Chapter 4: The Twilight Waste

Or,

Escaping Truth

"Northern Lights" - 30 Seconds to mars

"Hey, uh... where are we going?" Fox asked his guide.

Somniadux turned his head around to gaze at Fox as he answered. "Good question, little one; Icelus City. It's not too far from here... though it doesn't have the best climate."

"Why are we going there?" he persisted.

"Just to visit a dear friend mine."

Fox narrowed his eyes, peering into the dark recesses of Guide's hood, but he could discern nothing. They were traveling together on the Twilight waste, along a dirt path overgrown with weeds. It was clear that the path was not often used. They crested a hill, and Fox looked around at the vast landscape before them. Even though they had been traveling for several hours, the time of day had not changed; the sun still hung just out of view below the horizon, casting a rainbow of colors onto the dark sky. Dried grass completely covered the ground as far as the eye could see, most of which was tall enough to come to Fox's chest.

"How did I get here?" Fox inquired.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Guide replied.

Fox stared down at his feet for a moment, trying to put together his memory, but anything that came to mind was just as dark and distorted as the landscape around them. Slowly, though, his thoughts began to coalesce. "I... I came home from school," Fox began, haltingly, "and I was told that my father had died. Then I ran away..."

Somniadux nodded, knowingly, his hood bobbing with his head. "And what then?"

"And then I fell into a creek... but... I can't see..." Fox trailed off, struggling to remember.

Guide turned around again, staring blankly at Fox. "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

Finally, the last piece of the puzzle fell into place in Fox's mind. His jaw dropped and he froze in his tracks. "I... I'm... dead?" His voice wavered on the final word.

Guide merely nodded, slowly.

Fox fell to his knees, clutching at the dirty road with his fingers. Thousands of thoughts swirled around in his head, realizations that he would never see the light of day again, that he would never be able to ask the questions he had left unasked, that his best friends would be gone forever. But above all, he could never live up to his father.

A dark shadow passed over him, and he looked up to see Somniadux kneeling down. "What troubles you, little one?"

"It's just that I'll never be able to do anything anymore. I've always tried to be like my dad, for my parents' sake, but I've failed." Fox sniffed, feeling more tears coming to his eyes. "But this can't be... I can't be dead."

Guide tilted his head, as if he were also raising an eyebrow behind the cowl of his hood.

"I'm not dead. How can I be? I'm here, aren't I?"

"Denial is not the way to face death, small one."

"But you told me the most important part is believing!" Fox accused Guide.

Somniadux sighed. "Be careful what you believe; there is nothing worse than blind faith. You have to face the reality of it."

"But this isn't real, is it? I'm in a dream. I'll wake up soon, won't I? And then everything will be fine."

"Little one, you aren't going to wake up. This is the end."

But Fox ignored him. "You'll see! I'll wake up sometime. That's what they make you think in a dream; that you can't wake up and that it's actually reality anyway."

"Then why can't you wake up now?"

Fox's new positive attitude did not falter. "Well... I just don't want to wake up!" He jumped to his feet and spread his arms out wide. "Look at this place. It's awesome! Who would want to wake up from this? No, I think I'll stay awhile. I don't want to wake up just yet."

Somniadux rubbed his face with a robed paw. "The stubbornness of children... alright, go on believing what you want to. Let's not talk about it anymore, shall we?"

Fox nodded enthusiastically. "Fine by me! But let's hurry and get to your friend." He cheerily bounded forwards, running down the path as fast as he could. He ducked to scramble underneath a boulder suspended in mid-air over the path.

"Hey! Hold up, little one!" Guide stumbled after him, his cloak sweeping the dried earth. He pushed the floating boulder out of the way with his staff as he hurried to keep up with Fox.

Fox noticed a pile or rocky shards piled up on the crest of a hill, noting that it would make a good vantage point. He left the path, diving into the tall, dried grass that rose above his head in some places. The grass brushed along his body and rubbed against his face like wind. He poked his head up every now and then to see if he was on track. Finally, he made it to the sharp crag and scrambled to the top. He lay down against the hard rock, crawling to the very edge of the crag, and gazed out over the Twilight Waste. Though he was met with the same scene as before, Fox could still not believe his eyes, and his breath was taken away. Guide crawled up beside him, and for once they were at the same height. They stared down at the never ending plains of dull, waving grass, colored by the vast sunset.

