A/N: Hello, and welcome to the second chapter. Not much to say but thank you for hanging on thus far, and I hope the wait was worth it from year old fans. Either way, from now on this story should be more smooth sailing plot line wise, although chapter 3 will not be up for quite some time yet. The reason I was able to write this was from the combination of the United Kingdom's October Holidays as well as some subtle hinting (spamming) from my dear, awesome, 'pure dead braw' amazing accent of a friend, SammieValxJas.
Seriously guys, she's awesome and is officially my co-author of this story now! Praise the might and powerful god (of procrastinating), Sam!...for the reference, she's the small one, I am the awesome Tulio~
The Allegory of a Fan-girl
Chapter 2 The Fall
word count: 4614
She was flying...
No scratch that, she was falling, continually dropping with no breath left to breathe...
Perhaps she was dreaming, maybe she was just flying with style?
It was all rather surreal, having one moment been in your room, about to get comfortable and watch a dvd -a simple pleasure really, when the next you are thrown into your TV, defying the laws of physics and reality. When you think about it, it is really quite amazing. Think back to a time when something life-altering happened, then go back a further five minutes. Then all was normal, maybe even dull but then BAM, you get smacked in the face like that first time you ever walked straight into a lamppost, leaving you disoriented from what just happened and unable to register the feeling of embarrassment until two minutes of standing like an idiot passed and the snide snickers and whispers finally reached your ears.
In stories Rebecca had read before, usually this was the part where suddenly she would grow wings and descend gracefully like an angel downwards from heaven. In others it varied such as clouds cushioning your fall, strong muscled men (who always just so happened to be good looking and the main love interest) would catch the girl before she landed so she would not leave a large splatter of fan-girl goo on the ground below (although sometimes you seriously wanted that to happen to one in particular). None of these occurrences seemed to be happening any time soon though to the seventeen year old girl. Unlike other fan-fictions she had once read before where a normal girl would plummet into a new, exciting and 'oddly familiar' world, Rebecca did not have an owl appear at her window that night offering a wish nor did she stumble upon a hidden demon portal. She did not accidentally read a magical book or some kind of incantation, she did not do anythingand yet it happened to her. Instead of entering a new world in some form of fantastical event that left her covered in sparkles and magical goodness, she just had to be boring and just trip into her goddamn television screen.
Haters gonna hate.
Just like that, Rebecca was thrown into something odd, unnatural and abysmally suffocating and she could not say she enjoyed it. It might have been due to the fact she fell in to a dead faint after falling in to her television, the blackness holding her behind her eyes while the storm raged and ravaged her ear drums. Somewhere in the back of her mind, if she had remained conscious for a little bit longer, she would have thought something along the lines of, 'Never before have stories been so damn misleading...'
But then again, how was she to know where exactly she was falling from? How was she to know that despite her bitter tastes and biting opinion towards certain fictions, they would hold one thing in common in her current and (quite literally) descending spiralling situation? There was a plausible reason for her being unconscious on her entry apart from the obvious inability to remain aware after such a strange turn of events (although it could always be argued that she hit her head a lot harder than she previously thought). Whatever the reasoning, it didn't matter as it was highly doubtful that when she woke up, she would immediately wonder 'Why did I faint?' rather than 'Where the hell am I?!'
One things was for sure though- when she did wake up, Rebecca would rather have stayed comatose.
Too bad she isn't the author of this story now, neh?
While the Scottish lass was not fully awake nor aware of her current situation yet, somewhere deep within her subconscious she could make out vaguely what was happening beyond the thick walls of darkness that encased her mind. Everything was silent, still and yet while on one hand something told her, niggled at her saying that she should be worried, scared at this piece of information, another part of her decided that she couldn't really care less. There was nothing supporting her body and yet instead of falling, she felt like she was floating in an endless sea of air. She registered no pain, no confusion, no nothing. And for a moment, she couldn't help but wonder in the deep recesses of her subconscious, if she was perhaps dead.
Her body felt both heavy yet light enough to float among the Autumn leaves as they were inevitably broken from their bond with mother nature's symbol of life and left to collect in a small pile of crisp, dull corpses of once vibrant colours. The atmosphere was tranquil, at peace and it felt like it never going to end. Once more that niggling little voice told her that this was not necessarily a good thing and that she should be panicking because for gods sake she could be dead! But also once more, Rebecca ignored that little voice, too content to care.
