You woke up to an ocean of grey.You, however, quickly corrected this assessment; this grey was of a rather light shade, with a small tinge of blue. You concluded that you were looking at the sky.Only then you took notice of your body. You were lying on your back.You heard the wind howling against… something. It sounded like grass. It made you cold. Very cold.You tried to move, but your legs refused. It felt like they were stuck in the ground. The mud felt grainy against your skin.It took a while before you got to your feet. You haven’t done this in a long time. While you stretched your shoulders, you looked at your surroundings.You were in a ditch of some sort. Looking over its edge, you did not see much more than a field. A field stretching far and wide like a vast sea with small islands of forest here and there. The only other thing disrupting this endless plain was a long, small hill with trees on it. These trees were arranged in a neat row. Curious. You didn’t remember trees standing in neat rows like that.What did you remember to begin with? You scoured your brain. Nothing came up.Crawling out of the ditch, the howling wind hit you. After struggling a bit with the force of a particularly strong gust, you set your first step.You were lying on your belly this time, your foot sunk in the muck hidden below the grass.Raising your feet high up in articulated strides, you slowly made your way to the row of trees.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>Reaching the small embankment, you noticed that all the trees were of the same kind. It was a kind of tree you had never seen before, their nodular trunks erupting into a burst of thin branches at similar heights. When you reached the trees, you finally saw why they were arranged in such a linear fashion. You wondered why the path was divided into two track grooves. Was it such a busy route?The footprints on these tracks were foreign to you. You knew no beast which printed such regular patterns in the soil, nor carts that had such wide wheels. Only a few reassuring hoofprints reminded you of…You could not complete that sentence for a combination of reasons. Firstly, you had no idea what it reminded you of. Secondly, you began hearing a constant high-pitched growl.Immediately all your senses flared. It was distant, but getting closer. It was coming from the right.You did not know this beast. Its noise was high-pitched, and you could discern a rapid ticking noise from the constant growl as it grew louder.After freezing for a while you snapped out of the terror and scrambled to hide behind one of the strange trees. Pressing the whole of your shivering body against the trunk, you noticed you were still covered in the mud you crawled out of. You should do something about that sometime.The growl was growing to deafening strengths, while some other noises became audible. Whatever this was, it was not moving smoothly. Loud clunks and thunks escaped this creature while it supposedly stumbled down the path.The high-pitched yammering of a voice sneered through the brisk wind before being interrupted by a lower baritone. There were two speakers, one clearly more agitated than the other. Both were speaking a language you stood no chance of comprehending, but it was a language that clearly suited itself to vocalizing anger. Were they running from this beast?You could no longer curtail his morbid curiosity. Peeking from your position behind the tree, you could only stare in awe at what you saw barrelling down the path.This was no beast.
A black blob made out of shiny metal was busy growling itself down this path. Upon further inspection this box was riding on four small wheels which were struggling to get over the bumps, producing the odd clunk when they hit a particularly big one. The growling and ticking seemed to come from the weirdly curvaceous front of this blob, which was adorned with two bright metal disks. All things considered it had a weird, rodent-like appearance. The blob also featured a small piece of glass, which displayed an interesting scene. Everything about them was completely foreign to you; their dark hair, tanned faces and smooth skin looked otherworldly in this grey environment. They were in a heavy argument, making strange hand gestures to go along with their unknown tongue. One of them was clearly in a heated tirade, his rather small moustache moving at breakneck speeds to keep up with the mouth used to berate the other in the high-pitched voice you had heard before. The other man looked rather similar, featured a weird and incomplete mask that only covered his eyes and appeared to be more focused on the path.The path. Before you knew it you were standing on the side of the path, trying to speak to the weird men in the blob. Only then did you realise you didn’t know how to. More misfortune came when you misjudged how fast this blob was going. By the time you reached your position on path’s edge, the blob had almost passed.It was at that moment the silent man saw you and broke into a scream. Startled, you ran back to your hiding tree while the blob veered away from you and accelerated, beating a hasty retreat. The man with the high-pitched voice apparently did not notice you, as his enraged scream only came when the blob made the unexpected move. While the blob sped away, you heard an increasingly more distant furious debate.Walking back onto the path, you saw the wide cart prints were similar to the prints this blob left behind.Off in the distance behind you, you heard a large blast. Turning around, you saw smoke rising at a few hundred trees’ distance. It was only a small bit to the left of the path.You were covered in mud and shivering from the cold. You considered following this path.>Go in the blob’s direction.>Go to the smoke.