"Is it always like this here?" Fox asked.

"Infranimus is a world of many places, but there is one thing that stays the same for each one. The sun is always hidden."

"Why is that?"

"You ask too many questions."

Fox stared at the very brink of the horizon, hoping to catch a glimpse of the hiding sun, but he was disappointed. "But where does the sun go in the afternoon? Does it always just hide out of view?" He was struck be a strong sense of deja vu.

Somniadux shrugged. "No one knows. No one has ever seen it here. You may not be able to see the sun, but you know it has to be real because it lights up the world."

Suddenly, Fox caught sight of a few dark forms slowly moving about in the plains. "What are those?" he said, pointing them out to Guide.

"Monsters," whispered Guide. "You never know when you might run into them in Infranimus."

"Cool..." Fox breathed. "Are there lots of them?"

"They roam the more unpopulated areas."

"Can we get closer to them?" Fox asked. "I want to see them better."

"It's too dangerous, they might notice us and attack."

"Please?" Fox begged.

"Well... alright, fine, we'll sneak up on them. But you have to follow my lead and be very careful. Stay below the grass and – " he froze, mid sentence, as the sound of falling pebbles echoed around the crag. Somniadux flung himself up and spun around while Fox struggled to his feet. He was surprised to find two of the same type of monsters scaling up the side of the rock formation towards them. Fox froze in fear as he locked eyes with the closer of the two; its form was dark and shifting, but the traits he managed to make out were rough, pitch black fur, scraggly legs that grabbed and clawed at the rocky incline, and a pair of wickedly pointed horns at the top of its head. As the beasts opened their fanged mouths to snarl, Fox took a careless step backwards, slipping and nearly falling off the edge. Quickly sizing up the situation, Guide decided on a desperate course of action. He bent down to pick up Fox, then flung both of them over the edge together. Fox felt his stomach flip as the wind whistled past their falling bodies, and he struggled to keep a hold on Somniadux. Before hitting the ground, Guide twisted so that he was between Fox and the ground. Thankfully, both of their falls were cushioned by the thick blades of grass at the bottom. After they scrambled to their feet, Guide grabbed Fox's hand and pulled him into a taller section of the grass. Fox looked over his shoulder just in time to see the monsters halt at the edge of the crag, howling and bellowing clouds of steaming vapor.

"Wha... what are they doing?" he panted.

"Probably calling the rest of their pack," Guide answered.

Rushing out on the other side of the forest of grass, they found themselves confronted by three more dark beings, all slowly crawling towards them. Guide began to lead Fox back into the taller grass, but discovered the two monsters who had chased them off the cliff were waiting for them. Fox pulled himself into Guide's large cloak as he brandished his staff at the monsters. One decided to attack, lowering its head to point its horns at them and pawing at the ground. It charged at them, furiously bellowing smoke in every direction. At the last possible moment, Guide sidestepped, swinging his staff around to deliver a crushing blow to its head. The monster heaved and fell to the ground, struggling to move like a twitching insect. The blow had bashed its head in, spreading black liquid over the ground, but it slowly began to merge back together again.

"Don't let it reform!" Guide ordered. "Tear it apart! I'll watch the rest of them."

Fox uneasily left the safe confines of Guide's cloak to kneel down beside the monster. He reached out his hands and lay them on the monster's hide, gasping in surprise when they sank through into its belly. Deciding to follow Guide's commands, he began pulling the monster apart, which was a surprisingly easy task, as its body gave way like oil or dark molasses. He pulled away large blobs of inky flesh, throwing them as far apart as he could from each other, until they lay scattered about in every direction. The dark liquid gurgled and sank into the ground, and Fox was relieved to discover none of the monster's remains had stained his hands.

He rose up from the ground just in time to witness another one of Guide's attacks. When the second monster walked beneath a floating boulder, Guide pulled out a red vial of potion and swiftly lobbed it at the rock. The vial exploded, causing the rock to fall and crush the monster beneath its weight. The monster's body lost its form, dissolving into more dark liquid that seeped into the ground.

