Chapter 1: Arrival.
And then, he succumbed into the world without any explanation, he gained consciousness, slowly waking up between the wet grass, rubbing his forehead covered in dirt, barely moving, his body is so sore as if he just fell from the sky.
The sound of the breeze envelops his body while a humid smell of sour refreshing herbs can be felt.
His dark eyes get clear, appreciating a foggy, empty violet sky, unknown blue trees and a desaturated gray tall grass frame the landscape, emanating an attractive but mysterious aura.
Fascinated, he continues analyzing in detail the new nature, the twisted greenish trunks of the trees, also cylindric wavy mushroom bodies with different colors each, particles of multiple colors emerging from the ground, the refreshing damp air and some buzzing noises coming from the hidden, misty hills, making up a undeniable strange feeling of confusion, surprised at not having seen life until now.
Feeling that he is in some kind of lucid dreamland, Mako pinches himself in the arm, to clarify if this is a real place or something made by his mind.
The truth can do harm, just like the pain in his arm.
— What?
A sudden breathless gasp escapes his mouth, immediately waving his hand in front of him, touching his face like crazy trying to recognize himself, his mind collapsing.
His hand swirls around in the pockets of his pants, pulling out his phone jerkily, searching up the map app.
The disappointment is expected, no signal here, no GPS.
— No. What the hell is going on?
The sharp, abrupt sound of leaves brushing behind him turns on his senses, Mako spins quickly, moving his flashlight around his surroundings.
Something creaks and falls from a tree nearby and Mako gets caught off guard, it was a thorny big stick, probably fell due to that sudden movement.
His peripheral view catches something blurring in the bushes quickly, so instantly grabs the piece of wood, holding it to his chest.
Unfortunately for him, the source of the sudden move seems to be sneaky, just like an animal preying for him. The situation undoubtedly generates warning, danger and a strong urge to leave that cannot be ignored.
Mako walks away from there in a hurry, the path becoming increasingly illuminated, as the trees grow taller, and at the same time, worn out and old.
Pale fruits decorate the floor, some very long red desaturated flowers brushing his feet as he passes by, now measuring his steps, the lack of sound and light getting on his nerves, the only thing he hears are his thoughts, many questions about this place.
Anyways, the fear in his body doesn't stop him from lurking deeper in the forest until, a luminous green cloud between some closed trees appears catching his attention.
Hesitantly, walks closer to the unexplored spot, expecting to see some village, torch or something, keeping his step careful and slow.
But as he gets closer, the flashlight reveals a cave, a deep dark cave, with an abundant amount of fungi spreading in the floor and walls, red mush and dark blue creepers everywhere. As well, in the background, a clicking noise can be heard, the sound almost seemed to be taken straight from a horror film creature.
Instead of running away, he gets flabbergasted and feels a pang of curiosity towards the beautiful yet gloomy nature of this place, these species are totally unknown yet interesting, it is a potential new research, although he should not waste so much time here and explore instead.
But before leaving, takes a picture of the place.
A stupid branch fell into his head, freezing him in place, his heart rate changing in a matters of second, kicking the branch away.
Damn, is this place mocking me?
Out of nowhere, a shape begins to move among the trees, he starts feeling an strong, powerful yet slow breath from his back, and he starts to turn around slowly while shitting himself, it seems that he has now found a living being after all.
A tall silhouette slowly appears behind the trees taking him off guard, he instinctively backs away, attempting to escape but instead falling onto the ground in a startled state. The light now reveals the thing itself and his eyes widen with dread.
A blue horse-like bizarre creature around six meters tall appears, it has a huge neck, an axe-shaped tail, anf big concave jaw, it walks towards him in a stiff way.
It stares at Mako with its tiny honey bright eyes, its nose issuing a distorted curious but sorrowful sound, it doesn't look aggressive but not friendly either.
Mako doesn't think twice and escapes immediately, running away with all his forces. Soon, his lungs become tired as well as his legs, so he stops and looks behind him, but no trace of the creature, so he collapses in the floor and lets out a sigh of relief, looking around uneasily.
How much creatures are living in this site?
Chills run around his body as he thinks about that thing creeping in the bush earlier or even things that could have watched him without he didn't even noticed, even now they might be looking for him.
