LIGHTNOVELONLINE 1&2: The Clearing
】〓〓〓〓【
My first sensation is a stabbing behind my eyes. The dull throbbing makes me want to not open them, but the soft warmth of the sun tries to tempt me to wake, eventually winning me over.
I sit up and rub my eyes as they adjust to the sunlight. Once I can see clearly I take a look around. My mind takes a second to register what I'm seeing.
Instead of being in my bed, I’m laying in an open area in a forest. I'm hit with a wave of anxiety. What if there’s aggressive animals around? I quickly look around for anything dangerous. After a few minutes of fruitlessly staring into bushes, I let myself relax. I look up at the top of the clearing, where the sun is visible through a gap in the canopy. Beams of sunlight filter through the leaves above, giving the space a comfortable atmosphere.
My relaxed daze is shattered when something at the edge of the flat area moves. In a panic I spring to my feet, never taking my eyes off the shifting form. The dark shape slowly pulls itself up out of the grass, revealing a young man. How the hell did I miss him? A few seconds after the man’s dramatic appearance, a second figure appears from nowhere: This time a similar-looking young woman. Twins? The newcomers start to mimic what I was doing little more than a minute ago. Namely, looking around in confusion. It isn't long before their eyes drift onto me. They quickly scramble to their feet in perfect sync and make their way towards me.
Their body language is much more at ease than mine is. They amble their way over to where I’m standing, not a hint of anxiety to be seen. Once the duo is standing right in front of me, they drop to a sit in the soft grass.
I sit down as well, not wanting to be rude, and face the two strangers. They look almost identical, except for their sex and height. The two have black, silky hair that stands out dramatically against their pale skin. Both of them have gaunt faces and thin frames that speak to a severe lack of food. With that being said, it’s easy to see that both of them would be very attractive if they were properly fed. Their faces have very delicate features that would go over well with the ladies.
After watching the twins for so long, I realize they’re flawlessly mimicking each other’s movements. They do routine movements facing each other. Everything they do is perfectly mirrored, like the two have rehearsed the act for years. For a while they continue their strange act, until eventually, they look at me.
Both of them point at each other simultaneously. “I think this is me.” Just like their movements, they speak as one.
“What do you mean, that’s you? Aren’t you siblings?” Their strange actions are putting me on edge.
“No, I’m both of these bodies, for sure.” They both nod like an elder. After a moment they look confused again. “Where am I? Who are you?”
These crazy twins just realized the situation now? I guess they were also brought here like me. Maybe they’ll help me get home. As I begin to think where to head, I realize I can’t remember where home is. A cold fear rushes through my body.
I can’t remember my own home? Is that my only missing memory? I run through all the obvious things I should know. Name? No idea. Country I live in? Nothing. My birthday? Absolutely no clue. Fear furiously bubbles in my gut, so I look at the twins to distract myself. The two of them are still looking at each other oddly.
“Hey! What’s your name?” I’ll play along with their story, I need their help if I can get it.
The two dark haired people tilt their heads in sync. “I don’t remember.” Their voices are calm, as if losing your name is no big deal. “I guess I’ll go by Zenith.” The simultaneous smile they give me makes my skin crawl.
“I guess I should pick a new name then, too?” The pair nods vigorously in response. My memory strains as I try to pull any name from it. Eventually I get one to pop out. “Scarlet, I’ll go by Scarlet.” Not bad, not bad. I smile at the random name I came up with.
Watching the twins makes me realize something, I have no idea what I look like. I look down at myself with a sudden, burning curiosity. First thing I notice is my height. I’m easily a head taller than the girl, and two more than the boy. Brown bangs cover the top of my vision, the same color as the curly brown hair that sits on my shoulders. Past that is a decent set of boobs that blocks my view of my lower half. Nice! Not bad, me! I look back up at the clearing.
The sunlight has lessened, it must be getting late. I realize we’ll be sleeping in these woods. I quickly jump to my feet and look down at both Zeniths. “We need to make a fire, will you help?” They both nod, again with way too much force. “I’ll get tinder and stones, you get firewood.” After giving the duo instructions I turn and march off into the brush.
Once I push through the clingy bushes, the light level drops dramatically. I squint my eyes to help them adjust, looking around for suitable stones. Though I don't find any, I quickly stumble into a massive pile of dried leaves. I snatch the perfectly dried tinder, pleased with my luck.
After about an hour, I find two chipped stones that can make sparks. My job completed, I carry my haul back to the clearing. When I step into the large open area I see the duo making a neat campfire with the wood they gathered. I walk over and sit by the protective stone ring that they built around the wood.
I stuff some of the tinder inside their construction and pull the two stones out of my pocket. I start striking the stones together. I manage to make some sparks, but none catch on the tinder. Frustration starts to build in the back of my mind.
After another half hour of trying to make the miracle of fire, someone taps my shoulder. I turn around to see, amazingly, Zenith standing behind me. Who else would it be? He gives me a nervous smile and reaches out a hand.
“Can I try?”
He wants to try? Sure, I was close to giving up anyways. I place the stones in his hands. “Knock yourself out.” I stand behind the guy, wanting to see if he can pull it off. Glancing around I notice the other Zenith doing jumping jacks. How the hell would someone control two bodies and be able to do separate things? When I look back at the Zenith struggling to hold the stones, I start to think they may be telling the truth. His arm and leg muscles are slightly tensing in time with the girl’s movements.
Zenith raises one of the stones to strike the other, but before he can move a small flame appears over his right hand. The flame follows his movements, trying to stay in position. After watching the fire mimic his movements for a moment, he points with his possessed hand at the fireplace. The flame obeys immediately, flying into the tinder and setting it ablaze. Soon the wood in front of me crackles with warmth.