With no second thoughts, or any prior thinking at all, she thought calmly as though she was trying to placid her best friend from a ranting rampage over the break up of a favourite OTP. 'If I am dead, then I am dead. I will hold no regrets, no anguish nor any sadness so long as this quiet and untroubled feeling never lets me go.'
The peaceful moment however could not forever last as it was only that, a moment. When hazy and groggy blue eyes squinted beneath heavy eyelids before eventually turning into a more aware mixture of blue and green, they widened minutely at the great expanse of blue it met with. It looked like one of those dreams, where you never want to wake up but is interrupted anyway by the alarm for school, insistently buzzing and singing a loud, obnoxious tune that you wonder why on Earth it seemed like a good choice seven to six hours previously. No noise however pierced the tranquillity of the memorable sight and if Rebecca had forgotten that her lungs didn't seem to be working quite right already, she would have said the vision was breath-taking.
'This is wrong, stop it now. Wake up before you start thinking something stupid!' That little incessant voice returned with vigour.
'How can I wake up if I am sleeping or if not that, dead?' She replied in turn, although added 'Stupid' to the end of her thought, the Scottish girl's biting attitude and persona waking up from it's drowse also.
If anything, it only made the inner-voice even more fitful. 'I heard that! You are the one with a questionable I.Q. if you thought I wouldn't catch that in your mind, idiot.'
If it wasn't for the numb feeling that spread throughout her body, she may have scowled or frowned at the comment. Instead, she settled for insulting it some more. 'Oh piss off, I was perfectly content and comfortable until you came along. Stubborn little bugger aren't you?'
'Are you even listening to yourself?! I am a little voice INSIDE OF YOUR HEAD! Ultimately, you are arguing with your more rational side that you usually take much pride in having. Now shut up and wake the fuck up before I do something you will never forgive yourself for!' The voice threatened, turning high pitch in it's annoyance. Feeling most pissed that apparently she was not going to be enjoying in the serene setting of where-ever the hell she was, Rebecca bitingly remarked with venom, 'Oh yeah, and what are you going to do, you who 'holds no power over me'? Give me a head-ache?'
'Seems like great minds think alike huh, you moron.'
Suddenly, a painful jolt spread throughout her body, it's main central point in her head as it flowed evenly down every limb and organ, similar to a raging river, ravaging anything it came into contact with. It was like being forcefully woken up, every muscle reacting violently before encasing it's entire appendage in utter pain you could only grit your teeth to and hope to god it went away quickly.
The sky no longer looked beautiful but scarily familiar in a sense of 'I know you but I wish I didn't in this circumstance' sort of familiar. It was way too close for comfort, especially when it finally registered to her that she wasn't breathing. Several things happened at once; the blue sky disappeared into a hole left in a dark, threatening black cloud she fell through, teasingly laughing as if it pulled Rebecca in to some sort of horrible prank, she choked and tried to reach for her throat only to realise she couldn't move her arms for the amount of pressure forcibly pushing her down lower and lower, further and further, faster and faster towards the ground, and finally a horrifyingly real and sane suggestion drifted into her head, leaving a cold chill spread inside her bones while the storm she entered made sure to do the same to her body.
'I'm going to die.'
Rain pelted like tiny bullets into her skin, the clothes she wore to bed doing little to protect her pale, sensitive skin from it's bombardment. It hit with such force, within seconds everywhere on her falling and flailing with panic-figure was a bruising, hot red that looked as if it would hiss angrily if touched like a stove's hot ring. Tears welled up in her eyes but even that action caused pain to surge up behind her sockets, intensifying the headache-no migraine, caused by the little voice. Everything burned, everywhere hurt and Rebecca wanted nothing more than to scream and cry out for her mum to kiss the pain away and make the 'boo-boo's' better. If she did cry or was crying, she couldn't hear it for the loud and howling, tremendous storm that tore up her ear drums relentlessly and mercilessly.
Where was the handsome love interest so many stories had promised? The one where he would save her from the intense pain and kiss away any negative feelings or hurt despite how realistically she would slap him across the face. Where was her glitter that ranged in many colours, her large wings that would unfold out of no-where, where was her sudden appearance of super demon powers that would save her from certain death with ease?
Where was her damn fairy tale that she constantly dreamed of but would never admit to another living soul-or even to herself for that matter, of having. Why did she have to always say there was no such thing...why did she always have to be right?
