.

    Edward A. Heamorea is his brothers name, he went around to all the small towns hoping someone would find him or would know where he would be.

    Token to his feet, picking up his roll out bed and weapons and walked out of the door. The sun broke Jahero's eye sight. Placing his arm over his eye's for a minute or two until the sun moved away. Out side the sounds of birds could be heard, the heavy breathing of his horse could be heard from behind the small rock house. He walked around the house to find his horse was an all black male horse. His eye a dark blue shade with the look of deep soul in them.

    "Good morning Shadow" Jahero said calmly as he placed the roll up bed and weapons on there places in Shadows saddle. Shadow moved back a little then forewords. Holding on to him, getting on to the saddle and grabbing the ruins and pulling up. ' Let move out Shadow, we have a long day ahead of us" Jahero said kicking Shadow's side softly. The horse moved to the right then out from the back of the house then forword east.

    They where going to the middle of the valley where they was a large market. Jahero plained on buying some more food and hoping to get a clue to where his brother may be. It would take them a few hours before they got there. They would have to go through a small wooded area, across the small blue valley, then across on of the large rivers in the area.

    The forest was a dark, but warm place. No matter how hard the sun tried only a little of it's razes could get inside the thick trees and bushes of the Dead forest. The name of the forest never made much scents to Jahero because the forest was always green even in the winter. The forest was more the forest of life, not the forest of death.

    It was named by a scientist by the name of Host. That's all that was really know about it. Getting of the horse he grabbed the ruins and walked through the forest. Going slow was the best way to get thought this forest. When Jahero was 12 years old he had lived in the woods for a while. The police where looking for him so he needed a place to hide and they wouldn't come in here. When he first seen the forest well the inside of it he thought it went on for ever but soon came to find that it was a very small forest only made to look longer because the trees made it that way. With in the 21/2 years he lived there he learned many things. How to fish, hunt, live on his own, make something of his time.

    He also learned that the trees could tell you everything that was going to happen in the forest. The trees would talk to each other, it's going to rain. The snow is coming, we have fallen. When the trees talked the forest fell silent. you couldn't hear your self think, only the trees.

    Jahero walked shadow thought the hardest parts of the bush, the horse calmly followed him. The sounds of birds and monkey filled the air slowly. A few snakes lay out in the little bit of sun razes that where being let in by the tree tops.

    Now in the middle of the forest Jahero stop to make some lunch. Out of shadow's saddle, which he had taken off, he pulled out a few rice balls, a tea pot, a few peaces of starter wood and some deer meat from the night before last. The small stream was cold and clean, Jahero dipped the tea pot into the water and filled in up. Within the next 1/2 hour he had a pit build and fire going. He had meat cooking in a pan that he go off of the saddle and tea made.

    Shadow grunted at the smell of the deer meat, bending down and eating some of the tall tree grass that grew in large numbers in this area. The black horse ate with a slow motion as if time had no meaning to him at all. Jahero ate his lunch and clean up. Putting out the fire with a kick of dirt. Jahero re-saddled Shadow and walked on, moving a bit faster now because it was middle noon and you didn't want to be hear in the dark unless you have to be and Jahero didn't have to be.

    By the end of the afternoon Jahero and Shadow had made in out of the forest with out much trouble. The sun now low in the sky, Jahero climb onto Shadow and taped his side with a good 'bump' and Shadow was off, running as if he where a bullet fired from a gun. Jahero looked to the side and it was like watching a slide show, it was lovely watching the trees and animals pass by as the sun settled into a pool of purple, orange, yellow, and pink.

    Shadow ran across the valley like a cool breezes on a fall morning, landing them at the edge of the large river. Here Shadow stopped and kicked his front legs into the air. Jahero calmed him with a good pat on the neck and a shhh.

    The river was 200ft wide and a good 50 to 60 ft deep. It would seem man made but an earthquake made this one about 15 years back. It started to fill with water only 7 years after the earthquake. "I know a boat walks the river around here somewhere" Jahero said out loud to no one but the river and Shadow. "Let find the boat Shadow, if not it's going to be a hell of a swim" Jahero said with a happy tone in his voice in to Shadows eyes. Shadow only looked back into his eyes then started to pull Jahero down the rivers edge.