This ship is probably the only thing that kept me from going insane this week. xD
And idk about the title. You tell me.
1500 words-ish
2nd person (deal with it)
Still adding to it. There's going to be a whole lake scene afterwards. <3
Read away!
I totally wasn't just looking for a reason to use that emote
-----------------------------------------------------------
A light breeze ruffles the air, the late autumn leaves hissing as they scrape past. Few gnarled oaks stand stoic sentry over the mist-enclosed forest, anything and everything shorter buried in bone-chilling dampness.
A rustle.
Shadows peel themselves apart from the twisted bark, running like sludge to meet with the pooling blackness below. The mist ripples, just hues brighter than the surrounding dark. Waves in the wind.
Glowing eyes.
Bloodthirsty snarls.
The earth vibrates. Oak leaves shudder under its saffron gaze, the mist draws thicker to conceal its form. Only the glow, yellow and alive with chilling malice, can cut through like fire in the mist.
BaBoom. . . BaBoom. . BaBoom. BaBoomBoomBoom.
"Arizel!"
A flash. A bang. Then silence.
"Arizel?" You force your eyes open, even through the searing pain that the light brings. Light, reality... You groan. "More nightmares? I thought you'd said those stopped ages ago."
You laugh, fire still rippling through you. It feels good to laugh, even when there is really nothing to laugh about. Nightmares: that's one way of putting it. Memories, that's the second.
Sunlight flitters down, chasing away some of the shadows that had crossed from the nightmares into reality. But not all of them. You still remember the creeping feeling of the forest, the mist still clings to your skin. Golden eyes still follow you when you're not looking....
You spin on your feet.
Red and brown patterned brick stares back at you.
"Arizel?"
You turn, attempting to shake off the itchy feeling of being watched. But you are, you are, only when you aren't looking. A chill races down your spine, ice colder than darkness flooding your fingertips. "I'm fine," you state firmly, trying harder to convince yourself of the fact than any other, "we just need to keep moving is all. I’m itching for adventure."
Your eyes find the ground, forced away by Janus's glare. The concern slips from his voice, either from your forthright lie or your unwillingness to admit weakness even now. “Well then let’s get moving. We’re wasting daylight.”
Janus spins on his feet, sending grit skittering over the pavement. You follow the lithe teen after slight hesitation. You aren’t scared of him, rather, you need the space. Cars swoosh as you exit the bright alleyway, dunking you deeper into reality. You watch the road warily, but nothing seems out of the ordinary: cars flashing past, people trodding down both sides.
Janus is already down the road, past the bakery you had scouted out the day before. You hurry to catch up; the gap between you worrying now instead of feeling safe. There is a long, tense silence before houses begin to crop out of the ground and the bustle of city life fades into the distance as you enter the suburbs.
The houses here are magnificent, you note as you trot down the grass beside the quickly-heating road. Large spires twist into the clouds and old bricks pattern the sides in a variety of hues. The antiquity doesn’t make the neighborhood look old, but rich and lush.
Or that may be the gardens. As far as you can see, there is no lawn that isn’t a vibrant green. Hedges row the sides of some, while flowers and undergrowth bound others. Trees are commonplace, growing denser as you continue out of the city.
“Ari!” You jump, startled out of your daydreams. A ginger haired girl bounds out of the hedgerow surrounding one yard onto the strip of yellow-white cement running between her house and another. Before you know it, she is before you, grinning as she wraps you in a tight embrace. “What brings you out this direction today? Is it the trees? The cottonwoods down the row are seeding and, oh, it looks like snow! Can I come with you?”
Her breathless tirade allows you to catch your wits, and by the time she is finished you are smiling with her. “Hey, Roxanne. Missed you too.” You hear Janus sigh and flick him with a hand. “I don’t know where we’re headed yet, and I think Janus wants to show me something far off. Maybe tomorrow though,” you add hastily seeing her crestfallen face, “How does five sound?”
Roxanne smiles and practically leaps on you; you stagger back but manage to keep on your feet. “Have fun, Ari! See you at five!” You blink as she disappears back into the bush as quickly as she had come, leaving you and Janus alone on the road just as you had been before Roxanne’s entrance -- albeit a bit stunned.
Janus rolls his eyes before continuing down the walk. You draw over to his side, pacing your steps to match his. “How can you even stand her, Arizel?”
“She isn’t a horrible person to know.” And just because she ignores Janus’s existence doesn’t give him the reason to dislike her. You shrug. “You could try being more friendly instead of standing there like a dead tree stump.”
Janus laughed, and even when it was in sarcasm you find yourself enjoying the sound. “I could stand right between you two and she’d just ask what it was in the way of her goggling.”
You grin, playfully shoving him off balance with your shoulder. “Go find your own girl if you’re so jealous of Roxanne.”