Lungs vacant of air, skin as red as volcanic blood, lips as blue as an artificial rose and hair as matted, windswept and drenched as a kelpie's main, Rebecca continued to fall with no concept of time or space. As the ground grew nearer, she had no way of being aware of what was to come or the possibility of what could happen. All she knew was that she wanted it to end.
Now nothing more than a battered body falling, facing the enraged heavens above, she had no way to know that two others saw her, staring in confound wonder and anxiety. She had no way to know that they were to be her saving grace, her reason for living later within this story. With her conscious slipping willingly back into a comatose in which she was grateful, her mind whispered out for whom who was not there.
'Save me'
As her fall finally ended, her prayer was answered.
"Keep those knee's up youngin', I dinnae wish ta hear any complains of aches in yer back, got it!"
Despite the raging storm that ploughed the surrounding land, sending pieces of what were once tools of farming, sections of trees and what were no longer identifiable- too mangled by the wind and rain to be anything of worth, two figures trudged through the horrible weather, knee-deep in mud, long grass and debris. The wind howled, pushing and shoving the travellers in all directions like school children in a rush for lunch, wanting to get the hottest fast-food on sale before all others, despite how many were left bruised and injured from the passing stampede.
Long, brunette hair twisted into what was once a braid, slapped a young girl of around her teens before twisting and writhing to her other side to repeat the same harsh treatment. She didn't whine nor yell out at the pinching feeling on her numb, cold cheeks but instead hissed silently which was quickly stolen by the wind in an act of thievery. With a determined gaze, she bit the inside of her cheek, tightened her numb, pale and slightly freckled fingers, around the damp rope that helped her carry the large satchel so far on her journey and travels.
As yet another flurry of leaves smacked her in the face, she felt her patience begin to thin (although it would later be known it was her common sense, and not her present non-existent 'mental endurance') and decided to say the forbidden words, albeit chocked and mangled by the weather. "Where are we headin' again exactly?!" With no sign of a reply, she continued, "Ah couldn't help but notice that we haven't made it ta shelter in the last five minutes when ya said it over half an hour before!"
In return for her effort and now breathless lungs, the wind having decidedly taken that from her too, all she got was the view of the older, smaller and hunched woman farther ahead than before. To the young female it didn't make sense how such a tiny and rather bulky looking old granny managed to move so quickly when she wasn't looking, it was unnatural. She had questioned this before and for an answer she got a quick whap on the head with an old, gnarled stick she supposed was substituted for a walking cane.
Finally, she was answered-in a non-brutal (physical) way. "Quit yer yapping child! If it were not fer yer back talk and dopey questions, then perhaps we may have achieved this god-forsaken goal ye've set us." The elderly woman threw her response as loudly as her gritted, old voice could manage above the roar of the storm. The girl winced at her sharp, reprimanding tone and merely nodded, fully knowing she would not see it anyway. She trudged on without a word.
While only five minutes had passed, both travellers felt their limbs grow twice as weak as they were once before. With every step, the ground grew deeper and thicker with marsh and wetland. Together, they had been travelling for two days since their last comfortable stop at a town far back but knew they could not have stayed longer for the old woman warned the younger girl that towns were not safe during such hectic weather. She never specified or clearly explained just what made the little villages so dangerous during storms, but she supposed she had no choice but to follow and trust in the wise old woman's word (despite how violent an elderly she was). It wasn't like she had anywhere else to go in the first place...
Suddenly a particularly loud rumble of thunder crashed from the world above, breaking apart the thick seam of clouds in a fierce tantrum, leaving a large gaping hole in the sky. The wind rushed at the two in the open field, causing them both to huddle down and grit their teeth, clench their eyes shut and hold steady. It was suffocating.
"The Gods, they are angry at something this night! Just pay nae heed and keep low, it shall pass when they are sedated!"
The girl wanted to snap, she seriously did. Ever since she arrived in this weird, barren place, people would not shut up about the God's wrath if so much as a field didn't grow fantastic crops all year round and the arrival of creatures from Loki's own 'toy box'. It was like they had never heard of science or modern day devices before! Sure she didn't mind religion, they could believe in what they wished as did she, but there was a difference between belief and obliviousness.
Hearing her elder companion mumble incoherently, she inched open an eye to squint at the frail, hunched form in front of her. With one eye, she stared unblinkingly into the sky, wide with fright and expectancy. She muttered, "Thor has cast one down, it is banished to this Earthly plane."