Hi, this will be my quest for the coming time. I'm new to QM'ing, so excuse any mistakes I make while I wrap my head around this whole writing thing. I plan on making an update every two or three days (I'm rather busy). The quest will be extremely mechanics-light (because I frankly wouldn't know what they are needed for here).The [] around my name is unintentional by the way, I didn't know you didn't need them to set a tripcode (because every other function on this site does).I hope good times lay ahead with this quest.
>>6137365>Go to the smoke.
>>6137365No sense trying to chase the blob!>Go to the smoke.
>>6137365>>Go in the blob’s direction.
>>6137365>Both were speaking a language you stood no chance of comprehending, but it was a language that clearly suited itself to vocalizing anger.>One of them was clearly in a heated tirade, his rather small moustache moving at breakneck speeds to keep up with the mouth used to berate the other in the high-pitched voice you had heard before.Nazis?>Go to the smoke.Hitler won't get us today
>>6137365>>>Go in the blob’s direction.>>6137368Good luck.
>>6137557Many men have small moustaches. Especially if we're maybe used to big, bushy ones. Plus, was Adolf ever tan?>Go to the smoke.Thy were freaked out by us, though. We should try to find a way to see out face.
>>6137585>>6137365Oop, meant to tag QM for the vote.
>>6137365>>Go to the smoke.
>>6137390>>6137407>>6137470>>6137557>>6137585>>6137766For going to the smoke, and>>6137464>>6137560for following the blob.I'm calling it here and I'll start writing. Expect an entry later tonight or tomorrow.
>>6137900Sure thing. Oh, and>>6137368Username and tripcode aren't tied to one another.
You turned around again. The blob had now left your view, and its growl was diminished to a measly whine. You saw nothing but more path this way.With that assessment you turned back and doddered towards the ever-expanding cone of smoke.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>It felt like an eternity on that path. Every small step strained your legs, every gust upset your balance ever so slightly. Walking was not always this hard, was it? Then again, it would probably help if you weren’t so awfully cold. You could feel it eating away at your senses the farther you went.The slight shlick of your feet hitting the hardened dirt grew softer.In fact, everything did.Only the muted howling of the storm persisted.Endlessly the winds hunted across the wide fields, the unceasing current of pressure waging an eternal battle for everything that stood in its way.Your view became hazy. It wouldn’t be long until you were torn back asunder by this gnawing cold.The ever-present, all-consuming cold.Was that a fire?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>The crackling flames of the house were nice and warm to your hands. Feeling your senses come back to life, you looked at the farmyard you just entered. Consisting of three separate buildings, you could only assume that this revitalizing inferno you were warming your hands on must have been a home of some sort. You had never seen buildings made out of these little brown stones before. They would surely fall over in this wind, right?Your makeshift firepit didn’t really resemble much of a home anymore, though. Most of the roof had collapsed in on itself and every window was spewing flames into the howling winds.A tiny array of charred plants adorned the front of this residence. Great care had clearly been taken by its owners to keep the blackened saplings in perfect order. You felt sorry for them while their hard work went up in flames. It must have been a nice place.The other buildings looked less identifiable but had been spared by the fire. To the left of the home you saw an unusual tower. Just below its tip this strange tower had a sort of wooden collar, above which four wings were spread out. You could see them turning rapidly, trying to keep up with the howling tempest.The other building was a lot less well-built and of a much less intricate design; it looked like an upscaled version of the residence that was warming your hands, with special attention being given to the width. Its windows featured wooden shutters which wildly flapped into the wind, creating a dull thud when they hit the walls. Curiously, both the tower and the wide house’s doors were wide open.A terrible stench surrounded you.With the warmth returning your long-lost sense of smell, you noticed the air was not only drenched in the scent of smoke; a stench of death and mud permeated the airwaves.You realized why the man in the blob was screaming. Looking down you saw a mud-covered husk of a man, more dead than alive.High time to look for some water.For its size, the rest of the yard was rather empty; the only thing you saw were black marks resembling those wheel prints on the path and a rack with tools you didn’t know the function of.>Search the winged tower.>Search the wide house.>Write-in.
