Fantasy Video Disbelief | Game's On | Platformer Mysteria | Idk what the title should be

[bubblefly]

T Tinytiger28

A young girl sat in her room playing a video game. She was perched on the end of her bed, knees crossed and eyes glued to the screen. Her fingers were moving frantically as her character jumped over obstacles, collected coins and found hidden paths. The level of focus she had was unbelievable, until she finished the level and activated a cut scene. She threw her arms up in victory, screaming with joy, "Woo! Finally!". She had been stuck on this single level for hours, it was the last one. And this was the last cut scene.

Her pure focus went back to the screen, watching her beloved characters interact with each other. A sudden ray of confusion hit her however. Her grandfather's favourite chair was the throne for the king, literally identical. Her eyebrows screwed themselves together as she tilted her head to the side. As the camera angle drifted to the left she saw more things that belonged to her family. "What?" She asks, getting up on two feet and inching her way closer to the console, "What's going on?". As she reached close enough, she saw her best friend and flinched back. She shook her head and began to rub her eyes, thinking she was dreaming. When her eyes reopened, all her friends were in the game, standing and staring towards her. So she rubbed them again and then pinched herself, but now her family were there as well. This was when she started to freak out. She shook were head erratically, repeating the same words over and over "No, no, no, no..". She couldn't believe it.

Then, with a single blink, her whole world changed before her.

Everything became pixellated, everything was made up by tiny visible squares. The trees in front of her were perfectly round and the ground was covered with perfectly luscious grass. The sky was a pale blue and the clouds stood still, hovering above her head as her eyes searched through the scenery. A small melody played in the background, cheerful notes sounded throughout the world. With everything around her and the soft melody played, she just laughed. She was confused, dazed, rattled. She didn't know what to do, she had no clue, so she just laughed and laughed.

 

[Tinytiger28]

Far out to the left from a copse of trees, a dog bounded through the flowery meadow. It was about half as tall as the human, with a large fluffy tail wagging in delight. He was a caramel-ish blonde color, just like any other golden retriever, except perhaps a little bit lighter. His mouth curled upward in what was an almost smile-like gesture, accented by the chocolate brown pools of his eyes.

Tongue lolling out of his mouth, he stopped directly in front of the new human that had just caught his interest. He tilted his head at her, his tail thumping against the ground to the beat of the music in the background, upsetting a few small blue flowers in the process. A drop of drool dripped from his mouth, falling to the ground and bursting into three tiny pixels when it hit the ground, and disappearing into the brightly colored grass.

He barked cheerfully, and small white text appeared over his head, along with a little circle symbol with an 'a' on it.

"Press @" It said, the button symbol blinking green and yellow.

 

[bubblefly]

The girl's laughter immediately stopped as she heard something coming her way. She saw a dog. But not any dog. A pixellated golden retriever. Her disbelief just kept growing. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. As the dog got closer, a bark sprung from his mouth and she smiled slightly, feeling comforted by a familiar sound. But the confusion dawned on her again as text appeared above the animal.

"Press @," She whispered to herself "What does that mean?" She turned her head and body 360 degrees to see if anything stranger than what she'd already experienced was around. And once she had turned the entire way, a button flashed in her face. It was changing from green to yellow, from green to yellow and so on. "This is one hell of a funky dream." She chuckled and reached her arm up, aiming to touch the flashing button. And she did.

 

[Tinytiger28]

The text disappeared in an instant, soon replaced by a flat black box coming to life in front of the dog. Small white text in a familiar pixelated font began to trail across the box.

"Hello human! I am Hound. Some humans call me Hau for short. What about you?"

A series of small white lines appeared below the text, each of them aligned with one another. Together, there were ten spaces, the first one flashing. There on second, disappearing the next. Even further below the lines, a little keyboard appeared, ready for a name to be entered.

The dog, Hau, blinked at the new human. They were always seemed to act a bit strange when they first entered, but this one seemed odder than usual. Some would wander around for a while without even glancing at him - which he found to be quite rude - and others would jump up and down over and over, slapping at the air and kicking things, and still others would just sit still for a very long period of time not doing anything, only to start moving after a few minutes had passed.

Oh well, probably nothing.

Right?

 

[bubblefly]

Shocked by the sudden change, she pulled her arm back, clenching her fist softly. She screwed up her facial features, watching as numerous things popped up in front of her face. As the keyboard popped up, she thought this was eerily similar to the beginning of a video game. She started to pace around the dog, trailing a circle into the grass under her feet. The keyboard followed her until she reached her starting point.
"Okay. You want my name." Her tone sounded serious, yet her actions made her seem amused. She reached her arm out for the second time, pressing keyboard keys spelling out her name; Olivia. Before hitting the enter key, she decided to change it. She grinned and began to type again, this time spelling out something different; Edito. It was a nickname given to her by her youngest sister when she couldn't quite say 'idiot' yet. She used it in every game she could name herself in. Once she was satisfied, she slapped the enter key. She watched the keyboard disappear and crossed her arms, waiting for the next event.

 

[Tinytiger28]

Hau tilted his head to the other side when Edita spoke. No new human had ever spoken to him before. In fact, the only humans he had ever heard speak was a few townspeople, and that was usually saying the same things as they always did when he met them again

The textbox blinked, turning back to a blank black box. Soon, more words began to appear.

"Edita? That sounds like a heroes name! In fact, now that I mention it... you kind of look like a hero, too. That's perfect! A hero is exactly what we need right now!"

Everything was perfect, right on script, just as it was supposed to be... but Hound still couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. He tried actually shaking himself, but that only sent some dirt into the air.

He barked again, and the text box reset.

"Did... Did you just speak to me?"

 

[bubblefly]

Edito's mind was set; this was definitely a dream, and a great dream at that. She's never had a dream based on a video game before and she was ever so excited, which was clear to read from her grin. As she read the text, her excitement only grew. The thought of being a hero sounded pretty good to her, so she stood up straighter, clenched her fists and grinned with anticipation.

Glancing down at the dog she saw specs of dirt fly off his fur. She was amazed at how detailed this 'dream' was.
"I am so ready for this-" Her words were cut off by a bark. She looked up at the now black text box, letters quickly being typed out to her. She repeated what it said, "Did you just speak to me?" Her eyes met the dogs and she shrugged, "I guess so, yeah." Her hand reached down to the dog, stroking his head once.

 

[Tinytiger28]

Hau licked her hand, giving another cheerful bark as he wagged his tail, his entire body wiggling with excitement.

"Oh my goodness gosh gracious, no one ever speaks to me! I've seen a lot of heroes, but you must be the bestest hero!"

He paused, a single paw lifted in the air. "Oh, that reminds me. An evil organization is taking over the kingdom! We need a hero to save us!" He gave Edita a watery look, ears lowering on his head. "Would you help save the kingdom?"

Two small buttons appeared. One the same shade of green as the previous A button had been, with the word "Yes" written on it, and the other bright red, saying "No"

 

[bubblefly]

Edito's face lite up, a smile extending from ear to ear as she listened and watched the fluffy dog in front of her. She chuckled to herself, still in disbelief of such an amazing 'dream'. She he asked her to help the kingdom, she felt bravery course through the veins. "Hell yes!" She shouted, practically punching the 'Yes' button. She watched the buttons disappear and waited for whatever came next.

Before this however, she looked around once more. Everything was still exactly the same, nothing had changed and any fur that flew off the dog wasn't on the ground anymore; like it has a timer. She was somewhat confused. "This is eerily similar to a real video game." She thought to herself. She quickly battered the confusion from her brain, justifying it as a very realistic-ish dream.

 

[Tinytiger28]

Hau hopped up and down, bouncing around Edito with a carefree smile on his face. He textbox continued typing along, just as it had been for the entire time.

"You are the bestest hero! Thank you, thank you, human! The Crimson Flame will never stand a chance against the bestest hero!"

He jumped, placing his paws on her stomach and licking her face cheerfully. His tail was a blur at this point, slapping his sides and rebounded back and forth quicker than you could say 'Holy heck, that's a cute doggo'.

Hau bounded away, deeper into the meadow, returning with a large red rubber ball. The music changed, the beat quickening and becoming slightly more peppy. Hau dropped the ball at Edita's feet, dropping into a playful bow.

Above in the baby blue sky, clouds began to form, spelling out the words "Press b to throw" in wispy letters. Unfortunately, there was no button around to press, but perhaps that wasn't exactly the answer.

 

[bubblefly]

As the dog jumped up, she stroked his sides, pulling her head back when his sloppy tongue met her face. Although it wasn't the nicest feeling in the world, Edito still laughed, playing along slightly with Hau. She watched his tail as it disappeared and practically became a flying line. She thought it was a bit strange, but then again she believed she was dreaming. Once Hau had jumped down, she watched him scamper off into some bushes and across the far meadow, running back with something red in his mouth. Edito was concerned at first, thinking the dog had hurt itself. So much so, she sprinted forward a little bit, before realising it was only a ball. She stopped in her tracks, sighing with relief and smiling as Hau dropped the ball in front of her.

Before she picked it up, the tune had changed into something more upbeat and playful. Edito assumed introductions are over now and it's time to learn how to actually play. As she looked around, still trying to find the source of the music, she saw the clouds move. They formed into a sentence, spelling out "Press B To Throw", but Edito couldn't see any buttons. Confused, Edito picked up the ball, investigating it within her hands and then pulling her arm back to throw it, getting ready to shoot it across the grassy land.

 

[Tinytiger28]

Hau waited expectantly, he eyes glued to the ball. When it went sailing through the air he chased after it, tail streaming out behind him.

The ball had landed on a grassy platform supported by a large mound of dirt. A few stray flowers stuck out from the top, waving back and forth in rhythm with the music. Hau leapt on top of it, grabbing the ball and glancing back at Edito, his tail wagging invitingly.

Above, the clouds once again reformed. "Press X to jump"

 

[bubblefly]

"Ohhhh, so there aren't buttons anymore.. I see." Edito thought, rubbing her hands together with excitement, getting ready for the next task. She watched as Hau ran happily, chasing after the ball she just threw far into the air. As the ball hit the ground, she couldn't see where it landed as Hau was quick enough to block her view, picking the ball up in his mouth, showcasing it back to her.

She could see movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking up, the clouds moved again. She read the clouds, understanding what to do. She put her arms by her side and jumped into the air, gasping as she lifted much higher than usual. Her eye level reached the height of the clouds. As she started to drop back to the ground, she expected to fall and land on her face. Flailing her arms and legs around, screaming as she fell from the height. Her feet suddenly perfectly hit the ground, her back straightened and head facing forward. "What the..." She looked around and at the ground, seeing her feet perfecting placed on the ground, ready to jump again.

 

[Tinytiger28]

Hau dropped the ball at Edito's feet, giving a happy little woof. His textbox appeared again, this time with the words "Here, you'll need this." A small brown object appeared, resembling a leather messenger bag. A quick tune played, low notes rising quickly, and then cutting out completely with a cheerful tone. The bag appeared on Edito's shoulder spontanously.

He hopped off the platform, darting towards what seemed what seemed to be a group of floating islands, all perfectly rectangular in shape and topped with a helping of grass the same color as the meadow behind it. The ground disappeared, dropping off into a deep pit that you couldn't see the bottom of.

Atop a couple of the platforms sat large golden coins, half as tall as Edito, each one bobbing up and down to the beat of the tune. Every once in a while, they rotated, causing them to gleam white under the sunlight.

 

[bubblefly]

Edito gasped as the bag appeared on her, feeling it with her hands, opening to see it was empty. As she looked up, Hau had already left, galloping in distant meadows, his face full of joy. Edito smiled. Seeing a playful dog in her 'dreams' was all she could ask for.
"Right. Okay. A proper platformer. I've got this." She told herself, readying herself up for some serious athletics. She made her messenger bag safe to move around it, securing it on herself. As she started to walk, nothing was really moving quick enough. So she began to run, getting closer to the numerous playforms floating in front of her.

She made her first real jump, perfectly landing onto the red brick line, collecting three large coins. As she ran into them, she got ready for bouncing back off of them, but she ran straight through them. Tiny golden fireworks went off to the side of her, signifying she collected the coin. She started to laugh, continuing to run, collecting as many as she could before falling down back onto the ground. She started to jump up and down, screaming with joy, expressing her enjoyment. "YESSS!" She screamed, enjoying every single moment she just had within a brief minute.

 

[Tinytiger28]

Hau howled along with her, dashing across the platforms with ease. Occasionally, he would pass through a coin, but the coin didn't disappear and no sparks or fireworks shot out.

In the sky, more writing appeared. "Collect coins to buy new gear and upgrades!" Beside it, a small black box blinked into existence, showing a coin symbol identical to the floating coins Edito had been collecting and a white, pixelated thirteen.

Hau weaved through the forest, already knowing what was next. He smelled it before he saw it, a misty sort of smell coupled with lavender. Soon, a wall of earth to tall to climb appeared, and before it floated a small violet wisp with glowing yellow eyes. As Hau neared it, a small blinking symbol appeared above the apparation. "Press A"

 

[bubblefly]

Edito pulled to a halt, eyeing the wall up and down. Pixelated dirt fell when she placed her hand on it, hitting the ground silently and disappeared after a few seconds. She looked up to see she couldn't possibly jump that high, even though her ability was clearly enhanced. As she was investigating the wall, she could hear Hau sniffing. She wasn't sure what he could smell, as she couldn't smell a thing, but her curiosity peeked, wanting to know what he was sensing.

She knelt down before continuing with the platform, facing Hau, "What is it boy?" She asked, placing her hand on his head, giving him a few soft strokes, before pulling it back, waiting for a text box to appear.

 

[Tinytiger28]

A textbox blinked open in front of Hau. "Hello Lana!" A few moments passed of silence before a small apparation appeared, and another textbox with a swirling white border covered Hau's. A small grey rectangle sat at the top corner with the word Lana written on it.

"Hello Hau! And... new human. Do you require my services?"

"Yes!" Hau's textbox responded, causing Lana's to disappear. He leaned toward Edito, and text continued to appear. "This is Lana. She's a ghost. Ghosts can teleport people, but they like to see them solve puzzles first. If we solve Lana's puzzle, she'll teleport us past the wall!"

"Very well then. I have a mouth, yet never eat. I have a bed, but never sleep. I have a head, but cannot think. I can run, but never walk. What am I?"

A small keyboard appeared with five horizontal lines above it, waiting to be filled with the answer.

 

[bubblefly]

Edito jumped back, falling on her backside when the apparition appeared. She became ever so scared, but thought to herself "It's just a dream. It's just a dream. It's just a dream.". She got back up onto her feet, using her hand to remove the dirt from her behind. She began listening, trying to think of the answer. "Five letters.. a mouth, doesn't eat.. a bed, never sleeps.. what the hell..? A head, but can't think?" She thought out loud, looking around to try to find some kind of clue. But there wasn't one, only pixelated trees, "Run, not walk.. I have no- OH! A river!" She clapped once, pointing towards the ghost, waiting to be teleported. "Oh yeah!" She started to laugh, reaching her arm out, typing in 'River' and pressing enter.

 

[Tinytiger28]

A small ding played, along with Lana's text box announcing, "Correct."

A purple-ish fog the same shade as Lana's wisp-like body spread around Edito and Hau, enveloping her in misty tendrils. There was a sort of swirling sensation, like just getting off the swings after spinning for a while. When the fog had dissolved into the air, the two stood on the other side of the wall next to Lana, almost like the same position they were in before but reversed.

"Goodbye, Hau!" Lana waved a flickering hand that seemed more like a ball of smoke than anything else.

"Goodbye!" Hau bounded forward, to another set of platforms similar to the ones Edito had just been jumping over. A small town could be seen on the other end of the parkour course.