"What the heck are ya talking about-?!" The girl stared, startled. There was absolutely no way, it just wasn't possible! Her large colour conflicted blue-green eyes stared into the flesh wound within the inky black clouds, and watched as something fell downwards through the hole created by the 'Gods Wrath', setting off a chill that descended her spine. The feeling the sight created, it was horrifically familiar, as was the warm shiver that travelled down her body. It was like watching a train wreck- no matter how wrong it was to stare, you couldn't help but look out of morbid curiosity.
Skin brittle with the cold, limbs shuddering under dead weight and lips cracked and near bleeding, the girl could not look away in distraction despite this. Her entire body felt numb outside, while internally it flared with that chilling warmth as she gasped and chocked, unable to breathe for an instant. As the sky continued to crack with thunder and lightening, the rain sparkling in an array of yellow and white reflections, the body fell similarly to a shot bird, dead on impact from the bullet. Sound escaped her senses, it no longer existed. This peculiar event robbed her of every sense but her sight, her ears deaf to the wind and thunder crackling for her attention. Her eyes followed the blurry, far off form before with an almighty crack, the storm blew open the sky as the body reached the murky earth in a silent landing.
In an instant, she came to her senses. Feeling the familiar poke and nudge of a sodden stick and not off an odd, contradicting cold-warmth, she turned to stare at the old woman with questioning eyes.
She noticed. "Come, it seems we have much tae be doin' tonight. Maybe ye shall show some use yet tae this frail old woman."
Holding back her tongue from replying with an, 'Frail old woman my ass...well maybe not the 'old' part, in least she recognises that well enough.' she nodded in acceptance and with another tightening grip of her make-shift satchel strap, she followed, her pace quicker than before. They now had a destination and while she wanted to argue against going to something that could very well be dangerous and a stupid idea, she also knew how that argument would end.
"Are ya crazy?! Maybe ya'r dementia finally made ya forget that somethin' just fell out'ta the sky! Durin' a storm, that always means bad mojo! Don't ya ever watch those movies-?!"
SMACK.
...yes, it was best not to 'offer' her opinion right at that moment, or at least not until they reached dry shelter. Then she'd welcome the help of sleep considering the last few nights hadn't been the most comfortable as one would expect. Believe it or not, arriving in a quaint little inn, in the middle of the country side didn't necessary suggest a 'homely comfort'. Perhaps if you were looking for a feeling of the country side i.e. wet, cold, smells of hay with a bit of a draft, then it was certainly what you were searching for.
Taking short, easy breaths, they finally arrived at their destination, and despite what little warmth and shelter it could provide, seeing as something had fallen out of the sky and left a hole in it's roof...let's just say she wasn't exactly in a hurry to go inside. From the outside, it looked to be an old barn with a broken down shack attached to the side, wooden planks scattered everywhere else but on the actual structure. What was left of the roof swayed and whistled, the wind playing and eerie melody through it's holes and cracks- although the scene itself didn't need the extra effects to create such a creepy setting. The large doors to the building barely hung onto it's hinges from years of decay and the extra abuse from the current weather. One door seemed far to large to properly fit into place anyway and far too heavy to close decent enough to keep a minimal draft out. If this was the outside, she'd rather call it quits and call for 'A Place in the Sun'.
"Quit that gawking and help me inside child, we may have a lot of work fer us."
"What?! Do ya not see that friggin' ginormous hole in there?!" She took a moment to let her incredulity show in her expression before continuing, "Where ah come from, this is not normal! Ah am not waitin' around for a hungry reptile to snack on whatever's available!"
"Do not be silly, now get inside. If anything standing in the wind will attract the buggers more." And with that she hobbled inside, her walking stick making small wet, tapping noises as it connected with the wooden flooring. The younger companion just stared after her. 'Ah can't tell if she's bein' sarcastic or really has gone old-person loopy now.' Nevertheless, she quickly followed, the resounding smack of her braid against her backside all the encouragement she needed.
It was no better on the inside than the out. The only added plus was that if she dug under some old, festered hay and wooden boards, she might find a spot to sleep where it wasn't damp or covered in rat droppings. It turned out there were more than just the one hole in the rooftop but in fact many little children holes as well. Water dripped slowly onto an old rusty pale that was left up-right standing, the resounding 'ping' decidedly going to be what kept her from that night's sleep.