Sorry for the late and messy upload.>>6138138Good to know.
>>6138371>>Search the winged tower.
>>6138371>Search the winged tower.
>>6138371>Search the wide house.
>>6138385>>6138541>>6138950>>6139263Unanimous vote, nice. Writing...
Before I post this entry, a quick explanation of the brackets I use. Might be useful.<><><> = Scene transition.~~~~~~ = Perspective transition.Yes, I did basically steal this from Poképocalypse. If it works, it works.
The wings towered above you. Now that you could see the building more clearly, you wondered why someone made a winged tower if it couldn’t fly. Its door remained wide open, showing some vague movements inside. You progressed into the dark interior.You’d never seen such a complex mechanism. When your eyes adjusted to the darkness you saw various wheels, all turning each other with sharp and perfectly interlocking wooden teeth. At the bottom, you found two large stones which were grinding against each other. Did they grind their grain using the wind? Such instruments must have cost a fortune.It was only when you gazed down upon the floor that you realized found what you sought; a bucket of what you presumed was decently fresh water. You started cleaning.The water reflected a spotless and mud-free face. Sporting short, unkempt brown hair and eyes of the same colour, you couldn’t help being quite satisfied with your work. The rest of your body had received the same treatment; your pants were now back to what you presumed was their original brown colour and you half-disintegrated shirt (no wonder you were so terribly cold out there) regained a tinge of what you assumed was its original white colour.You were terribly wet though.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>Warming yourself near the smouldering remains of the farmhouse again, you wondered what had happened to you. Did you perish? Were you cursed? If so, who placed the curse upon you? And why? What was the purpose of bringing you to this nigh-desolate plain of storms? What did you do to deserve this?Your thoughts fell silent for a moment. You couldn’t answer any of these questions, could you? You should probably adopt a more solvable line of inquiry. So……what happened to this farm?Your ruminations were disturbed by a loud metallic CLANG coming from the wide house. Time to find out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~It hurt so goddamn much.Lying on your back in the stables, you tried your best to reach for the first aid kit the farmer left behind. Shame that his house was probably ruined by that explosion. He was a nice man. A helpful man.Christ, you hated the bastards.Finding the bandage roll inside of this kit, you tried bandaging your foot. It looked pretty bad, but you didn’t doubt that it would heal in some time. At least you wouldn’t have to find a doctor. Those weren’t always to be trusted these days; your bounty could probably feed their family for a couple of days.The bandaging… didn’t really work. Your bruised sides refused to bend over far enough for you to fully reach your damaged foot. Your second attempt was trying to bend your knee, but this also proved to be more difficult than expected. If it just didn’t have to hit the ground it would hurt a lot le-You stopped in the middle of that thought. You heard footsteps.Was someone else in here?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Entering the wide house, you were surprised by what you found. This gigantic house was used solely as a stable. You stared in awe at the giant metal bars used to reinforce the structure of the massive building and the ingenuity of the sliding stall doors. Who would have a need for this many horses? What mighty land was ruled from this farmstead? More importantly, why was every single stall empty? Were you walking through the ruins of a fallen-You stopped in the middle of that thought. You heard soft grunting and heavy breathing.Was someone else in here?