Away from the zone, he can't help but feel how his willpower lowers while walking further, he never has been in such a situation of survival before, although this is way worse than a normal survival experience.
— I'm lost here forever, right? What am I doing? I gotta find water or something
.
Mako mumbles raspily, while he was picking up some rocks in the way, and out of a sudden he begins to feel unsafe and insecure, hearing things like screams or screeches afar, maybe he is turning more paranoid by the second or just slowly succumbing to madness.
A shaky, deep sigh escapes his mouth, the whistling chilling sound of wind envelops the place, his foot taps impatiently the floor, not knowing what to do, his mind completely overloaded and falling apart.
Is this the rest of my days? Is it even worth continuing to suffer?
The thoughts invade his mind, these made him stop in his tracks, holding his head, willing to snap out of it, massaging his temples with vigor, taking deep breathes, his heart bumping his chest like a rock.
"Mako, promise it, don't give up, If you don't want to do it for yourself, do it for me..." After those familiar words echoes in his head, a small sense of motivation hits him, determined to continue for at least one last time, putting everything he got.
Eventually, after some minutes of going in a straight line, he ends up near a hill descent, so he grabs his phone to take a photo of the surroundings so he can remember this place just in case he gets lost.
However, hesitation floods him, he still feels somewhat clumsy after the experience and the ground seems to be quite slippy and dark, the pressure is too much and going back is not a good option and he doesn't have time to think right now.
A deep breath, and he succumbs to the mysterious zone, the lower, the more it increases the density of the bushes, leaves and grass, as well as the amount of trees, mud and even the sounds of some insects around.
The ground of the place eventually begins to stabilize after a while, the flat terrain appears to be darker and colder, but also more vivid, the existence of blue glowing rings, they are little phosphorescent insects floating above a rock with holes.
He thought about throwing a rock at them but it wasn't too much of a smart idea, even though it would've been funny.
Mumbling can be heard coming from his left. However, he tries to move on, either is his mind playing risky tricks on him again or just some unknown tribe or creatures group. Although, he still feels that pang of curiosity and loneliness inciting him.
But maybe I could have some company after all.
After a little bit of thought, he decides to be brave and go to take a peek. Following the sound, guided by trail of ashes and the faint smell of fresh fire.
Unfortunately for him, he trips loudly, crashing his back onto a tree and falling. Suddenly the mumbles fall silent along with the forest.
Mako mmediately stood up as his heart pounds in his chest, feeling the eerie sound of small footsteps, he turns off the flashlight, crawling behind a tree, hiding and carefully watching the shape of the creatures incoming.
Around four small entities can be seem walking near him, one of them holding a torch and revealing the form of its body. A dark-gray eyeless small head, a creature which is about a meter tall, circular big ears, two pointy horns, and wearing a brown coat made with some animal's leather.
Mako analizes their movements and spy them as they communicate between themselves, speaking an unknown language and they point to his footsprints.
It seems that the 'goblin' with the torch spots Mako, his heart stops, the eyed tail of the creature looks in his direction suspiciously, wearing a excited but cautious expression.
The entity whispers with its group, they look at his hiding spot, drawing the curiosity of the group, but despite that, their bodies reflect uncertainty as they step closer, raising their weapons.
His palms begin to sweat while he holds the stick tightly, until the light of the flame enlightens him. Instantly, both of their bodies get stiff, the goblins became just as petrified as him, and they stare at him with fear and distrust, waiting for him to make a move.
In the end, it doesn't seem they're too different, they're two creatures who don't know each other, who are afraid and try to survive.
Mako forces his tone, and stuttering comes out of his mouth, he wants to look strong, but not threatening.
— I.. I.. I don't wanna fight.... o...okay?
The unknown creatures don't seem to understand english or directly, Mako's intention with what he said, but they understand something else, they are in numerical advantage and whatever he seems to be, could be a good source of meat or even further discoveries.
Quickly, their expressions shift into something more predatory, aggresive and sadistic, Mako's face turn pale as the weight of realization kicks in, immediately rushing towards a bushy grove, meanwhile the sounds of multiple short footsteps chasing him, maniacal laughs and some banging noises can be heard.