"Great...ya sure know how ta pick 'em lady..." Seriously, would it of killed the old woman to have at least upgraded into a walkie-talkie by now? She had already enquired about mobile phones in which she got a dead-pan stare through the elder's good eye, the other covered by her pirate-themed eye patch. Perhaps she belonged to one of those less-known religions or cults that believed technology to be evil? It might have also explained why she looked to have gone through a war and rejected any means of modern day medicine or surgery. Heck, she basically mirrored a more battle-ready Kaede from InuYasha with her same small form, hunched back, dark eye and deep, wrinkled scowl.
"Ya know, as cheap and unsanitary some hotels might be, it wouldn't hurt ta try somethin' a little more modern. Find one with a little complementary bible for ya too." The brunette muttered, twisting her long braid to wring out all the excess rain water. She was ignored however as her older companion limped into a corner, directly beneath the splintered opening in the ceiling. An abundance of hay and furs lay in heaps, some scattered across the floor from the impact of whatever fell. 'Pretty conveniently placed if ya ask me.'
And this is why there exists a forth wall.
The girl shrugged it off, it having not been the weirdest thing she had seen during her travels and instead dropped the heavy satchel onto the floor, moaning in relief at the lifted weight. She rolled her shoulders and upon hearing them click, decided never before was there a more beautiful sound. Turning towards the old woman, she tried to persuade her. "Look, maybe it's not such a great idea ta go near it. For all we know, it could be one of those 'evil creatures' ya warned me about. What if it wakes up and feels in the mood for a two course meal?"
"There will be nae need fer such dramatics child." With a frail wrinkled hand, she supported her balance on a wooden beam, while the other equally rickety hand lifted her stick with shuddering movements, the weight unbalanced for such motions. The girl, growing in curiosity (although she mentally reminded herself that curiosity killed the cat in the end), slowly walked over to lean over the old woman's shoulder and peer into the mass of fur and hay.
With slow, easy and calculated movements and bated breath, the make-shift walking stick pushed away the pelts and fodder before eventually revealing a single, limp, pale hand. The girl gasped out in horror, fingernails tightening into the smaller woman's shoulder, keeping herself from backing up or falling down. Her legs suddenly felt weak. With a snap of reprimand in her voice, the old fellow traveller spoke, "Make yer'self useful! If ye can only stare and gawk at every wee thing that ye see then yer of no use tae me."
"Well what exactly can ah do then?! Go outside in this weather and dig a friggin' hole?! Ah have been through a lot and ah ain't addin' haulin' a dead body to the list! Nu-uh, no way!" She retorted, her tone not quite as angry or resentful as she would of liked it to have been. A whack to her leg was her reply, "Ow! Stop it ya crazy old coot!"
"If ye paid any attention, ye'd tell 'it' was alive ye spoiled brat! Now help me move this away from the body."
Not in the mood for another bludgeon to her already poor, weak and tired limbs, she went down on her knees and began pulling away at old smelly pelts and decayed hay before feeling a sticky liquid touch her fingertips. Pulling back, she forced herself not to shriek at the view of dark red blood slowly sliding down her skin. Unabashed, the old lady continued to shift fodder out of her way, revealing dark tangled hair and out of place material within the pile. Biting her lip, she plunged her hand back into action, her movements much more quicker than before, if only to end this 'experience' quickly.
A soft moan filtered from the pile, causing the two to pause. The body was actually alive! So the granny wasn't just pulling on her leg. But how could it have survived from such a fall?! It was impossible! Their motions of removing pelts and hay only increased in vigour before finally a pale, bruised face came into view, eyelids closed and lips parted, dry and leaking blood. The old woman softly leaned forward with slow movements before laying her hand against the female's forehead. She murmured, "The gods were certainly kind tae ye young one, but why such favour if ye fell from their heavens?"
The girl did not comment but instead gazed at the unconscious female in wonder and question. Could it be, could of such a bizarre event happened to someone else? Did it mean this was all real? People didn't just fall out of a sky on a daily or even weekly basis. Yes, there was the possibility of a plane crash in which she was ejected from, but still...
...she could hope she wasn't the only crazy person around here, right? That maybe she wasn't alone anymore, she wasn't going out of her mind. Somehow, she knew her answer was not going to be so quickly or easily given.
'God-dammit.'
To be continued...
