AN: Hey guys, I haven't wrote for a while but I thought I'd get back into it with this short piece. I'm aiming for 5 chapters, but knowing my muse, it may become double that lol..
Opposite to my other fics, there will be no TW in this or bad language..
Birds cease there incessant squawking, luscious summer leaves rustle as the wind steadily whips itself into a frenzy. Dry earth rumbles, tangled roots bending and cracking under the force of a green and black vortex forming from above. The silent forest trembles, the powerful magic roaring across the vast greenery before a bundle clad in jean and nylon tumbles out of the void, landing with a harsh thud on foreign soil.
Several curses spew from her mouth, a loud and painful groan drowning out the shrinking portal as it fizzes into none existence. Hesitant birds resume their chattering, the wind calming.
Blue crystal eyes squint at the world around her, confusion marring ceramic features.
"Where...?"
A hand gently lands at the back of her skull, carefully covering her lengthy brown hair and she flinches knowing some damage has been done. Pulling back, she looks at the slither of crimson defacing her palm and grunts her detest. Perhaps shes only cut the skin.
Pulling her thoughts together, she pushes through the haze and sickness settled in her stomach and looks around. Her young features harden, her brows pinched. This doesn't look like the Coppice she was walking on a moment ago, this place is greener, more fuller, and the trees are different, bigger and thicker. Her focus flickers up, the blue sky darkening and she frowns further. It shouldn't be getting dark so soon, she set off for a walk at around dinner time, she should still have a few hours left before the sun sets.
Slowly, and with greater effort than needed, she clambers to her converse clad feet and releases a frustrated huff. Her blooded hand is wiped on dusty black jeans and her grey knee length coat is straightened back into its proper place. With slightly shaking hands, a black Samsung Galaxy S10 is fished out of her River Island shoulder bag. She squints at the slightly cracked screen and sighs her further frustration at the no signal icon in the top right hand corner.
"For god sake.."
She quickly scrolls through her contacts, systematically ringing her family and friends but religiously her call for help is without results. Panicking a little, her finger hovers over the Emergency call button, her hand cupping the back of her head again but this time, no blood smeared on her palm. She huffs, switching off the screen and looks around.
The last thing she remembers was walking in between a steep hill and a small stream leading through the hillside. She assumes she must have slipped, hit her head on the rocks and fallen down the slope. That would probably account for her loss of time, she perhaps fell unconscious, but shes never seen these trees before. Shes walked the Coppice for years and never come across this part of the land. Forgetting about the hows and whys of her situation, she begins making her way through the towering Oak trees.
She walks on and on, the sky growing darker, the trees around her blocking out the remnants of light above. Her anxiety heightens, stomach rolling, so with a defeated sigh, her Samsung is back in her hand and shes tapping the Emergency Call button. She really didn't want it to come to this, but she's been walking for a solid hour now and there's been no sign of civilization. She will put her stubborn pride aside and ask for help, because if she doesn't, she'll be stuck out in the forest all night.
The receiver is raised to her ear, the device pressing against her Helix piercing as she waits for the heavenly voice of another human being. Frowning she waits, the device silent. Looking down at the screen, the words Emergency call remain but only silence, just as her attempts to call her family had been. She waits, tries again and again but the results are the same. Dread curls itself around her, her tongue wetting dry lips as she continues her battle but still...no answer.
"What the hell is happening?"
She should be able to get through even with no signal. Her thoughts are plagued with worst case scenarios. She starts to think her phones broken, to think she'll be stuck in the woods all night, that she might not be able to escape her earthly prison. But no, she shakes her head, thinking like that wont help. She'll find her way out eventually, these woods cant go on forever.
With fresh stubborn determination, she stuffs her phone back in her bag and continues. She tries to walk in a straight line, heading towards where the sun has set and assumes shes going West. In theory she should come across people soon, there's always dog walkers and runners traipsing up and down these hills.
She stops abruptly, her focus drawn to a ball of light quickly snaking in and out of trees several feet up. The crystal blob coasts its way closer to her, keeping itself high in the trees but almost in a state of tepid curiosity. It floats closer, ever wary in its approach, zipping around the large Oaks until it slowly descends.
She almost jumps out of her skin when the curious creature dashes in front of her face, circling her like a Mr Whippy ice cream and then floats through the trees ahead. Her hand presses to her aching skull, her brows pinched together. She must have hit her head really hard on those rocks. She must have some sort of concussion.
A deep breath is inhaled through her nose, her eyes slowly opening again and this time, no floating blue blob. She chuckles weakly, wiping her tired features until a glow behind her right shoulder has her turning and crying out in surprise. She jumps away, the crystal glowing mass bobbing up and down, the movement almost like its amused before it zips off in front of her and again resumes its path through the trees.
She watches closely, noting how the creature pauses further ahead and floats serenely left to right, waiting for her to follow.
"I must be crazy.."
With nothing left to lose, Helen submits to her suspected hallucination and begins to follow the strange floating creature her mind has conjured...
The night is dark, vividly dark and her only source of light is her hallucinogenic floating friend. She was cautious at first, many things passing through her thoughts, some being extreme, like her light friend being a stage of her declining health, other thoughts being that shes finally cracked, her job and her health effecting her already strained mentality that's finally pushed her over the edge. But she cant help thinking that maybe she is seeing all of this, her head injury isn't messing with her and shes really fallen into some sort of mystical world.
"Yeah right Helen..."
Her dry lips pull into an amused smirk. Fairy tales and floating blue globs aren't real, she must be hallucinating.