The freezing temperature is not helping at all and Mako starts to get dizzy, twisting his ankle and rolling into mud and slippery grass, hitting his head in the surface and leaving him stunned while his forehead begins to bleed slightly.
The creatures can't be heard anymore, they probably are more far away, but now a new problem arises, he is completely lost.
He holds his head, not capable to stand up, checking the cut in his forehead, taking his shoes off and ripping his socks to cover the injury, laying there for around one minute until the stunning feeling in his head dies a down bit.
Slowly and carefully, Mako stands up and puts his shoe back as well, rubbing the mud in his phone against his thigh to clean it.
He looks back where he rolled from and try to climb back, but the effort is in vain, it is too tall and humid, it isn't worth it.
Mako start to hear sounds of water flowing, and went limping to where the noise was coming from, and indeed, there is a small stream.
Finally, a sense of relief washes over him and he sits down next to the stream, relaxing, finally finding at least a moment of peace between chaos, sitting and taking a sip of the cold fresh water, washing his face with it.
Birds chirping can be heard in the now discovered sky, the birds reflecting in the water, birds with wings that spin like a fan but slowly and delicately, a glowing green covering their feathered bodies.
Mako contemplates the sky, the stars are now discovered and lightening the clear night, new constellations and lots of stars, a large red sun and three small pink moons, each with its own different size.
But his face tenses up as he realizes how far away he is from home, and how gigantic this world seems to be, noticing the lack of progress that has been made.
Even if the place is so much quieter and peaceful than up there, he still gets that strange feeling in his stomach.
This peace, he feels like it won't probably last long.
His eyes began to shed tears with mixed feelings, some of them being restless and stressed or relieved and calm at the same time.
Why do things affect me so much?
His eyelids flutter as he stares into the water's reflection, which only shows his vulnerable face, and his spent, dark circled eyes, he has already lost track of time with so much happening, feeling how the wind screams at him.
He can't stand it anymore, he ran out of patience, hitting his reflection with his fist, speaking in small frustrated grunts.
— I'm going to die alone because of you.
He grits his teeth, tugging his own hair with anger.
Then, with an outburst, he cries out intensely for help, putting all of his breath and imprudence.
— Hello?!! P...Pleaseeee!!!
— Dad?...
A young human voice can be heard far away, barely hearable, Mako's eyes widen.
Am I tweaking or...? He tells himself in his mind, yelling once again and hoping for a response
— Hello? Is somebody there?
— Hey?!
The voice feels a bit more closer, but as he was about to scream again, He is ambushed by one of the 'goblins' from before, the creature lunges at him and stabs his leg harshly, Mako writhes in pain, instantly crushing a rock in its mouth and kicking it away.
The goblin falls in the ground, with muffled sounds of agony and a trickle of blood spilling onto the floor violently and it shakes in pain, pulling the rock out of his mouth in the most grotesque way, practically throwing it up.
The creature runs away while leaving a trail of blood in its wake, dropping a artifact in the floor, a small bottle with a liquid inside, and a cross-shaped spear.
Mako grabs the strange weapon and puts the bottle in his pocket, rushing again towards the voice, tripping in his struggling steps and shouting at the top of his lungs.
— Hey!
Sobs and cries fill the area. The human form looks at the incoming flashlight and rubs his eyes, rocking back and forth, his breath exasperated.
This is probably the only person he's going to find.
Ever.
— You okay? Hello?
Mako spots the person, the shadow revealing a small thin figure, a little boy under a tree, wearing a dark green sweater and gray shorts, no more than 10 years old, his silky brown hair and pale soft face covered in sweat, his green eyes puffy with tears, but showing a hint of relief in his expression.
The little boy looks at Mako in the face overwhelmed, but finds insecurity himself, as this stranger is stained with blood, is not quite the good impression, the boy just backs away, feeling uncomfortable.
- W..Who are you?... W.. Where is dad? Please don't hurt me.
Mako looks at him with an empathetic but worried expression, sitting in front of him, speaking in a whisper while shaking his head
— No, no, no. I'm not here to hurt you. My name is Mako and I want to help you. Where are your parents?
The boy looks away, his bottom lip trembling, vulnerability, on the verge of collapsing into more tears, his voice breaking every second.
— I... I don't know.. I was with my dad, we were hiking and somehow everything turned black suddenly...
— Don't worry, come with me, we will search your dad.
Mako takes a deep breath and stood from the ground, offering a hand to the boy.
— Let's get outta here, what's your name buddy?
The little boy looks at him and lifts himself up, the grip in Mako's hand is weak but at least, there is no trace of his terrified state, at least for now.
The boy whispers shyly and he follows him, looking around nervously, expecting trace of his dad.
— My name is Noki Yanai, I am 11. Where are we going, sir?
— We are going to a water stream. You know, this place is too dangerous for you.
— How long have you been wandering around?
Mako pats his back friendly, but Noki hisses in pain and holds his right arm, which looks injured.
— OW! Around half an hour?
Mako stops immediately and looks at him, noticing the state of Noki's arm and loosening his grip.
— Sorry, you okay bro?
Noki shakes his head, not minding.
— No no, don't worry, is just... A strange creature pushed me and left my arm like this...
Upon closer inspection, Mako concludes that Noki's arm is dislocated.
— It's a elbow dislocation, when we get to the stream, I'll treat it, I know a little about medicine.
Noki keeps whimpering slightly at the pain, gritting his teeth.
— Thank you, it's unbearable.
After a while, they arrive at the stream, and Mako puts down the kid in a sitting position behind a rock, holding him delicately.
— This will hurt, okay? 1, 2...
Mako pulls on the elbow, repositioning it, and the kid screams in pain, covering his mouth, tears of pain appear, but at least, the issue is solved.
Noki, although screaming in pain, he is grateful for the help and he tilts his head down, expressing gratitude and respect
.
— Thank you. By the way, I didn't ask you but. How did you get here?
He began to remember as while wrapping cloth around his own leg, actually wondering what the hell actually happened.
In a normal stressful day, he went to the bank to do some paperwork, everything seemed normal in the subway, but his vision started to fade, sudden blindness and an irritating beep without warning but also, he was feeling like a strange matter was filling his body entirely in less than a second, without knowing anything, he woke up here, like a person in a coma.
He laughs nervously, looking at the floor.
— Honestly, I don't entirely know, I just got here while I was in the subway, and suddenly appeared here, and just like it happened to you, everything turned black instantly.
He sighs, falling in silence for a moment, thoughtful.
— But whatever let's get outta here.
Mako stands up and brushes the dust from his clothes, and stares at the trees contemplating options, while the sound of leaves rustling with the breeze echoes.
Noki looks at Mako with a blank expression, and Mako looks at Noki back, his pupils being completely constricted, he's not even looking at him. Mako shakes his shoulder to get his attention and talks in a soft tone.
— You okay bud? Don't worry, you have to be with me, I promise we'll get off this eventually.
Noki's expression doesn't change, and instead looks away, still stuck in that blocked state.
Mako shakes him slightly, even while shivering as if covered in ice, his hand feels cold but delicate.
— Noki, hear me out, no matter how scared you are, standing here won't do nothing, we gotta move on.
Noki keeps looking at him, his eyes now filled with tears but also with resignation and despair.
— Why? I don't want to live like a caveman for the rest of my life, why?
Mako strokes his hair soothingly and scoots him closer, trapping him in a embrace.
— Kiddo, we will get out this place and find your dad. It won't be easy, but if my aunt has taught me something, is that, life doesn't adjust to you, you adjust to life.
Noki nods and proceeds to sob and grip his shirt, now totally vulnerable. Mako continues hugging him but a feeling of strange guilt begins to show, as he promised something he may not be able to fulfill.
— This place screams for us to leave, we should find a shelter.
Noki looks up at him innocently, rubbing his eyes with his tiny fist, and holds Mako's arm, and Mako just glances behind himself, believing he had heard something.
Now, not looking back anymore, he moves on with Nori, who still seems worried and anxious.
Is my dad even alive?
Every passing second turns the place more dark and the fog grows more thick, making it more hard to continue as if the murkiness wasn't already too invasive, it's been less than fifteen minutes walking and the cold begins to be unbearable.