Inspecting the floor, you saw what you were looking for. Someone had dragged themselves from one stall to the back of the building; a rough trail was dragged through the thin layer of hay laying on the floor. Following the trail, you heard the grunts come to a sudden halt. When you reached the stall the trail ended at, the breathing followed suit. You opened the sliding door.Lying before you was a red-headed woman. She looked a lot less pale than the reflection you had seen in the bucket not too long ago, but definitely not as tan as the men in the blob. She wore clothing that was not too dissimilar from yours, but featured a lot more colours than your attire. Those orange dyes must have been expensive. More interestingly, she was only wearing one hard-leather shoe. Her other foot was bare and only haphazardly covered by white fabric. Her eyes were completely drenched in fear while her body was tensed up as if she was expecting violence. Was she wounded?Both of you were staring silently at each other. Should you… say something? If so, what could you even say? So far, the only thing that had escaped your mouth was an inarticulate grunt when you fell over back in the field. In fact, you hadn’t even found any language to speak within your memories when you wanted to approach the men in the black blob. What could you possibly convey to her?The longer you kept standing before her in silence, the more the fear in her eyes turned to confusion. After what felt like ages of silence, she began talking. The language she spoke was just as unfamiliar as that of the men in the black blob, but not the same one. It sounded a bit harsher. She seemed to be stumbling over her words and sometimes even stuttered a bit. Was she trying to lie to you?She fell silent and looked at you. Did she expect a reply?After another minute of confused staring, she started making symbols with her hands. It took you a while to grasp what she meant, but it appeared as if she was asking if you were with the men from the black blob, which you figured out when she made a noise similar to its growl.You shook your head.Immediately her tone shifted. She eased up, slumping down with a sigh of relief while her expression turned from frightful to curious. She began trying to convey her next question. Pointing at herself, she said “Vera”. She then pointed at you. What was your name?That was a very good question. You shrugged.After this, many more questions about who you were followed. You had to shrug as an answer to all of them. In a final desperate attempt, she asked you how you even got here.>Point towards the path.>Shrug.
>>6139450>>6139575Forgot to insert my name here. Too used to being one of the anons I suppose.
>>6139578>Point towards the path.Dang not even language? We have super amnesia
>>6139578>Point towards the path.She seems nice enough 'Vera', huh? Maybe she can give us a name and teach us a bit of language, if we're capable of understanding and vocalizing.
>>6139578>Shrug.
>>6139578>>Point towards the path.
>>6139578>Point towards the path.
>>6139598>>6139722>>6139934>>6139984>>6140585For the path, and>>6139894for shrugging. Calling it here for now, next entry will drop tomorrow or the day after depending on how busy it gets for me.
>>6140905Sounds good, QM!
>>6140905It's going to be tomorrow (read: 15 november, for some it may already be tomorrow). I can't finish this tonight if I want it to be at least decent (as far as my writing goes). I have to mind my sleep schedule.
>>6141517Reasonable. We'll be here.
You pointed towards the path you came from. She rubbed her thumb and index finger on her closed eyelids. After another sigh, she made another set of signals. Everyone comes down this path, you see. It is the only way to get to this farm.Vera began firing off another set of signals at you to elaborate, only to let out a sharp breath. Her entire body had been shocked, and her face displayed only the grimace of deep pain.Only then you realized she had been holding her injured foot off of the ground for the duration of your non-verbal conversation; letting it down had clearly hurt a lot. Still grimacing from the pain, Vera directed you to the faded green box hanging on the wall. Finding a whole host of unfamiliar equipment, you decided to grab a roll of the white fabric you had previously seen on her foot.It took you a lot of attempts, but you had finally managed to enclose her whole foot with the white fabric. Lying on the ground with a relieved expression, she looked like this had never really happened to her before. How did she get this hurt? You decided to ask her.Signalling yourself proved to be a whole lot harder than you imagined. First you tried pointing at her foot and shrugging, then you made a vague gesture imitating how you thought someone would have hurt her foot like this. It would have been a very bad kick, right? Vera looked on in confusion, with slight amusement occasionally crossing her eyes. When you stood up for another attempt, she signalled for you to stay put. You had a long way to go.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>You had learnt quite a lot in the following hours. Making signals at high speed, you were now able to hold full-fledged conversations with Vera. Her grandfather had apparently lost the ability to hear, so she had already been quite adept at using hand signals to communicate. You had also tried you hand at some vocal language, surprising Vera when you first tried mimicking her speech. In combination with the hand signals you used along with it, it must have been a rather amusing performance; it took a while for her to recover from the fit of laughter.Though she commended you on your quick learning and drive, she suggested you keep to the signalling for now. She explained that vocal language was quite the hassle with a lot of redundancy and could be learned at a later time. Besides, it was better to stay silent these days.
