Chapter 7: Lost In Place

It was out far, deep, deep into the woods.
Past tall trees, and valleys and hills. Past a small river that snaked over through these valleys and hills, and animals of all varieties. Past a small camp, which stood alone, where children and adults alike were fast asleep. Past a mountain, and a lake, to where there was a beautiful view of a never ending sea of trees, and the sun in the far distance rising again.
Past all this was a small clearing, where the river had become a small stream, trickling down a stairway of rocks and making a small round pool on the forest floor, then bending away in an even smaller stream towards somewhere.
In this pool was a boy, with a pale face, drenched in the water. He lay hunched over and would look dead if it weren't for the ever so often rising and falling of his chest. His arms were strewn across the floor, his body twisted in a way that was strangely comfortable, his mouth hanging slightly open. His head, which rested on a pillow of moss, turned slightly, and into his mouth came the water. The pale boy, shocked at the icy water entering his mouth, woke up with a jerk, choking, sputtering, and groaning. He turned his head and threw up.
Murky brown water curdled around him and flushed into his eyes. He blinked quickly, his eyes barely able to register the uncomfortable feeling the water implemented upon him, and out of habit reached over to where there should have been a clock. In seeing none, he sat up, and looked around to a world cracked in two. He rubbed his eyes, thinking his vision was impaired only to find glasses blocking him from doing this. Broken glasses.
Despite his aching muscles, he forced himself to stand and look around to evaluate the situation. The sky was still dark, though over the horizon he was just able to register the fact that the sun was about to rise. A chilly wind blew where he stood and he was forced to shiver. He was still very wet and the cold mountain air didn't help. Off in the distance, there was a chatter of birds. The sound of the wind flowing weaving through the trees could be heard as well. And the water where the boy stood...
He looked down to see that he was standing in a huge swell of muddy water. It veered off to the right as a small stream that continued down the mountain. The swell that he stood on had a few rocks, and some moss, but for the most part was empty.
For a moment, this wasn't new to him. The fact that he was alone. He felt the back of his head where a small bump had emerged, and assumed he'd probably hit a rock on the way down... which probably would explain the throbbing headache that had began to form.
/The way down.../
He hadn't come alone. He thought hard. How did he get here? People didn't just end up in the middle of nowhere. They lived in houses and apartments... not out in the middle of the woods. That he knew. It was a given fact.
Maybe he'd gone on a trip. Maybe he'd taken a walk, and gotten lost. That wouldn't explain why he was so wet... or why he had woken up lying in the middle of a stream. The pale boy looked down, exasperated, examining his soggy attire.
But for the life of him, he couldn't remember how he'd gotten here.
**********************************
Off in the distance, a good hundred feet up the stairs of stones from where the pale boy had fallen, was another boy, much darker in skin color that was the oddest shade of green. The boy woke up on the shore of some place he didn't recognize. And he was covered in mud. Filthy, disgusting mud. He abruptly leapt up, feeling a burning sensation all over his entire body. There was so much pain...
He felt like he was a living sore, and couldn't understand why. Then he felt another sharp pain where he stood (as if the burning feeling all over the rest of his body wasn't enough), and looked down to see that he stood in a puddle of water. He shrieked and jumped up out of the water, flinging himself on dry land and literally kissing the earth.
"Peh... puh!" he spat out some of the mucky soil and sat up, examining his arm. He was hurt badly, but he wasn't sure by what. They looked bruised, almost, and bright red, as if they had been irritated. He couldn't see well in the dim light, but sighed and decided that it wasn't important anyway. He was alive, at least.
Alive...?
He looked around for a moment and took off his gloves, examining his arms to see how badly they were damaged. A tingling sensation flared across his hands and part of his arm as he did this. None of these parts of him looked good. They were covered in small, red bumps, like they had broken out in a rash from a severe allergic reaction so something. Deciding to take a risk, he touched the sores lightly with his hand and jerked back at the sudden pain that shot up his arm. He didn't realize how badly he'd been hurt.
But hurt from what?
He stood up again and ventured nearer to the water, looking up the stream that he had obviously come down from. For some reason the mere sight of the water sent such a shudder up his spine that he decided to stay away from it.
He decided to keep his gloves off for now- they were wet and felt very uncomfortable- and pushed up the sleeves to his shirt. Sighing he looked around, searching the current situation. He was alone. In a place he didn't recognize. He was obviously in very much pain, and probably needed to see a doctor. Again, a shiver was sent up his spine at the thought of this... 'doctor'..., but he ignored it. That was not important, now. What was important was the task at hand, the current, impossible situation he was in, and the millions of questions that raced through his mind.
How had he gotten here? Why was he here? Had he always been alone like this? Why couldn't he remember?
And finally, the question that burned inside him most of all...
Where was home?
Shaking his head, he sighed and sat back on the dirt, looking up into a sky where the weakest stars were just disappearing, and the brightest were struggling to remain seen against the brighter star that began to rise and take over the sky as its' own.
