Fantasy False World (MAIN)

[MJ ._.]

As the thick fog gulped down light and colors of the environment, Roya felt chill on her back and shivered in anxiety. In need of the most real thing possible to rely on, she reached her hand out slightly and grabbed on someone's arm for support, not knowing whose arm it was. "Too late... Alice has already jumped into the rabbit hole." She muttered while her eyes wandered in the fog looking for things she didn't know but something or anything.
"Dread... This place is ruled by dread..."
A man's voice startled her. She was sure no one was there a moment ago but now she could see an awful figure like an old ragged doll dropped under a dried tree. From her point of view that man's world was another part of that stupid illusion; not worthy for attention. But as Ned had told them, the caster of illusion wanted them to find clues. Considering that Ned had been the wise guy since the game started, she had no idea but to do as he had instructed.
"What is so... dreadful?" She asked the mysterious breaded man without moving an inch from her spot.
Irish_Dragon_76 11254man

 

[11254man]

"What's so dreadful?!" Lemming interjected, having been skeptical of the strange man from the start. "Not only am I in a literal death trap, but I am stuck in it with two crazies and a bl-" He stopped himself, taking a deep breath. "There's a lot wrong, and this isn't a clue, just a bit of teasing. What happens to us if we, well... if we're here for a while."
Zee was staring at Lemming now, fear in his eyes. "I-I think we just need to calm down, and figure out where to go next." He seemed a bit more reserved, especially compared to his bubbly attitude towards finding the man who'd run off and, by extension, the dying one before them.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Ned tried to find the strength to question the man, but Roya had beat him to it.

"Run from it... Hide... It finds what it wants... Dread finds... Always... Always..." The man said, half conscious at this point.

His eyes began to close and his body looked as though it was beginning to go limp.

"I don't hear his heartbeat anymore... I believe he has died..." Ned said gravely.

Ned noticed Roya had grasped his arm, but ignored it. It seemed like the touch was the only thing that felt real, so he didn't mind it for once.

"Dread... What did he mean?" Ned questioned, loud enough for everyone to hear.

The silence was deafening, so sound seemed better than the unforgiving silence. And Ned thought they should work together in such a grim situation.

"The way he worded it... Something isn't right, it doesn't sound right..." He continued, thinking deeply on the man's words.

"Any ideas?" Ned spoke out, looking at Roya, Lemming, and Zee.

MJ ._. 11254man

 

[MJ ._.]

As Ned decided to speak to his companions, Roya turned her face toward him and noticed her grip was till clenching on his arm. "Sorry..." She said as pulling her hand back immediately. "I don't get it... this man... he is part of this tree... this forest... these are all illusions so I thought he is only another illusion." She said with shivering voice, trying to avoid looking at the dead body by the dry tree. "Dread... it can be a name or simply an emotion. Maybe he meant those who lose to their fear will lose the game and end up... like him." She spoke out her idea. While trying to reason, Roya had more concentration and confidence which reduced her anxiety. Her voice had became calmer and color was returning to her face.

 

[11254man]

"Well, we're in a fake world created by some powerful and probably pretty awful person, and if we stay here we die. I'm on board with the dread approach being about that," Lemming said, almost out of breath by the end of it. "Guy was probably trapped here too, for a good while seeing as... well... he's dead."
Zee was shaking, he folded his arms against his chest, he felt cold. He was scared, truly scared. He couldn't make out the edges of the forest, the placing of things in this world. Even his music didn't help him figure out where everything was. "C-can we get out of here? It's not... I mean, this forest." He instinctively shivered, trying and failing to look for a way out of the forest.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Ned stood there for a moment, thinking carefully on what his next move should be. There was no sound in the forest, not even a bird chirping or a slight breeze. There was nothing.

"No... We need to keep going... This place holds some sort of importance, it could even be the way out." Ned said.

Ned looked around the area for any sign of a path or anything that could give a hint on where to go next.

"This way, come on." Ned said, walking forward into the foggy woods.

11254man MJ ._.

 

[MJ ._.]