You were about to ask why it was better to stay silent when she interrupted you. It was getting dark, and she was expecting someone. You looked out the window: the grey sky was indeed darkening its shade, making everything outside lose its colours while the invisible sun (if there was something like it in this eternally overcast realm) retreated behind the western horizon.Looking back at Vera, you saw she was struggling to ask for something. The trouble didn’t seem to come from the difficulty of the signs (which you had experienced quite a lot in the past few hours), but rather from the unease that was now clearly showing in her eyes. She had a small request.It appeared you had regained quite the bit of strength in your time in this stable. Lifting her was rather easy; below her clothes Vera appeared to mostly consist of skin and bones. Were these people eating enough? She did not seem to be too comfortable in this arrangement, trying her best to make as little body contact with you as possible. You wondered what was wrong with your torso.The familiar wind hit your face again.Slowly walking out of the stable the leftover daylight shone on a scene not too different from the one you had left behind. The house was however no longer the blazing inferno it had one been; all that remained was a slightly smouldering burnt-out shell of those little brown stones. Some parts of the wall had collapsed; you considered it a miracle any of the little brown stones were still piled up in their peculiar order.To your shock and surprise, Vera began shouting. Her cry was rather short, consisting of the repetition of “Tom”. Along with her repeated cry, Vera was scanning the area for any sign of life. Was she telling someone to come out of hiding?The longer no response came, the shriller her voice became. She was now breathing heavily, frantically looking around her between every scream. You could feel her tensing up again in your arms. She directed you to the remains of the house. Still occasionally shouting, she began inspecting the black and charred remains. You wondered if she had lost something in that fire.
She abruptly stopped in the middle of her breath. Feeling the tension leave her body, you looked over towards the remains to see what had made her fall silent. You saw nothing of note. Vera in the meantime had fallen completely silent; looking at her face, you saw nothing but shock and horror. Since she was giving you no directions, you remained there for quite a while. As the last daylight faded, you still saw no discernible change in her expression. At least she had picked up her breathing again shortly after falling silent. Feeling your arms strain from holding her up for so long, you decided to stroll back to the stable. It was time to go to bed.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>Back in the stable, you laid Vera back on the floor of one of the stables with the least filth lying around. Even though it had long been deserted (Vera told you it had been empty for almost a year now), the horses had definitely left their traces in some of the abandoned stalls. A stroke of luck came across you when you stumbled across a stall with a couple of blankets hanging on the wall; even though they seemed to be made for horses, they would be a definite improvement to being exposed to the bitter cold. Even inside it was rather chilly.Getting back to her stall, Vera had not moved. Still lying on her side (you had placed her in this position so her foot wouldn’t hurt as badly when she touched the ground) and with the same, now a bit more vacant expression, it was clear she wasn’t present. You decided against intervening for now and put the blanket over her. Being so meagre must have made her real cold out there.Grabbing your own improvised bedsheet and moving to the stall next to hers, you mind quickly drifted asunder when you hit the hay. Within 15 minutes you entered the realm of slumber.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>You were jolted back awake by the dry snap of a branch. The sky was still dark, although the clouds had disappeared to show something you were definitely familiar with. The stars and moon shone down upon you with their pale, but benevolent sheen while the howling of the wind had been reduced to the slow rustling of the outside vegetation.Hearing shallow breathing from Vera’s stall, she was now definitely asleep. Listening a bit longer, you noticed a muted sobbing occasionally accompanying her shallow breaths. You supposed she lost someone dear to her in that fire. Trying to close your eyes again, you couldn’t shake the feeling that you were being watched. This feeling, along with Vera’s sobbing, prevented you from finding any sleep; you had to go do something about one of these reasons before you were allowed back into dreamland.>Try to comfort Vera. She is probably not taking her loss very well.>Look around outside. That branch couldn’t’ve been broken by this mild breeze.
I hope the large entry compensates a bit for my extended absence. I wish my schedule agreed to my writing plans. Ah well, such is life. In the meantime, enjoy this new entry.
>>6142112>Try to comfort Vera. She is probably not taking her loss very well.
