TW: Double Life Pearl, Slight SH, Slight derealization, Hallucinations
POV: Scarlet (DoubleLife!Pearl)
Scarlet glared at the blond who was, in fact, also glaring back at her. Her wolves were growling at her feet. Why did SHE need an escort? The armoured man, Xisuma, had claimed it was for her protection, but for Primal's sake, did he really think she'd buy that nonsense? Out of everyone she'd seen so far, she was the most ready for an ambush.
The blond - False was her name, she believed - hadn't stopped glaring, so she kept glaring back.
"Er- Guys?" A newcomer, replacing someone named 'Doc', who'd been too busy 'Breaking the rules of the world' to come, butted in.
The replacement for this 'Doc' was Scar's alternate. She laughed, remembering Scar's antics, the one who had given her the idea to... Tickle... Scott with powder snow. The one who'd been the first to burn down the ranch.
False looked a bit confused at her outburst, but she shook her head. "We're bringing you to a house we've built to shelter you for now. Forgive us... But we don't feel comfortable sheltering you near the areas we sleep in."
The scent of blood stung Scarlet's nose. She paused, this causing to falter, but as suddenly as it came, it disappeared.
She shook it off as her imagination, retorting. "You don't want me killing you while you sleep." Scarlet filled in the blanks in False's statement with a giggle. Jade and Lily shared noises of amusement between them, while Orchid spoke up quietly.
"Hey... Try to maybe be nice? They might want to be friends." Orchid barked softly.
"Like that's ever ended well." She whispered under her breath, knowing the wolves' sensitive hearing would pick it up, while the players before her would miss it.
"Well... Yeah. That's one way to put it." False replied to her previous statement.
The two began to walk through the Taiga, the firs dusted in the natural snows from the biome. Scar and False, dressed in not particularly warm clothing, began to shiver slightly from the chill, whereas her cloak warmed her. Besides, she was used to the sting of cold. These memories brought on another giggle.
With a flick of her hands, a signal her wolves understood, they shifted to make a triangle around the three. This way, they could protect from both threats outside, or inside the formation.
A rustle of sound came from the bush, whispering. "She's Unhinged..." Scott's voice hissed, causing her to flinch, automatically going on guard, searching the brush for the unknown location of her 'soulbound'.
The others didn't seem to notice, not even her wolves, so she shook her head, walking on, once again blaming her imagination.
A few minutes later, another voice hissed through the rustling leaves. "You know what, I'm breaking up with you too. Good riddance." Martyn's voice this time was the one the weave through the leaves, causing her to jump, tears forming at those words. That one was certainly real... and it hurt too much to ignore.
The yelp of agony from Tilly, the cries of agony, her begging for Scarlet to save her.
"Tilly!" She screamed. She couldn't just keep walking past it this time, and she began to run erratically into the forest. She had to save Tilly!
She didn't notice where she ran, and as her boots hit the white surface, the snow sank beneath her, causing her to fall into a pit of powdered snow.
~+~
She chuckled, this was the perfect opportunity to... 'Tickle'... Scott. She sat in the cold powdered snow, as she began to violently shiver, as per usual. Yet despite the fact she was actively freezing to death, she was used to the normal pangs of cold. She'd gotten used to the pain of powdered snow very quickly.
"Won't you like this tickle Scott~" She called out in a singsong voice, grinning and giggling.
Someone out of the corner of her eye tried to grab her, pulling her out of the snow, their face blurred into shapeless purple blobs, violet eyes glowing. Instinctively, she whirled around, grabbing her axe in the same motion. They were yelling at her, their voices blurring into a dull hum...
"SCARLET-" A familiar yelp grounded her, as Jade, Orchid and Lily ran up to her. Her head hurt like something fierce as the buzzing from the yelling morphed into words, the blurs morphing into faces, familiar yet foreign... Yet they were distant, the words echoing in the distance, as the ground began to spin... She fell to her knees, too weak to stand, darkness encroaching on her vision.
No. She wouldn't give in to whatever this was. Agony screamed through her joints as she pushed herself up, nearly falling over again. Someone, one of those faces, grabbed her, not letting her fall over. She recoiled from the touch, it was uncomfortable and unknown, something she'd never experienced much before. She proceeded to nearly fall over, but somehow managed to stay upright .