"Yeah... exactly I mean that!" Roya said as saw Lemming scared and Zee panicked. "Keep feeling like that and you are out." She told them sarcastically then Ned asked him to follow him to the foggy forest. "More fog? That's fine; if the whole world is an illusion then I don't care where to go..." She said and followed him to the woods. After witnessing how vast the made up world was, she regretted not honing her special skill. Maybe she could perform something even more effective but it seemed to be too late.
Even if I'm trapped in a big lie, my mind is still mine. I can try and see what my skill can do when I get a chance.
She thought.
11254man Irish_Dragon_76

 

[11254man]

"Wait up!" Zee yelled, in a good bit of panic by now. He stuffed his hand in his pocket, the music emanating from his person growing in volume. He began to run after the duo, catching himself upon stumbling into a piece of wood. He was truly blind for the first time in a long time, and he couldn't have liked it less.
Lemming glanced over at Zee, who was running towards the others at break-neck pace. He knew immediately the situation. He muttered something to the effect of "Shit" under his breath, before taking off after Zee.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

"Come on, think Ned, think!" Ned thought to himself, trying to find a solid course.

Everything looked abstract, as if there were no details to take it. Everything about the forest scared Ned beyond comprehension. He was dead in the water...

"Dread, dread, dread..." Ned mumbled, hoping there was a clue in the word.

Suddenly, the sound of a large stick snapping echoed through the woods. Ned stopped almost instantly, looking like a deer that just heard a gunshot. He was frozen, a look of pure fear in his face.

"It's..." He could barely finish the sentence, but abandoned it for a final whisper of a demand, which sounded more like a plead. "Run...!"

It all came together. Suddenly, everything made sense.

'Deard Street' the street that led them to the park. Simply Dread backwards.

"A TRAPeze act!?" Emphasis was put into the word 'Trap' during a random conversation Ned listened in on. Didn't seem important...

'Surwood trail' which is neighbored by 'Vivestream trail'. SurVive...

"We must survive.. But for how long...?" Ned grumbled as he sprinted off, away from the direction of the snapped branch. There was not another sound to be heard.

Ned frantically went through every thought he had taken in on his way to the park.

"Closing time- no...!" He grumbled, still running as he looked behind himself to see if the others were following...

 

[MJ ._.]

Roya too, had heard the snapping sound but it didn't startle her as much as scared Ned, or so she thought as the guy yelled at them to run while dashing in opposite direction. Not willing to be left alone in foggy woods, she chased after him. "What's are you running from? For heavens sake... let us in too!" She called after him, still a few steps away from the young man.

 

[11254man]

Zee had seen the snapping of the branch, and his face went white. Whiter than everyone else's to be sure, though he was already looking quite pale. Lemming raced up to him, grabbing his arm and leading him with the rest of the pack. At this point, Zee's music had been turned to a moderate degree, but he still needed Lemming to move him from the way of the forest's trees and foliage.
"Anyone see a clearing or... or something?!" Lemming yelled forward, towards the other two in the party.
(I'm sorry I thought I posted this 2 days ago but apparently I didn't)

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Seeing that they were following close behind, Ned felt slightly reassured. Being alone in this situation would only make everything more hellish.

"Dread; it's something that lives here. We've been thrown into a trap!" Ned yelled towards the others so they'd hear while still running.

He continued on thinking, for a moment on what his next move should be. That is, before Lemming called out.

"Clearing... Clearing..." Ned repeatedly under his breath. "Of course! Lemming, you're a genius!" Ned exclaimed, a hopeful tone in his voice now.

On his was to the park, Ned Noticed a sign that said 'Exit Clearing'. It looked like a construction sign but he hadn't thought much of it at the time.

"Look for a small clearing or anything of the sort! It may be our only way out!" Ned added a few moments after commenting Lemming.

11254man MJ ._.

 

[MJ ._.]