>>6142112>Look around outside. That branch couldn’t’ve been broken by this mild breeze.>>6142113Consistency and persistence matters more than speed.
>>6142112>>Try to comfort Vera. She is probably not taking her loss very well
>>6142112>Look around outside. That branch couldn’t’ve been broken by this mild breeze.
>>6142300>>6142671>>6142914>>6143665For looking outside and>>6142204>>6142425for comforting Vera.Writing up the next one. I'll try getting the next entry out today, but it might be tomorrow instead.
You didn’t trust this. Whatever was outside might be a threat to you both and definitely needed to be addressed first. Listening to a feeling you might have been able to locate as coming from your gut, you decided to close your eyes and focus all your energy on listening for any additional sound this potential fiend created.Rustling. Breathing, both from you and Vera. Muted sobbing. Creaky wooden shutters. More rustling. Kchhhhhhhhhhhhh.That noise was not supposed to be there. Still pretending you were asleep, you listened to the static noise a bit longer. It was very quiet and did not seem to change position. It would stutter a bit occasionally, but no true changes seemed to occur.Moving very carefully, you exited your makeshift bed and headed for the window at the back of your stall. Very gradually raising your head above the windowsill, you saw absolutely no sign of activity anywhere. Letting your eyes adjust to the light of the almost-full moon a bit more, you were still left wondering what was causing this noise. The noise had grown a bit more distinguishable though, and soon you were able to approximate where it came from. Behind the stables.Exerting an unprecedented amount of control over your body, you silently made it to the stall door. Moving the sliding door very slowly, you managed to avoid the usual metallic grinding noise that came with the operation of this still rather curious mechanism. From there it wasn’t long until you had made your way to the stable’s front door.Listening very carefully, you didn’t hear anything unusual. The noise had become completely inaudible, and no other sound had come to replace it. Hoping for the best, you stepped outside.It took a while for your eyes to adjust to the light. It surprised you how well you could see in the middle of the night. Then again, the overcast skies that were present before you went to sleep had cleared up. Along with the pale moon, every star had its free reign over the earth’s luminance. Were you still on earth?Shaking the intrusive question out of your mind, you started making your way towards the back of the stable. Keeping to its wall as closely as possible, you heard the noise reappear and grow louder the further you went. You began noticing the freezing cold again; slowly but steadily you began to resent the torn-up rags that were barely even attempting to warm your upper body.Arriving at the back of the stable, you saw a perfectly aligned row of waist-high bushes. These were placed on another one of these banks, creating a striking similarity to the odd trees that outlined the path. This row of bushes was however rather short; it seemed to end at the other end of the stable, and started at the corner you were positioned behind. The rustling and the noise were now at their loudest, and you assumed its origin was rather close. Only then did you notice the yellow light seeping through the foliage.
You were caught completely off-guard by this unexpected light: burning with the colour of a thousand campfires, its actual illumination seemed to be rather small. It almost seemed like the light was being directed into one specific direction; reflecting off of something hidden behind the bushes, you could see it occasionally being blocked by…there was someone in there. Quickly snapping out of your dazed state, you slinked your way behind the side of the bank. Slowly creeping further behind this artificial hill, you began seeing what, or rather who was hiding behind the underbrush. If you had entered the row some five steps left of your current position, you would have certainly bumped into him.The man you saw looked like no one you had seen before. Donning a tight black attire and a small hat that resembled an upturned bowl, his face sported another small moustache which was different from the ones you had seen on the men in the blob. His activities were even more foreign to you, using a bent pipe to shine the yellow light on a larger, more angular tube which was of a dark green colour. He was busy poking an even smaller metal rod into this tube, which you now saw featured two short cylindrical stubs on one of its sides. Occasionally he would turn the small metal rod, creating the odd stutter in the noise, which seemed to originate from this dark-green cuboid.While you once again waited for your eyes to adjust, the man suddenly stopped using the tiny metal rod. In another heartbeat, the man had stuffed the rod in his pants pocket and turned his head.He was now directly looking at you.Instinctively, you held your breath and hoped he hadn’t seen you. It was dark after all, and his sight must’ve surely been diminished by the beam of light… that was now shining directly into your eyes.Raising your hand to cover your eyes, you realized it was already too late: you were completely blinded. Trying your best to readjust your eyes after the sudden flash, you looked at the spot the man was occupying a second ago.The only thing you saw when your sight returned was the still-shining tube lying on the ground. The mysterious man had disappeared into thin air.Trying to back up your vision with your ears, you tried listening for any trace of the man escaping the scene. You heard nothing over the rustling of leaves.
