One Shots: Ideas

Inspiration #1

There's an incessant ringing in my ears, the sound pulsating in time with my racing heart. My vision is blurry and muted, my surroundings seeming to go past in unceasing motion despite the fact that I am sitting perfectly still. I twist my sweaty hands nervously in my lap, my teeth gnawing down on my lower lip, the salty taste of blood spreading from there to my tongue. The carpet is rough beneath my bare feet, and I can feel little grains of gravel and dirt both in between my toes and underneath my feet as I pull them in towards me from their stretched out position.

I take in a sudden gasping breath as my lungs scream out against the lack of oxygen, my exhaustion so great I momentarily forget basic human functions. I close my eyes as the flashing lights around me start to trigger my nausea, my body swaying in my seat as that brief moment of darkness nearly drags me into the dreamworld, my heart jumping in my chest as I startle, my eyes snapping open wide. Suddenly, everything stops. The flashing lights. The sensation of movement. The nausea. Everything. I gasp wildly as my breath returns to me, the feeling of a weight dropping from my chest makes itself known to me, and I can't help but suck in deep breaths of cold fresh air.

I blink and look around, the walls of the hospital waiting room having been replaced by a dark forest, the chair I remain sitting on the only clue that I had, just moments before, been sitting in the receiving area of the hospital. I look around in shock, tall wintergreen trees stretching towards the sky at seemingly endless heights, snow coating the ground and even more falling from the sky in fluffy white flakes. My breath puffs out in clouds of steam, goosebumps spreading across my skin in waves as any warmth I may have retained from the hospital quickly dissipates, the cold sinking deeper and deeper into my skin.

My feet slowly get colder and colder, and I desperately wish I had been wearing shoes while in the hospital. I can't help but think of who waits for me there, and the reason I was there to begin with, physically recoiling back as I try to redirect my mind to the situation at hand.

I hear quiet shouts off in the distance and gather the blanket I had dropped on the ground before quickly making my way in the direction they came from. Maybe they'll know what happened to me, and cam help me get back to where I came from. I feel my heart skip a beat as dread causes a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach. What will become of me when I do get back? How did I get here to begin with? I must have fallen asleep and been kidnapped. I stop in my tracks as I see the glow of what appears to be fire through the thick underbrush, the noises from before even louder than they had been earlier.

I approach as quietly as I can, intimately aware of the fact that these could very well be the people who kidnapped me to begin with. Maybe they though I would freeze to death in the chair in the forest? But...how did they get me out of the hospital without anyone seeing them? And why did they bring the chair? I peer around a huge tree, the scent of pine sap filling my nostrils, my previous grief and panic temporarily forgotten and carefully tucked in the far reaches of my mind.

The sound of drums starts up in a fast tempo, a loud mostly male cheer sounding as people start to clap along to the drum beat. I take a deep breath, steeling myself against anything I may or may not see. I carefully peek past the tree and take in the strange sight before me. There's a fire in the center of a ring that's been cleared in the forest floor. The ground surrounding the fire is all packed dirt, a circle of large stones outlining the fire there, a huge stick of some sort rigged so that it dangles some kind of skinned dead animal above it, the scent of cooking meat filling my nostrils.

There are green canvas and fur skin tents just on the edge of the cleared space around the fire so that if there are sparks there tents won't catch aflame. I don't particularly want to approach, but I'm quite aware of the fact that I've lost all feeling in my toes, and my finger are well on their way to being in the same boat. I weigh my options: freeze to death in the forest, or approach a group of unknown, wild type people in said forest. I slowly leave the safety of the tree I'd hid behind and take a step towards the group of laughing and talking men.

A huge snapping sound goes off, a wall of bright white light flashing in front of me and causing me to go flying backwards. I slam down on my back, a small pile of snow partially softening my fall, though it's still painful despite this, much to my great irritation. I roll over with a groan, my body screaming in pain as I attempt to pull myself to my feet. I wobble as I use my hand to prop myself up so I can get my feet underneath me, but my muscles spasm sending me falling to the ground yet again, the snow melting against my skin and stealing even more warmth from my already nearly frozen frame.

A tear trickles down the side of my face as I'm forced to lie there, my body having betrayed me to these unknown men. There's nobody to save me here, and I can't even rely on myself after whatever the hell body slammed me halfway across the damn forest. A huge hand grips my left bicep, pulling me to my feet...well, he would have if my legs hadn't been made of jello. My head lolls forwards, a man in front of me whistling lowly. "Damn! How the hell is she still alive, especially after a hit like that?" Footsteps crunch in the snow as whomever had spoken approaches me, his boots just barely entering my line of sight.

His boots are made of dark brown, furry leather, almost like moccasins interestingly enough, and upon seeing them, I can't help but think of my numb feet. "Andrew!", the man before shouts suddenly, causing me to flinch back. After a moment I hear someone else approaching before a set of boots nearly similar to the pair belonging to the man before stop just inside my line of sight. "Read her", he commands.

There's silence before he suddenly gasps and starts hyperventilating, the man falling to his knees before me, his hands clutching at his chest as he gasps for breath. He gags before suddenly vomiting violently and passes out. I stare at him before physically shaking off my lethargy and pulling myself to stand upright in the grip of the men at either side of me. I take a deep breath and sigh heavily, my clarity quickly coming back to me.

I inexplicably lean down, not sure of what I'm even doing and gently press my hand to his forehead, the heat radiating from him enough to cause me to flinch back a bit before I firmly press my hands to either side of his head this time, the heat from his body slowly filling mine, the lethargy that had been plaguing me before slowly filling my body again, though not nearly as bad as it had been before. I press my hands to the snow covered ground, the glow coming from the molten hot, the snow sizzling upon contact as it evaporates from the sheer overwhelming temperature that emanates from me.

The ground surrounding me slowly turns black, the snow melting in a prefect circle around me as though having been scorched by a flamethrower. A white mist starts to come up from the ground as a small green shoot comes up from directly underneath my palm, somehow pricking my skin and drawing several drops of blood that drop directly on top of the plant. It suddenly shoots up wildly, causing me to leap back as a tall tree with winding patterns in different shades of brown in the wood replaces the small green shoot, the leaves growing in a shimmering silver color.

"Is she Chosen?'', I hear someone ask in a hushed voice as I stare up at the tree in shock. "She must be" someone replies, the awe in his voice lost on me as I stare up at the tree in shock. "Only someone Chosen by a God could do something like this. One God in particular-", he pauses, another voice filling the questioning gap he left behind. "Artemis. It has to have been Artemis." I look over and watch them as they stare at both me and the tree in turns. "Her bond must be stronger than anyone before her. Have you ever heard of this happening?"

"No, never", someone replies, their voice thoughtful as they presumably try to think of someone else. "We must take her to the Lady of the Hunt", the leader says, his voice hard, and mind made up. "Get her some clothes, then bind her", he says over his shoulder as he walks away moments before I'm dragged away for exactly what he just ordered.