Let the Games Begin | Dream Smp

Chapter 24

"We're almost there," Techno announced, breaking the silence of their travels. They had followed the stream with the water flow through the forest, until they reached the outlet—a small pond. It was a lovely looking area, with cattails growing from the sides of the pond and a colorful variety of wildflowers dotting the grass.

"What's that?" Kayla pointed across the pond where the remnants of a camp could be seen. There was a tattered tent, hanging by threads and swaying gently in the breeze as well as piles of logs littered around the area. She recalled Techno saying that the camp belonged to one of the contestants who died in the most recent fight, but couldn't remember anything more than that. It confused her slightly over how the camp could be in such condition if it was only abandoned days ago.

"That's the camp I was talking about," Techno replied, leading them to walk around the pond, "There's nothing of value anymore, so I just left it alone. Come on, the border is just beyond it."

"Right," Sam nodded, switching his trident to be held in the other hand. The atmosphere felt unnatural, almost as if the world around them was holding its breath. The forest was silent of birdsong and the air was stagnant, with not a single hint of a breeze. They passed by the abandoned camp and walked for a few minutes longer, until Techno suddenly stopped and held up his left hand.

"I don't see anything..." Phil commented in confusion. He took a step past Techno, his wings twitching as he scanned the area in front of them with his sword held limply at his side. The pink haired male huffed and placed a hand on Phil's shoulder, pulling him back.

"That, my friend—" Techno explained, glancing back at them, "Is part of the problem. Do you see those rocks up ahead? I had put them there earlier before returning to camp." He pointed to a spot in front of them, where ten or so rocks were lined up in a neat row. The other three nodded, unsure at the pigman's meaning.

"That's where the border is."

"But there's nothing there?" Sam said in confusion, tilting his head to the side. Kayla hummed in agreement, staring at the line of rocks. Looking forward, she could see onwards into the forest, with its many trees casting shadows onto the ground. Techno leaned down and grabbed another rock by his feet, tossing it a few times in his hand and showing it to them. Then, he threw it straight forward, in the direction of the said border.

The rock stopped travelling mid-air and dropped straight down into the grass.

"What the fuck?!" Phil exclaimed, goggling at the sight, "That's not even—why did it just--I...how." Kayla's mouth was open in shock, and she found herself looking up at the border and back down at the rock Techno had thrown, which now laid on the grass next to the other rocks.

"Can...can I touch it? Is it solid?" Sam asked hesitantly. Techno nodded, so Sam walked forward and held his hand out in front of him. Kayla and Phil watched in shock as Sam ran his hand up and down the border as if it was a solid object—yet nothing was there.

"This should not be possible."

"It shouldn't be," Techno agreed, "But it is. This isn't the only thing, though. Follow me." He waved to the other three and turned to the right, and so they continued on. Kayla glanced over at Sam, who was walking behind her, and he had a blank expression on his face. He looked as if he was still trying to contemplate what had just happened. A minute or two later, the group stopped again.

"So, now what?" Phil questioned nervously. Techno pointed in the direction of the border again. Kayla gasped in surprise, because there on the border was a strange, floating white and gray spot. It flashed in and out of reality, as if it didn't truly exist.

"What in the world is that," Sam breathed.

"I don't like this, Techno," Kayla said, fidgeting with the sleeve of her sweater as she stared at the splotch, "The border? This thing? They shouldn't be possible." Phil nodded his agreement from beside her, a worried expression on his face.

"Not only that, but I tried touching it already and it shocked me. Sent a burst of pain through my entire body," the pink haired male added, wincing at the thought.

"Really?" Sam commented in disbelief, "Would it do the same to me if I tried?"

"Theoretically. Go ahead, but don't say I didn't warn you."

Sam nodded in understanding and stepped towards it, carefully touching two of his fingers against the strange white and gray splotch. A loud crackling sound zapped sharply through the air and Sam jumped back, shaking his hand with a grimace.

"Ow! That actually hurt!" He frowned, looking down at his fingers and then back up at the splotch on the border. "I don't know why I didn't expect anything to happen. I'm fine, though"

"Techno, what do we do about this?" Phil asked.

"I don't know yet," Techno replied with a frown, "I just wanted to show you guys. We should probably head back to camp now and try to explain this to the other three."

"Then what? Just wait for something to happen?"

Techno sighed, glancing back towards the border and then once again at the three with a defeated look. "What else can we do?"

Techno, Sam, and Phil began to walk away from the border, but Kayla paused for a second. She looked back at the border and huffed—giving into her curiosity—and walked towards it. Ignoring the strange white and gray spot, she placed her hand on the border and pushed against it, foolishly expecting it to disappear before her.

"What is this madness?" She muttered to herself, shaking her head. She kicked the border with one foot, her mouth pulled into a thin line when her boot came in contact with it. Her eyes wandered back over to the flashing spot and Kayla found herself desperately wanting to touch it.

"Kayla? Are you coming?" She turned and saw Techno a few steps behind her, with Sam and Phil a bit farther down.

"Yeah, one second," she told him, "I just can't wrap my head around all this. I kind of want to touch it just to prove to myself that it exists." Techno opened his mouth, wanting to convince her not to touch it, but decided against it. He could understand that, like Sam, she was having a hard time believing the strange things they were seeing.

Kayla inhaled a deep breath and held it, holding up her hand right in front of the white and gray spot. She stared at it for a moment, watching it flicker and disappear but then reappear again. Then, she pushed past her doubts and placed her hand flat over it.

Nothing happened for a moment.

Then, all of a sudden, the area beneath her hand began to glow, bright blue, in a strange pattern. The glowing blue light spread over her hand and Kayla pulled back in surprise with a gasp. The place where the strange spot had been now shone blue in the shape of Kayla's handprint.

Techno appeared at her side, a hand protectively placed on her shoulder, but said nothing. A loud, rumbling noise filled the air around them and part of the border began to open to reveal a pristine white hallway.

"Holy shit."

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A/n - Aight so....some of y'all might be confused and some of you guys might have theories of what's going on lol
I've got this all planned out, so as we get through a few more chapters it'll start to make sense (:
Thank you for 3.33k! XD
~Echo <33