The Open Forest

The Open Forest

The Bird on a Grapevine enters a heart
Not the heart of a man or beast, but a forest
With trees that grow taller the more they sway with the stormy winds of The Overthinker
Their roots however are stuck in the deepest vein of this leafy heart, Consciousness
The trees are beautiful peculiar things, unfazed by whatever state The Open Forest is in, as they grow taller and taller, and sink deeper and deeper into Consciousness
They are invaders that have never let go of The Open Forest since... The Awakening
But that is for another time as the Bird on a Grapevine goes searching for what it comes here for
It must however stay cautious as the thorny Vines of Uncertainty and the Rocks of Guilt fall and swish and slash through
It is not yet their season yet they keep slashing and falling
There is no source for this predicament, and if there is The Open Forest has not found it
But this doesn't faze the Bird on a Grapevine as it dodges and ducks through
Unfazed by the bare hostility shown by this forest
As it flies, it begins to feel... lethargic. The urge to find what it is looking for seems so... trivial. It feels like it should stop soaring... and then, it sees a Depression
It is alarmed. Depressions were never known to grow at such large sizes
This one is as big as the Open Forest itself... but how does it fit in there?
But the Bird on a Grapevine understands, as Depression is a creature that comes with many forms. Some fleeting, but lurk underneath the surface. Some as big and as heavy as the Behemoth, weighing on the Consciousness
And seeping through with its Abyss-like tenacity and stamina
This one is in the form of ghost-like monster with whips and spikes for limbs, slashing through a drilling into the Consciousness as it slowly trickles into The Center
But the Bird on a Grapevine is unfazed and narrowly avoids a whip and soars past
The Bird on a Grapevine is considering its mission and how important this should've been in the first place
And as it begins to slow down, and turn around but then it sees...
The Center
The Center of the Consciousness of the Open Forest
It sees the roots of Trees affected by Overthinking, the Vines of Uncertainty intertwining and the Rocks of Useless Guilt larger than his mind can fathom crashing through. And... the Depression, it's deep dark presence looming over the most precious thing... The Pulse
These tribulations are all equally different
But they work together in nigh seamless coordination to get to the Pulse.
Protected by countless things
For the roots, the rocks, the vines and the creature are not the only things trying to get to the Pulse.
The path The Bird on a Grapevine took was the quickest, but the most dangerous
However, the amount of things protecting The Pulse are also countless
And as The Pulse sees the Bird on a Grapevine, it smiles in anticipation as it believes it will also help The Pulse and protect or at least salvage what is left of The Center
But The Bird on a Grapevine ignores it
Ah! Jackpot. It sees what it is looking for
Trust. The hardest thing to find and the easiest thing to lose.
It swoops down and... with its own Claws of Trust streaks a bloody line from bottom to top of the fragile Trust.
The Pulse is shocked and a little hurt, but so is everyone else. They can feel the pain of being laid bare
But Trust smiles in genuine love, and spills its blood all over the battlefield
The Bird smiles back and licks up every last drop of Trust it finds
And flies away
The world is silent
Everything is shocked
And with a renewed vigor the enemies scream in ecstasy with more power than anything before
The Pulse and companions were bitchslapped
Not only by the enemies but with the loss of Trust
They weaken greatly
Because The Pulse has lost Trust and without Trust, The Pulse cannot rely on anyone anymore
This sows discord among the The Pulse and his companions
They are hit even harder than before
But they argue amongst each other so much that they didn't even realize it
Many die on that battlefield
The Pulse weakens
And it falls unconscious
Slumped on the ground. Defeated.
The Bird on a Grapevine is happily flying back to its own abode.
And as it soars with its body full of Trust's blood
It begins to physically swell
For in Trust's Blood
Secrets were sealed
And now those seals have been broken
The Bird on a Grapevine bursts in Euphoria
And Trust's blood along with the Sealed Secrets are poured out
On the world and its people
There is nothing protecting The Pulse now
And the world turns against it
Within that unconscious state it realizes what is happening
And still while fighting
It trudges through its Forest
And lays itself bare to the world
And like an uninterested audience
The World stares back in indifference
The only thing it wanted, was the Sealed Secrets
Now The Pulse is alone
And so the strong badump of itself
Begins to slow down
And weaken
And The Pulse dies
Depression is now the Lord of the Open Forest
The trees dig deeper and grow higher
The Rocks fall more
The thorny Vines slash
But Depression numbs the Open Forest
And so it also dies and withers
And so there is nothing left
There is no Hope, it has died, there is no Trust, it was split open, there is no love, it cannot survive without trust

So The Open Forest is now open. There is no longer a forest, and The Depression reigns.