(WIP/Editing) Lè Oneshots

Slow Down

Ship: Ryden

A blur rushed past Ryan and a shiver went down his spine as the bit of wind rushed past him to replace the displaced air. There was nobody else around, no one chasing this blur of a person. There was no reason Ryan could see as to why they might be running.

Curious, Ryan followed. He slightly regretted this decision a minute or so of continuous running later when his body was screaming at him to stop. His lungs burned. He marvelled at how this person, who he assumed to be a guy as the blurriness stop being so blurry, had run so far and so fast without slowing. It was also quite strange to Ryan that he hadn't stopped to question why someone was actually chasing him.

They approached the edge of luscious, spring green woods and Ryan hoped that this was their destination. His steps had gotten remarkably slower and he was nearly stumbling behind the boy at this point. One of the only reasons Ryan was still able to follow him was the open space keeping the boy in his line of sight.

Ryan almost lost hope as the boy rushed right into the woods, past the thick brush of trees, through the leaves that were dying and rotted from seasons and years ago. Ryan stopped at the edge, seriously contemplating giving up after vomiting.

He looked into the woods, then back where he'd come from. He glanced at the ground, prepared for defeat, but stopped as he saw the path the boy had laid out for him. There was a track through the leaves and Ryan followed.
After five minutes and nearly excruciating amounts of pain later, Ryan came upon the boy. The boy looked at Ryan, then behind Ryan. "Damn." He mumbled, "Persistent fucker."

Ryan nodded and, still out of breath, said, "Yeah. Who are you?" He paused to take a few breaths before continuing, "And why the hell... were you running?"

Ryan sat on the ground, needing rest desperately. The boy, slightly amused by just how exhausted Ryan was, stood and stretched a bit. "I," he looked at Ryan smirking, "am Brendon. And I was running to get away."

"That makes no fucking sense, Brendon." His breaths were coming more easily and he sat up a bit straighter. "What were you running from?"

"People like you. Trying to chase me and find out what I'm doing. Nobody else has followed me this far."

Ryan, now thoroughly exasperated and more than a little pissed off, exploded. "What do you mean 'chasing you,' nobody was following you when you went past me!" He stood and almost fell, but stood nonetheless and walked over to Brendon. "And furthermore, what is so secret that you ran so far into the stupid woods?!"

Brendon chuckled gently, as if Ryan were foolish. "Meditation. Hey, you should try it."
Dumbstruck, Ryan sat back down. It was as though Brendon knew he meditated. Twice a day. He looked Brendon over as though he were looking for some supernatural sign. Maybe he was.

"Would you like to meditate with me?"

Ryan snapped out of the small trance he'd been in and nodded. He moved so he was sitting directly in front of Brendon and automatically sat the way he did to meditate.
He let Brendon talk through the meditation and, surprisingly, forgot the aches of his earlier endeavour and calmed significantly. He opened his eye after the instruction to do so from Brendon and took another breath.

The air felt more crisp going in his nose; it even smelled better than before. The leaves on the tree in front of him looked a little more vibrant. Meditation had never worked out quite this well and Ryan felt more like he'd gotten high than anything.

"Wow... I..." Ryan blinked a bit and looked at Brendon. "I can't..." He didn't know what words to use.

"Nobody can fathom the woods. Perception takes skill and patience." He moved closer to Ryan so they were sitting knee to knee and took Ryan's hands. "And all you must do is slow down. Breathe."