“Oh, yeah? Maybe I will. I heard Mabel is back.” You break into laughter, and soon you and Janus are pushing each other down the road, each throwing empty taunts. The dark mood that has smothered you since morning begins to rise as laughter melds out of grumbles. It was difficult to stay irritated at Janus long, you found, and today is no exception to that rule.
“So,” you say as your pace slows to a leisurely walk, “where are we headed?”
Janus shugs; a short, fluid motion. “Away.” His answer is enough for you, and you follow with a smile as the houses grow farther and farther in between, with large swaths of open fields and trees between the wooden farmhouses. You had long before been turned off the well-trodden cement walks onto the sides of roads with cars whooshing past, then farther when stones and dirt replaced the uniform concrete. You passed few people now, but the people you met greeted you with friendly waves and smiles that only really came with those with little company out in the open earth.
The sun, that had been peeking its rays over the buildings when you departed, is now well overhead. You decide once more that your ragged hair is something that needs to be remedied with a much needed trim to keep the heat of the sun off your neck.
There are hardly any people around at all now. Only the barest traces of habitation remain on the edges of the thin road: a dirt trail winding through the trees, a small mailbox, a lonely fence post.
You trot past, two lone wolves wandering with no real destination in mind. It is the journey that matters, not where one ends up. That is a motto you hold, you and Janus. That is what keeps you together, adventuring between cities with no real home.
Without real conscious thought, Janus turns down one of the scattered dirt tracks leading away from the main road. You turn your path to follow, curious to what makes this trail unique to the others you had passed.
The overhanging cherries do miracles to the sun overhead, and coupled with the slight breeze that accompanies a thin forest the humidity is chased out of the air. You sigh with pleasure; Janus turns to you with a wild grin. “You think the cherries are ripe yet?”
You take a running leap, grabbing a bow and bringing it down with a shout. The branch is young and springy, and it takes little effort for you to hold it down as Janus harvests handfuls of the glistening crimson berries. You allow the branch to arch back up, catching a cherry in your mouth when Janus throws it towards your face.
You snatch some from his hands, eating a few but tossing the majority back at Janus, who attempts to recreate your stunt with less success. Red juice flecks his face and cherry stones scatter the ground, rolling as they’re kicked by your feet.
The sweet berry taste floods your tongue and your laughter rings in the warm air. Colors swirl in the dappled light, bringing a surreal set to the forest as you and Janus trop carelessly away, going everywhere and nowhere at once.
And idk about the title. You tell me.
1500 words-ish
2nd person (deal with it)
Still adding to it. There's going to be a whole lake scene afterwards. <3
Read away!
-----------------------------------------------------------
A light breeze ruffles the air, the late autumn leaves hissing as they scrape past. Few gnarled oaks stand stoic sentry over the mist-enclosed forest, anything and everything shorter buried in bone-chilling dampness.
A rustle.
Shadows peel themselves apart from the twisted bark, running like sludge to meet with the pooling blackness below. The mist ripples, just hues brighter than the surrounding dark. Waves in the wind.
Glowing eyes.
Bloodthirsty snarls.
The earth vibrates. Oak leaves shudder under its saffron gaze, the mist draws thicker to conceal its form. Only the glow, yellow and alive with chilling malice, can cut through like fire in the mist.
BaBoom. . . BaBoom. . BaBoom. BaBoomBoomBoom.
"Arizel!"
A flash. A bang. Then silence.
"Arizel?" You force your eyes open, even through the searing pain that the light brings. Light, reality... You groan. "More nightmares? I thought you'd said those stopped ages ago."
You laugh, fire still rippling through you. It feels good to laugh, even when there is really nothing to laugh about. Nightmares: that's one way of putting it. Memories, that's the second.
Sunlight flitters down, chasing away some of the shadows that had crossed from the nightmares into reality. But not all of them. You still remember the creeping feeling of the forest, the mist still clings to your skin. Golden eyes still follow you when you're not looking....
You spin on your feet.
Red and brown patterned brick stares back at you.
"Arizel?"
You turn, attempting to shake off the itchy feeling of being watched. But you are, you are, only when you aren't looking. A chill races down your spine, ice colder than darkness flooding your fingertips. "I'm fine," you state firmly, trying harder to convince yourself of the fact than any other, "we just need to keep moving is all. I’m itching for adventure."
Your eyes find the ground, forced away by Janus's glare. The concern slips from his voice, either from your forthright lie or your unwillingness to admit weakness even now. “Well then let’s get moving. We’re wasting daylight.”
Janus spins on his feet, sending grit skittering over the pavement. You follow the lithe teen after slight hesitation. You aren’t scared of him, rather, you need the space. Cars swoosh as you exit the bright alleyway, dunking you deeper into reality. You watch the road warily, but nothing seems out of the ordinary: cars flashing past, people trodding down both sides.
