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Chapter 2

The Cave

I stood up and looked around. A murmur arose from the doppelgangers. Then their attention turned to me. Just then they attacked, knocking me off my feet. I reached for my gunblade but to my surprise, it was not there. "What?" I asked myself. "Where-" The doppelgangers attacked again before I finished my sentence. They tore and bit at my arms and legs, ripping several layers of skin, drawing blood. I tried fighting back, throwing punches left and right to no avail.

All of a sudden, they stopped attacking and looked towards the deep red sky. They then began to retreat. One by one the numbers depleted, making the area seem larger. I was alone yet again. My arms and legs bled from their onslaught. I need to get out of here. I need to find shelter, a place to stay for the night (if it's even night). I stood the best I could and walked blindly into the unknown.

I don't know how long I've been walking but its felt like an eternity, though, its probably only been a few minutes. My legs felt heavier with each step I took. I needed to find a place to rest and fast. I was losing a lot of blood. Unable to move any longer, I dropped to my hands and knees. I sit on the ground wondering how much longer I had to live before I bled out completely. Then I began to lose focus and my vision became blurry.

I heard the clicking of what sounded like a shot gun. I looked up slowly and questioningly.

"Who are you?" asked a quiet yet threatening voice. From what I could see, it was a young woman wearing a pink dress and a pink bow. I opened my mouth to speak but no sound came out. "Hey," she said. "Are you alright?" Again, I tried to say something but I was unable to do so. "Here," said the woman. Instantly, I felt relief all over my body. She must've used a potion or something. "There. Are you ok now?"

I slowly rise to my feet. My vision becomes clear again and I see the woman is closer to me than I thought she was. She was only a few feet away aiming a shot gun at me.

"Thanks…" I just barley whispered. I was a bit shaken by the abrupt attack I had just experienced. "Why are you aiming at me…?" I asked her, a slight tremble in my voice.

"We need to get out of here." said the woman lowering her weapon. "Follow me. I know a safe place to hide. You look like you're about to pass out." She walked over to me and held out her hand. I was confused. She was just aiming her gun at me and now she's offering me her hand? Was she tricking me or was she being sincere?

"Hurry up already! This place isn't safe!" she told me as she grabbed my hand and sprinted off. I barley kept up with her, my feet still refusing to move properly. "What's your name?" asked the woman. "I'm Aerith."

"Lightning," I responded without thinking. Aerith seemed aggravated by my slow pace. I tried to run faster but my wounds started to hurt again. I ignored the pain and ran alongside her.

Soon after, we made our way to a cave. The girl by the name of Aerith stopped here so I guessed this was where the safe place was. I rested against the cave wall and slid down it to sit on the ground. Aerith was out of breath and so was I. We sat there catching our breath for a minute. My mind was buzzing with questions. But one question stuck out.

"Is this the Unknown World?" I asked once I finally caught my breath. Aerith turned to look at me.

"Yes," she said. "This is a world created by a man named the Puppet Master. He controls everything. The doppelgangers, the weather-"

"Hey," another voice startled me. "You're back." said a tall man. He walked over to Aerith and gave her a hug. "Who's this?" he asked turning to me.

"That's Lightning."

"Is she safe…?"

"I'm… Not sure yet." Aerith then turned to me as well. "Are you a doppelganger? Or are you like us?"

"I'm not a doppelganger. That much I'm sure of." I said.

"Hm…" Aerith sounded as if she was thinking. "Well you obviously need some taking care of. Come on." She pulled me to my feet and led me deeper into the cave. The man followed us. I then heard the sound of crackling flames and smelled smoke. A fire. When the fire came into view, I saw another man tending to it.

"How's the food coming, Cloud?" asked the man who was following Aerith and me.

"Almost done." said the man who was supposedly named Cloud. It smelled of fish in this part of the cave. Aerith sat me down on a rock that was surprisingly comfortable.

"Hey Zack," Aerith called out. "Do we have any more potions?"

The tall man, Zack I guess, nodded and left the area but then came back a few moments later with about 3 bottles of potions. While Aerith took care of my injuries, I looked around. We were in a large cave with a small pool of water over in the far corner and a little waterfall pouring into it. That must be where they get their fresh water and fish. The cave was a bright blue-ish gray color. It wasn't red like everything else on this planet was.

"Um…" I mumbled.

"Yeah?" Aerith asked.

"Why is this cave blue but everything else is red?"

"The Puppet Master hasn't found this place yet. I guess you could call it an oasis. It's untainted by his darkness. It is the only safe haven for us to stay in."

I nodded.

"The food is ready." Cloud proclaimed. He stood with a plate-like rock with fish on it and he set it on their makeshift table, also made of rock. They made their way to the table, but Aerith stopped and looked at me.

"Do you want some?" she asked. I looked up at her. "Because there's enough to go around. You can have some if you want." She continued to the table. I was debating whether or not if I should go eat with them. I was very hungry but it didn't seem like they had enough, even though Aerith told me they did. I saw one of them stand from the corner of my eye and I looked up. It was Cloud. He walked over to me with a rock plate with a fish. He handed it to me. "Here," he barley mumbled. I looked at him and then the plate and finally I reached up and took it. "Thank you." I also mumble. He stood there for a minute and then he walked away.

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