I may not have to introduce myself again, shall I?
I came here with a different story to share here. A story happened long before Varnapur's curse existed. A man wandered something.. disturbing.
There was this man, his name was Ashwa Veer. He was a warrior belonging to the Suryalok kingdom. He himself volunteered to send a message to a far kingdom called Vairagya kingdom, to make some sort of pact. He was already half way there.
But here, we are not going to the Vairagya kingdom nor does he.
In his couple of days of travel, Ashwa Veer enjoyed the views of beautiful mountains, rivers, women and the stays at unknown villages.
A local guided to follow the river to reach the kingdom the earliest. Without knowing a little and with his self confidence, he didn't know the river got separated leading to unknown.
By dusk, he realised he was lost as he already entered a forest.
His stomach started to make noises with hunger. When he checked on himself, he forgot to take the supplies with him. Now he only had himself to believe, to hunt. But he couldn't find any deer on land nor birds above him. Only some little voices bug made.
He searched for hours, knife in hand, eyes scanning for anything that moved like a hunter yet the forest remained still, too still to be as confusing.
And then he saw them fruits, round and golden-red, in a form of custard apple, in between the trees only can be seen from the moon light. He hesitated for only a moment.
He tasted the fruits, it tasted like rain and salt. Sweet, but not sugar-sweet. Strange, but not unpleasant. He was satisfied with them until the hunger quieted. He later then rested against a tree and went to deep sleep.
The moon was clouded.
He suddenly heard some sound and woke up.
It was a cry.
Faint. But you can understand with the cry that someone is wounded. Ashwa Veer couldn't understand whose might be. It can't be human because he never once did saw one after his arrival. It can't be also of an animal with the same reasoning. But he could hear someone's cry.
He sat up slowly, heart pounding, making his stance.
The crying came again. Soft and broken.
The moon came and he followed the sound. Deeper into the woods.
That's when he saw it. He was twisted by what he saw.
A tree, taller than the other rest. It was thinner, but as human-shaped. Limbs bent like arms, back slightly arched, head tilted, its mouth opened as it is screaming. He could hear the cry.
He took a step back. He turned his head to saw another.
And another.
The forest was full of them. Dozens. Hundreds. Frozen in the shapes of people. Mouths open. Fingers positioned towards the sky. Their eyes were closed, some opened.
The crying continued, all around now. Echoing from every sides.
They were crying. The trees.
Ashwa Veer dropped to his knees, clutching his ears. The sound grew sharper, pressing into his skull like a blade of sorrow.
"Stop," he whispered. "Please stop..."
I don't think the trees could hear Ashwa pleading. But it continued higher until Ashwa Veer could feel anything. So Ashwa Veer didn't reached Vairagya kingdom nor the message of the pact.
Months later, a war was waged on Suryalok kingdom. Many lives were lost. The kingdom had lost.
I may have go deep on what happened in the forest, why the humans were changed into trees. Are they still alive? Is crying the method showing that they still exist?
Well, that would be for a different story at different time.