Hello to everyone who has decided to read this story; I would like to say you are all awesome!
Now, a few warnings before continuing:
This story will be divided into three 'Books', one for each movie (which is the media I will be focusing on, as I have no read the books yet); with each book divided into different Parts.
As I publish this chapter, Part I of Book I is complete; as a sort of trial run about how exactly I will be writing and updating this story.
Speaking of updating this story, I already have a main story I am writing at the same time, Cloudy Rain and Thunder, and my time will sometimes be mostly devoted to that story. This is a sort of hobby-fic of mine while I 'decompress' from a long days work.
The story is OC-centric; meaning my Original Character is the star of this show; and the universe is AU - Canon Divergence; so expect changes to the plot to occur during the length of the story.
Also, this story may contain subject matters and themes that may be considered 'mature'; In other words, I might be a little graphic in description of violence (once we get to those parts) and topics not safe for younger audiences (such as suicide and depression).
Without taking more of your time, here's the chapter, and I hope you like it!
+ If Wishes were Fishes and Cattle were Kings +
Prelude - "Every new beginning comes...
The familiar sound of an alarm blaring right in my ears is enough to rouse me from my unusually deep slumber. Cobwebs of sleep and confusion are swept away in seconds when my bleary eyes recognize the overwhelming darkness and the feeling of being carried upwards rapidly on a metal surface.
I remembered this... I knew what this was...
This was the Box.
But that couldn't be, could it? Why would I be in the Box? I'd already been in the Box a long time ago, why would I be in the Box again?
Again...
No one had ever been in the Box more than once. No one.
So why was I here? Where was the Box taking me?
Who put me here?
'It's going up', I voiced aloud in my thoughts,' The speed is dropping, it's going to reach the top soon.'
Memories of those doors opening and ashen faces staring down at me with empty eyes twist my stomach.
I'd have probably puked if I had had anything in my stomach, instead I shivered against the metal grating of the Box.
This didn't make sense. Why would the Box be taking me up to the Arena? There was nothing there, no one remained in the Arena, I was the last one. So why would the Box be taking me up there?
'Maybe this is all a dream', I thought,' Maybe all we think is reality hasn't happened yet. It could all just be a fever dream.'
Those thoughts are shamelessly shattered though when I stand up on shaky legs and lean on the cold metal walls. My body hurts. It's sore and it hurts to breath in too deeply, my ribs are probably badly bruised, which would make sense since I remembered having a nasty tumble whilst I was running...
Running from what though?
I couldn't remember.
And that scared me.
"It's happening again..." My throat sounds raw, like I've been screaming for hours and, in the back of my head, I weigh if it wouldn't be better for me to not talk for a while.
I was back in the Box and I felt as if I was missing something. My memories...
Someone had messed up my memories.
My stomach rebelled again.
Immediately I tried to recall the names and faces of the people I knew, relieved when the answer came back positive, then I tried to remember all I did for the last two years, again, relieved when I could safely say I hadn't forgotten anything.
But I grew concerned when I realized I couldn't recall leaving the maze or seeing anyone in it, because if I hadn't left the maze, someone or something had to have taken me out of it, and the exact outline of the maze was fuzzy.
I couldn't picture it in my mind perfectly like I usually could.
'Is anything missing?' The thought bubbles in my mind.
I check, grossed out when I feel congealed patches of gore and slime from a previous encounter with a Beast, and I am relieved to see that no, I have all my equipment. Funny enough, whoever put me back in the Box didn't even take the dagger I had made with a Beast's claw.
Better not look a gift horse in the mouth.
I look around the Box, despite the overwhelming darkness, for something out of the ordinary but I find nothing. Crates and boxes piled up and secured on one side of the Box whilst a newbie, once again that being me, stood on the other side.
I breathe in deeply and find it suspicious when the familiar smell of ash and decay doesn't immediate touch my nose, the Box is close enough to the surface that it should be obvious by now.
That thought made another memory pop up. The ghost pain of my head hitting the ceiling of the Box when it stopped suddenly making me wince, causing me to hiss in pain when that makes my bruises worsen.
Best find a way for that to not happen again. I crouch beside the crates and hold tightly to the ropes securing them.