The green boy felt hopelessly lost. And not in just a literal sense, either. He was helpless. Angrily, he turned and punched the forest floor with a balled fist, then yelled 'ow!' as he realized that his hand was still sore from... whatever had caused his arm to break out like it did. He didn't like being helpless. That he knew. He didn't like knowing nothing, or being ignorant and oblivious to what was happening.
He knew he had to do something. Restlessly he stood up again. Somehow, that river that rushed across the clearing was his only clue. But he didn't want to go near it. And going deeper into the woods might put him in a bigger predicament.
"Okay, so maybe I don't have a hold on the situation," the green boy said aloud, for no apparent reason. The sound of his voice was odd, and scratchy, like his entire neck was swollen or something.
Glaring around, he decided that he hated this place. He didn't want to be here. He had to leave! But where?
While in deep contemplation, he heard a sound from far off. What was it? He stood up and stood at the edge of the river to see if he could hear more clearly the sound he'd heard a few seconds ago. He listened intently for the sound to come again....
****************************************
The pale boy was pacing, now. How did he get here? Where did he come from? What could he do? The questions that he couldn't help but ask had no connection except for one, certain connection.
He knew the answer lied in the river. Somehow he'd gotten here because of it. He'd just have to get back. Maybe if he followed it back up, he might try to find... whatever it was he was looking for.
Sighing, he turned again, not sure if he should. If he did follow the river, how would he know where he was once he reached the place he was searching for? His eyes creased in a confused expression, as what he'd just thought made little sense.
He couldn't just stay where he was, that much was obvious. He squinted against the dim light, but decided to relish the fact that it was still cool, and once the sun *did* come up, it would become unbearably hot as it did in the mountains.
At that moment, a sudden glint caught his eye. It was further up the river, caught in a clutter of rocks where the river momentarily held still before spilling out again over the edge.
The pale boy cautiously approached the object, and then reached up and grabbed it, wondering what it was. The object was unbelievably cold, and the fact that the boy had to plunge his hand in the icy water just to get it didn't help, either. Once he felt he had a strong hold, he pulled it down and examined it closely.
"Hey, there, little guy," he said aloud, picking it up. It looked like some sort of robo-dog... but a very odd robot/dog thing, whatever it was.
It was covered in some tattered skin-looking fabric that was green in color, but was ripped off in certain areas. It's face, for instance, was like Two-Face from Batman. Half of it was a cuddly, cute, puppy face... the other was a not-so cuddly robot face with a dull eye.
The boy held it up, trying to decipher what it was exactly. His eyes searched the body of the thing, which had a huge zipper in the mid center of its' body, in the same green, skin-like fabric that was on half of the face. One arm was black, and round, almost like a stuffed animal, the other arm was long and silver-metallic, with a sharp edged hand that now lay limp.
It's legs were the same state as the arm. One was round, plush-looking, the other, long, and silver. Dib shook the object, seeing if anything would happen.
It was in poor condition. A huge dent impaled the side of the object, and its' arm was twisted in an impossible way. It even held a sort of sad, lost expression, but the boy only thought that was in his imagination.
"Robot or not," the boy said aloud, "You're my only clue." He looked up the hill, and even further up the mountain. He'd have to climb upstream, now, no matter what. Possibly there were more clues.
His hands reached out, and he pulled himself upward, up the first set of rocks. He continued like this for awhile, then decided to take a rest for a moment. He pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around the robot-dog thing, and then continued on his journey upwards, the object cradled in his free arm.
He grunted as he pulled himself up the last set of rocks, and then groaned as he conquered this... only to find that the stream continued upwards for quite awhile. His arms and legs already ached from the previous exercise.
"At least," the boy thought, "It's not a steep as what I just went through." He wouldn't have to climb anymore, and he was glad. He examined the robot dog for a second, and then aloud, "Hey, little buddy. Should we rest here or go on?" The robot-dog, eyes still dull, answered with a blank, sleepy-eyed stare, and the boy nodded. "You're right. It's best to travel as far as we can before it gets too warm."
Off in the distance not too far away, the pale boy suddenly heard a loud yell, and then silence.
"What was that?"
Forgetting the aches and pains in his tightened muscles, he broke out into a trot, and then a run, at the idea that maybe he wasn't alone out here after all. He didn't see where he was going, however, and his foot struck a large stone in the middle of the ground. He stumbled and fell, smacking the ground. The robot dog fell out of his arms and bounced a way off, and his glasses flung off his face and clattered to the ground.
A stream of curses let loose from his mouth, and the pale boy sat up and felt his face, which had shuddered as a sudden chill overcame it. It was sticky and moist- blood, as well as rough and bumpy- dirt. Dib reached out and, using his hand, searched for his glasses, then put them on. He stood up, brushing himself off, slightly ashamed at his own stupidity, and looked over to where the robot dog lay a few feet away from him. Stooping low, he scooped it in his arms, tightened his jacket around it, and then nodded, satisfied.
The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly raised, and the pale boy had the dawning feeling of being watched. He spun around to meet face to face with another boy, no older than he, staring back with an odd, curious expression.