"So...I'm important...right?" the voice of a teen asked, his hands behind his back as he quietly glanced about, his feet digging into the forest floor as he walked, the soft crumpling of dead leaves echoing each step. "Yes…", another voice, belonging to an older man, though his tone was unsure at first before he spoke up once more with a bit more confidence, "Yes! You are!". The boy glanced to his side with his crystal blue eyes, the orbs looking into the blank space of air. "So that means...you're important?" the boy asked once more before grunting as he lightly tripped forward, the splash of water resonating as he tripped into a puddle. The only bright side was that he had kept his balance, but his unsteady footing let muddy water splash up onto his jeans.
"Watch yourself…" the man uttered, a teasing tone on his lips as he softly chuckled after speaking. "Yeah yeah…" the boy huffed out as he glanced down at his jeans with a soft groan and reached up to run his hand through his blood-red hair, "And to answer your question...I suppose so".
"You suppose so…?" the teen asked with a raised eyebrow as he then dug his hands into his jacket's pockets and resumed his walking, ignoring the new stain on his pants and the wetness of his leg.
"Yup!" the man chirped out, a toothy smile on his face.
"...I hate how cryptic you can be…"
"Eh, you'll grow to love it, Lance."
"Lance?" the teen asked, stopping mid-step and repeated the name under his breath softly, "...that's...my name?" he asked once more, not letting his companion answer.
'...why can't I remember my name…'
"Yes! Lance! That's you!" the man quickly answered, "Lance! Good 'ol Lance!" he repeated as if urging the thought onto the boy.
"Yeah...that's...that's it…" Lance muttered as he pulled a hand up to gently stroke his chin, deep in thought, "Is it just la-"
"Oh! I must beg for my leave! Good day!"
"...eh?...hey…" he asked out as he glanced back over to his right, his body lightly tensing as he began to look around for his companion. "H-Hey! Man! Where did you go!" he asked, panic striking his voice as he failed to see his friend. "Shit…" he spat out as Lance realized he had been left alone, yet again, "I hate it when he does that…" Lance sighed out as his body loosened.
Silence filled his mind, with the soft chirping of birds, insects buzzing, and the breeze hitting the leaves filling the void. "Now what...I mean, I suppose I could continue and get some more manga…" he uttered, his tone slowing while lance processed the thought once more. "...Why am I in a forest..." Lance asked himself in a baffled tone as he realized his sudden predicament
He needed to stay calm; he needed to focus!
He needed to figure out where he was.
"Then where the hell am I!?...I...I was buying manga...walking down the street...then...I was here...walking and talking to...who...who was I talking to...He…"
The teen was rambling to himself now, a hand gently brushing across his head; his head felt so heavy, his memories fading.
"This isn't right…." he muttered once more with a long exhausted tone; he felt like he had been walking for hours. "Could have been," he sighed out as he slowly walked over to a tree and turned his body, pressing his weight into the bark as he slowly slid down to sit down. His head found itself against his knees as he brought them to his chest, his arms wrapping around them.
"...it's cold…" he muttered to himself as he tipped his head upwards a bit, allowing him to peak up above his arms. Dead leaves coated the ground around, even now he sat beneath some, the occasional cold breeze caused him to shiver.
"...Fall isn't supposed to be for another few months…"
It was supposed to be spring.
"...maybe it still is…" he suggested to himself, doing his best to slow the growing fear in his mind. It made him feel sick to the stomach as it gnawed at the corners of his rationality. For all he knew, he could have somehow made it north! He had heard stories of forests in a constant change around the edges of ##### and #########.
"What…" he uttered as he recalled his thoughts just now, playing it out over and over…
"Names...I...I can't remember them…the hell…" he uttered, speechless at this revelation as his body straightened while he uncurled his body, his gaze shakily falling to his hands, his skin pale and shaking…
"T-This isn't right...t-this isn't right!" he exclaimed as he clenched his eyes shut to let out a long cry of emotional pain while he wildly kicked his feet against the ground like a child throwing a temper tantrum.
However, his panic attack was quickly cut short by an overwhelming sensation of peace flooded his body, his movements slowing to a stop as he took deep breaths of air. "W-What…" he uttered, his voice slightly shaky as he swallowed, slowly reorganizing his thoughts while his eyelids parted.
Greeting him to the sight of his palms coated an ethereal black flame, swaying in the breeze as he felt nothing, not a single sensation of warmth nor pain. He wanted to panic and scream while trying to extinguish the flame, yet he did not. He was far too caught up in gazing into the flickering flame; it was almost hypnotic.
"Weird…" he uttered, his tone was now calm once more, strangely he noted to himself, he knew himself, and this was not himself.
He slowly swayed his right hand, watching as the flame lulled behind his momentum, no signs of the breeze affecting it as he then held them back close. His fingers wiggled within them, distorted by the flames as if he was looking into a pair of sunglasses. His skin was pitch black, so was the ground and everything he gazed upon through the fire, a white outline on each object like a drawing, helping him keep some form of recognition to all he saw.
Something was not right.
"No shit…" he spat out to himself as the flame began to flicker and slowly disperse, the sight bringing a frown to his lips.