By now the three remaining monsters were thinking twice about attacking them. Instead, they circled around the two animals, pawing at the ground impatiently and snorting black vapors into the air. Guide reached inside his cloak again, this time pulling out a strange throwing-star like weapon that had a long, thin chain attached to it. He expertly flung it at one of the monsters, the pointed star burying into its side. He jerked his arm back, and pulled the monster towards them, snarling and struggling to get free. Fox then repeated the same process they had used before, tearing the monster apart until he had disappeared into the ground.

The two monsters that were left decided to turn tail and run; they realized it was a fight they could not win. Panting from exertion, Somniadux wound up his throwing star and chain, then bent down to give Fox a hand up. As Guide lead him back towards the main road, Fox couldn't help looking back over his shoulder at the retreating monsters. They clearly were not happy about losing their prey.

Once they were back on the road again, Fox asked Guide, "What were those things?"

Shrugging, Guide said, "They are monsters. Simple as that. There are hundreds of deviations of the foul creatures, so many that we've had more trouble than Adam naming them all."

"How did they get here?"

"Some idiot named Morpheus is responsible for them. I use to respect the man, until he went too far. Morpheus was a mage who specialized in magic, most of which was beneficial to this world. However, he became obsessed with the stuff, going to the length of even experimenting with black magic. He ended up creating all types of horrors that plagued Infranimus, and was banished by the rest of the inhabitants."

"B-banished?" Fox asked. "Where to? Somewhere far away... right?"

Guide shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. He is still free to roam around Infranimus. Where, none can say, but it was a mistake to let him go free in the first place."

"Why? Has he done anything else?"

"He causes mischief from time to time. There have only been a few events where he has done any serious harm. Still, it would warrant him an execution."

"Wait... an execution? Does that mean... people can still die here?"

"Yes, little one, the danger is very real. If you hadn't noticed, this isn't exactly Heaven."

Disappointed and a bit frightened, Fox let his head fall down so that his chin rested on his chest. Noticing his mood, Guide reached out a paw and took Fox's, giving him what little comfort he could. Grateful for the gesture, Fox accepted the hand and hurried up to step in time with Somniadux as they continued down the path.

An hour later the wandering duo found their progress completely halted. Before them, an out of place river flowed straight across the path. As the river was extremely wide and dangerously rapid, swimming was out of the question.

"Morpheus..." Guide whispered.

"You think he did it?" Fox asked.

"The river is definitely not natural; the path leads right down into it, so it must have been placed here recently. He's the only one I can think of who'd be responsible for this."

"Well... uh... what are we going to do?"

"We might be able to build a bridge with some of the rocks out here, but it would be very time consuming. I rather not waste our energy – " he suddenly broke off, shushing Fox and pushing back his hood so that a furry ear poked out. Fox took the opportunity to scan Guide's hidden face again, but he could make nothing more out.

Giving up, he followed Guide's lead and listened for any noise. Sure enough, the faint sound of deep voices could be heard, singing a distant chorus. As the sound got louder, Fox was surprised to see a workforce of moles crest the hill behind them, marching on the same path they were on. The moles were wearing silver hard hats, brown work vests, and yellow boots. They carried various assortments of tools, from pickaxes, to shovels, to hammers, to ladders and two-by-fours. Each one of the pudgy-faced mammals was either joining into the chorus, whistling along to the tune, or grumbling darkly to themselves about how much they hated it when the others sang. Soon enough, the workforce was upon them, and Guide pulled Fox aside into the grass to get out of their way. Some of the moles passing on their side smiled, waved, and winked at the two bystanders cheerily as they marched on their way. However, they showed no signs of being aware of the river in their path.

Fox tugged at the hem of Guide's cloak. "Do they even see the river? Are they going to stop? Shouldn't we warn them about it? "

"Actually, I'd kinda like to see how this plays out," Guide said, observing the moles intently as they marched blindly onwards.

"Guuuuide!" Fox pleaded.

Somniadux sighed. "Fine. Hey! Foreman! A word with you, if you don't mind."

A burly sized mole wearing a golden hard hat and green bandana waddled over to Guide, tipping his helmet. "Good day, sir. What seems to be the problem? Is there a complimentary dreamscaping service we may perform for you?"

Guide simply pointed at the river in their way. "Since when has that been there?"

The foreman followed his finger until his eyes reached the river. By now, several of the moles were already waist deep in the water, and still oblivious. The foreman's eyes bulged in their sockets, and he called out, "HEY! WHAT ARE YOU IJITS DOING!? DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE WALKING INTO!?"

