You were chilled to the bone, in more ways than one.
Glancing behind you, breath hitched, you willed your legs to continue to push past what little endurance you had left. A blast of cold wind blew right through you, and you involuntarily shuddered in response, wrapping your arms tighter around your upper body. Whatever body heat you had was disappearing, despite the exertion. You were running low on stamina too.
Gulping in freezing air, you made a sharp left turn, nothing but the howling of the wind and the crunching of your feet in the snow interrupting the silence surrounding you. As the burn in your legs increased, you finally had to slow down, finding a bush to sit behind, back against a rather sturdy trunk of a tree. It was by no means a safe hiding place, but hopefully it'd buy you a few precious minutes to catch your breath and rest. You swallowed air greedily while attempting to keep yourself as quiet as possible.
Wherever your pursuer was, they surely weren't nearby. The forest was silent save for your breathing. You needed this brief respite.
As your head gently knocked against the trunk, you closed your eyes, allowing the forest's atmosphere to envelop you. Despite the circumstances you had found yourself in, you couldn't help but be slightly awed by the serenity and calm nature provided you. Pulling your legs up to your chest, you hugged them tightly. There was only so far you could go and in a strange land such as this, you weren't sure where to go or who to find for help. Was there even anyone willing to protect you? She had tried briefly, but your stubbornness to leave quickly destroyed any chance of that. Thinking back to your first memory after waking up from your fall, you realized the silence you were in now was not comforting. The ruins had their share of life, but here...
Where were the other monsters?
Your head shot up as the crack of a tree branch resounded through the clearing. It was close, off to your left. You paused any movements and focused all of your attention on your hearing, waiting for whoever had caused the noise to reveal themselves further.
As soon as you heard the tell-tale sign of crunching snow growing closer, you bolted. Through the forest you ran, tree limbs whipping past you, little scrublings clawing at your exposed legs to leave tiny gash marks. You couldn't stop again, not for anything. You ducked your head as a low branch blocked your path before deciding to dart right. It was impossible to know how close your pursuer was, but you didn't want to chance stopping to find out.
Faintly, inside your heart, you knew it was fruitless. Something tugged your beating drum down, reveling in the thought that you were wasting your efforts in the pursuit for a freedom that was unlikely to be achieved. You pushed that thought back viciously, taking another right turn. It was hard not to let your mind get clouded when fear coursed through your veins, guiding you by instinct through the never-ending forest.
There was another crunch of a branch off to your left, so you darted right again to avoid capture. Feeling your muscles start to tense up again, you willed yourself to move past it, hoping for a second wind. A few minutes later, you could do nothing but let yourself collapse forward, panting heavily. The snow melted into cold water that coated your knees and hands where they touched; ruefully you thought you were starting to feel the effects of frostbite. Biting back a bitter laugh, you crawled toward a clump of trees. Silence followed you.
Cool condensation flowed down your cheeks and you furiously rubbed at your eyes. Crying was no use here.
A glance at your surroundings gave you no indication of your location. For all you knew, you were looping back to where you started. Maybe that's what your pursuer wanted. Sighing, you watched your breath fog as it left your lips, causing you to curl into as tight of a ball as you could to conserve your warmth. The minutes - or was it seconds? or hours? - marched by, leaving you to your solitude in the land of white.
Your limbs felt heavy and you pitched your head forward against your knees. As you felt your eyes beginning to close slowly of their own accord, a faint laugh brought you back to your senses. Head snapping up, you let your eyes dart around the area.
Nothing identified itself as the owner.
You choked back a sob and uneasily pushed yourself to your feet. Lurching off to the side, you stumbled through the snow that made your trek ever increasingly difficult. Each footstep was leaden with a growing weight. Eventually, feeling the numbness spreading throughout your body, you let yourself sink to your knees. Where they should have hit the soft squish of snow, you felt hard gravel push back up against them.
This time, you could not stop your howl of frustration as realization sunk in. This was the path you had started on, open and void. Bowing your head as your tears fell freely, there was the softest of sounds that seemed to echo.
You stiffened even as your sniffles continued. Glancing up, you were met with his gaze. He stood before you, separated by a mere few feet. Cold and unforgiving, as a demon ready to slay the human, he gave you a cocky yet sinister grin.
"Look at that. I found you again."
Nonononono! Shaking your head from side-to-side frantically, you let your face plead for safety. Immunity. He merely gave a half-chuckle in retort. There would be none given.
Raising his hand, blue magic energy embracing it with an eerie glow, he let his final words wash over you as everything grew black and empty.
"Tag, you're it. Come find me again, kid. I dare you. I'll be waiting."
AN: So, I wrote this after watching a MEP by pixelstudios on YouTube featuring the song "Tag, you're It" by Melanie Martinez.
I hope it came across that we're in Underfell AU.