Tales of Harmonin

Chapter 3: A New World

Chapter 3: A new World

Hours go by before Leo wakes up again. Feeling dazed and confused about his surroundings while feeling a sharp pain all over his body, he sits up slowly. He wipes the tears from his eyes and yawns deeply, stretching his arms away from his body before saying "Man that must have been one hell of a party last night..." He soon comes to realize that he's not in the room that has sheltered and comforted him all his teenage years and freaks out.

Leo: "It's cool... it's cool... Hector probably just pranked the shit out of me... or did the government take me away already?... No, it's definitely Hector."

Leo put his hand over his heart, as he did from time to time to imitate his father's way of thinking as a means to help him think but, as soon as he did he heard a *Clang*. He looked down and realized he's not even wearing his normal clothes. He examined his new outfit and noticed it's the exact same armor and clothing from his dreams! After admiring his outfit multiple times Leo tries to comes to terms with what is going on when he feels something moving on his ear. He reaches for it and finds out his ear had been pierced! He unhooked it and saw it was a silver bead earring. Leo rehooked it and slowly pulled his finger across his left cheek and felt a scar on his left cheek that wasn’t there before.

Trying to get a sense of where he is, Leo looks around at his surroundings and a bad feeling develops in the pit of his stomach. Everything looks familiar, but feels different. He reaches down, grabbing the dark green blades of grass rubbing the smooth small hair like texture growing out of them. As his fingers rolled over the strange grass, the hairs on his arm began to stand up, he noticed the rougher texture on the individual blades stirred between the grooves on his exposed fingertips. Leo then grabbed a handful of the meadow's surface, ripping out the roots of the grass to expose the soil. Hesitantly he touched the light black soot, feeling its malleable constitution.

Leo then scooped up a handful of the soil and almost instantly, as if by some strange force, it gathered in the center of his palm. He squeezed the soil but it wasn't soft, rather it felt chunky and very moist. A cool breeze sifted through the meadow, carrying the sounds of the birds crooning. Leo looked to the sky and a small group of brightly colored birds flew overhead through the iris colored sky. He had to squint a little into the shimmering sky to see the flock clearly. Their long tail feathers dragged in the wind, giving them an eloquent V shaped body. It was their heads that stood out though. Each bird had a large nodule growing out of their beak. They landed on the treetops near the edge of the meadow’s boundary. Leo slowly walked to the edge of the pasturage, under the cool shade of the canopy.

The light brown bark looked as if it was almost glowing, even in bright light. Leo, touched the uneven, cracked, bark with his right hand thinking it felt like no different from any other tree. The rough surface of the tree’s flesh scraped against his glove. Leo looked up into the awning, seeing the abstract, complicated layout of branches. As the the branches grew higher they warped unnaturally, twisting in esoteric ways. The leaves rustled in the wind they seemed to grow upwards, defying the gravity on the planet. The tree felt alive, it had an unnatural yet warm pulse, almost as if the synergy between them grew as one. Leo walked out back to the meadow as if in a hypnotic state, he closed his eyes looking into the sky, feeling the nipping breeze pass through his hair.

He took in a deep breath smelling the clean air pass through his nostrils, filling his lungs with renewed energy. He opened his eyes slowly and stared at his feet. "This has to be a dream! I mean there's no other way to explain this strange meadow, the different shade of blue in the sky, this badass outfit, the scar and piercing!" Thought Leo as his eyes shifted around. Satisfied with his answer Leo began thinking he would wake up at any moment from this crazy fantasy nightmare, but he started to worry, "What if this isn't a dream?" He went through all his senses again and could only come to one conclusion.

"This isn't a dream and it's definitely not a Hector prank... as clever as he is, he can't change the environment..." Leo knew his only chance of finding answers was to follow the setting sun. He headed deep into the forest, the smell of wood, fresh leaves, and decaying life was all around him. The canopy almost seemed to block out the sun, but the creatures around him seemed to just awaken the deeper he delved into the darkness. Leo walked for what seemed like hours, but the setting sun was no longer in site. He was lost and he knew it. He decided the best plan was to rest for a bit, sitting against a tree. Leo started wondering if he would ever see his friends again as the diminishing temperatures chilled his exposed skin. He drifted off once again his mind going numb as the frore settled in.

Hours had gone by, as the sun barely poked through the thick canopy. Leo slept still in the morning dew, until he heard a strange noise in the bushes behind him. Leo woke up instantly panicking and with the senses surging. He looked around for a weapon, only finding a fallen branch but with a good girth and weight. Out of the bushes a humanoid creature moved towards him with aggressive speed. As he neared Leo noticed it was a young man with long hair that covered his face, he was holding a branch twice the size of Leo’s branch. His clothes were tattered and he looked like he hadn't eaten in weeks.  

The wild humanoid rushed at Leo swinging the branch horizontally with brute force, but Leo quickly ducked under his first swing and counter-attacked, bringing the stick to his opponent's head, he was trying to knock the wildling out by hitting him in the temple; but Leo’s opponent was skilled. He parried Leo's attack with great speed and swung at his body nearly tearing Leo in half, it took Leo’s gauntlet to block the powerful blow!  Leo used the opening to grab his opponents branch and pull him in close enough to head butt him! As their heads collided Leo got a good look at his opponents face. He jumped back and began thinking to himself, "Why does he look so familiar?" The stranger had begun to reach for his forehead as he started to speak.

Stranger: "No jodas maricon!!" (Don't fuck with me faggot!!)

Leo instantly recognized the voice!

Leo: "Oh my god! Hector it's you!! I'm so glad to see you bro!! It's me Leo! Man, you look like you could use a shower and some uh new threads... no offense, man."

The wild looking Hector paused for a moment, but then let out a vicious yell!

Hector: "Shut the fuck up! You're not Leo! You're just a part of my mind playing tricks!! Now DIE!!!"

Leo couldn't understand why his best friend was acting like a maniac, but he had no time to react! Hector had swung to kill, and Leo had to defend himself or Hector would definitely kill him!