A/N: Oh. My. Gosh. School has been so crazy. Seriously. I had five tests in the first week, and four in the second week. And don't even get me started on the homework. Teachers are crazy. (Well, at least they are at my school.) School + writer's block = crappy chapter. Please forgive me. D: I've been updating my 100 Themes Challenge, though, so check that out if you haven't already. Anyways, enjoy!~
"What. The. Hell."
This was the only thing that Green could say about the mysterious place he had just jumped into. He was standing on a reddish, earthy ground with greenish plants scattered at random intervals, and above him was no sky, but an inky blackness that unnerved him greatly. Strangest of all, however, was the fact that he seemed to be floating – he hovered a few centimeters off the red-dusted ground, gently bobbing up and down. He looked ahead, noticing that he was on a solitary platform that appeared to be floating as well. In the distance, he could see other platforms near his; he could jump the distance easily, especially since he was floating. He turned around and faced a swirling portal of darkness; he could vaguely make out the faces of Red and Leaf staring down at him.
"Well, are you coming or not?" Green asked, impatiently waving his hand. Shortly, his two best friends fell out of the portal as he had done. Red got to his feet and helped Leaf up; the two hurried to catch up with Green, who had already started half-walking, half-floating towards the opposite end of the platform. They approached the end of the platform and looked down at a small, round spot on the ground. There was a large space between their section of ground and the next.
"It's a bit too far to jump, but I guess I could try," Green said, stepping forward.
"No!" Red said, but as soon as Green's foot landed on (or above, since they were still floating) the round spot on the ground, several small platforms appeared, making the farther platform easier to get to.
"Whoa," Leaf breathed, marveling at the apparently magical world they were in. Green hopped to the mini-platform, which bobbed dangerously in midair before righting itself. He jumped across the remaining platforms and landed safely on the next large chunk of earth. He motioned for the other two to follow, and they did.
•••
Things were going smoothly, more-or-less – Leaf almost fell off the side once, but Red caught her hand and Green groaned at the mushiness that ensued – until they approached an impassable barrier.
"How the hell are we supposed to cross that?" Green asked, pointing at the abyss of murky blackness that separated the trio and the next platform. Red noticed a small red dot in the corner of the platform similar to the one they had seen before.
"Maybe if I step on that…" he murmured, more to himself than the other two. He floated to it quietly, hovered over it – and all of a sudden, he was sideways. "Gah!" he yelled, and tilted his head ninety degrees to look at his friends, who were staring at him with their heads also turned sideways. "I – I stepped on the red dot – and I got up here!" he said frantically, waving his arms up and down. Green hurried to the spot with Leaf close behind, and they too were transported to the sideways platform. Tentatively, they walked towards the end of the narrow vertical platform until Red stepped on another red circle, which led him to the horizontal platform they originally needed to get to. Thoroughly shaken, they headed along, not looking back.
•••
The only other signs of life in the barren place were the tall, kelp-like plants that grew out of the red earth. They waved slightly, even though no breeze blew through the leaves, and Red could've sworn he saw one disappear – but when he looked again, it was the same as it had been before. Sometimes, the platforms moved of their own accord; he supposed it had to do with those red buttons that littered the floor in seemingly random places. Red had no idea what to make of this place.
Green was a highly logical person, and this place – alternate world, maybe – was starting to scare him. It made no sense whatsoever; the sky was black, the earth was red, and the damn features of the place shouldn't exist in real life. They couldn't. There was no way in hell that this was even conceivable. Well, maybe that's where we are, he thought dryly, looking around once more. It's not too far off.
Leaf liked the unimaginable, but this wasn't exactly what she had in mind when she dreamed of alternate dimensions. Come to think of it, she wasn't even sure this was an alternate dimension; she was pretty sure "anti-gravity" and "black sky" weren't synonymous with the term. Honestly, all she wanted to do was go home. She could really use a pair of red, sparkly, magical heels right now. Staring up into the inky, starless sky, she decided that wherever Kansas was, it was definitely better than here.
All three were so preoccupied with their thoughts that none of them heard the small, whimpering voice until they were right in front of the source. A girl with long brown hair sat with her head in her hands, weeping softly. Red, startled, took a step back, but Leaf knelt down gently and asked, "What's the matter?"
The girl hiccupped and looked up with chocolate, almond-shaped eyes that would have been beautiful if they weren't so bloodshot. She took a deep, shuddering breath and slowly whispered, "Who are you?"
A/N: Yummy, pixelated cyber-cookies for you if you can guess who the girl is! As usual, thanks a million to everyone who reviewed, faved, and alerted! And you can click that magical, shiny button below this that says "Review" and get a lifetime supply of extra-pixelated cookies!
~Ebaz