Alex wrapped his scarf closer around his neck and walked after the large knight before him, the rattling of his armour echoing through the twilight forest, unlike his own softly rustling chain mail. There was something hypnotizing about this sight: the blue and white sparkles of the night sky against the pure, unbroken snow on the tops of the trees while the trunks were masked in shadows. A wisp of warm air danced out of his mouth with his pleased sigh. Hope glistened on the tops of the trees and in his heart, and the promise of skills as pure and perfect as the white blanket around him filled him with anticipation. Here he could find solace; here he could find respect. A smile marking his face, he scurried after the knight in front of him.

--

The leaves of the trees around a lone teenager softly fluttered down to the forest floor as if the woods were crying. Even the sunlight seemed to trickle miserably through the trees in a weary shade of orange. The sight made Alex’s heart heavy, and he couldn’t fight his own tears falling down his face. The leaves painted the forest in glorious colours. Leaves of fire, leaves of blood. The land would never be cleansed of these colours, at least not for him. There was nothing left for him here. Trying to dry his eyes, Alex turned and began walking away, the forest weeping silently in a gentle breeze around him.

--

Bitter sunlight beat down on the already brown grass around Alex and reflected blindingly off his battered white armour. A sneer marked his unshaven face while he leaned his head against the tree behind him. Beneath the plate mail his clothes were drenched in sweat and his light hair lay plastered against his head and neck. The brightness and heat of the glaring sunlight bore into his ravaged soul, as if to help punish him for what he had done. All he wished for was his mind to clear like the endless sky above him, but the ruthless globe of sunlight glared mockingly inside him still, even after all the hours he had lied here.

--

A smell of rebirth was on the breeze. Birds chirruped and flowers blossomed around Alex. Too many summers and falls he had seen since that fateful age now years past. Now spring had burst into every colour he could see, all in the brightest shades he could imagine. There was too much life here, as there was in him. The pure, unbroken stillness of winter was long gone, and all he could do was long for another summer to escape all this life, all this liveliness he didn’t share. But soon he would be reborn along with all the plants and animals around him. Soon he would see this spring as he saw that winter. Soon he would appreciate this life again. Gathering his strength, he began moving through the forest, back the way he had once come.