He gently flexed his hands as he twisted them around, gazing upon his skin for anything that could give him anything to work off! All he could see was his pale skin, how they lightly shook from the cold. "I...I wasn't this pale before…", He muttered with a lick to his lips as he shakily pushed himself up to his feet, brushing any dead leaves that clung to his clothes.
"Pale skin...flames coming from his hands...memory loss...what's next…" he said with a dry laugh as he followed it up with the soft grinding of his teeth. All of this was too much for him to hold back; He wanted to break down crying. Lance took a deep breath, holding back a sob as he began to walk once more while crossing his arms.
He began his journey of walking amongst the dead in the forest, the leaves decorating them a mix of yellow, red, and orange. Of course, there was the occasional fluttering of an animal getting spooked by his movements as he passed by. It did offer him some solace, knowing that he wasn't fully alone in a sense as he searched for signs of people.
It started to snow.
"Of course it did…" he grunted out as he kept his hands dug in his armpits to conserve heat as he continued his search for life. Of course, the snowfall was light, but the mere fact it was either meant he was somewhere up north, or he did lose a couple of months of memory. This left somewhat of an internal battle between the two options of what he was hoping for what would be correct.
Option one; weird teleportation fuckery got him up here, and his memory loss was a mere side effect.
Option two; Blatant memory loss, for an unknown reason, which would mean he lost a few months of essential details. What if he got a new job! A girlfriend! He could have missed a new Anime!
"Focus…" he huffed out, his breath semi-visible as he glanced up at the gray sky, the sun barely poking through as trees lost more and more leaves the further he walked. His mind felt somewhat fuzzy now that he did try to think, details seemingly began to arise as he breathed in the cold air of-, "Can't even recall the bloody planet's name, maybe I should find a map at the nearest town." A sigh promptly followed his statement as he reached up to run one of his cold hands across his face, "That's if I can find a town."
The soft crumples of dead leaves beneath his feet began to shift, turning sharper as the temperature lowered. Dead leaves turned frozen, earning loud crackles, the entire environment was slowly growing more and more foreboding as time passed.
Hell, how long had he been walking for now?
"An hour, right…?" he muttered to himself, asking a question to all but himself as he glanced to the sky and how it began to darken. "N-No...it was noon just an hour ago!" he suddenly exclaimed as he suddenly felt his heart plummet, his breathing suddenly pacing quickly. His eyes looked around, a shaky swallow following it as he realized he had naught been walking on leaves but stones. A forest had shifted to a mountain, snowing falling around him, making the boy wonder if he was in a blizzard!
"This isn't right!" he screamed out as he clenched his eyes shut, his hands going to grip his head as pain sprouted amongst it.
He was in a forest!
This wasn't a forest!
This was a mountain!
How was he on a mountain!?
"Gah!", his legs began to tremble as tears swelled at his closed eyes, his nails dug into his skull as he threatened to keel over.
Then it ceased.
"Oh, what have I stumbled upon…", the voice was calm, yet held concern and shock to it; it was familiar.
It was the man!
"M-make it stop…" he whimpered out, his voice most likely deafened by the winds as they began to pick up. There was a long sigh from the man, accepting what he had found him in, followed by noises he could not fully understand. Finally, the pain ceased, followed by a welcoming heat that graced both his body and mind, muffling the cold snow that began to cling to his light clothing.
"There there…" the words were caring; it made lance feel comfort as tears continued down his cheeks. He was shaking. Why was he shaking? Not the cold, gods not the cold. "Where were you.." the words left his lips as he fell to his knees, his eyes creaking open to stare at the ground. Stone was slowly being coated in layers of snow. It was a pathetic sight, for all parties involved, for succumbing to others on his knees was common.
'I...when have I surrendered...why...would I surrender…'
"I was...busy with other business, my boy, but it clears that matters little now...are you alright?" Lance nodded with a few sniffles as he shakily raised his arms, looking down at his shaking limbs; the heat was fading, being replaced by the cold.
"...Yes…" Lance croaked out.
"Can you stand?"
"Yes…"
"Are you going to continue your quest?"
"My...quest…?"
He tilted his head upwards to stare upon his friend, yet he was greeted with the setting sun off in the distance, hidden and muddled down by the clouds. His friend was nowhere to be seen, had...had he been a figment of his mind?
"N-No...that...that doesn't make sense...this doesn't make sense…!", His body continued to shake as he rose back to his; a new sensation sprouted in him.
Anger.
Why was he angry?
His sight traveled back to his hands, and the limbs had curled into fists from his anger, his anger for- he forced himself to take a deep breath, followed by a shaky inhale. "What is going on…" he whispered to himself, the anger almost instantly disappearing, just like his...anxiety? Fear? He couldn't place it. "...and I don't need to, I need to continue...my...my quest...right?" Lance asked out, yet as he expected, silence is what greeted him.
"...of course…" he muttered as he glanced off into the distance towards the path he was walking; the snow was only picking up, foreboding his fate.
"...heh…" he chuckled as he took a step, "Certainly hasn't stopped me before."
A new year.
A new year for us all.
One that we can shape to be better.
That is what I want, something better.
I have thought hard over many things, and I like to see this story as a better chance.
Enjoy everyone and stay safe and healthy.