"Lives?!" Roya asked, still puzzled about how real or unreal the images they saw were. Seemingly they needed to get out of the park so she thought if she could remember how large it was and which directions they had took after entering it. On the other hand, if it was a game played only in their minds then her former experiences could go wrong. Suddenly she stopped running and closed her eyes. She didn't want to see, hear or smell what the prankster wanted to show her; she needed to see with her eye of mind which had never been put in use. She tried to focus and then images appeared in her mind. First it was faint sight of a room, then their memory of entrance to the park and then she had to push her way forward. It wasn't easy to keep the track but she finally received several images of her team taking different paths and each time they faded. But in one of them they ran to a single oak tree then followed smell and sound of a small pool. "The pool... there are no trees around the pool. This way..." She called the others then looked around to find the single oak. Noticing it was easier than she had thought so she ran toward it then stopped to listen and sniff the air. She could feel the odor of pooled water but couldn't tell the direction it came from. "Ned, can you tell which direction we should take? You must be able to smell it too." She asked.

 

[11254man]

Zee pressed his hand against the side of the speaker, a soft click, barely audible through the moderately loud music, made the music slightly quieter for the rest in the party. Zee began to run a bit faster, Lemming then having a comparatively difficult time keeping pace.
"Keep it at a run, kid. Not a sprint!"
Zee did not seem to lose any speed at this comment. Not for lack of understanding, but rather due to a lack of focus on anything other than what lurked behind them.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Hearing what Roya said, Ned slowed for a moment, sensing the scent of the air. It was strong, and strong enough for Ned to pinpoint a location.

"It's strongest this way!" Ned exclaimed, running towards the scent of the water Roya spoke of.

He hadn't quite pieced it all together yet, but he was sure Roya was on to something.

The scent became stronger with every stride he took, but his quick pace was quickly halted by a dark figure.

It was covered by a cloak, so dark it was like a void. A doorway to nothingness. Where the figures head should have been, a deer skull sat. There was no emotion in the figure; it was tall, at least 7 feet. It was strangely wide too, as if there were too men under the cloak.

"I am the embodiment of dread..." The creature spoke out, echoing through the forest.

It's voice was like a whisper. Cold and monotonic. It did not move as it spoke. It stood completely still for several moments before its head slowly turned towards Ned in an artificial way. As though it had to force it's own head to turn. Barely a second afterwards, Dread's hand, which was just a skeletal arm, was around Ned's throat, pulling him off the ground.

"Everything comes due... You will lose your friends, just as you have before..." Dread whispered as a black, blood-like substance began to leak from it's eyeholes.

"You... Will... Feel... Dread..." Dread added before releasing Ned and disappearing into the foggy woods.

Ned fell to the ground, coughing as he tried to gain control of his breathing.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

MJ ._. 11254man

(Sorry again... I was almost positive that sent!! Hope I didn't make you all wait too long...)

 

[MJ ._.]

Chasing after the sensitive guy again, Roya hoped they were going to find a clue by the pool as he had told them to find a clearing for a reason. She fell behind slowly and the fog blocked her view, not allowing her to see how the grim reaper had appeared out of thin air. She only managed to reach Ned to find him hanging by neck from a demonic figure's grip. The girl froze on spot, even her shirk dried in her throat for a moment then screamed his name desperately.
"N... NEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!"
That blackness left him to drop down before disappearing to where it had come from.
"NED!"
Roya cried out again as ran to the fallen body, sitting beside him she spoke to him while checking his condition.
"Are you safe? What was that? Can you breath well? You haven't broken any bone... have you?"

 

[11254man]

Zee and Lemming followed pretty shortly after, Lemming almost immediately falling to the ground, trying to catch his breath. Zee was much more physically able, but he was still rather terrified. "It's gone... where did it go?"
Lemming just kind of gave a bewildered groan, still breathing maybe a bit too heavily for the altogether minimal amount of distance they'd ran. "Wh-what thing?" Lemming eked out, his gaze now up at the rest of the party.
Zee's attention was caught by the state of Ned. "You ok?" he asked, crouching down to the level of Roya, though still rather far away in comparison.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Ned winced once Roya's scream attacked his sensitive ears. He began to slowly gain control of his breathing and stop the coughing, but he was far from okay.

"It's alright... I'll be okay..." Ned answered to Roya, who was at his side. "Thank you..." He added, appreciatively.