He turns around, giving me a smile. “I did it, Scarlet!”
I nod silently, dumbfounded. Looking up at the sky, I see stars twinkling back at me through the final vestiges of sunlight. I… I think it’s time to sleep. Maybe then I’ll wake up from this bizarre dream. Yes, that seems nice.
I lay down in the grass and quickly fall asleep, thinking of a home I can’t remember.
】〓〓〓〓【
I wake up to a horrible pain that radiates through my head, pounding along to the beat of my heart. A loud groan creaks out of me. “How much did I drink last night?” I grumble irritably. After finally working up the guts to open my eyes, I immediately question whether my brain is working right. “What the hell am I doing in the woods?” I look down at my body and quickly see why I feel like I’m swimming in my clothes. The outfit I’m wearing is several sizes too big, not to mention very feminine. “What the hell," I whine.
Sounds of movement behind me snap me back to reality. I whirl around in the direction of the noise and put my back to a nearby tree trunk defensively. The bushes at the edge of the clearing shake and a boy and girl emerge from the underbrush. The dark haired duo looks around the clearing, eventually noticing me.
“Scarlet?” they say as one, a confused look on both of their faces.
“Who the hell is Scarlet?!” I snap back. Hell no, these guys give me the creeps. Creepy twins in the woods where I woke up, is this a horror story or something?
They tilt their heads at me before asking, “Who are you, then? Where is Scarlet?” They seem on edge.
What the hell did I do to make them annoyed?! I’m the one who woke up in the woods!
“I’m… I… uh..." As I stutter, I realize I don’t know who I am. “It’s none of your business who I am! I don’t know a Scarlet either!” I bark at them aggressively.
They don’t seem to buy my bluff. “You look similar to Scarlet, are you her brother?” the girl questions.
“I, uh, no, I have no siblings… probably." I sigh, totally unconvinced by my own answer.
“You don’t have your memories either, do you?” the boy asks, folding his arms.
“What do you mean, ‘either’?”
The boy sighs. “Scarlet and I both remember nothing, and we woke up in this clearing like you just did," he says with a flat, matter-of-fact tone.
I hesitate. He could easily be lying to me right now, but my gut tells me these two would be terrible at lying. “Fine." I sit down near the burnt-out fire. “I give, I don’t remember anything." I look up at the two of them and see them visibly relax.
“Now that we sorted that out, could you help me look for Scarlet?” As the girl asks me, the guy wanders into the woods at the opposite side of the clearing without a word.
“You go that way, and I’ll head this way," the girl says, pointing. “Look for an hour, then turn around and come back." She steps into the brush before I can even nod. Well, guess it’s time to play find the girl in the creepy woods that you woke up in with no memories… I groan loudly at my shitty attempt at humor. It’s okay, I’m stressed.
After wandering through a typical-looking forest for much too long, bored out of my mind, I sigh. I’ve seen no signs of people, let alone some mystery girl. A couple of steps later, I hear shuffling in a nearby bush. Looking at the knee high plant for a minute, I see a small creature hop out. The horrible thing stands on two muscular back legs, its large head adorned with an even larger beak. The small wings on its back don’t seem like they’d be able to lift the creature off the ground. It looks at me with black, beady eyes before making a horrible squawk. I flinch, surprised by the noise, and start to walk away before it gets too interested. The little monster doesn’t seem to like that idea and jumps into the path ahead of me.
I scowl down at the cat-sized thing that’s cut me off. “I will kick you into next year, little bird, get out of the way."
The small animal tilts its head. Something blurs past me, and I feel a sudden sting on my arm. I stumble away from the creature and make an embarrassing noise from the pain. Grabbing my arm, I get to see what the blur was.
A long, dexterous tongue is reeling itself back into the bird’s skull. The disgusting appendage snaps back into place in just a few seconds. As it withdraws, I catch a glimpse of a sharp barb on its tip.
I make a break for it through the trees, the whip-like tongue barely missing me as it attacks a second time. The thing flails around, scoring deep rends into trees around me. Running as fast as I can, I barrel back towards the clearing I woke up in. The small bird-thing keeps up easily, running on its powerful back legs. My arms and legs sting as I get nicked a few times by the lashing tongue.
My oversized shoe gets caught on a rock as I sprint. I lose my balance, my ankle twisting as I fall. A sharp pain shoots up my leg.
“Dammit!” The creature slowly advances on me, its eyes full of vicious hunger. I start to look for something to protect myself with, but realize I’m out of time. I close my eyes, and brace for impact.
A frigid cold spreads out from the middle of my chest, lacking the expected pain. Realizing, belatedly, that I’m still alive, look down to see the tongue lodged in me. Looking closer, I notice that where an entry wound should be, my chest is blurred and shifting, as if it’s made of smoke. I start laughing, a manic joy running through me. The stupid thing’s tongue is stuck!
The beast and I both just look at each other, unmoving, neither of us knowing what to do. A loud crashing sound from above breaks the silent stalemate as the female twin falls through the branches. She does a superhero landing on top of the monster, crushing it. The thing lets out a loud squeak, then a crack, before falling silent.
Zenith looks up at me and quickly notices the tongue piercing my chest. She grabs the bird’s corpse, giving it a firm yank. The dead thing’s tongue reflexively retracts back into its open mouth.
I check my chest to make sure I haven’t actually been stabbed in the heart. The smoke where the disgusting thing went through me slowly stops moving and solidifies. I look up at the woman holding the dead duckbeast, and black out.
