❝Oh, it’s fine. It’s fine. Children forget things as soon as they see something good, don’t they?❞ he lets the child slide from his chest down to his leg. Even once his bottom hits the ground, the toddler refuses to let go off Wei Wuxian’s leg. ❝Didn’t you say you wanted to eat berries for a long time? Someone is giving them to you now, and now you don’t want it?❞ he teases, shaking his leg, but for such a small child, Wen Yuan possessed an incredibly strong grip and refuses to relent. However, after a while, he really did lift his foot and stood, but one hand is still clutching to Wei Wuxian’s pants as if he’s afraid that he would vanish as soon he lets go.
Seeing this occurrence, Wei Wuxian takes a step forward towards Ambrose, so that Wen Yuan could take a step further too without releasing his pants. ❝Hahahahaha, I’m sorry, Ambrose. He is always so shy when he meets strangers. Hey, Wen Yuan, can’t you be braver? This is humiliating me.❞ He pats the toddler’s head. Feeling Wei Wuxian’s hand on his head, Wen Yuan couldn’t help but feels a little braver, moving towards the bush of berries, he begins picking them one by one. As Wei Wuxian watches him, he cocks an eyebrow in question, as if something is missing in the atmosphere. A moment later, he says, ❝A-Yuan, what are you supposed to say when someone gives you something?❞
Hearing this, Wen Yuan’s embarrassment becomes inherently visible on his face, realizing he’s forgotten something. He stands up, turning around to face the strange man, saying as he bows. ‘Thank you…..’
Wei Wuxian isn’t deliberately being picky, but he is the sort of person who values morals, thus, he had always taught the kid to say ‘Thank you’, and ‘Sorry’ whenever appropriate. Once Wen Yuan appears to be more comfortable on his own, squatting in the soil as he picked his berries, Wei Wuxian turns towards Ambrose, ❝I apologize. He’s still young, actually, he’s no more than four. His father died in a war, you see—-what’s left of his family isn’t much. But, he’s still too young to realize what is life and death. Perhaps it’s quite fortunate for him. I know he will forget all of this once he grows older. All these memories will fade like it never happened.❞
❝Oh–! And I haven’t thanked you, but, I’m grateful you let us into the forest.❞ he couldn’t tell what was so strange about it, but as someone who also links to the mystical arts, he knew when something or someone was radiating with unusual energy. In this forest, it seemed like every plant, tree, and leaves did so. ❝I know there’s not many people here. I haven’t met a soul since I entered. It must have a restriction spell or some kind, right?❞
He chuckles at Wei Wuxian’s easy dismissal, but despite his seemingly carefree nature the child appears rather attached to him. Not that he could blame the boy for being frightened. Children might be quick to forget or easily distracted, but they tended to be more in-tune to the spiritual and otherworldly aspects of everything around them than adults (at least those who have dabbled in the supernatural). There was no doubt in his mind that the boy was capable of sensing something off about the forest and himself; his caution, perhaps even fear, was very much justified in Ambrose’s mind. It would serve him well if he ended up stumbling down a path of the divine and unholy. Regardless, it’s terribly endearing to see the way the child clings to his caretaker and mildly humorous, if only because it reminds him of how the animals who reside in the forest tend to cling to him whenever there’s a stranger traveling through their land.
“It is quite all right, I do not mind.”
With a bit of coaxing, Wen Yuan finally works up the courage to begin plucking at the brightly colored berries before them. He’d chosen ones that weren’t too sweet or bitter - a more mild flavor in hopes they would be better suited for a child’s tastebuds. Admittedly, though, it had been some time since anyone, let alone a toddler, had wandered into the forest (with the exception of Wei Wuxian and the hunters who had slipped past the forest’s raging branches in an attempt to take his life). An amused smile slips across his lips as Wei Wuxian begins pestering the boy. He hardly needed to thank him, but Wei Wuxian truly looked like a father scolding his child as he tried to convince him. He couldn’t help but think they meshed well together.
“It is my pleasure. I hope you enjoy them.”
He tries to ease the boy’s painfully apparent embarrassment, and, after a moment, Wen Yuan seems to settle in - squatting down in front of the brush to pluck the berries from its tiny branches. His attention doesn’t remain on the bumbling toddler for long before Wei Wuxian begins to speak. His dark eyes lifting to glance over at the other man. War is such a common thing amongst men, though he would be the last one to claim that Gods and demons were free from the sin of violence and war. The news that the boy’s father had died in a war didn’t come as a surprise - after all, very little of this world wasn’t somehow connected to this forest. It was a shame, regardless, of course. Whether or not he agreed with the other’s claim that the boy’s ability to forget his family as he grew older was a mystery (there’s not much of a difference between life and death in the eyes of a man trapped between them).
“You need not apologize, my friend. It is a cruel thing that he lost them so young, but he still has you. Though, perhaps, the loss of those memories is not as much of a blessing as one may believe it to be.”
Much as he tries to swallow it, a light laugh still manages to exhale past his lips at the other’s words. He’s hardly the one who granted them permission to enter, he’s simply preventing his moody protecter from tangling them up in its spiny, thorny arms. The forest had a will and life of its own and though he could control it (as he could any plant or animal), that didn’t mean it always obeyed him - if the forest truly didn’t want them in it, it would have devoured them ages ago (perhaps that’s a detail he should leave out). And his guess about a spell as fair, but just as incorrect as his misplaced gratitude. He wasn’t one to lie or shelter the forest’s true nature (or his own) from those who enter.
“I am merely protecting you from it so there is no need to thank me. As for your question, I am afraid there is no spell on this forest. It is very much alive in its own right. Truth be told, this forest is not the beautiful and calm place you must imagine it to be. It is a bridge that connects the world of the living to the world of the dead. If it does not wish for someone to enter, they will be be able to wander within, even if they are capable of seeing it. And I am afraid that those who attempt to force their way in or who earn its scorn are met by a rather gruesome fate.”
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