I close my eyes in preparation for the blinding light of the outside.
'What am I going to do?' I think to myself,' What am I going to see when those doors open?'
Faceless people staring down at me, leering and sounds of screams make the air in my lungs freeze. I cough violently.
'Don't think. Don't wait. As soon as those doors open, just run.' A voice whispers in my ear.
I remember that voice.
'You know the drill, Cricket,' the voice laughs,' We'll be right behind you.'
I relax minutely, letting my breathing slow and my thoughts to still.
Don't think. Don't wait. Just run.
The Box stops completely with a mighty lurch, I lean further against the crates, the alarm keeps blaring for a few seconds longer before stopping. In my mind's eye I can see the red light turn green.
I'm left in silence for two seconds before voices drift from above.
Too many voices.
There was never that many people in the Arena.
'Where am I?!' Fear tries to capture my mind.
'Don't think! Run, Cricket! Run!' Ell's voice screams at me, grounding my panic to a halt.
I cautiously open my eyes slowly, it isn't as bright as I feared, and the air is warmer than I'm used to.
A warm day? Could I be this lucky?
I don't look up as the doors fully open, but I can still feel their heavy stares at seeing me half hidden behind the crates and shadows.
They can't get a clear view of me...
The sound of boots hitting the metal floor of the Box makes me tense up, energy bubbling inside of me, growing with each heavy pump of my heart.
Adrenaline, fantastic.
I watch whoever it is approaching me through the corner of my eye.
Male, seventeen or eighteen, tall, brownish hair cut very short. I can't get a clear picture of his eyes, but I believe them to be brown.
I can, however, see muscle in his arms and legs. He's strong, he's the type of guy that can back up the words he spouts in a conflict.
Not good.
"Day One, Greenie." He taunts, voice mocking.
Greenie, the nickname used for newbies most likely.
The Arena didn't send anyone to grab the newbie as he arrives. In the Arena, people don't talk to others without prompt.
'This isn't the Arena.' That thought sends cold chills down my spine.
Unfortunately for him, I'm not a newbie (as far as I'm concerned) and I'm not someone easily daunted. I let his words slide off me like water off a ducks back mostly because I'm certain he hasn't gotten a clear view of me yet.
Else he wouldn't be so quick to judge me.
He reaches down to grab me and in the split second he does I launch myself to my feet. He stumbles back at my sudden movement, but recovers quickly.
Just not quick enough.
Using him as a jumping board I grab hold of the edge of the Box and pull myself up, as soon as my feet touch the ground I'm running.
'Don't think. Don't wait. Just run.' I keep the mantra in my head, nearly imagining Leaf, Ell and Tie following behind me, heads lowered and bodies loose.
Some of the boys surrounding the Box try to grab me as I run past them, but none manage to grab a hold of me.
'If you're caught, you're dead.' Leaf tells me,'So make sure to run faster than anyone else.'
"Someone get Alby!" "Grab him!" "That shank's fast!" "We have a runner!" "He's headed for the Doors!"
Their voices are loud. Loud and distracting, I try to push them out of my mind with limited success. Subconsciously I knew that their words were important in terms of information they might spill.
Alby had to be someone important. Or fast. Shank... I wasn't sure what it meant exactly, but I perceived that as an insult. Runner, that one was easy to know the meaning of.
Doors... I lift my eyes to stare at the imposing white gates that symbolized the only way out of the enclosure I found myself in. Again.
Just like the Arena, though I never thought I had ever seen so much green shrubbery and grass before.
And if this place was just like the Arena then that meant those Doors lead to the Maze.
I scoff internally, I was not going to run blindly into the Maze. No way.
I'm headed for higher ground.
I take a sharp turn and jump over a rudimentary fence and through a field of corn, ignore the shouting and swearing happening behind me, and speed up towards the large forest I can see peeking out of the corn.
I try not to gape at the corn, though. The sight of it made my stomach clench in hunger.
When was the last time I ate?
I shake my head, now was not the time, my lungs burn with how fast I'm running despite my aching body and weakened state. The forest is right in front of me now.
Trees. Tall and thick trees with dark green leaves that offer protection from the sun. Trees are safe. So long as they cannot reach you, so long as they cannot grab you, you are safe.