There was only a slight disturbance at the front of the line; the moles in the bank of the river looked at their feet, blushing profusely under their stubble and wearing sheepish grins. All except one of the workmen turned around to walk back onto the shore. The remaining mole continued to march on, whistling unabatedly.

"Hey, Alistair!" the foreman shouted to get his attention, "ALISTAIR!"

"What's a matter with him?" Fox asked curiously.

The foreman brushed him off. "Nothin', kid, he's just completely deaf."

"And blind," a workman added in a deep, scratchy voice.

Fox watched helplessly as the oblivious mole continued to walk until he was completely submerged in the river, out of sight.

"Well knickers. Now we've gone and lost Alistair again." Shrugging, the foreman turned back to Guide and said, "Now, I suppose you'll be needing a bridge to cross that stream, eh? Eh?"

"A bridge would be nice, yes, thank you, Foreman."

"Alright then." Foreman, as Guide simply called him, clapped his padded hands together and shouted out to the others, "Let's get to work! This bridge won't build itself! Now, pull out all of the appropriate pieces!"

Before Fox's eyes, the mole workforce removed all of their tools from their belts and pockets, pulled nails and bolts out of their hats, and set down their stacks of wooden planks. They threw all of the materials into a large pile at the side of the road, then sat down together in a long line and unrolled the instructions, which ended up stretching from one end of the line to the other. The moles went through all manner of intense consideration as they attempted to decipher the instructions; they removed their hats to scratch their heads, stroked their chin stubble, and mumbled incoherently to themselves. Fox fell to his knees in despair; it was obvious the bridge was going to take hours to build.

However, behind the long line of moles, the pile of materials suddenly moved without provocation. First, the planks, screws, bolts, and tools all separated into different piles of their own. Next, the boards flew out across the river, aligning into the perfect shape of a stable bridge. Finally, the tools went to work screwing in the nails and bolts.

Still unaware of what had occurred, the foreman jumped to his feet and exclaimed, "I've got it! First, we have to – " But he stopped mid-sentence when he saw that the bridge was already built. "Oh. I guess the bridge actually did build itself." Turning to Guide and Fox, he bowed courteously and indicated the perfectly constructed viaduct. "Voilà. Your bridge, sir."

Somniadux helped Fox to his feet. When he passed in front of chief bowing in mock politeness, he said, "Foreman, if your job was this easy every time, you soon would be as fat as the time Morpheus cast the bloating curse on the people of Jamadipe."

Frowning, Foreman indicated his fat stomach. "What do you mean, 'would be fat'? What's it look like we are now?"

Guide merely chuckled and bowed his head, taking Fox along with him across the bridge. Once they were on the other bank and well outside of earshot, Fox asked, "Are they always like that?"

"Like what?" Guide responded as if everything was perfectly normal.

Fox sighed. "Nothin'."

Guide ruffled up Fox's hair, teasingly.

After another immeasurable amount of time, Fox and Guide stood before a giant wall of stone that stretched upwards, its tiers of sharp spires scrapping against the sky. At first, it appeared to be a solid wall, but upon closer examination, Fox realized it was composed of separate columns, spikes, and formations of stone.

Guide rested a paw on Fox's shoulder, saying, "Stick close to me; it's easy to get lost in this maze of rocks."

"What is it?" asked Fox, shifting closer to Guide.

"It's a strange rock formation that separates the Twilight Waste from Icelus Valley. Can you feel it? The cool breeze coming from in between the spires?"

Fox closed his eyes in an attempt to heighten his awareness. Sure enough, a chilly wind emanated from the stone forest. When he felt Guide step forward and tug his hand, Fox stumbled after him. When they entered the stone forest, the last rays of the setting sun were closed off behind them, plunging the pair into relative darkness. Around them, the dusty shelves of rock breathed forth a faint mist from every, nook, cranny, and crevice. The deeper they wandered into the maze, the more frequently they were chilled by cold drafts blowing through the canyons.

Guide caught his breath and snapped his head to the right as a small pile of rubble cascaded down one of the spires. Exhaling, he looked forwards again and lead Fox onward. However, Fox couldn't help looking back where the noise had come from, suspiciously. His fears did not go unwarranted, as another event occurred. On their left, a dark form swept by, creating a whooshing sound in his wake. Fox and Guide turned just in time to see the last bit of shadow disappear behind a rock wall.

