[center][h1]~ Chapter 5 ~[/h1]
[sub]Velvet Horizon[/sub][/center]

	The increase in plant life was no coincidence at all. Though the toxic air made it difficult for anything to thrive in the wild, ecosystems that ingrained themselves in the earth prior to the tear were not uprooted so easily. Like every other living thing, the great forests were resilient, and refused to leave their home, planted firmly in the soil that bore them, no matter how tainted or fiendish it became. That is how the forests stood to this day. But the natural topiary of nature's own creation was no longer lush and flooded with beauty. The thickness of greenery was replaced by a crimson array of leaves and jagged wood. Lillian looked upon the horizon with worry, arriving at the forest's edge as the moon hung highest in the sky. Midnight greeted them with a wall of danger and mystery that they were given no warning of. It was one of many forests that Maya shared through text and speech, but even so, it was unfamiliar through the corruption that tore it from what textbooks described. It was now nothing more than the [i]crimson woods[/i].

	Lillian yanked the cart to a stop less than a kilometer away from the forests edge, shaking everyone who slept in the back with an abrupt quake. Killion and Raltz neighed comfortably as the sudden jolt, and pulled the cart off its path. There were several decrepit trees scattered along the moist landscape, but they paled in comparison to the behemoth that stood in their way. Lillian nodded and stood from her perch. "Here's as good a place as any," she mumbled, turning into the cabin behind her to wake any who slept. But what she saw was far less depressing than what she expected. Instead of lethargic bodies neatly tucked into the hanging wooden boards meant for sleeping, she only saw Henry attempting to rest near the back corner of the cart. Lucas and Ezekial were seated to her left, using a small barrel to host a chess game, and Joshua was reading with his feet hanging off the back of their cart. "No concern for our stopping?" Lillian blurted. Joshua merely turned a page further into his novel and shook his head, Henry was fast asleep, and the two men playing chess were too absorbed in their game to acknowledge her inquiry. "Lucas!" she spat, grabbing the top of her brother's helmet from behind. "Why are you still wearing that thing?"

	"It helps me think," Lucas said calmly, moving his Queen to take one of Ezekials pawns. "And I like the way it feels. Why are we stopped?" Lillian sighed and stomped her way over to the wooden board next to Henry, and hopped onto it in a hurry. The boards were lined up on either side of the cart, with supplies stored below them, and soft hay lined along their length. They were meant for sleeping, but until now, nobody seemed all that tired. "I suppose that means we're not getting an answer.."