Fushigi Yuugi was created by Watase Yuu
The white mist was hanging in the air, completely obscuring her vision. A rushing sound was heard. Was it wind rustling through leaves? Or the gurgling of water nearby? She couldn't tell. Unsure what to do, she slowly knelt down and placed her hands on the ground, to see if she could figure something out about her surroundings, but it was futile. The ground felt smooth. No bumps, no cracks, no characteristic that could tell her anything. Was it stone or glass? Steel?
Kaede frowned. She didn't like this. She felt trapped. Despite nothing holding her on her spot, she wasn't sure what lay beyond her in any direction. For all she knew, the ground could suddenly disappear beneath her feet and she'd fall. Slowly standing up, she wondered what she should do now. Then a grumbling sound started up behind her. It became louder, getting nearer and a shadow slowly became visible. Kaede turned and-
The school bell ripped Kaede back to her senses. The open notebook in front of her was empty, her left hand poised against it with a pencil in her hand. Her classmates were arranging their things, putting them into their bags and the teacher was leaving the classroom. Realizing she had blanked out the entire lesson, she put her own things away and saw Yume leaning towards her from across the aisle.
"What's this, Kaede?" she asked, smirking. "You, falling asleep in class? With your eyes open, too."
"Uh, guess so. Though..." Kaede wondered. "I can't remember falling asleep. Didn't feel like a dream, either."
The two left the classroom, heading outside for lunch. The day was hot as the last ones had been, making the students sweat in their summer uniforms and the prospect of summer vacation still being a ways off, only exams to look forward to before that. The crickets were humming an irregular rhythm. Yume opened her lunchbox, then nudged Kaede in the side.
"Want me to figure out the meaning of your dream?"
"Why?"
"Cause you look confused." Yume said. "Come on, you know I'm good at it. Tell me about it."
Kaede sighed, though she agreed. She told Yume about the featureless surroundings and the uneasy feeling. Her friend nodded, stating that the area meant she was lost or would find herself somewhere new, eagerly waiting for more details. So the girl continued to talk about the shadow that began to creep up on her.
"And...?" Yume asked, a mad glint in her eyes as she leaned towards Kaede. "And?"
"What does it mean when chocolate cake stalks me?"
Yume's face fell in disappointment and she plopped back onto her butt, sighing dramatically.
"Probably that you were hungry." she mumbled. "Man, you get me all excited about what it could mean, like a new acquaintance with someone important you'll meet and then you dream about running away from food..."
"I never said I was running." Kaede explained and finally started eating her own lunch.
Poor Yume, she was a hopeless romantic. And since she began to gobble up books about predicting the future with dreams or their meanings, she has begun to be almost frantic in seeing all sorts of signs in things. Most of her predictions often involved romance, like meeting one's potential new lover or how to find them, which was pretty popular among the female students. But unless romance played even a small part in someone's dream, Yume just wasn't all that interested.
"What?" Yume asked, seeing her friend turn and look behind her.
"Ah, just thought someone had called me." she answered and turned back.
"Maybe a different Kaede?"
"Mh." Kaede agreed. There weren't many people in school that called her by her first name, anyway, and she hadn't seen anyone familiar enough with her to do so. It must've been someone calling out to another Kaede.
"Too hot..." Yume moaned, flopping over and letting her arms dangle towards the floor. "Can't we ignore tests and let summer vacation start three weeks early?"
"I doubt the school would do that." Kaede consoled her and gave her an encouraging pat on the back.
With school out for the day, Yume had asked her to join her for a little detour on the way home. It was nothing more than a little window shopping, she wanted to show her some new jewelry that had been displayed in a nearby shop. But with time advancing, Kaede figured she'd better go home now. She wanted to study for the exams, but also told her mother she'd help with dinner today, so she said goodbye to Yume at the train station and boarded a train.
On the train, Kaede looked around, feeling again like someone had called her. But nobody in her close vicinity had said anything, nor were their lips moving. The only one talking was a rather tired salesman on his phone, and he was more than half a car away from her. Had she heard things again? Maybe she was mentally exhausted and just thought someone had called her.
"Please be careful of the closing doors..." the automated, female voice stated after Kaede had stepped onto the platform. Behind her, the train began to beep as the doors closed and the train began to move again. Adjusting the strap of her bag, she walked toward the stairs leading down to the regular street. The sun was almost done setting for the day, leaving the sky with a purple shade that began to grow darker, the streetlights already turned on.