'For now.' My mind unhelpfully supplies.
The forest is different than I'm used to, it's bigger and more alive than the cold, desolate spare trees with weak branches I've learned to climb, I try to not let that thought trouble me at the moment.
I can't hear them chasing after me anymore, clearly I've lost them for a few minutes at least.
My heart is thundering in my chest and my chest hurts a lot more than it did before, I have to end this chase here lest I risk being caught. I jump to catch a low hanging branch of the tree I'm closest to and pull myself up.
It makes my arms and back muscles protest but I push myself further, climbing up to the higher branches that still have a lot of cover. I need to have a good overview of where I am exactly, but I cannot be left visible to anyone who's invested in finding my hiding spot.
When I deem myself sufficiently high up and hidden I slump against the tree trunk. All the adrenaline slowly rush out of my body and leaving me with new aches and scratches from my mad dash up the rough bark.
I lift my hands up so I can see them in the light, there's cuts and scratches lining the palms of my hands, both dried and fresh blood coating my fingers and I have ugly bruises around my wrists.
My arms are scratched up too, just not as bad as my hands.
I let my eyes wonder to my chest and legs.
My clothes are drenched in blood.
That's the first thing that catches the eye, the ugly dark red color of blood slowly turning a rusty cooper color as it dries and cracks over the thick material of my shirt and pants.
My shoes look like they've been through the wringer, falling apart at the seams despite the tape holding them together.
I pull my shirt up and stare at the discolored and bruised skin underneath it. My fingers barely graze them when I pull them back with a hiss.
That hurt. A lot.
"Let's not do that again." I mutter weakly to myself, my voice sounds croak-y and weak.
I can count my ribs through my skin, my stomach clenches in hunger again, and I let my shirt fall back down on my chest.
I haven't eaten in days. Haven't had a good decent meal in months. I was probably going to pay for this later.
I let my head fall back against the tree and I close my eyes.
I had hoped when I took off out of those doors that I would never find myself here in the Arena again.
And I kind of got my wish, right? This wasn't my Arena. I didn't recognize that boy, he was my age, or around it at the very least, so I should've been able to recognize him if I had ever met him.
'He didn't look like the others,' my mind adds.
He looked healthy and well-fed, something I can't say I've used to describe someone else in a while, plus confident enough to taunt whoever he wanted without fear of immediate repercussions.
No, this wasn't my Arena.
It was warm, too warm, and there was too much vegetation. Crops... I remembered seeing various crops growing as I ran through the fields. And animals, in the wind I could hear animals making all kind of sounds.
Amazing...
This wasn't my Arena.
...
Then where was I? What was I doing here?
The sounds of footsteps walking through the forest halts me in my musings, instantly focusing on what was being said as whoever it was grew closer.
"...he just took off, didn't ask anything just jumped out of the Box and took off." I hear someone say, his voice had an accent I had never heard before and that stumps me for a moment.
How odd.
I control my breathing (despite my chest protesting) to make it harder for someone to hear me.
"And Gally just let him run off?" Another one questions, this time the voice is stern and gruff, "The others just stood there and watched him disappear?"
This was their leader, probably.
I tense up in my tree branch, fingers closing around a knife hidden in my shoe. I could have a damn good aim when I wanted to, even if I hadn't practiced in a while.
'Hold it like this, yeah like that, Cricket, now throw it!' Ell instructed.
"Gally ran after him as soon as he got back up, Clint and Alex chased after him plus a few of the other boys who were working and saw him pass by but he was just too fast for them." The british boy answers, sounding vaguely amused by the whole ordeal, "Dmitri and Fred are guarding the Doors until they close, so he hasn't gone through them." He added.
"How is it possible for one Greenbean to outrun twenty odd shanks and no one saw exactly where he ran off to?" The leader scoffs.
"We know he ran off this way..." The other one seems to sigh.
I hear them grow closer to my position so I carefully look down to see them.
They are both tall, eighteen or nineteen, maybe even tall seventeen year olds, looking from side to side as they walk slowly, almost as if they expect me to pop out of the bushes.
'Not damn likely,' I huff under my breath.