Her grasp on this twisted reality collapsed once more. It was stretched, false and real, a caricature of the world she knew as her home, the world she'd entered.
Her body was in one version, her mind yearning for another. Tears fell from her eyes as she was assaulted by visions, the tang of blood in her mouth, as her consciousness was pulled thin between the odd tug to the world she came from and her body.
Her hand was on her axe. She realized it, the last link between reality and the pulls, the instincts, the memories, the pain.
Memories came, hers, not hers at the same time, all distorted and broken beyond comprehension. Faces distorted horrifically, blurred and bloody, all manic, all coming for her, all wanting to kill her, to hurt her, all wanting her to die, to suffer.
Blood surrounded her, pain blooming as they attacked, fireworks burning her skin, blades cutting her flesh.
The pain, pain of being attacked, pain from Scott...
Her crying in her tower.
Getting abandoned again and again
Tilly's yelp of pain as she lost her second life.
Everything turned red as she began to fight back.
She began to fight against these visions, a cry of strangled agony ripped from her mouth as she was once again fully aware of the axe in her hand, the only thing she was sure of.
Looming faces were in the forests, grabbing her, as she swung her blade, trying to fight back against the assault.
Impact, the feeling of tearing flesh
A yell, a cry of pain.
Her axe hit something as she swung again.
A drowsy feeling, as darkness finally swallowed her, she fell into blissful unconsciousness before she could even collapse.
~+~
Her body ached like something fierce as she awoke from a dark world of nightmares. Panting from terror, she shoved her head into the pillow it was resting on until her mind cleared.
She opened her eyes, her vision was clear of the horror she'd witnessed, luckily. Automatically, she realized her surroundings were unfamiliar, and surveyed it.
Spruce walls around, she was lying in a bed... Orchid was lying on her legs, at the corner, and Jade sitting next to the bed. In the corner, the armored man, Xisuma, from earlier, was sitting on the chair, and had just noticed she'd awoken. Lily was sitting next to him, keeping an eye on the admin.
"Scarlet..." Xisuma started cautiously. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm a tad sore." She smiled. She was in a surprisingly good mood, and she might as well play along. But she still distrusted this server - they'd done nothing to gain her trust after all. "Otherwise, I'm doing surprisingly well."
Xisuma seemed a bit put off. "Good..? Anyway, You'll be pleased to know that Scar's recovered well despite the death." Xisuma nodded, his expression unreadable.
"Huh?" She couldn't remember attacking Scar... But... Those weird visions... She wasn't able to tell up from down, let alone Scar from... whatever else. "I... Do not recall that? My apologies- I didn't intend to harm him, let alone take his life." She tilted her head, a small, cold smile crossing her expression without her permission, her words twisting from what she meant to say.
"Scarlet, your acting funny..." Orchid whimpered from their position on her legs, while the other wolves whimpered slightly.
"I..." Her head hurt all of a sudden, and she shook it, the difference in her tone, her words, that odd influence... gone. "What in the primal's name-" She shouted, her words no longer being twisted by whatever that had been.
"Scarlet..?" Xisuma sounded quite concerned.
"Nope, screw this." She stood up, sick and tired of this. She was living a nightmare, her words were being twisted, and they expected her to play along, act like she was going to make friends? They all thought she was insane anyway, what use would there be? "I'm done."
After all, players were only friendly as long as you could help them.
After that, they'd leave you in the mud... crying and alone.
People only came to her when she was in the most defensive position.
They only were kind when she joined their alliance. When she had something to offer.
She only had information to offer this server, and that was running dry.
"Wait-" Xisuma called after her
She opened the door, walking out, her wolves trailing behind her. She left the cottage, which appeared to be in the middle of the snowy forest, and walked on through the snows. To what end, she didn't know. She just knew she couldn't stay here. She'd find a isolated spot, and build another tower...
She fell into a old nervous habit, coiling the binding around her finger, before she paused. The soulbound should be gone... Why was it still there? Still pointing towards her soulmate? She stared at it, it was no longer Red, yet Grey.
She swallowed nervously, but decided she might as well follow the binding.
A/N:
Mysteries mysteries... Feel free to leave any theories you have here!
We're about to get into some things though, sorry for the slow start.
Also, I'm very very VERY sorry it's been 15 days, school has been hectic and motivation decided to die on me lol
WC: 1721
- Xera