Stardate: 80727:1321
Title: The Wandering
Author: Ensign Bladen
Time: After "Simple Plans"
Scene: Andarus V


The walk was fairly therapeutic, as it happened. The forest seemed to have decided, based perhaps on the fact that Josh seemed to have stopped chopping various parts of it down and hacking them into smaller pieces, that it actually wasn't that bad to have him in the midst of it, and so rewarded him with a few of the nicer aspects one might expect from a walk through the forest. Birds twittered on their branches, insects chirped in perfect harmony, and here and there the streaming sunlight broke through the canopy, casting shafts of golden light gently down onto the ground below, where flowers of hundreds of various colours took advantage of the opportunity to photosynthesise and sprouted glorious hues and scents into the air. A gentle breeze seemed to be perfectly in tune with the young Ensign's body, for every time the sunlight started to bear down heavily enough to cause him discomfort, it stepped up to wash the excess heat away, leaving the young man revelling in the wonderland that he found himself in.

And all too soon, there were no more trees. The forest ended abruptly, and the breeze swept up significantly as the shade disappeared, where Josh stepped out into what looked like a wasteland. Never usually particularly fond of nature, the Ensign paused in horror as he took in his new surroundings with distaste. What had been lush terrain a few paces before was barren soil, broken up here and there by stumps of felled trees, which had then been apparently burnt to prevent the usual greenery from springing up where the remains of great trees had stood. There was no life here, instead the rotted carcass of a bird or small rodent populated the ground, thankfully sparsely, which also appeared to have been ignited at some point. Josh picked his way between them, hoping the fire had come to them after their deaths, and finally looked to the horizon, which was broken by the silhouette of a castle.

*That way* he thought, noting with yet more distaste that the wasteland seemed to continue right up to the immense fort's outer walls, and set off moving a little more carefully towards the structure. All the enjoyment, the subtle bliss he'd been revelling in a moment before, melted away in an instant, leaving him well and truly irritated. Had he been of sound mind, he would have remarked on that, since he would usually be one of the last people to give even the most remote semblance of a damn about anything natural, or even simply non-mechanical. Yet he did, almost to the point of calling it 'his' forest. He had vague memories of felling trees himself, working in symphony with the wood's own delicate melody, the song of the forest which, somehow, he was in tune with. And with every step he took towards that castle, the sensation seemed to cement itself further, he felt less inclined to question it, and the memories became more real, more vivid, and more certainly his.

It was a long walk in the baking sun, even with the breeze, which was by now almost constant, keeping the worst of the heat off, and so as he passed what looked like a ruined cottage, yet another thing which had succumbed to the flames. He paused, diverted towards it, and began to hunt for a drink.


===================
Ensign Josh Bladen
Engineering Officer
USS Horizon
NCC-74200
===================