One of them walks with a limp, I realize. Old injury? He has curly blond hair that burns under the sunlight and light colored skin. Although he wears long sleeves I am able to see the muscles underneath.
He's lean but I wouldn't want to get into close combat with him, not whilst I'm this dead tired on my feet.
As I'm above them and both boys are busy starring down at their surroundings I can't make out his eye color but part of me assumes he has dark eyes.
He reminds me of Leaf, appearance wise.
The second guy is dark skinned, hair cut so close to his scalp he might as well be bald, with wide shoulders and a bulky stature.
He cuts a remarkable figure against the darkening sky.
"The Box was late today," the dark skinned one, I recognize his voice as the one I dubbed 'the Leader', says,"And now this?"
"We'll find him, Alby." The blond tells him,"The Doors are closing soon, Minho and the others will be back in a bit and then they can help us look for him. Once the doors close it's not like the Greenie has anywhere to go." He shrugs.
He's right, of course. Once the Maze closes for the day I only have the enclosure to run around in, and I'm not delusional enough to believe they won't find me sooner or later with me being unfamiliar with the terrain and with their routines.
At most I can stall their discovery for a few hours and catch a bit of shut-eye before I'm forced to another game of cat and mouse.
Another piece of information I gleamed off of the short conversation was that the leader was named Alby, the one the others went to call when I made my break for it, which made sense. And this Minho guy was out on the Maze... Couldn't say I understood that.
I had been on my Maze many times (too many in my opinion) and I never thought I'd see someone willingly go in it. The smooth stone walls covered in ivy and mould that changed day, the dead ends or endless corridors always gave me anxiety.
Tie had had to drag me through them whilst I was frantically trying to keep myself calm more times than I cared to admit.
"Why would he run?" The leader shakes his head,"We have rules. No Glader is to be harmed." He tells the blond.
Well, that's interesting.
"He couldn't have bloody known that, could he?" The blond sighs," Don't worry, Alby, we'll find him soon enough and you can give him the rules speech."
And now that interesting as turn to worrying.
Rules... Not again.
Glader... A term used to refer to the people living here, maybe?
And the 'No harm' rule seems unrealistic to me. A lie, basically, despite the fact I cannot sense a lie coming from them.
This place looks familiar to my Arena but the people in it couldn't be any more different.
'It's not safe to trust them,' my mind tells me, remembering what happened to the others.
Although it wasn't likely that I would ever be able to forget, especially with all that's happened.
The two don't say anything else, they just walk out of my line of sight and leave me alone to breath out and relax against the tree again. I'm not incredibly comfortable sitting here but truth of the matter was that I had sat and hid longer in more uncomfortable and tight spaces than a thick tree branch.
At least up here I could actually breathe easily. I move slightly on the branch and let out a quiet hiss when the bark presses on a cut running down my back, hopefully it had stopped bleeding and had scabbed over already.
Though, if it had, then my sprint from the Box to here and my climbing effort has surely opened it back up.
Damn. That is so going to hurt later on, especially if the shirt gets glued to it.
I turn my eyes upwards to the darkening afternoon sky, it's nearly dusk the Doors had to be clo-...
A loud clanking sound alerted the start of the Doors closing.
Just like in my Arena.
I pushed away memories of those imposing Doors closing on desperate faces, too slow to make it back before it was too late.
I closed my eyes and let myself snooze lightly. I was tired, like bone-deep, dead on my feet, tired. Plus my head hurt and I was not emotionally ready to deal with the idea that I was, once again, stuck inside a Maze with twenty to thirty odd people I had never met before in my life.
Granted, my 'life' consisted of two years worth of memories I had made whilst trapped in a Maze similar to this one, 'cept mine certainly didn't have as many people as this one.
Not alive, at least.
"Holy klunk!" Someone gasps.
Of for the love of...-
I rigidly sit up on the branch and look down to stare at the bastard who spotted me, unreasonably surprised to see a tall asian teenager (couldn't have been more than seventeen with those soft edges on his face) staring, or gaping, at me.
"You scared the hell out of me, Greenbean." He gulps.
I remain silent, deeply amused by his reaction, in this sorry state I couldn't look very friendly. Blood soaked clothes, dirt and gore covering me from head to toe, plus I was not amused by this whole situation so my expression could've been anything between a glare to an empty stare.