"What is it?" Fox whispered, but was immediately shushed by Somniadux. His guide picked up the pace and rushed Fox on, hurriedly choosing their path through the stone maze. Beside them, a large avalanche of rocks slid down into the canyon, narrowly missing them. Fox tripped on a loose rock and fell forwards, skinning his knees and crying out. Guide slowed down and turned around towards Fox. He bent down to help the small kit to his feet, but then froze in fear as he gazed down the canyon. Fox followed the direction in which he was looking until a dark shape materialized out of the gloom, leaping after them in erratic leaps and bounds. Fox quickly took Guide's hand up and brushed himself off.

"Little one, I think it would be much easier if I carried you," Guide said, stooping down and offering his back to Fox. Nodding, the young vulpine climbed up his shoulders and hung his arms around Guide's neck. Standing up, Guide began to run as fast as he could down the canyon, away from the unknown monster chasing them. Fox watched the dark landscape around him bounce up and down as Guide ran, causing him to clutch more tightly at his cloak. Out of nowhere, a soft, cold flake suddenly landed on Fox's nose. Looking around, he noticed that a light snow was beginning to fill the canyon and dust the toned rock shelves around them. It was then that Fox realized just how close they were to Icelus valley.

The monster behind them let out a feral growl as it renewed its chase towards the hapless pair, causing Fox to turn around and look at it. It lingered just out of sight in the shadows, but from what Fox could make out of it, it was similar to a large, black wolf. Frozen in fear and perhaps the chilling cold, all Fox could do was cling to Guide's shoulders and stare in terror at the approaching monster.

"W-w-why are you running?" he managed to ask, "Can't you kill it like you did the rest of Morpheus's monsters?"

Breathing heavily, Guide replied, "Morpheus didn't make that monster."

"Then who did?"

For a while, Guide remained quiet, obviously avoiding answering the question. Instead, he merely surged on ahead, intent on outrunning the monster through the maze of stone.

"What is it?" Fox asked.

"You ask too many questions, small one," Guide spat. Glancing over his shoulder, he realized Fox was staring at their pursuer. "Stop it!" he shouted, "Don't look at it!"

"But why? Fox asked, mesmerized by a morbid curiosity.

"I said, don't look at it!" Guide commanded again. He reached back and forced Fox's face into his shoulder so that the monster was out of view. Giving up, Fox turned his attention to the path ahead. The two cliff sides that now bordered them on either side stretched on to a thin, distant, bar of bright light that must have been the exit from the canyon. Behind them, however, the monster seemed to be gaining ground. Its frenzied pants and growls echoed throughout the maze, mirrored by the thudding footsteps that came closer and closer. Finally, Fox snuck a quick glance backwards again, observing how far apart they were from their predator. Breaking his gaze away with some difficulty, he compared the distance to what lay ahead of them, the end of the canyon. Fox did not like his conclusion; the monster was probably going to reach them before they could escape into Icelus Valley.

As the seconds raced by, the wolf's growling turned into out right bellows of anger, and it threw everything it had into closing the distance between it and its prey. Even though they were only a few yards away from the exit, the monster was now so close to Fox he could feel it breathing down his neck. While the white light from the end of the passage began to envelope them, Fox looked behind to find that the wolf was reaching out a grizzled, clawed hand in an attempt to grab him off of Guide's back. Once again, Fox froze in fear and watched helplessly as the claw drew closer and closer to him, its fingers spreading out wickedly like the legs of a spider, and the blinding light of the end of the crevice burst out all around him.

A/N: Cliff hanger again? Deal with it.

Who knows where this story could go from here; the initial outline has undergone several massive make-overs, probably one with each new chapter posted. At first, I was going to include as many personal dreams as I could, fitting them all together into one narrative, then I considered following the arc of one of my favorite albums, then I considered doing a disconnected series of metaphorical dreams, but finally settled on following the stages of... well, I can't divulge that, as it would spoil too much. There has already been one hidden reference as to the new plot line. Hopefully you'll notice some similarities between the dream world and the first few chapters, as well as some of the clever little easter eggs hidden so far.

So long for now, and I will hopefully be back soon. Last week has been pretty crazy for me, with a college road trip and mock trial competition, so that's why it has been about three weeks since my last post.