The sway of the trees bloated out the sun for sparse moments, swaying with the whims of the wind. The grass followed suit in their own uniform ways. Both dancing with each other in time.
They broke into a small picturesque opening where Skye laid with his eyes closed while the shadows of the leaves washed over his face to disappear again. His breathing was calm and relaxed like he could have slept here forever if given the chance.
Slowly his eyes started to flutter open to only close tight again when blinded by the hints of sun. He raised his hand to cover his face and let out a slight whimper before breathing deeply and exhaling. His other hand reached for his chest and scratched it, he had a slight burning sensation in the middle of it.
He laid there for a few moments longer in silence, his brown hair washing over his face and falling into the leaves below.
Wait
The thought flashed into this mind before he could fully realise something wasn't right, his eyes shot open wide. The white faded to green, then green to black, now narrowing in with the realisation.
This isn't my bunk
His top half sprung up all at once like a vampire rising from the crypt, now sitting perfectly upright.
His eyes started to dart around as his head jolted from side to side, dragging himself backwards on his ass away from the opening, no longer breathing peacefully as he was a moment before.
"What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck"
He repeated it over and over like a mantra to help him calm the nerves, but he was more likely to break into a full panic attack.
Rolling over to his knees and springing to his feet he stayed alert while taking in his surroundings, patting his body to see if any of it was missing.
Hands, legs, torso, arms, head…
He went over the checklist as he touched every part, pausing at his face to slap it a few times before dropping his arms.
This isn't the Steel Dome, this isn't my home
His thoughts were answered in a low husk of a voice, a voice that sounded too much like his own.
"Yeah no shit sherlock, its green here and easy to breath, of course this isn't your home"
The voice radiated around Skye bouncing off the trees making it impossible to tell where it came from, yet it was there nonetheless.
He couldn't become more alert than he already was but the voice almost sent him over the edge, flinching at the first syllable and looking around frantically to find the speaker.
"Just keep looking around like a fucking mad man I'm sure that will help"
The mocking voice now coming from deeper in the forest to his left, causing Skye to face it and walk backwards. He didn't know where he was but he did know not to walk towards the random voice in an unknown place. That's how you get jumped by the Rippers and wake up without your eyes if you were lucky, not waking up at all if you weren't, ending up as mystory meat in some unknowing fridge.
After a moment of silence Skye decided to force out a few words of his own.
"Hey… Who's there.."
His horse voice did him no favours in hiding his emotions.
"Oh thank god you asked. I was just waiting to spill my whole backstory. Asking will get you everything, remember that. I was born a young man to a beautiful mother…ha ha ha"
The voice trailed off in its own amusement.
Skye listened to the words but the only thing he could understand was a simple fact, he was getting the piss taken out of him. In the middle of some unknown place, an unknown voice was being a dick? For no reason? He kept walking backwards until his back was pressed against a tree so he couldn't be grabbed from behind.
"Don't fuck with me, who's there, who are you. I'm not afraid to hurt you so just stop it."
Skye's eyes searched in the direction the voice came from, darting from tree to tree as he tried to stop his heart from beating out of his chest.
The whisper came from over his shoulder, so close that a slight breeze could be mistaken for breath.
"I'm you"
Skye's head spun so fast to face the voice his body struggled to keep up, threatening to snap his own neck. Luckily there was a thick branch to stop the action all together before anything could break.
A bright light flashed in front of Skye's eyes and his body crumbled on the spot. Knees buckling as he lost consciousness. His head hit the branch with a sickly smash, causing the whole tree to shake slightly. The world faded from bright white lights to darkness, Skye couldn't make out anything but shapes.
The last thing he could see was a hovering orb of intangible light floated in the breeze above him, shimmering as it reflected the world around it.
There Skye laid, returning to a peaceful slumber as the side of his head already started to swell.
"Welcome to the first stage of your downfall I guess. When you wake up we'll have a nice chat and see if you'll stay alive"
The orb chuckled to himself.
"Not afraid to hurt me huh? God you've not won a fight since you were 6, and that tree just kicked your ass… well… our ass."
—
A short time later Skye started to come to his senses again. This time the orb was ready and done playing games. It hovered above him as he opened his eyes in little flutters. Letting out an old painful moan as he did
"Hey hey hey now take it easy, don't be scared. I'm right in front of you. Don't freak out, I might be incredibly sexy but I'm just a normal ball like you"
Skye took a moment to once again slowly feel his body as he started to prop himself against the tree that just knocked him out.
Was he a ball now? Could balls be sexy? Would he be considered an ugly ball and never able to get a ball girlfriend?
Skye was obviously suffering from a traumatic brain injury after his last hit. His thoughts didn't even make sense to himself.
He shook his head carefully as it was still throbbing, for better or worse, he was still the same human he has always been. He sighed and rested the back of his head on the tree and asked.
"Can you please, please, just tell me where I am and who you are?"
"Of course I can, I was always going to after scaring you a little bit, never meant for you to get knocked out and piss your pants"
Skye let out a slight yelp and quickly looked down at his trousers to see if he did in fact piss his pants. It's one thing to lose a fight to a tree, it's another to do so so badly you wet yourself.
Of course they were dry.
This was going to be a long conversation and Skye was wondering if he even wanted to have it. He could just find out where he was eventually or die in the process, either way, would be less of a hassle than talking to this sexy orb.
God was his brain bleeding out? Or was this orb just inherently that sexy?
"Look you're going to have to make a choice, either cut the shit and just tell me what's going on or shut up long enough for me to pull myself together to get out of here"
The orb let out a sigh. Well, if they could sigh.
"God, was I always this much of a killjoy? Fine I'll give it to you straight, but you're not going to like it. I was just trying to lighten the mood. You know, a little bit of sugar helps the medicine go down. Unless you have diabetes I guess. They should really specify what medicine goes with sugar."
"If scaring the shit out of me, getting me knocked out, and having me contemplate if orbs can be sexy is helping the mood, then I'd rather the mood stay the way it was."
"You killed your world, and because of that your god is nearly dead Skye, I'm a fragment of your soul that was carved out of you when you were ripped from her grip, and for the rest of your life you'll have to suffer and fight. I would recommend you kill yourself here and now. If you decide to not take the easy way out, I'll help you navigate this world until I die."
The silence hung in the air. The medicine needed more sugar than just joking about him pissing his pants. He was still going to choke on this new reality wasn't he?