Mako feels how the blood circulation in his body is becoming slower and slower, his skin turning sensitive as a chameleon to light and cramps eventually begin to appear in his legs.
The change of temperature is abrupt and sudden, to the point that Mako has no doubt that this is a strange phenomenon of nature, the trees are sweaty with moisture, and now it's hard to breathe, as if it was vapor.
— Shit.
Noki starts feeling weaker and weaker, and Mako already notices the paleness in his face and how his small body becomes more slowly limp, Noki looks like he is about to faint and he is barely walking.
Mako shakes him slightly, even if he wanted to help him, there is nothing he can do about it.
— C'mon, No...Noki... Just... resist a little more...
They continue their road with no clue, Mako's desperation is quickly consuming him as the panic leads him.
Mako falls in the floor, shaking, his vision blurring as he stares at floor, the painful and freezing environment suffocates both.
But, with all the effort possible and putting his body and adrenaline to the maximum, Mako stands up and drags Noki with him, and barely heads to an nearby small cave, and with all his might, he finally collapses into the cave with him, the sharp pain all over his body.
Noki crawls towards Mako, pulling him in a embrace, seeking warmth and safety, Mako smiles mildly, hugging him back weakly and whispers, aphonic .
— We are... safe... for... now...
Mako turns off his flashlight and grabs some leaves to cover both, they finally rest, in a satisfactory way but at the same time, uncomfortable, bothered as hell by the strong cold ambiance and a sore sensation being everywhere in his body. but at least his almost miraculous effort bears fruits. And after a while, they both fell asleep.
Mako's sleep is interrupted, waking up in a familiar place, it's a street close to his house that he transits frequently, for some reason, it looks darker than usual, there is a suffocating pressure in the air and the sky is dyed with a dull red.
He walks his way to home, the silence is almost deafening, the only companion being the air squeezing from his lungs, his footsteps in the empty streets and the muffled sound of the wind.
Was it a dream? Is this some loop?
After a while, he finally finds his way to home, surprisingly, the doors were open, voices can be heard coming from it, like the ones from his distant big brother and his auntie following with some laughter.
Why do they laugh?
He gets in the house, curious about what's going on.
When he gets through, no one is there, the giggles just suddenly stopped. The sensation of isolation just increases every second. When he wanted to call his family, his voice just vanishes.
The silence is heavy until crying noises can be heard from the kitchen.
But when he is at the kitchen, his big brother, Hiro, is looking at him, Mako is caught like a deer in headlights, by his brother's dead, lost, dissapointed and penetrating look. His knees weaken, feeling the anger and hatred from a mile away.
Mako's scent begins to shift into something like burning paper, the melting walls are covered with fire, the air becoming even more suffocating, his lungs covered with dryness and heavyness, his muscles turning into rocks, leaving him motionless, completely static and vegetal, the guilt becoming too real.
Mako snaps from the nightmare in an almost violent way, paralyzed, his face covered with dry, sticky tears, and all his cold skin clenching with goosebumps
Do I really want to see my brother again?
He looks up at the sky outside, the darkness still present but faintly, it seems to be too early, but he knows that feeling of unsafety won't let him sleep.
Meanwhile, Noki just stays sleeping peacefully, shivering, Mako looks at him and scoots next to him, placing his hand in his breastbone, his pulse being slow but seems to be fine enough, probably he will catch an intense cold or an sore throat.
He looks for dry sticks around the cave, planning to perform a campfire, and after a good while struggling with it, he manages to turn it on and he lays in his back, listening to the now sparkling fire.
He caught himself staring at the fire, hearing those hellish screams again, anguishing him further, quickly moving away, avoiding it, looking at the ceiling nervously, even if the place it's very cold.
The flames don't bring me good memories.
Mako's phone buzzes with a notification, it's a battery warning, 20% percent remaining.
His shoulders immediately tense up, now all the access to his photos, flashlight, notes, games, and every single digital thing will be gone in less than two hours.
What an headache.
And in fact, he realizes a very important detail, he is running low of antiepileptics, only seven pills left, which stands for about four days of medication.
And obviously experiencing epilepsy is way worse and it's quite frightening.
It's like his brain has set a stopwatch for pain.
And this is just the start.