I observe him from the safety of my branch, he's as tall as the other three I've met but 'bigger' than them, in the way that he either shows more muscle or that he stands straighter, not exactly sure.
He has dark hair and eyes, wearing simple clothes that only highlight the leather pads and harness he carries.
He's dangerous. This is someone who's ready, and expecting, for a fight.
"Are you hurt?" He asks quietly, frowning up at me as he takes in my appearance.
Honestly, I'd apologize. I don't know him from anywhere and as long as he doesn't try to get too close to me I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and not attack him on sight, but as of recent events...
I wasn't exactly on top shape here, and my patience was running thin. Instead of answering I tense further when he walks closer to my tree.
Perhaps I should throw something at him? Not a knife, those could be perceived as an immediate threat, a branch maybe?
"Oh, klunk! I nearly forgot!" His eyes widen before he takes off, leaving me alone.
Well... That was unexpected.
'He went to fetch others,' my thoughts process what's happening,' I should leave this tree and hide somewhere else.'
And I am tempted to, really, except now that they knew of my ability to climb and hide in foliage it'll be easier to find me a second time, furthermore I might as well just wait here and fight them off if it proves necessary.
Even if I have never fought off thirty odd people at once...
"...And he just scared the klunk out of me, he's just sitting there covered in blood!" The teen's voice is loud in my ears, getting louder by the second as he gets closer to the tree again.
When he returns to his previous spot he's accompanied by others, which I was expecting, but with a lot less people than I imagined. Only the leader, the blond from before and a brown haired guy that's carrying a small bulging bag over his shoulder.
"How much blood?" The brown haired guy asks immediately after he stops talking.
"You tell me," He answers, pointing to where I am sitting staring down at them.
The three males pale at the sight.
"That's not good..." The brown haired one breathes.
"How in the bloody hell did he climb that high?!" The blond gasps, eyes wide open.
Inwardly I am pleased to see my assumption of their color being correct, brown eyes contrasting against his light hair color.
But I am confused by the worry that flashes through their eyes as they watch me.
Why would they be worried? Are they afraid I was going to attack them?
'I could,' I muse in my mind,' But that's not going to help the situation I find myself stuck in.'
"Hey..." A quiet voice brings my attention back on the group, I turn to see the leader, Alby, approach the tree slowly,"It's okay, we're not going to hurt you."
I don't believe him but I don't say anything of the sort to him, maybe if I ignored them they'd leave me alone.
"My name is Alby, I'm the one in charge here." He points to himself," And these shanks right here are Newt," he points at the blond," my second-in-command, Clint," he points to the brown haired guy," he's a Med-jack he can treat your wounds, and then this guy right here is Minho," he points to the one that found me," he's one of our Runners."
Okay... So Runner isn't perhaps what I thought it was.
And Med-jack? Really? They named it that?
Also, I couldn't help but slowly blink as they said their names out loud to me. What were they thinking? You don't do that.
You don't just say your name... What was going on here?
"Can you come down from there?" He asks me, taking a step further to the tree.
I give him an unimpressed stare from where I am.
My ears detect a chuckle coming from the group but I just keep staring at the approaching male.
"Fair enough," The leader nods, I believe he was a bit amused by my response,"Look, I know you're confused, that's normal. But there's nothing to be scared of." He tells me.
I would have let that comment slide if something inside the Maze hadn't chosen that exact moment to shriek unholy hell, easily heard in the quiet of the evening.
I crack a grim expression at him.
"Liar." I croak, my throat sore and hurting.
They tense at my response, really what were they expecting me to say once I heard that?, and the brown haired guy, Clint, tries to get closer.
I hiss at him, stunning the group.
"You're hurt." He says," You need to get those wounds treated."
Technically badly bruised does not constitutes as 'hurt enough to require assistance', at least in my book, and the worst wound I have is a cut on my back and like hell I'm turning my back on an unknown.
"'m not." I tell him.
"Do you remember your name?" The leader asks me.
I nod, of course I remember it, hadn't forgotten it since I first woke up in the B-...
Oh. Oh! They think I'm just a regular newbie! They don't know I come from a different maze.
