TreeSmoothie 4946 Popular Post Share Posted July 16, 2021 Please do not metagame from this passage. Thank you. ⁃ïᵢ÷ᵢï⁃ ❝Derealization is an alteration in the perception of the external world, causing sufferers to perceive it as unreal, distant, distorted or falsified. Other symptoms include feeling as though one's environment is lacking in spontaneity, emotional coloring, and depth. It is a dissociative symptom that may appear in moments of severe stress.❞ Spoiler A cold grasp plunged through the air; through her armor, through her flesh. Her heart halted, and the world itself seemed to have gone. Her soul was torn in twain. They say death brings warmth; warmth, a human yearns for. Light, a human yearns for - endless spoils among these, save for their mortal coil to bring to salvation. Yet, whatever happened, she hadn’t died. Had she? The next moments blurred; minutes turned to hours, until her conscience had all but gone. That woman tripped and stumbled down an incline, serrated thorns and unruly ungrowth tearing at her garb; at last, her eyes closed. Thud - thud. It felt like not a moment had passed - a single second, as her eyes pried open. Gnarled trees, twisted branches, thick fog, dead grass. Her voice called out, choked from her dry throat; “Hello?” A lone rasp called back; “Hello?” That woman jolted up, breaking from her daze to clamber up on all fours. Her foot sunk through the water at the bog’s bank, and she glanced down, what she caught of her reflection was only a pallid face - the rest, obscured by ripples. Before she could tell more, her leg had buckled and sent itself back, returning her onto the mud with a thwap. Hesitantly, she spoke again. “Who are vy?” It countered; “Who are you?” That, she didn’t answer. Rather, she couldn’t. Who was she? Her recollection had blurred together - images of vast planes and ruined towers, yet it’d all felt wicked. “What are vy doing here?” “What are you doing here?” Another dead end, another counter, and another epiphany she wracked her brain to answer. Yet, like them, she had only questions. The day went on in silence as she trudged through the sticks, up hills, through waters and down beneath ravines. The patch of woodland seemed so great that it stretched on for miles, that what hope she had left had begun to dwindle. She’d seen other folk - she swore, she did. In her pocket sat scraps of old paintings from her prior career - what she could recognize as herself, beside some blonde cavalry-armor clad man with blue eyes and a tall, horribly malformed woman with brown locks. At times, she’d thought she’d seen kin, too. Cold sweat dribbled down her chin, her eyes had sunken in, and her limbs had become nigh like the dead foliage around her; thin. Colors she hadn’t seen in months danced around the edges of her vision, though at last, in her peripherals, coagulated into a solid form with dented, silver armor and white hair. “Alaric?” The silence endured. Her heart thrummed - she could feel her nerves run cold. Her mind raced to find some semblance of it to her late husband; what his voice sounded like, all those decades ago, what he would’ve said if he’d still lived. “Do you blame yourself?” His voice scored her mind like salt to a hot wound. For some reason, it was horrid; it wasn’t him. No, it wasn’t. As her eyes pried themselves open, she’d found the landscape had changed anew. Waves battered a jagged shore of rocks where lichen clung, brown fields of sea oats and blankets of beach elder held the dunes firm. And, at her feet, that armored corpse with tufts of white hair - green eyes, that stared to the heavens damningly, and pool of red seeping down at her feet from the single gash in his throat. “Where are you headed?” Silence answered. “Your direction was chosen long before, by the past you’ve been outrunning.” That wanderer screeched and flung herself back from the waves, leaving the man to stirr in the sanguine pool. She blinked, and the vision prior returned. The next months were the same -- she was caught in an instant loop, in a purgatory of her thoughts. Now hope had given into sorrow, and what fond reminiscence she’d clung to distorted and splintered. Her memories had been eviscerated and reborn the same. She’d become acutely aware of her mortality, each wretched heartbeat and breath through her lungs was her own. The world was unfair, the world was frightening, the world was lonely and terrifying and fleeting. She felt she’d returned to her youth again, lost in a city of awful, looming things too shapeless to cling to. In each day she woke, strife found a way to return. She’d become aware of her own thoughts. Whatever followed her, seemed to echo them; or had it really been her subconscious all throughout the journey? Nothing awaits you. Isn’t nothing the most terrifying thing of all? Did you live a life worth the harm? Are you there? Can I see? Who is this? He witnessed. Remember what I told you? He witnessed. Can I see? Don’t go! He witnessed. Where is it? Can I see? He witnessed. Wake. He witnessed . . . ? I saw. V̵̨̧̢̡̭̙͚̼̳̟̭͍͚͍̝͂̌̉̄̂̏̋̆̐̒̆͂̒̎̀͝ķ̶̨̨̧̢̡̧̛͎̝̥̦͈̳̩̯͎̖͈̪̖̹̻̯̖̫͇͈̖͕̟̟͔͓̱̯͖̣̼̜̞̙̍̔̂̈́͒͐̒́̑̆͛́̓̀͛̒̒̃́̕̚͜͠͠ͅķ̷̛̛̛͕͈̠̙̣̺̦̟͓̞͙̬̥͊͋̂̈̽̈́̍͑̏̊̃̉̇́͆̉̀̆̈́̒͐͑̊̒̋̀̄̄̽̀͛̒͗̃͘͘̕ţ̸̡̢̢̙̟̞͎̞̼̦̠͉̻̩͈̙͚̗̬̗͕͒̆̿͋̀̄̌̅̈́̃̈͋͛̔͗̌͋͜͜͜͝͝͝r̸̡̛̟̲̖̪̖͍̙̰͕̫̯̫̯̞̖͓̻̣͈̜̺̞̻̥͓͈̜̳̭̪̬͍̥̹̬͍̼̙̉͒̍͆̅́̊̀̍̀̃̎͑̐͛̑̂̑̃͊͋̂̍̈́̀̾͋͗͘͘̚͘͠͠ͅͅͅa̷̢̛̛̤̰̜̼̲͉̟̪̰̥͂̑̍̅͐͌̍̈̉̽̃̀̌̇̒̀̂͋͌͆̓̍̓͒̌̋̂̉̃̇̋̈̿̃͋͐̚͠?̷̧̧̨̜̟̹͕̜̳̣̜͎̼̘͚̠̖̱͐́́̆͋̀́̔̉͜ . . . V̷̺̈́i̵̹̊k̸̤̂t̸̬͌ò̵̖ṙ̴͕į̷̈ỵ̷̃a̶̘̔?̴̨͗ Spoiler WOOH. That was fun to write. The character was recently disconnected from [redacted], so I wanted to turn it into a bigger character arc rather than being the 14 year old I am and just PKing them because I was sad🤡. I'm not that edgy, promise. This is my 420th post, so you're legally obligated to rep. The Midpoint is one hell of a place. 39 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanSimp 510 Share Posted July 16, 2021 Was amazing to read, and I am happy to be required to upvote :) 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AfroJoeTheOlogBro 1093 Share Posted July 16, 2021 Based as hell. Fly bird fly 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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