Dawn Chorus (Proxies x Reader)

The forest is dead quiet. I couldn't muster the motivation to put any energy behind my steps, a meander more than a run, until the forest became quiet. Blue, leaf-filtered light has fully replaced the orange rumble of the fires. It moves around me in waves like an air pocket in an underwater cave.

I move at a jog, fast enough to feel like I'm moving, slow enough to watch and soften my steps. Even the thump of my heart and the rise and fall of my lungs are muffled. Am I far enough from first camp to not hear it, or is the air in these woods heavy and sound stifling? And even with sound muffled, should the forest sound this empty? A shiver runs up my spine. Unease runs along my nerves, signals along the wires to move, to leave the woods, find other people. A shudder passes between my shoulders and a smile crawls onto my face. Maybe this run will be different.

Blood is rushing through my ears. That internal hum is all I have in this forest. Hundreds of thousands of leaves, miles of forest interspersed with glens and thickets, and not a single nocturnal animal stirs, not a leaf twitches out of place. The knowledge of such a massive spans one step from frozen is oppressive.

It's an improper extrapolation. Just because my surroundings are still and sleeping, I know that means nothing to the rest of the forest. I know there are other runners out there sneaking or clamoring through the trees, some quiet as me and some making noise to draw out the creatures like splashing for sharks, and I hear none of that. Just around me is quiet, but it feels better to be small, for the unnatural behavior of the forest to be a trait of it rather than something specific to the space around me.

I have to pull myself from my mind. Focus on the roll of my ankles, the bend in my knees, rotations of my hips. Joints moving, muscles tensing and relaxing, pull and release. The ground beneath my feet is soft with leaves and packed lightly underneath. Dense with roots that add ripples and folds to the ground. The forest floor has open up a little. The trees are nearly giant and only spindly straggler twigs grow this low on their trunks. The underbrush is sparse, stubborn brambles and choking vines. They graze my skin with velvet. They graze my skin with thorns. I jog; I slow. I'm missing something.

I sweep my gaze across the trees and their shadows, the ocean-like moonlight. A flash of color on my periphery. I follow it with my eyes. Someone moving swift and silent, impressively so. Ten years and I can't run through a forest like that without making a sound. Its a stark contrast to the vibrant orange hoodie, a terrible choice for a run if you bare expecting to flee physically superior monsters. But if you aren't expecting to see anything more impressive than a bear, what harm can wearing something bright do? They are far enough that they come through in flickers between the trees, like a scene from a movie. We are shadow pups running against a blank background from a paper cut out figment. They're gone soon.

Barely there long enough for my body to cool in its stillness. A stickiness to my skin, the moments before sweat begins to bead, being stripped away by the coolness of the night air. My heart is back to baseline and my lungs aren't working hard to fill to make up for the increased consumption of my muscles. Leaves rustle. A distant gathering of crickets quietly chirps. I chew the inside of my lip. I've stilled miss something, and my legs are heavy again as I begin to move, a pace reminiscent to a crawl.

The forest is awake. The forest is empty. The air breathes again, and little noises find place amongst the blood moving in my ears, until that softer sound is fully replaced. I haven't gone far and the night is still early. I pause where the brambles are thick near a clearing edge. The fires crackle distantly, still beaconing in the night. Camilla leads a small group, dirt stained and wide eyed, leaf-littered in their hair and other their clothes. The first runners just getting back. They are out of breath. They are smiling. They are quiet though I see lips move rapidly.