Dedication: Happy Birth day Sonya & Emily!
Prompts: green sun, purple sky / the music you hear when your heart begins to break / closed-lipped kisses in the dark / one pill too many (given by Sara)
Beta'd by Idol # 1 (Les)
Tenten wasn't sure if she was dreaming or high or both. Both were a definite possibility. All she could see was the glare of the emerald green sun and vast purple sky. They merged to cast a strange light around her- a color somewhere in between the two that hadn't been named yet.
Tenten could feel the soft moss of the ground she'd woken up on through the thin fabric on her back. She surveyed her surroundings and realized she was nowhere she knew.
She was lying in a small meadow in a forest whose trees was densely packed and weaved into a thick wall of branches, twisted and kinked in outrageous ways. The meadow captured the sunlight perfectly, but its jade glow was cool on her skin. Regardless, it was the perfect temperature; chill, but not so there were goose bumps on her exposed arms and legs.
The air was saturated with the scent of earth after rain, but there wasn't a cloud in sight, save for the wispy magenta puff that was floating by. She pressed the end of her fingers into the soil. It was still soggy. She rubbed the damp dirt across her fingertips, enjoying the feel of something real, something familiar.
She stood up too fast, causing dark blotches in her vision. As they passed, she inspected herself. All her limbs were still attached. She brushed off her slippery smooth sleeveless dress, and was startled to realize that there wasn't a speck of dirt visible, though it was the silvery tint of fresh snow.
She blinked and a path of grey and periwinkle pebbles appeared where they hadn't been. She couldn't help but be curious, so she stepped out onto it. The stones didn't hurt her soles, though she was barefooted. She might as well have been walking on a river.
She was admiring the too-lush plants and impossible creatures scurrying up and down the sides of the path as she followed it. Whether she walked for hours or minutes, she couldn't say. It was a trance. It was so similar to the escape from reality a high can give you, but she was still clear-thinking and in control. It was ecstasy.
In the distance, Tenten noticed the familiar sound of a violin in the distance, but one more beautiful than she had ever heard before. It was a mournful, exquisite wail; the music you hear when your heart begins to break.
She snapped her vision back to the path she was standing on, on some sort of instinct. Then, there was another way branching off, paved in fragmented tiles of deep wines and brilliant blood-reds. They formed intricate patterns that danced and coiled as if whispering a secret she couldn't quite catch.
She was mystified, taking the new path, hoping it would lead her to the source of the music playing. It led her deeper and deeper into the dark mass of trees, where they were almost no more animals; only thick vegetation closing her in. The bizarre colors above her faded to the night sky in what felt like seconds. It was the night sky she knew, with maybe a few more stars in the glittery dust the indigo sky was painted with.
Finally, the forest let out into another meadow that captured the moon's light brighter than Tenten had ever seen it. It was bathed in its silvery blue glow, as was the boy in the center, violin tucked under his chin. Tenten would have thought he was a girl at first, with his long hair and pale skin, if he hadn't had angular features or wasn't as tall or hadn't had broad shoulders.
Alongside the fresh pain his saddening music inspired, an older pang resurfaced at the sight of him.
Maybe she'd had my heart broken to start with.
There was something about that boy, in the way he stood, tall and straight as a rail, but still at ease, that clawed at her mind, nagging her to remember. It was also in seriousness of his face that belonged on that of an old man rather than a boy her age.
Neji…
As soon as the name popped into her head, his eyes flew open. His music didn't waver for a second as he stared through her with familiar pupil-less eyes. Unconsciously, she covered herself with her arms.
"Who are you?" Tenten didn't know what she was saying until the words flew out. He didn't answer directly, but the sound of his violin rose and fell in a swift reply. It gave her so much insight she started to collapse under it.
The vines on the forest floor quickly rushed to her aid and weaved into a hammock beneath her. She had to take the time to sort through all the information in her mind and put them in their proper spots. It left her with a throbbing headache.
She had millions of more questions dying for answers, but she was afraid to ask another; instead she babbled. She had no idea about what, though, since she couldn't remember anything about who she was or where she was from. Most of it circled back to drugs and parties.
She couldn't explain why; this place and this boy were squeezing out all her ugly truths.
She had the feeling he already knew.
"Who are you?" She couldn't help asking another. She flinched, expecting an experience similar to her last, but it never came. Instead the melody calmed, dancing slowly through one ear and out the other, leaving these words behind:
Someone you didn't love enough.
They had a regretful edge. Tenten didn't believe them in a second. With all the zeal in this connection she felt, she doubted she didn't love him enough; more like she loved him too much to handle.
He sighed. She suspected he was listening in on her thoughts.
His gaze dropped to the ground and hers followed. A small bush was sprouting out for the earth, curling and flourishing to the sound of his violin. It began to bud little fruits.
Its fruits turned out to be vibrant orange pills.
Instinctively, Tenten picked one and popped it back, because who knew what kind of one this would give her.
In a rush, her body started to convulse, and bend back in impossible ways. Sickening cracks mingled with the sorrow of the boy's tune.
She was tossed into a flurry of memories of her and this boy… Neji. She remembered feelings that churn in your stomach and others that rip it to shreds, closed-lipped kisses in the dark, sloppy ones in the rain, warm arms in the dead of winter, shouting at midnight, and crying alone, his face behind her eye-lids.
A single tear slid down her cheek.
"What happened?" She whispered.
"Oh Tenten," He spoke low and clear for the first time. She wasn't sure when the music stopped playing. "You took one pill too many."
Tenten's vision blacked out and all the colors drained away. Her mind groped around in the dark for that crazy nonsense world, because she wasn't ready to face her reality again.