Feeling a cold breeze brush against her bare arms, Kaede started walking faster. The trees lining the street to both sides always gave the area an enclosed atmosphere, which some people either enjoyed or disliked. It overall never bothered her much, but when she had to walk through this area with a cold wind going, it did make her feel uneasy. That combination tended to give off a sinister feeling.
"Mh?" Kaede turned around again, looking behind her. The street was empty and nothing but the wind was making some noise. Again the feeling of being called, but now she was certain that she was imagining it. There was just no way anyone would call her right now, unless it was some shady person, that was thin enough to hide behind one of the trees, and was thinking of jumping out at her. Shaking her head and sighing frustratedly, she turned back and kept going - but then noticed her vision was going.
Panic struck her at once, her mind racing: she wasn't feeling dizzy, nor was it going white in front of her eyes. It didn't feel like she was fainting. Instead, it felt more like a colored hue was being painted over her vision, with a sensation of floating taking her off her feet and into the air...
Shielding her eyes, Kaede tried to adjust to the sudden change of brightness around her, but she already noticed other things that felt different. The air was drier and very, very warm. Much warmer than the day had been earlier, and the little breeze that rarely blew around her sounded differently. Things smelled differently. Dry and... rough? Lowering her hand, she squinted.
Sand? Sand all around her, under her feet and even in the distance. The sun was glaring down without any clouds in the bright blue sky, a small moment of wind whirled some sand into the air, before it fell back down. Kaede looked around, still seeing nothing but sand in every direction. A desert? Was she in a desert? How... how did she get here?
"No time for that..." she told herself and began untying the scarf of her school uniform, spread it out and put it on top of her head, letting the corners of it hang into her face. She wanted to protect her head from the heat as much as she could.
Gripping the strap of her bag tighter, she opened it and looked inside. Notebooks, handouts, her pencil case... and her gym clothes. Nothing helpful. Her t-shirt had sleeves as short as her summer uniform, putting it on wouldn't cover any more of her arms than they already were. Same with the shorts. Closing the bag again, Kaede bit her thumb.
No helping it. There was nothing near her that she could use for shade or to cover her up more.
All she could do now... was walk.
Taking a deep breath and lowering her head, to protect her face from the brightness and direct sunlight, Kaede began to march forward. Her footing wasn't perfectly secure, she slipped now and then. The sand was very soft and very fine, she could feel little sand crumbs making their way into her shoes, no matter how she tried to keep them out. They began to scratch on the inside, messing up her feet.
Despite her mind telling her she shouldn't, Kaede stopped to catch her breath. Having no watch, she had no idea how long she had been walking already, but it felt long. Her mouth was starting to feel dry, her knees had begun to ache from the strain of walking on uneven ground for so long and her arms were growing uncomfortably warm. Looking up, one hand reaching up to make sure her scarf didn't fall off, she saw a shadowy, vague shape up ahead.
A town? Abandoned or were people living in it?
Unsure if she could trust her eyes, Kaede closed them tightly and opened them again. It was still there. Should she keep heading for it? It could be nothing, but the fact that there was something in this big field of nothing, made it interesting. Inhaling deeply, she held it for a few seconds and then exhaled, forcing her scratched up feet to keep walking.
It was fake... nothing but a mirage...
She noticed, because the shape never changed. It never became clearer or closer. Panting, her mouth dry and scratchy from lack of water, Kaede wanted in the worst way to just drop to her knees and cry. Just to vent her disappointment, her frustration of her situation. No idea where she was, nothing around her and not even knowing if there was anything to find here, only to find out the one thing she saw was nothing but a stupid fata morgana.
"Can't... don't." she thought with as much force as she could still manage.
If she sat down now, she knew she wouldn't get back up. Adjusting the scarf again, Kaede forced her shaking legs to move, her whole body hot, sweating and her uniform clinging unpleasantly to her skin. She stumbled more than before. She was tired, thirsty and dizzy from the heat, her arms and legs growing more and more red.
"Think of something... focus..." she said to herself out loud, panting heavily. Trying to think of something to keep her mind going, anything to stop her brain from thinking about how miserable she was feeling.
Then her left foot slipped, her ankle protested at the pain and she fell onto the hot sand. The sand had scratched up her arms and legs, her left knee was shaking and Kaede still tried to force herself to get up. She had to get up, but she couldn't. Pulling her arm toward her, to attempt to prop up her body, she couldn't.
Sighing, Kaede let herself relax. Somehow, the sand felt rather cool to her skin...