Slowly nearing the bent tube, you began to see what the man had done to flee his unexpected company: shining the concentrated beam at your eyes you were blinded in the exact way you were blinded before. The beam was actually pretty small in width, making it hard to light up more than a narrow cone of the darkness. Inspecting the weird tube yourself, you saw that it was the same colour of green as its angular counterpart, although it was certainly a lot smaller. It had a small black button on the side of it, which when pressed up or down would make the light appear and disappear. You wondered how the fire that burnt within this tube could be lit and extinguished so rapidly.Returning to the stable, you had lowered your caution. You noticed no sign of life in your vicinity, and you were too busy trying to figure out the functions of this curious tube anyway.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>Getting back to your stall, you were alerted by a new sound coming from Vera’s stall. Along with her usual sobbing, she had now started to talk in her sleep. She sounded quite distressed, repeatedly calling out for this “Tom” in what you assumed were vain attempts prevent the loss in her sleep-induced delusions. You felt quite bad for her.Quietly opening her stall door, you decided to take the matter into your own hands. Entering her stall, you saw she had subconsciously turned her body to lie on her other side. Noticing her injured foot lying on the ground, you gently removed her horse blanket and turned her around again. Still hearing her troubled speech come through, you sat down and began lightly patting her shoulder.It wasn’t long before Vera’s slumber was pacified. You could finally go back to sleep.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>Your upper arm was being shaken. Still groggy from your disturbed sleeptime, you tried shaking the unwavering nuisance off of your limb. When this proved ineffective, you finally decided to open an eye. It took you a while to recognize what was being shown to you through your blurred vision. It was Vera. She had apparently crawled over to your stall and was trying to rapidly signal you something.Rubbing your eyes and sitting up, you were met with an avalanche of hand-signalled questions. You now saw that Vera had laid the bent pipe (which you had taken back to your stall before falling asleep) in front of her, occasionally stopping her tirade of questions to inspect it for a clue of some sort. Slowly regaining your awareness, you patiently answered all of her questions by recalling the events that played out last night, excluding what happened after you re-entered the stable. Those details were not relevant to the story.You had never seen Vera this excited and happy. Overjoyed, she told you this meant someone had been true to their word. When you wanted to ask who this someone was (you suspected the man behind the bushes himself) and what his word entailed, Vera quickly switched topics. She wanted to quickly leave the farm behind. It wasn’t safe to stay here.You agreed, if only for the fact that the skies were once again grey and the howl of the wind had returned. You seriously needed some new clothing. Your concerned look at your shirt didn’t go unnoticed by Vera though; she quickly assured that she would give you something better to wear once you arrived at her destination.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>One could be forgiven for thinking nothing had changed at all. Walking down the tree-lined path once again, the weather had returned to the exact state it was in yesterday. You noticed Vera was noticeably less averse to body contact than the last time you had to carry her; using eachother’s body heat would get you further in this bitter clime. You were growing slightly distrustful of your found accomplice. With the way she communicated you wondered how much she was hiding from you.Despite the shared body heat, you had to make frequent stops: the cold together with the strain of carrying Vera made sure you had to rest and regain your strength every ten or fifteen minutes. It was during one of these breaks that you noticed you were at the spot where you had seen the blob; you saw your own footsteps on the track, along with the blob’s tracks veering around your past self.You knew Vera was probably still wondering how you got here. It might be helpful to show her the ditch you crawled out of. Then again, it probably wouldn’t hurt to avoid detours in your journey. During the last stop, Vera said there would be a warm fire at her destination.>Head towards the ditch.>Continue down the path.
>>6144815>Head towards the ditch.We have questions. She may have answers.
>>6144815>Continue down the path.