A moment later Zee spoke out. Ned was snapped back into the bitter reality of their situation.

"Yes, I'll be alright... We should continue moving..." Ned announced, regaining his composure.

Ned slowly got back up from the ground, dusting himself off and taking a deep breath. He looked to the direction they had been running towards and began to calmly walk.

"Here it is. How'd you know of this anyway?" Ned said, looking into the pull of water.

The water was like a mirror, reflecting the murky sky perfectly. There was no way to know how deep it was or what laid bellow it.

MJ ._. 11254man

 

[MJ ._.]

Beside Ned, Roya looked down at the still water and shook her head in response. "I'm not sure..." She whispered. "You said we need to find a clearing... so I was only thinking of that... and I tried to focus... more deeply than usual. Then this vision appeared in my mind that if we come this way we can find a pool." She explained then looked up at him. "You didn't explain why we need to be in clearing. Can you tell us now?" She asked.

 

[11254man]

"Yeah, I don't get it," Lemming wheezed, still not having entirely caught his breath. "I mean... the way out might be, it might be on a tree or somethin'." Lemming finally pushed himself to a full standing position, having finally recovered the majority of his breath.

Zee chimed in, still a bit rattled. "Are we... are we in a clearing? I don't see it."

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Hearing all their questions, Ned wasn't all too sure how to answer them. He was still stuck on the deer skull guy at the moment; the thought of his empty eye sockets and expressionless voice made him shiver a bit.

"I... I don't know... I thought a clearing would just be a safer place to be. This pond must hold some sort of importance though..." Ned spoke, turning his attention to the small pond.

"maybe..." He mumbled aloud as he walked towards the water.

Looking into it, he noticed something odd right away. The pond was like a mirror, reflecting his image instead of showing the ground beneath the shallow pool.

"We haven't much more of a choice I suppose..." Ned whispered to himself as he leaped into the water, feet first.

The next thing he knew, he was in the park again, soaking wet and in a much larger pond.

"I... Can't believe that worked...!" Ned gasped as he resurfaced.

 

[MJ ._.]

"Wait!" Roya called after Ned as he jumped into the pool. She ran to the edge and knelt down staring into the water but the guy had disappeared. Oddly, she could see a fine reflection of herself on water's surface despite of repels he must have made by disturbing the surface. "Why... did he do that so suddenly... without giving it a second thought... it's stupid..." She asked anxiously then looked up at the other two boys. "What should we do now... he is not coming up... What if... what if something bad has happened to him down there?"

 

[11254man]

"Then I'll be glad it didn't happen to me" Lemming quickly retorted, glancing around the forest. "However," he admitted, "He's been on a string of luck that I'd call pretty close to intervention, and I'd rather not be 'that guy that got left behind." He walked over to the pool, turning to face Roya. "If you decide not to go, take care of the kid."
"Who, me?!" Zee asked, a slight tinge of offense behind the question.
But by that time, Lemming had already put his hand to his forehead, as if saluting, and fallen back into the portal. If they were his last moments, he spent them being as facetious as the rest.

Zee ran up to a few meters before the pool, obviously very confused. "Lemming?" He asked weakly, glancing around the clearing. "Where... W-" He frantically felt around his pocket for his I-pod, turning the volume up to full, and continuing to survey the area. "wh-w..." He was in a complete panic at this point.

(Sorry, a mix of school and work lent me very little time to get around to this.)

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

After a moment, Ned realized he had left behind everyone else. They either thought he was dead or couldn't quite decide what it was they should do. Ned thought of going back down but quickly found that he was wading in chest-deep water. The ground was relatively solid beneath his feet.

"Come on guys... Figure it out...!" Ned mumbled in a pleading tone.

Suddenly, Lemming emerged from the water, a few feet from Ned.

"Lemming! Where are the others?" Ned exclaimed the moment his eyes caught a glimpse of Lemming's face.

( 11254man You're fine, I know how you feel. ALSO! I now have an actual computer to type with, so my posts will be of much more high quality.)
MJ ._.