Chapter 15: Wonder & Regret
Sasuke jerked both of us backward in reflex. He dragged me to stand behind him, his posture defensive. "Stay back!"
The tree did not make any move except snapping a part of its lengthened branch and dropped it in front of Sasuke. The boy eyed it warily.
I tugged the boy's shirt. "I think it wants us to take it."
"Obviously," he mocked. "But what if it's poisonous, or causing rash, or worse – instant death?!"
"We won't know unless we take a look."
"How about you stop being stubborn, and we go home instead?" Sasuke hissed through gritted teeth.
"Why? Are you scared? It's just a twig, you know," I taunted.
If there was one thing that could make Sasuke do anything, it was his inferiority complex.
"You know what? Fine!" Sasuke lashed out. The boy kicked the branch in my direction. "Do whatever you want! I'm done with you! You can find your own way home – that is if the tree doesn't eat you first!"
"Be careful nii-san!" I bellowed with a big wave, prompting an infuriated shriek to escape the boy's throat. I couldn't suppress my laughter at the sight.
My expression sobered once the boy disappeared behind the tree lines, turning to its usual dull one again. I closed my eyes and waited until the boy was no longer within my sensing range before I turned to face the tree again. I could act more freely now that the boy was no longer here.
I squatted down and scrutinized the branch. It leaked deep crimson sap that looked alarmingly like human blood. Considering its diet, it would not be too far-fetched to presume it as one. But no, the substance didn't smell like blood – it had no smell, and it was too mucilaginous to be one – it looked more like red-currant jelly.
I suspected it to have a similar property with kino – a natural gum with similar color that was produced by various plants and trees, particularly Eucalyptus, in reaction to mechanical damage – what with the way it crystallized around the branch's edges to seal its 'wound'. If it were indeed kino, then the sap should not be dangerous, since it was frequently used in traditional medicine.
However, appearance could be deceiving. For all I know, the sap – and the branch – was just as toxic as that of a manchineel tree, and this was just one of the tree's ploys to eat me.
So why did it throw the branch? Was it some sort of friendly gesture to lure me? Was it, perhaps, trying to reverse psychology me? Because if it did, then the tree just opened up a whole new can of possibility of plants' consciousness.
I heaved a sigh and raked my fingers through my hair. I leaned my chin on my good fist and stared at the giant tree again, this time without my sharingan on.
"Just what are you?" I wondered out loud.
"Are you a plant, honest to God, a plant with a plant's instinct and intelligence, or perhaps a plant with an advanced mind? Do you have a conscience? Can you self-reflect? Do you choose what you eat, or do you simply eat anyone that passed by?"
"I won't judge you for your diet, you know. I know that food often becomes scarce and that humans can be quite a pain – especially with all of those illegal logging – and I know you're angry, but you cannot just eat anyone. People eventually will notice the disappearances," My eyes flickered to the corpse hanging by the tree. "Well maybe not him. But if things continue like this, sooner or later somebody will notice the pattern, and when that happens, your safety will be compromised."
"These people are terrifying – definitely not the kind of people that you want to mess with. They can sprout fire from their mouths, they can move real fast, they can destroy landscape within seconds, heck they can even revive the deaths. They can kill you with a snap of their fingers, but just like me, you only want to live, don't you? I don't think you ever ask to be born as a vampire tree, just like I never ask to be born again – not here, at least."
If the tree agreed with me, it did not give any indication of it. But still, it felt quite nice to have a companion that I could share my thoughts with without keeping the baby façade up.
My eyes unwillingly strayed into the hanging man's unmoving body, showing neither disdain nor pity.
"You know, when you're dead, you see nothing, hear nothing. You smell nothing, taste nothing, and feel absolutely nothing. The life you've built for decades, all the hardship that you've gone through; all of your dreams, your visions; everything that makes you, you, are gone that very second your brain is dead. The next thing you know you are already six feet under, decomposing, and in your way on becoming the next plant nutrients, so I never understand how someone can take life like it means nothing."
I knew how hypocritical I had sounded, especially since I was the main suspect of the man's murder and I could not even show a shred of remorse towards what I had supposedly done.
"I don't take kindly to being assaulted, sir. I deserve to live just as much as you. Just because your life is miserable doesn't mean that you have the right to make others' too. Everyone suffers, one way or another. So if it turns out that I somehow have any hand in your demise, I apologize, but you should know that you brought it upon yourself."
I looked down into the ground and deeply bowed my head as a sign of condolence.
"Wherever you are right now, I sincerely hope that you're in a happy place, that you're reunited with your loved ones. Everything that has happened is now in the past, and I..." I felt the words died in my mouth.
"I…." I forgive you.
The mere thought of saying them out loud felt uncomfortable. It felt pretentious – fake. I never said something that I did not mean before, and I did not want to start now.
Releasing a breath, I simply clamped my mouth shut and finished my rant with a cross sign.
"I'm sorry. May you rest in peace."
I closed my eyes and inhaled the fresh air, now feeling much better – so much lighter – after my heart-to-heart with a tree and a corpse. If that was not a testament of how pathetic my social life was – and my growing insanity – I did not know what was.
Oh well, get on with the business.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone