“Remember when the world was… Normal…?” I asked my companions as I stared at the horizon.
“Well, that depends on what you mean by normal,” one of them chuckled as it emphasized its last word.
“Well… Before any of this,” I replied.
“Yeah... I wonder how many of your kind are out there,” it said, looking at the pale moonlight.
“Yeah… I wonder…” I said as I look back through my, “given,” memories.
*Years ago*
“MOVE MOVE MOVE!” The soldier to my right said.
Panic, fear, and safety; those were the words which rang through my small teenage head as I ran through the rubbles and ashes.
“QUICK GET TO THE BUNKER!” Another soldier shouted from behind.
I wonder how I always get involved in things bigger than me, I always seem to be dragged into them like a puppet on its strings.
“MAKE A SINGLE FILE PEOPLE!” A soldier holding a megaphone shouted, trying to control the chaos.
I kept running along with the crowd of people, I was separated from my family just moments ago, the only good thing that can possibly happen to me is to be reunited with my family. "Where's my family...?
I soon reached a large crowd of people standing in front of a large structure with an equally large steel door.
I was still trying to make sense of the events happening around me, one minute ago I was just lazing about on my bed and the next… Well… All of this… Chaos. My father only told the family that we’re going to somewhere safe. “Safe from what?” I asked. But he never answered, now I’m getting pushed and squeezed at the same time between people.
The people around me were crying, screaming or too scared to even make a noise.
I still don’t understand, why? Why am I here? I’m just a kid with nothing but a few change and a phone in my pocket hoping that I’ll be fine.
Through the loud screaming, I called for my family hoping for a response, but none came but more shouting. The crowd around me dragged my body into the building like a helpless child in a raging river.
“Where’s my family?” I asked myself again as I was dragged into the darkness they call, “safety.”
The large entrance which led underground now stood behind me as the lights from the outside were being blocked by a large steel gate. I turned and watched as the door closed leaving other people to desperately reach for where I’m standing.
“I want to go home with my family…”
For the first time in my life, I felt truly alone even though I was surrounded by people facing the same problem as I am. I don’t know if my family is here with me, but what I know is that I cannot stop believing in them.
I was led through the large and dark hallway lit up with bright neon lights. It was musty, the smell of sweat and fear filled the tunnel.
“Alright, all of you! Today this will be where you’ll be staying until this is over! No if’s no but’s or what’s! More information will be given out soon,” An announcer said over the speaker.
The crowd now moved down towards a large platform with yellow markings and lines on the floor.
“The world out there is now unsafe to be in!” The announcer spoke once more as the platform began to descend down deeper into the bunker.
I kept walking along with the flow of people until I was split off into different single file lines.
The other line consisted of people of different ages from elderly to an infant being held close by their mothers. “Is this all a dream? It feels… Too real. Where’s ma? Pa? Little bro? I want to go back to them,” I thought to myself, still wishing for them to be here with me. I am terrified of what might happen next.
I was led into a changing room where I was told to change into a white uniform of some sorts and leave behind my old clothing in a tray. This included the money I held and the only form of contact I had with me.
The man supervising the change rooms told me that I must leave everything behind.
Arguing with him was pointless as he only repeated the same exact line. Growing more impatient with my arguing.
The uniform consisted of a white long sleeve shirt with a square badge with a scatter of black pixels on the left chest, long pants with black lines running through each sleeve, white socks and a simple pair of white shoes.
After changing into my new outfit, I was again led into another large room. This time, people were lined up in front of a large stage.
People were lined up like fishes in a tuna can. The only space available was the space between me and other people was only the room for me to breath.
The lights in the room began to dim and soon became dark, a spotlight appeared on a tall stage, luring our attention onto the stage. Standing there, was an elderly man with a white lab coat and a gold striped blue tie, neatly tucked under his coat.
“Today all of you will now live here until further notice, I know you have questions, but those will be answered soon. The world outside is now nothing more than a war zone, as you all know, with the increasing cost of many products and resources are caused by the increased level of their scarcity.” The elderly man announced.
An eruption of murmurs and whispers arrived after the statement.
“Seven days ago, the world’s superpowers have declared war on each other. We received messages and multiple warnings telling us that we must retreat to the recently built self-sustaining bunkers underground, to safety." The man spoke before he switched the paper he was reading off from and clearing his throat, "I know many of you have been separated from family members due to the chaos which happened outside. Have no fear, we will notify you of your relocation sooner or later. But for now, you shall all live and work here to maintain the bunker,” the man took a deep breath before continuing.
I stood there, listening as closely as I can as the old man explained that we will be guided to our rooms for the first night and will be given more information on the situation soon.
We were soon led to separate rooms for the night by guards.
The room wasn’t small, but neither it is big. The walls were painted white; The room held simple things, a single size bed, a table with a chair and a cupboard.
I laid down on the bed, taking my shoes off.
My mind was empty and fatigued. What happened today, happened too fast. I was only playing my games before a loud continuous siren echoed through the neighbourhood.
“I hope my family’s alright...”
A loud bang woke me from my sleep, the loud bang was then followed by a series of footsteps and muffled shouts through the door. Still half awake and groggy as I slowly shoved my feet into my shoes before walking to the door to listen to the ruckus outside.
*BANG!!
”NO… STAY AWA-HHIIich...
Suddenly, a cold chill ran up my spine as I heard another loud bang and a possible murder. I leaned my ears against my door in an attempt to make sense of the events happening outside my room, “what’s happening?”
Without any form of warning, the door to my room opened letting gravity take my body as I stumbled and fall into a pair of black-gloved hands which caught and dragged me outside.
I only had a split second glance up to see a man with a black visor helmet and riot gear. Acting on pure instincts, I panicked and struggled against the hands only to have myself forcefully pushed and spun around into a solid choke hold, now my instincts are telling me to cease my struggling and let whoever is killing me spin the wheel of fate.
As I was being led through multiple hallways, I noticed that I wasn’t the only victim. Multiple people were either still struggling against their own perpetrator, obeying them, or walking along with them with a hand on their shoulders in case of an escape attempt.
Before I knew it, I was dragged into a large room filled with glass chambers and other machinery organized into neat lines.
My body was dragged around like a stuffed doll by the arms that hold my fate. I was dragged deeper into a room before stopping near an open glass pod with two scientists fiddling with the equipment within the glass chamber.
The chamber has a cylindrical structure, the top and bottom ends of the glass cylinder was capped with bulky hardware with unknown purposes to me. Inside the glass chamber, stood a luxurious chair bolted to the bottom of the pod, while a set of translucent flexible tubes hung from the ceiling of the pod.
The two scientist then noticed me and simply stepped aside, letting the arms to drag me into the pod.
I was shaking with fear as the man led me up and into the pod, he first let me down softly on the chair before I made an attempt to escape by slipping past him. This did not go along as planned however as a heavy fist slammed into my cheek, leaving me dazed and disoriented as he grabbed my collar and slammed my body onto the chair.
“You know, we had a syringe ready if he tried to escape,” the scientist on the left spoke.
“Plus, we were going to make him sleep not you,” the other spoke waiting for the man to walk out of the pod and walking away, leaving me with the two scientists.
Both of them stepped into the pod and strapped my torso down to the chair. The scientist on my left reaching up and grabbing the set of tubes while the other injected me with the cold liquid in the syringe. Whatever it was, I can feel the intended effects of the liquid working as my body stopped responding to my command and simply fell limp.
My vision began to blur as my hearing decide to make everything an echo while I felt the scientist shove the multiple tubes into my nose and mouth. Completing their work in by strapping a black mask onto my face. The tubes held my face up as my body laid on the chair, unmoving. I panicked once more as not only my ability to move was simply ripped away from me but I was violated with the uncomfortable sensation of the tubes restricting my ability to breath.
“Now now, everything’s going to alright,” the scientist who injected me spoke as he pressed a button on a remote, this caused a hum to resonate from the machinery sitting beneath me and above the metal ceiling. I was also soon relieved of my ability to breath returned.
“We’ll see you on the other side…” Both of them turned and left the pod as the glass gate slowly shut itself close leaving me inside and unmoving.
The noises from the outside were effectively muffled through the glass. Through my fogged vision, I can roughly see colours and shapes of other people being put into their own respective chamber before being left in there. ”Wha... What's is happening?! Why are we being put in here? I thought they put us here to live, not to imprison us. Wha-” My thoughts were cut short when I feel a cold and wet sensation at the tip of my toes, it was water, and it is rising fast.
Within five seconds the water rose and filled the entire pod, submerging my body in the liquid like a human pickle jar.
As I breathe uncomfortably through the tube I can feel the edges of my vision darken, and my mind slowly sinking to sleep.
“Scanning…
Scan complete, hello subject #EBF-21-8-14. Do not worry, we will take good care of you…” A synthetic voice spoke as I shut my heavy eyes...
Author's Note
So uh... How did I do?
Sorry about the grammar and the rushed ending.
On one note, no, I don't think that if fossil fuels were to run out a war would erupt, by that point I believe a new form of fuel has been found long before fossil fuel were to run out. All will be revealed soon, hopefully, if I get that far in writing this story.
Edit: thanks to sevenofeleven for pointing out the mistakes of the story.
I changed some things in the story, but it will not affect the plot of the story. It was simple grammatical changes, nothing big.
*beep beep beep*
"Ugh..."
*beep beep beep*
"Fine, I'm up, just shut up already!"
I grumbled awake as my alarm on my phone continued to beep.
I hastily tapped the "OK" button then got up and out of my bed. The blanket slid off me as my soles touched the cold ceramic floor, "This feels...
Strange...
Huh... Must be Monday morning."
I ignored the strange sensation and walked towards my bathroom. A high pitched squeak echoed through the small bathroom as I turned the tap, the water flowed out of the spout smoothly before the water began to seemingly slow down "What the...?"
Flabbergasted at the strange phenomenon, in curiosity I reached for the slowly flowing water and swiped the flow; sending droplets of varying sizes into the air. The droplets flew unaffected by gravity, "Wha... Am I still dreaming?"
*bzzzt*
"Huh?"
The environment around me seemed to freeze and blur out.
A large red sign appeared in the air, “Error, connection to the main computer lost.”
The world faded to darkness, before the vast field of the dark sprouted hundreds of red signs. The red signs rapidly to appeared, one after another before one final red sign appeared only inches away from my face, "Error, Connection to ship lost, initiating overdrive mode,”
A pause…
“Error.”
There was another pause before another sign re-appeared, “Rebooting…”
“Rebooting failed,” Suddenly the field of red signs reduced to nothing but a black void.
A blue sign appeared suddenly, “all remaining power diverted to life support.”
“Initiating cryosleep in…
3…
2…
1…”
I felt a sudden strong and powerful chill shoot up my body before the world fade to nothingness.
I woke up to a strange sensation of weightlessness, nausea and mild confusion, I couldn't tell which way is up or down. My body felt unnaturally cold and tired.
I forced open my eyes against the cold only achieving a squint. The sight that greeted my squinted eyes is probably one of the most beautiful views of my life. A field of blue glowed softly under a thin layer of white cotton. The fine white line that separated the blue, to the vast numbers of constellations made up of small bright lights in a sea of black. In the corner of my left eye, I can see a bright yellow orb shining brightly, enveloping the ground, thousands of miles beneath in light; And a small white beautiful marble watching over the world beneath itself.
A strong overwhelming feeling of awe and wonder buzzed through the core of my being as I continue to gaze through my squinted eyes. It then it hit me, "I'm in space..." A mix of excitement and awe welled up inside. I'm on top of the world; Time to cross off something that has been on my bucket list since childhood, this is much better than looking through digital screens.
A small sigh escaped me as I continue to take in the amazing view that was gifted to me the moment I awoke from my dream of confusion. My weightless body orbited around the planet, over the dancing curtains of auroras, over the deep blue ocean, over the arid plains of the desert, over the lush green forests, and over the white tipped mountain tops.
"... I... I literally have... No... Words..." My eyes began to close, the tiny squint I struggled to hold became a closed curtain that left me in the dark as fatigue lulled my mind to slumber.
I woke up once more to a less pleasant sight and sensation, I can hear liquid around my form vibrate with intense energy as heat stung my skin. My eyes snapped open to the pain, my body still couldn't move, I was as helpless as a newborn infant. The vibration shook the eyes inside its sockets creating a blur of images.
"Abnormal heat levels detected, injecting coolant..." An emotionless voice of a woman echoed through the liquid jar. The stinging pain from the heat became more bearable as a wave of cold washed over my being.
I can roughly see bright red feathers licking past the glass that shielded me from the vacuum of space. The blurry sight of red feathers slowly melted into a deep orange. Small bright sparks began to streak across the glass from multiple angles.
The not so smooth ride began to take a tumble, literally. The pod flipped and rolled as gravity pulled me to what I can guess is the planet I saw before I fell into slumber. It felt like as if the glass pod became a cocktail shaker. I could feel bile rise up my throat only for it to stop and choke me before rushing back down to my stomach.
*BOOOOM!*
The loud boom of the explosion made my ear ring as the flames licking the outer surface of the glass pod dissipated and vanish into the air as the liquid containing my body became even colder. I can catch glimpses of the land as I tumbled violently down to my final place of resting.
The pod's constant flipping and rolling became faster as I hear muffled vibrations of the glass against the rushing air. Up to this point, I'm just surprised I'm still alive, and not dead from motion sickness.
The pod flipped around once more giving me a split-second, extreme close-up view of my doom before the pod's fall came to a sudden and fatal stop for me. The moment the pod touched the soil beneath, I felt nothing but another small sigh escaped me before my entire body was set ablaze with pain. My insides felt like a drill has gouged my stomach and blended it into a thick paste, my limbs burned with intense pain as if it was twisted the multiple times, and my head felt as though it was pounded by a sledgehammer.
My thoughts were empty as I take in what is presumably the last thing I'll ever see. A glimpse of dirt pressed tightly against the glass. The chaos of signals sent to my head threw me and my consciousness into the darkness once again.
I awoke with a headache. Still breathing... Thankfully, "now tell me something here, how in the seven gates of hell did I survive a fall from space?" I thought tiredly as I weakly attempt at moving my arm, "nothing..." I thought achieving nothing.
Tired of being unable to move, I attempt to move my body with all my effort only to feel a large jolt of burning pain from literally everywhere. The sudden and unexpected shock forced me into a state of panic. I clenched my eyes tightly as my muscles locked up in its position. Slowly, I crack open my eyes as the pain began to settle, letting my body relax and fall. The first thing I noticed as I tried to focus through a blinding headache is that I am no longer submerged in the strange blue liquid, the glass chamber that held my body was shattered and the blue liquid is slowly leaking through the cracks.
Noticing the awkward and uncomfortable angle of my body, I realized that I was facing down with a good view of the hardened soil pressed against the other side of the cracked glass. I also noticed that I was being restricted from planting my face on the glass due to some harnesses around my torso attached to the chair. I looked down to see each hand, clamped down under a thick band of metal. I tried to struggle against it only to feel another jolt of pain travel up my arm.
"R-reco❚▚▛▜ry mo-o-ode on..." A familiar and emotionless female voice stuttered.
A small mechanical arm with a cylinder connected with a tiny needle attached to the end of it revealed itself from underneath each armrest. The opposite end of the cylinder was connected to a clear tube. A hiss echoed through the pod as the tube began to fill up with gray metallic fluid.
"I have a very bad feeling about this..." I groaned.
The needle primed itself as a ring flicked itself up and extended out towards my hand. I could feel the ring against my skin as four very small sharp looking clips clicked and extended out from the ring. The clips then suddenly pierced my skin letting a small trickle of blood to run down my forearm.
"Oh no... It's going to happe-GOW!! Yep, it did..." Both needles on each side, thrust into my forearm and began to pump the gray fluid into my bloodstream. I can immediately feel its effect, the pounding headache slowly subsided and soon disappeared, the aching in my body became non-existent.
My arms stung as the needle continued to pump the gray liquid into my blood streams, "Should I even be awake for this?" I thought as the needle suddenly pulled out of my arm leaving me with a strange annoying pain deep within my arms.
"It is rec-c-co▝▜▞nded that subject re▚ains in the pod until f▜▝▟ther notice." A flat-toned voice noted.
"Wait how long am I going to stay here? Please tell me it's not going to be long, I am sick of being stuck in this damn pod."
The following morning was unpleasant, the position of the pod forced me to sleep in a very awkward angle. Sleeping with my front facing down while tilted in an angle wasn't the most comfortable way of resting, of course, this caused me to stay up hours after the sun down.
A couple of things I learned during my forced stay; one, the tubes that are still lodged in my throat are very uncomfortable; two, the two small tubes that are shoved up my nose pumps air and oxygen into my lungs; three, at random times a small splash of water would travel through the pipe in my mouth, I don't know what it is but it's probably keeping me alive.
Also, I noticed after the events with a needle, that I am in a forest of some sorts. A soft glow from the sun filtered between and through each tree. The trees seem a bit small for a forest, I don't know much about trees but I never once saw a picture of a forest with trees this small.
My body felt light and refreshed when I awoke.
"Subject r▘▙▚ery complete...
Un▜▜ ▀own planet detected...
Scanning...
De▙▛▜▞d signs of oxygen, n▙▚▛en and un▙ ▚▛wn pathogens in the surrounding air...
Gathering...
Processing...
V▙▛▚c▜▚▟▞e complete...
Injecting..."
The moment the word, "injecting," were processed in my mind I knew what was coming,"Oh no..."
The needle revealed itself from underneath the armrest once more. A large mechanical arm folded out and descended from above the pod with a clamp holding a small cartridge in it. The cylinder attached to the base of the needle flipped open and a large mechanical arm then inserted the cartridge into the cylinder securing itself. The cylinder then closed its flap and primed itself for another injection.
Once again a ring-like attachment flicked up and extended out making contact with my skin, the four clips of the ring pierced the same spot re-opening the minuscule wound. After the cartridge inside was emptied into my blood streams, the needle simply yanked itself out of my arm and retracted back under the armrest.
*Clink*
The clamps holding down my arms finally released itself after a long night. “Gah…” I groaned as my body flopped onto cracked glass, the webs of cracks now simply a mess of sharp lines and corners. The blue liquid wasn’t there to cushion my fall, it has leaked through the cracks and into the dirt underneath it.
I slowly picked myself up from the glass and looked for a way out. “I don’t think I’m strong enough to break through the glass,” I thought to myself as I looked for an emergency exit of some kind.
”There has to be some kind of hatch somewhere… Is it… This one?” I asked myself internally as I spotted a small rectangular hatch with a small shiny handle. Positioning myself onto the seat, I pushed myself up and opened the hatch revealing a red button.
“Uh… Fuck it,” with slight hesitation, I pressed my finger against the button while shutting my eyes tightly to wait for something to happen. There was nothing but silence after I pushed the button, I peeked through one eye and looked around, nothing changed.
No door opened, no explosions, nothing.
Luck has decided that there was no other way out of the pod but through the glass.
I slowly dropped to the cracked glass and braced myself, ”This is gonna leave a mark,” With all the strength I have, I rested my elbow and threw it forward. The glass shattered around my elbow letting it pass through the thick glass. With a relieved sigh I pulled my elbow back into the pod.
My clothing is now slightly torn, my elbow is covered in scratches and it's also bleeding. I tried to widen the hole I made by pushing around the hole with my palm, which did not have any effect. Another attempt at widening the hole is by slamming my heel through the glass, which did work while giving me multiple scratched on my feet.
“This is PISSING me off,” I am losing my patience by the second, “I have been trapped inside this glass prison for FAR too long!” I shouted to nobody before winding myself up for another kick and thrust both my legs out with the intent to shatter the glass.
That was my first mistake, the moment my legs slammed against the glass, the whole structure of the pod decided to soften too much and the two heavy steel ends of the glass chamber decided to crush the glass under it including me.
“OH NO NO NO!” My mind and body reacted in an instant as I used my legs to push against the metal structure, struggling to prevent it from crushing my fragile body. With the now shattered glass against my back, I struggled with the weight as I slowly dragged myself out of the ditch the pod was in. The glass behind me scraped the underneath of my body as I crawled out of danger letting the metal structure drop with a deep sounding thud.
I slowly picked myself up and observed the damage. My clothes are now riddled with multiple tears and spotted with blood, none of my bones are crushed, but half of my body is now covered in scratches. “This day cannot get any worse than this… Shit is going to happen to isn’t it?” I asked myself knowing that everything can still go wrong.
Not only have I noticed that I’m in a forest and slowly bleeding, I have no water, food or knowledge on how to survive in the wild.
As I carefully plan my next move, I hear a faint conversation between two people. Turning around in surprise, I slowly approached the source of the voices.
"The stars have sent us a Messiah, our mother will soon be avenged and her vision will be complete..."
Author's Note
Again... How did I do?
I'm writing this with a goal of improving my writing skills so please don't just leave a comment saying that my grammar is bad without saying why.
If you like or hate the story, that's fine, I hope I can improve as I go along.
"The stars have sent us a Messiah, our mother will be avenged and her vision will be complete..."
“What…?” I did a double take before letting the words sink into my mind, that was English, “They’re speaking English…? Am I back on earth…?”
“Wh-who's there?” I asked receiving no reply. I was surprised at what I discovered once I approached the bush. Emerging from the bush were two hunched figures in dark blue cloaks. One was larger than the other. The larger stand up to about my hip while the other, up to my knees.
The cloaked figures glanced at each other before peeling back their hoods revealing two impossibly colourful creatures resembling short-snouted equines. The quadrupeds simply looked up and stared deeply into my eyes with a pair of their own.
I can only gasp as they revealed their faces, not of fear, but one of surprise and shock. I can safely say that they were both the cutest things I have seen right after rabbits.
The larger equine has cream coloured fur and smooth long chestnut mane. And the smaller equine has deep cyan fur and short white messy mane which droop low to cover his left eye.
“Greetings oh great one, we are honoured for us to have you here,” The larger quadruped spoke, her silky feminine voice rang through my ears as she bowed down in respect followed by the smaller counterpart.
”They’re speaking English… Tiny alien horses just spoke to me in English… This is definitely not earth anymore.”
Before I could respond, the larger equine spoke, “Oh no you’re hurt, come, let’s go to our home before sundown,” she said as she took notice the multiple cuts on my clothing and the blood seeping through my white clothing. She motioned me to follow her as her small companion followed along after pulling its hood up.
”Should I go...? Well, it’s help with a chance of death or blindly walking through an alien forest with a high chance of death,” with no other alternatives of sources of help, I decided to follow the pair towards their supposed home.
I followed the pair closely; the forest was strangely quiet ever since I landed here. With all the trees and other plants around, I expected the tweets of some birds, the sounds of creatures in the forest in the day or the sound of crickets during the night, but there was nothing but the occasional rustle of the trees and the gentle breeze.
I quickened my pace and decided to try to learn more about the two equines and the forest, “So… Uh, how are you?”
”Wow, is that the best I can do?”
The two equines glanced at me before Rose responded politely, “yes we’re fine, how are you?”
“Well, I’m good despite all the cuts and rough landing…”
“...”
“May I ask what your names are?”
“Yes, great one, my name is, Rose Thorn and this is our little brother, Cobalt Rust… Perhaps we can uh... Get to know your name…?” Rose asked hesitantly as if I would be agitated by her request.
“Oh yeah, sorry for not introducing myself first, my name is, John Wusheng, nice to meet you,” I said as politely as possible.
“John Woo-sheng? That’s a unique name.”
“Nah not really, John is a pretty generic name from where I came. My family wasn't the best with names…” I trailed off, ”I wonder where they are right now... Are they alright? Are they together? Are they looking for me?”
“Are you alright, great one?” Rose asked worriedly as she softly nudged my leg with her hoof.
“Huh? Uh yeah, I’m fine. Also, why do you call me ‘great one'?" I asked curiously, "I'm not a God or deity.”
“Well, your species has come here to our divided planet, many times in the past and brought us gifts of knowledge along with many other things. Our elder will tell you more once we get to our home...”
“You don’t have to call me 'great one' just call me John. Also, you don’t have to be formal or too polite. I think it’s better if we get to know each other as ourselves.”
“As you wish gr-uh, yeah sure…” Rose said awkwardly.
The walk was slow and somewhat dangerous with the occasional obscure roots jutting out of the dirt. But overall, it was calming… At least calming enough to keep my head from thinking about my family for a while.
As we walked through the forest, I noticed my environment changing. The smell of trees slowly turned damp and sour, “Uh… Rose? Can I ask you a question?”
“Yes?” Rose said glancing back at me.
“What is that smell?” I asked as the smell became more pungent by the second.
“Oh… That’s the smell of the bog, why do you ask?”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” I said pinching my nose close in an attempt to block out the smell.
“Oh sorry, gr-John, but we must hurry back if we want to make it until sundown, this is the shortest path we can take. The creatures of the forest are more active during the night, and they aren't too friendly with strangers. The last one got eaten by a hydra. So they might eat you too,” Rose Thorn said casually.
“Eat me?! Hydra?!”
“Yeah, they aren’t too friendly with strangers so they might get a little rowdy. But there's nothing worry about, as soon as we introduce you to them I'm sure they won't bother you anymore. Come on! Our home is just up ahead!”
“Uh… Alright then let’s hurry up…” I said picking my pace and catching up with them.
“No worries, it’s only a short walk to our home,” Rose waved the air with a bright smile, ensuring me.
“Right…” I said no longer complaining about the smell.
We soon reached a gorge where Rose’s and Cobalt’s supposed home is.
“Alright! Nearly there, we just need to get to down to the right hole,” Rose said as she looked down. I looked down over the edge of the gorge to see what she meant and it was then I noticed that there were some holes dug out into the side of the gorge.
“How… Do we get down to the right hole?” I asked, there were no paths, ladders or any rope to safely descend down into the hole.
“Oh don’t worry. Now whatever you do, do not panic. We've tamed the gorge’s guardians and trained them to listen to our call,” Rose said as her cream hoof reached up under her neck and pulled on a brown thread attached to a wooden whistle around her neck.
“How did you… Grab the whistle with your hoof...?” I asked in wonder.
“Oh simple… Uh… I… I actually don’t know, how do we grab things with our hooves?” She asked looking at cobalt who shrugged in response.
“Well anyway, let’s all go home,” Rose said changing the subject as she blew the whistle creating no sound.
“Uh… is your whi-HOLY WHAT?!”
Before me stands multiple Crimson serpents with amber eyes and pink spots dotting along the sides of their bodies.
“Uh…” All pairs of amber eyes immediately snapped onto me the moment I let out a small whimper of fear.
I began to take small steps back as the serpents approached me, “don’t move, they can smell fear, show them bravery and courage, stand your ground and they will see you as a worthy addition to the family,” Rose whispered to me while Cobalt simply nodded under his hood.
”Stand proud… Stand proud?! They are going to EAT me! I thought nervously before taking a very deep breath, steeling myself and standing my ground. Trying to fight against my fears as my body shouted at me to run. I groaned under my breath as my body shook from the amount of adrenaline flowing through my veins.
The large serpents approached even closer and are now mere inches away from my face. ”Fuck fuck fuck shit shit shit, GO AWAY!” the closer they got the harder it was to stand still and face the threat without shaking, ”STAND STILL DAMMIT!! Your father wanted you to be a MAN and you will be one!!!”
With those thoughts in my head, I clenched my fists tightly, mustered a shaky smile and idiotically reached out towards the closest serpent in front with my hands. The moment my fingers made contact with the nose of the serpent’s nose, all my feelings of nervousness seem to immediately vanish and replaced with absolute calmness, I just simply stopped shaking for no reason.
I let go of the breath I didn’t realise I was holding and simply rubbed its nose, I felt it’s warmness through its scales and breathed a small sigh of relief. ”Huh, it’s actually kinda harmless, I thought as a small proud smile appeared on my face.
I turned to see Rose with a face of awe and Cobalt with his hood down who began clapping with his tiny hooves.
"You are just like him... So young... Too young to be thrown into this unending war... Stay strong little sapling, we’ll protect you from the blizzard. But for the time being, welcome you to our family..."
”Huh?! Who...?” I cried in surprise as the serpents simply stood there waiting.
“What’s wrong?” Rose asked.
“The snake just spoke to me!”
“Uh…” Both equines looked at each other, “no it didn’t,” Rose denied as Cobalt shook his head sideways.
“Yes it did, heck I heard its voice!”
“Um, maybe the elder can explain this? This is the first time this ever happened, the guardians usually just stare at new members not get that close to them,” Rose said
‘Wait, you mean to tell me that you just stood there with the risk of me actually getting eaten alive?!”
“Uh… No, not really,” Rose said sheepishly, “you could actually run, they won’t chase you if you leave the gorge.”
“Right…” I trailed off looking back at the serpents.
“Well let’s get on,” Rose said as Cobalt followed after her.
“Get on… Where?”
“On the guardians, of course, they’re taking us down to the right tunnel… No, they won’t eat you if they’ve accepted you… I think.”
“You think?” I said taking a deep breath before I hesitantly hoist myself up on one of the serpents, holding on as tightly as I can. The snakes seem to instantly accept my weight on the back of its neck without complaint.
The moment my crimson ride moved, I tightened my hold even further in fear of falling off the edge. The serpent moved down the cliff elegantly and stopped in front of a tunnel entrance.
Within the entrance, I could see the figure of Rose and Cobalt standing in the darkness, “You have to jump to get in!” Rose called out.
“Uh… Can’t the serpent just enter the entrance so I can get down from it safely?” I called into the tunnel.
“No, they can’t without you turning into a scraped up mess on the ceiling!”
“Ugh… Everything is trying to kill me,” I groaned to myself as I slowly inched myself towards the serpent's nose. I slowly got up to a crouched position once I reached the forehead of the snake and leapt off the snake while apologising for any pain I caused it from my jump.
I landed on the stone floor which echoed through the tunnel, “Oh yeah, we’re gonna have to fix that if you were to stay with us,” Rose whispered as she cringed at the loud echo.
“Fix what?” I said normally, creating another echo.
“Sshh, whisper, you need to be quieter if you want to stay here.”
“Oh ok, sorry for being loud.”
“It’s alright, it’s your first time here so I’m sure everyone will forgive you,” Rose said turning around and walked deeper into the dark tunnel.
“Was it really that loud?” I whispered catching up to her.
“Yeah, it kinda was,” Cobalt spoke unexpectedly.
“... Oh yeah, I just noticed, why didn’t you speak while we’re out there?” I asked curiously.
“I don’t trust the light, not after what it did to me…”
“What di-” I was about to ask before Rose interrupted me.
“Alright, we’re here!” Rose whispered as we stopped in front of a wooden door, it was slightly hard to see due to the lack of light in the tunnel.
”Why did I ask that?! Well, I technically didn’t ask it, but why? He must’ve had a traumatising experience and I would’ve brought up bad memories if it weren’t for Rose’s interruption, I’m gonna have to apologise for that.”
Rose reached up to the door with her hoof and knocked in a strange manner, scraping the wood or simply tapped the door eliciting a soft knock.
*Scrape scrape… Scrape scrape scrape… Scrape scrape scrape… Scrape knock… Knock scrape knock knock… Knock knock… Scrape scrape knock… Knock knock knock knock… scrape… Knock knock knock scrape scrape* (1)
The door suddenly flipped open revealing a large armoured eagle standing in front of a small candle, its sudden appearance made me jump out of my skin. The bird was holding a short staff with a curved blade that is nearly as long as the handle, the surface of the metal seemed to bend and absorb light around it creating a strange fog of darkness.
The eagle’s eyes scanned us and widened as his eyes landed on me, “I apologise for taking so long great one,” The avian bowed as he apologised, his voice smooth and deep. revealing the rest of its body to me, I could see a furry back, a pair of wings folded to its side and a lion’s tail that is curled upwards. ”It’s a gryphon! Oh, right it's also a different planet” I reminded myself.
I blinked at him before whispering, “Oh no it’s fine, you didn’t take long at all. You opened the door so quickly I got a bit scared,” I quietly chuckled.
“I apologise for scaring you, oh great one.”
“Uh… You don’t have to call me great, my name is John Wusheng… Just call me John,” I awkwardly introduced myself.
The avian nodded as he stepped aside allowing us through.
One would think that the candle light would make it easier to see in the dark, but in this situation, it made it harder since my eyes were in the process of adapting to the dark. Rose and Cobalt’s soft footsteps or should I say, “hoof steps,” were the only thing that is allowing me to walk straight.
“Follow us carefully, there is a maze up ahead, we wouldn’t want you getting lost now don’t we?” Rose spoke as Cobalt grabbed my hand with his front hoof. It was a strange sensation, there was nothing clamping my hand onto his hoof, my hand seems to be magnetised to the flat surface of his hoof.
The maze was pitch black, it doesn’t matter whether or not my eyes could adjust, there was simply no light, “how are you guys able to see? It’s pitch black!”
“We are gifted by our mother,” Cobalt whispered as he led me through the maze.
“It also wouldn’t be completely pitch black if you didn’t make such a loud noise, you triggered the defence system,” Rose quipped.
“Duck down, John!” Cobalt exclaimed as he yanked me down with his hoof.
“Wha-”
*Whoosh*
“What was that?!” I exclaimed in a whisper as I felt an object whizz over my head with great ferocity.
“That was one of the traps from the defence system, It could’ve taken your head off if I didn’t pull you down ” Cobalt explained.
“Oh… Uh… Thank you,” I managed to say as the realisation sunk in, ”I nearly died… In that very moment, I could’ve died… Just gone… Forgotten… What have I gotten myself into now?”
“No problem, we’re taking the long way to avoid as many traps as possible. The good news is that there is only one more on the route we’re taking, but the bad news is that this last one requires us to run… How are you at sprinting?” Rose asked as I hear her hoof steps slow down.
“Uh… I may be a nerd but I’m pretty agile,” I joked before telling the truth, “no, I’m not even decent… According to many sources.”
“Well, those sources aren’t going to matter because here we are,” Rose stopped walking, “now, what you want to do is to sprint and keep doing so until I tell you to stop understand?”
“Yeah…” I said nervously.
“I'll go first,” Rose said as I hear her back up slightly before launching herself forward.
As her footsteps get quieter I can hear a chorus of hissing noises reminding me of pressurised air being released through a small nozzle. The sound seems to trail her before stopping, leaving only the echoes of her hoof steps.
“I may not be able to see it, but… Was there sharp objects being thrust out of the wall or ground as Rose ran by?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
“Not to scare you or anything, but yes there was many.” I hear Cobalt scuff his hoof on the stone floor. My fears were confirmed.
“Great… So my turn?”
“Yeah… Good luck, don’t worry, as long as you keep running you won’t get hurt,” Cobalt said as I felt the magnetic effect disappear.
I hesitantly crouched and positioned my body where one of my legs are bent while the other is nearly straight with both my hands touching the ground.
”God… Please let me live through this one… I just need to run as fast as I can right? No pressure…” I lied to myself as I took another deep breath.
Here we go…
3…
2…
1…
GO!!”
With a sharp exhale, I exploded forwards and sprinted into the darkness blindly. Unable to judge the direction of where I’m running or know the distance I have left to run, I simply pushed myself faster. My legs burned as they roared for me to stop as my heart pounded against my ribcage like a drum.
I couldn’t tell how fast or how long I’ve been running for before I feel a hoof tap my shoulder, “Stop,” I hear Rose whispered as I ran past her before stopping myself.
Out of breath and sweating, I collapsed onto my back wheezing for air, “I am definitely not an athlete, and chances of me becoming one are very slim.”
“Oh don’t say that. You were even faster than me, and I’m not a scout for a reason you know?” Rose said as she patted me on my shoulder.
Before I regained my breath, I heard another set of hooves galloping towards us, “are we ready to go? Also, that was pretty fast for a nerd, were you in some sort of track team once?”
“No and no…” I wheezed catching my breath.
“Come on, we don’t want to miss a new moon tonight,” Rose said tapping me on my chest.
“New Moon?” I asked still wheezing, ”New Moon? Is that some kind of tradition here?”
“Well it’s the only time of the month where new members are allowed to truly join,” Rose explained.
This made me pause for a second, ”why are they so eager to let me into their secret home? She called me a Messiah and ‘the great one’ before. This seems very suspicious... I should be careful around them,” I thought as I tried to hide my suspicions by quickly changing the subject.
“Uh… Right, so how far do we have left?” I quipped.
“Not far, just a few more paces and we should be there in no time,” Rose said. By now my gut feeling is telling me that I should book it the hell out of here before anything bad happens.
“Right then let’s go,” I groaned, picking myself off the floor and dusting myself.
Cobalt grabbed my hand again and began leading me through the maze. ”They can see well in the dark, running away now is a bad idea since I can’t even see anything, I have to play along until the right time.”
“We’re here!” Rose said, shaking me out of my thoughts. I can see a large reinforced wooden gate with a pair of lit torches on each side lighting up a small area ahead.
Rose hurried towards the door. Cobalt lets go of my hand before catching up to her as she knocked on the gate in a similar fashion as before.
I slowly approached the pair before crouching low beside Cobalt, “So uh... Tell me, what does the welcoming include?” I whispered over to Cobalt.
“Well it’s considered to be very sacred so I can’t tell you, but it’s nothing bad trust me,” he said calmly as his large eyes peered into my own.
”Is he trying to read my emotions? I think he’s trying to read my emotions, doesn’t that only work in movies or something? Plus I’m a completely different species, maybe it’s an alien skill…” I thought curiously as I hear the door slowly slide open.
I looked up to see a line of four different armoured species, each carrying a weapon that seemed to suit their physical bodies. To the left, I see a griffon in black cloths and a hood that cast a shadow over its eyes, it wore a cloak which I suspect to carry a plethora of weapons and on its arms strapped a pair of bladed black bracers.
Next to the Griffon stood a pegasus with a spear with a broad tip, attached to the side of its Romanesque armour. The pegasus was glaring at us, or me at the moment.
In the front, stood a tall Minotaur, wearing a deep blue cloak with white trims; his arms crossed, looking down at my much smaller stature compared to his own.
The last species stood even taller than the minotaur, it was a red dragon, clad light grey armour, its spikes extended out of its head and down its spine like a mohawk. The armour followed the spikes and ended off with a barbed tip at the tail. The dragon held a large shield made out of a skull of a large unknown creature on its left arm. And a large broadsword with a glowing red ruby ornament in the centre of its guard.
”I think I just peed myself a little…”
The minotaur stepped forward and quietly spoke in a deep voice, ”Rose, Cobalt… You have returned...”
“Yes, high priest,” both Cobalt and Rose bowed.
“And I see that you have brought a…” The minotaur finally brought his attention to me. “Can it be… Our great Messiah…?”
“He could very be general, he has just landed here the night before…” Rose spoke, still bowing to the general.
”Okay… This is definitely a cult or something close… I think I really fucked up this time,” I thought planning my next moves, ”but what to do next? Rose and Cobalt will try to stop me from running away, the dragon will kill me in one blow, the griffon will rip me a new one, the Pegasus will probably catch up to me the fastest, and the minotaur will impale me with its horns. I am outnumbered, not to mention that it is evident that multiple members can see in the darkness. In other words, there is no escape.”
“Greeting oh great one, I am General Steel, Black Steel, welcome to our home where those who are denied or abandoned by the world find a place to call home,” he now spoke instead of whispered.
“Hehe…” I nervously laughed, “Uh… My name is John, John Wusheng… Nice to meet you.”
“Well, come in, I hope you’ll find a home here,” the minotaur laughed as the guards sheathed their weapons before turning around and walking through the gate.
”I think it's safe to say that I am at that level of deep shit where I can’t pull myself out anymore…
Author's Note
(1) I tried to be smart and made a code, this can be translated by the way. The first clue is: Dit and Dot
I didn't put much effort into fixing my grammar into this chapter, I only fixed some issues.
The dialogue and interactions also felt forced, please comment on this, give me some suggestion on how to improve them.