There's a sudden cry over the wind and she stops in her tracks. Her focus sweeps the dark brush, her hearing attentive. Another faint cry echos through her, but its not one of fear but strangely one of anger. She whirls, scouting the tress and quickly begins a brisk jog towards the sound. She forgets about her floating blue friend, forgets all sense of danger as several angry voices begin to give her a strange sense of hope. The voices may be hostile but at least they're human.
She quickens her pace, the voices getting louder and the glow of fire escaping the void of darkness shrouding the area. Her pace slows, her converse gentle on their approach and careful not to land on askew branches at the base of a large oak tree. She shields herself behind it, the darkness her ally and eyes attentive to the mass of people stood on a beaten track.
"What the hell...?"
The confused whisper is only for her, a hand again pressed to the back of her head. This has to be another illusion, there's no such thing as...Dwarves?...
Seven little men, clothes battered by grime and harsh weather stand circled behind a leather clad woman, their pickaxes raised and pointed at the center of their aggression. The leather clad woman looks furious, stood frozen in place with one hand raised and a silver crown on her head. But its the subtle blue glow and the fire in the woman's eyes that has everyone on edge. In front of the furious woman stand two others, one a tall handsome looking man, his face twisted with savage satisfaction as he levels a lethal silver sword at his prisoner. The other is a woman, her raven hair outlining porcelain features, the look on the woman's face in complete contrast to her companions, almost a sense of despair hidden behind a wall of indifference. Both the man and woman dress like something seen right out of a fantasy movie, royal reds and the purest of whites signaling power and nobility stitched into their costumes.
"Its over Regina. Now you'll never hurt anyone ever again."
Blue eyes narrow, her focus flickering between the handsome man and the woman that seems paralyzed from the neck down. This woman, this Regina seems powerless.
With a quick look around at her feet, a hefty branch, about the length of her forearm is quickly scooped up and held tightly in her right hand. It wont fair well against pickaxes and swords but for some unexplained reason, she feels compelled to dash to the rescue. She readies herself, her heart beating frantically against her ribcage and she steps out just in time to watch the tall man attempt to grab the frozen woman.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!"
Immediately the group ahead are hostile, the tall man and the Dwarves stepping forward with weapons raised. She gulps down her fear, her hands beginning to sweat and narrow eyes darting between her attackers. Shes starting to have second thoughts.
The handsome man takes a step forward, eyes trained on other potential threats that may emerge from the darkness.
"Who are you?!"
"You first pretty boy!"
The mans female companion cautiously steps alongside him, the woman's eyes studying, evaluating their new company.
"Your not from around here are you."
Its not a question, more of a statement as the woman stares at their visitors other worldly clothing.
"Snow we don't have time for this! We have to get the Evil Queen back to the palace before the ink wears off. Gumpy.."
The man motions with his sword towards their intruder and a sour looking Dwarf briskly stomps forward.
Her heart pounds, her feet planted and branch weapon at the ready. She'd been studying the group, had taken note of their weird names but pushes it to the back of her mind as the one called Grumpy closes in.
"I swear little man, you try anything and I'll make you a whole lot shorter!"
She waves her weapon, Grumpy scowling more deeply as a sudden dark chuckle makes the hairs at the back of her neck stand on end.
The whole group refocus on their frozen prisoner. An amused aggression marring the woman's features as black eyes stare at their new guest.
"Enough of this!"
"Charming wait!.."
Snow attempts to grab her Charming but the man quickly approaches the intruder.
Blue eyes widen, her converse almost tripping over themselves as Charming's sword slashes at her tree branch and its torn from her grasp. Quickly the steel is suddenly at her throat and she berates herself at how stupid she is for getting involved.
"I don't know who you are but if your intention was to free the Queen, you have failed and will be arrested and tried for treason."
She frowns deeply at the man, resisting the urge to bat away the steel pricking at the skin on her throat.
"Listen, I don't know what kind of wired LARP thing is going on here, but I want no part of your games. I'm just trying to get home."
"We don't have time to escort you home sister! We need to get the Evil Queen behind bars!"
Grumpy jabs his pick ax at the dark woman behind, at the supposed Evil Queen, as the other woman of their group steps forward.
"We can help you get home, but first we need to get back to our camp. Your welcome to join us but I suggest you stay with the dwarves while we deal with the Queen."
The sword at her neck lowers, the metal sliding back into its sheath. Her hand rubs at the exposed skin on her neck, her confusion more evident than ever. Has she fallen into some wired reenactment of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves? Her focus slides to the Queen at the center of it all, the woman's eyes still trained on her and a sly smirk curling onto purple painted lips. Her stomach rolls uncomfortably under the woman's gaze, the look in the Queens eyes ever sinister, and for the first time, the regal woman speaks.
"Impeccable timing my dear. A useful distraction indeed."
She frowns, even more so when Charming pulls his sword and the Dwarves rush at their prisoner. An explosion, nothing short of, erupts at their epicenter. The once motionless Queen rips her arms free from her magical bindings, an abnormal force taring from leather and lace, ripping them all off their feet and throwing them in all directions.
Her back and shoulders smash against bark, the impact forcing the air from her lungs and bones rattling. She tries to suck in desperate breaths, her body collapsing to the mossy earth, her ears ringing. An incessant throbbing returns to her aching skull, the hopes that she hasn't cracked her head open forgotten as she attempts to open her eyes.
A groan slips passed dry lips, her focus slowly rounding the area where most of the Dwarves lie in a heap some distance away. She quickly refocuses, click clacking of sharp heels drawing closer. Crystal eyes peer up, locking with pitch black that are staring down, evaluating her. She doesn't know what the other woman wants, what the Queen is thinking, but before she can question it, her world fades in a mass of white noise and darkness..