The Dark Forest's entrance was peaceful, and most creatures kept away from the paved road that stretched out for Lukas and the others.
It was actually a little odd that the forest still existed though, with underlying threats with it.
"If it were some of us, we would have cleared the forest." Lukas muttered as he eyed the tall trees that towered over them. The leaves were all clustered together and created the pitch black darkness that named the area, it wasn't bad but it was just something.
"What? The resources here are valuable, even if it's a little dangerous for travelers every now and then." Anthony replied.
"Well, yes, but…" Lukas didn't know. He hadn't actually seen many forests in his life unless they had been the ones featured in the documentaries or the ones mandated in the streets in his human city, and the same kinda applied for Lux and Nyx. "What do you think, Matthew?"
"Uh, it's important, Lukas." The young man glanced at him respectfully. "If it weren't for the forest, there'd be no need for hunters or soon to be hunters and that's—"
"Obviously you'd want to conserve areas like these one, my friend." Philip interjected and motioned to the area around them. "It's not for the resources or the money, but obviously how this forest has been around probably even before the city of Nyx was built, and you want to destroy it just like that? Do you have no respect for nature and it's history? I bet this forest has actually shrunk over the ages, and what we're seeing is only a fragment of what it used to be."
"Okay, you have a point. I was just a little more concerned with our safety, I guess." Lukas said then hummed. "But does that mean you have information on how long this forest existed and what it's like before everything?"
Philip blinked, but then cleared his throat. "You want info?"
"Oh gods, you've just had to ask." Anthony groaned lightly and bumped his fist against Lukas' shoulder. "He's gonna talk our ears off."
"Hey, you're free to tune me out, Landel." Philip rolled his eyes, but then looked back eagerly at Lukas. "I enjoy reading books during my spare time, and my goal is to be able to travel to various historic sites. For example, did you know that in Sanguis, there's this amazing castle over there that's been there more than a thousand years back? It's called the Regisnald. And then over at Umbra, there's canyons and the place where the lycans and us made our treaty? Beautiful totem, I think. What's it called, the Pacisluna. Some people—"
Lukas and Matthew couldn't help but listen to Philip, but then saw him hesitate and lower his voice.
"Well, some get married over there. You know who."
Lukas nodded slowly, but then tried to compare the lycans to the people he encountered in the Veiled Forest.
The beastkins were able to transform into animals as well, so what was the difference?
Then again, Lukas was getting distracted because he actually wanted to ask about the Dark Forest and not the other places. It wasn't often that you'd find yourself a willing Vampire who wanted to share information.
When it came to Theodore, the assassin tended to look at you as if all of these were basic information that you needed to have—and playing the 'orphan' who didn't study card was something Lukas didn't enjoy using.
One day, he might end up getting caught that he knew next to nothing about Vampire history, and so that was why Lukas was mostly keeping his mouth shut.
"Anyhow, ah—where was I? Traveling, yeah. That's one of my goals. It's not good to be cooped up in one place all of your life, I'd love to have more experiences and see the world with my eyes—and not just because I want to trade or do business stuff." Philip made a face over towards Anthony.
Lukas now couldn't imagine who he wanted to smack more, Philip or Anthony. Both of them were all good things, but when Lukas sneaked a glance in Matthew's direction, he seemed a little uneasy and unsure.
Completely out of the conversation.
"Honestly, I think I've spent more than three years being holed inside my place and I don't regret it at all." Lukas declared and scratched the back of his head. "If I had a choice, I wouldn't even be here in Nyx at the moment, but due to certain reasons, I had to come."
"That's—we wouldn't have met if you didn't come here." Anthony's lips tugged into a frown. "Don't you think that's a pity?
"I'm not sure how much holed up you are—but don't you think that's a little isolating? Your friends came over at least, right?" Philip asked.
"…Why did you come here?" Matthew asked.
And Lukas made it a point to answer him first. Honestly, he didn't want to share details to people who were practically strangers… and yet there was something about telling strangers which made it the more easier to talk about compared to friends.
"The reason I came here, or at least went here at first was because I needed to go all the way to the Blood Wilderness. My girlfriend? She's extremely sick, and one of my friends said that the way to cure her is through obtaining one of the plants there." Lukas said.
"Oh." Anthony and Philip didn't quite know what to say.
"So yeah, if I had a choice, I'd just like to be able to stay at home in one place with my loved ones. I don't necessarily have to go anywhere special or exotic, I don't need much money in the first place… just enough to make us all happy. That's all I can really ask for, really." Lukas said and then cleared his throat.
Somehow, he couldn't help but feel awkward and exposed.
It was a feeling that he didn't enjoy at all.
"My… my sister is at the hospital and needed treatment too." Matthew admitted. "I just want her to be able to come back home too."
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