Which was hard not to see since I was wearing clothes similar to theirs, with mine being thicker and way more ragged than theirs, with harnesses and leather straps exactly like the asian's, Minho's?
"Can you tell us your name?" The leader asks then, if they are surprised I remembered it 'so quickly' they don't show it.
I shake my head immediately at his question.
I wasn't giving them my name.
"Mine," I rasp.
They blink at my response.
"Well... We're not going to bloody take it from you." The blond huffs.
I hear Minho hiss a low "Newt!" in his direction.
"Doesn't... matter!" I cough, I should really stop trying to talk, my throat feels like sandpaper.
"You need to come down so I can take a look at you," this Clint guy sighs," You don't look too good."
'Really? You don't say,' I roll my eyes,"No." I voice aloud.
"Look, Greenie, here in the Glade we have three rules." Alby cuts in, seemingly holding back harsher words.
I tense up at the word 'rules', something no one misses.
"One, no one is allowed to harm another Glader, do you understand what that means?" He asks, looking me in the eye, something I was sure was hard due to how awful I had to look.
That rule meant that Gladers were safe from aggression, even among themselves. Although I wasn't sure how that translated to me, since I wasn't a Glader.
Nevertheless, I nod at his words and he continues.
"Two, we all pitch in to help. Everyone carries their weight around here, no freeloaders. We'll see where you fit in best, try a bit of every job until you find your niche." He tells me.
My niche is up this tree with no one around me, I wanted to retort, but I keep quiet. I nod at his words even while I'm preparing myself for the other shoe to drop.
"And three, no one, and I mean no one, Greenie, is allowed outside those Doors. Do you understand me." He asks, his tone of voice booking no arguments.
And there it was. The Maze was off-limits. Unusual and weird but to each their own, I wasn't eager to get back into a Maze anyway so I just nod and keep watching them silently.
"Now, you're hurt," He doesn't ask," So I'mma going to need you to get down from there."
Like hell I'm going to do that, I may abide by your 'rules' and don't do anything to intentionally antagonize you but I'm not about to trust you.
I'm not a fool.
"Leave me alone." I cough again, covering my mouth and pulling myself up on the branch, ready to climb higher if need be.
"You're a stubborn one, aren't ya?" The blond, Newt, smirks up at me, though his eyes are gazing at me with something akin to a mix of understanding and worry.
I go to shrug at his words but end up pulling at the healing cut on my back, I hiss.
Oh, not good.
"You're hurting yourself further by staying up there! You have to come down! Look at all that blood!" Clint looks as if he's ready to pull his hair out.
"Clint..." The leader sighs.
"Alby! Look at him! He can't stay there!" Clint points at me.
"Leave me alone." I growl this time.
The others look up at me with exasperation.
"How about a compromise?" The leader asks instead.
Compromise... A deal?
I'm good at making deals.
I tilt my head to the side, interested, and spy through the corner of my eye the amused look shared between Minho and Newt.
"Okay, so... We'll leave you alone for now," here he ignores the hiss from Clint," but you promise to come down tomorrow and let Clint take a look at you." Alby tries.
"No deal." I shake my head," You leave me alone and I'll promise to not run off again." I compromise,"That's all you're going to get for simply leaving me alone today."
I'm not surprised by the reluctance in their expressions, although they clearly should've expected something like this.
"And to not try and leave the Glade." Alby adds.
I stare at him confused.
"You don't try and go through the Doors." He explains.
"Deal, ain't exactly urging to get eaten by whatever made that sound." I agree.
I see Minho, Newt and the leader crack a small smile at that.
"Good that," Alby nods, then gestures for the others," Let's leave him alone, we can try again tomorrow."
"Alby, but he's hurt!" Clint argues.
"And you think he won't harm himself further if you try to climb after him? Or do you want to try and push him down the tree?" Alby crosses his arms.
Clint doesn't argue further but he does give me a scathing glare as he turns away.
They all leave, some with more reluctant than others, but they all go. Minho even threw me a cheery wave as he left.
I stay alert to see if they decide to stick around and keep an eye one me, but the silence of the forest denies that possibility. I relax against the tree once more, falling asleep with a single thought on my mind:
'What a weird bunch of people.'
...from some other beginning's end." - Seneca