Janus is already down the road, past the bakery you had scouted out the day before. You hurry to catch up; the gap between you worrying now instead of feeling safe. There is a long, tense silence before houses begin to crop out of the ground and the bustle of city life fades into the distance as you enter the suburbs.
The houses here are magnificent, you note as you trot down the grass beside the quickly-heating road. Large spires twist into the clouds and old bricks pattern the sides in a variety of hues. The antiquity doesn’t make the neighborhood look old, but rich and lush.
Or that may be the gardens. As far as you can see, there is no lawn that isn’t a vibrant green. Hedges row the sides of some, while flowers and undergrowth bound others. Trees are commonplace, growing denser as you continue out of the city.
“Ari!” You jump, startled out of your daydreams. A ginger haired girl bounds out of the hedgerow surrounding one yard onto the strip of yellow-white cement running between her house and another. Before you know it, she is before you, grinning as she wraps you in a tight embrace. “What brings you out this direction today? Is it the trees? The cottonwoods down the row are seeding and, oh, it looks like snow! Can I come with you?”
Her breathless tirade allows you to catch your wits, and by the time she is finished you are smiling with her. “Hey, Roxanne. Missed you too.” You hear Janus sigh and flick him with a hand. “I don’t know where we’re headed yet, and I think Janus wants to show me something far off. Maybe tomorrow though,” you add hastily seeing her crestfallen face, “How does five sound?”
Roxanne smiles and practically leaps on you; you stagger back but manage to keep on your feet. “Have fun, Ari! See you at five!” You blink as she disappears back into the bush as quickly as she had come, leaving you and Janus alone on the road just as you had been before Roxanne’s entrance -- albeit a bit stunned.
Janus rolls his eyes before continuing down the walk. You draw over to his side, pacing your steps to match his. “How can you even stand her, Arizel?”
“She isn’t a horrible person to know.” And just because she ignores Janus’s existence doesn’t give him the reason to dislike her. You shrug. “You could try being more friendly instead of standing there like a dead tree stump.”
Janus laughed, and even when it was in sarcasm you find yourself enjoying the sound. “I could stand right between you two and she’d just ask what it was in the way of her goggling.”
You grin, playfully shoving him off balance with your shoulder. “Go find your own girl if you’re so jealous of Roxanne.”
“Oh, yeah? Maybe I will. I heard Mabel is back.” You break into laughter, and soon you and Janus are pushing each other down the road, each throwing empty taunts. The dark mood that has smothered you since morning begins to rise as laughter melds out of grumbles. It was difficult to stay irritated at Janus long, you found, and today is no exception to that rule.
“So,” you say as your pace slows to a leisurely walk, “where are we headed?”
Janus shugs; a short, fluid motion. “Away.” His answer is enough for you, and you follow with a smile as the houses grow farther and farther in between, with large swaths of open fields and trees between the wooden farmhouses. You had long before been turned off the well-trodden cement walks onto the sides of roads with cars whooshing past, then farther when stones and dirt replaced the uniform concrete. You passed few people now, but the people you met greeted you with friendly waves and smiles that only really came with those with little company out in the open earth.
The sun, that had been peeking its rays over the buildings when you departed, is now well overhead. You decide once more that your ragged hair is something that needs to be remedied with a much needed trim to keep the heat of the sun off your neck.
There are hardly any people around at all now. Only the barest traces of habitation remain on the edges of the thin road: a dirt trail winding through the trees, a small mailbox, a lonely fence post.
You trot past, two lone wolves wandering with no real destination in mind. It is the journey that matters, not where one ends up. That is a motto you hold, you and Janus. That is what keeps you together, adventuring between cities with no real home.
Without real conscious thought, Janus turns down one of the scattered dirt tracks leading away from the main road. You turn your path to follow, curious to what makes this trail unique to the others you had passed.
The overhanging cherries do miracles to the sun overhead, and coupled with the slight breeze that accompanies a thin forest the humidity is chased out of the air. You sigh with pleasure; Janus turns to you with a wild grin. “You think the cherries are ripe yet?”
You take a running leap, grabbing a bow and bringing it down with a shout. The branch is young and springy, and it takes little effort for you to hold it down as Janus harvests handfuls of the glistening crimson berries. You allow the branch to arch back up, catching a cherry in your mouth when Janus throws it towards your face.
You snatch some from his hands, eating a few but tossing the majority back at Janus, who attempts to recreate your stunt with less success. Red juice flecks his face and cherry stones scatter the ground, rolling as they’re kicked by your feet.
The sweet berry taste floods your tongue and your laughter rings in the warm air. Colors swirl in the dappled light, bringing a surreal set to the forest as you and Janus trop carelessly away, going everywhere and nowhere at once.
