[IC] //Deadly Labyrinth//

[duskshine749]

"I mean, why not just wait for us? It'll just take a sec, then we can read while we walk," Jason was a bit worried. He didn't like the idea of everyone splitting up, "this place is a maze, if we split up we may lose each other." He crouched down so he could give Josh a boost, "Alright, whenever you're ready."

[Flightless_Soul]

@fourtimesnine @BilboTheGreat @duskshine749

Harley Whitfield

--------------------------------------------------

It seems everyone is just as uneasy as I am over splitting up, and I'm the one who suggested it first-most. Will, though he doesn't show it, I can sense it in his voice the apprehension he feels about going separate ways. Maybe I should've thought about this further. As Jason pointed out, we were in a maze, possibly one so damn convoluted, that we couldn't afford to separate for fear of getting lost in this bizarre and unsettling place.

"Jason, listen. The more we wait around, the more time we waste when we could be getting out of here. Don't you want to go back home? What if the letter is nothing? What if it's just gibberish?"

I'm beginning to wonder now, was there some sort of reason we were all brought here. A test maybe....or for some weirdo to mess with our heads.

I sigh deeply, frustrated. I don't want to stay here any longer, especially now that I think someone is watching us...and has been this whole time. "Alright...fine. If you and this other bloke wanna grab the letter, then that's okay. Will and I are still gonna look for a way out."

My gut tinges a little as I turn around and start walking towards the path, not sure if I'm even going the right way. I hope I didn't come off as bitchy or assertive in any way towards them. I've just....well...it's been like this for a while. Even before I found myself waking up here, I've always felt like there was someone..or something watching me, following me. God...perhaps I'm just getting worked up again.

"Will, are you coming?" I say as I turn back around. If Will wants to stay, then I guess that's fine, but...I wouldn't mind having him by my side. Out of the three, he does seem the most trustworthy.

[fourtimesnine]

@Flightless_Soul

William Jones
-------------

Torn, I look between Harley, standing near the path's opening, and Jason and Josh, ready to climb the tree. They did have a point about the message, and I didn't want us to get permanently separated. But I really couldn't let Harley leave by herself. If we had to split up, it was better to go two and two.

"Yeah, I'm coming," I reply, making my decision. "Josh, Jason, we'll be back soon, ok? Good luck with the letter!"

I run to catch up with Harley. Then, trying to act more confident than I really am, I stride forwards into the labyrinth.

@KahleenCuthald

[Flightless_Soul]

Harley Whitfield

--------------------------------------------------

I make my way over to the southernmost entrance, just as I hear Will call out to me. He's made his decision. I should feel pleased that he decided to follow me, but...strangely I don't.

I stand by, waiting for him to catch up, all the while wondering if this really is such a good idea. The labyrinth, as I but gaze headlong into the entrance, a feeling overcomes my body and my nerves twinge and tighten. It's as though I am standing before the gaping jaws of a ravenous beast, a monster...that will devour us whole. No, stop it. It's just a hedge maze, that's all. There's nothing here that's going to hurt us...at least I don't think there is.

Will, he seems ready and willing (no pun intended) to begin our exploration. I just wish I had the same confidence as him, but nevertheless, I take a deep breath and follow behind him, taking my first steps into possibly a world unknown.

"Will..." I whisper following close at his side, trying to match his steady pace. "You don't think I'm crazy, do you?" A question I seem to ask myself alot. "I feel like this place is...trying to make me crazy. I just don't know why, but...do you ever get this feeling we're here for a reason?"

[fourtimesnine]

William Jones
-------------

I turn to look at Harley, walking slower as I think over her questions. The answer to the first question is easy.

"No, I don't think you're crazy. It never even crossed my mind," I reply honestly. Then I consider her next statements, which I really don't know how to respond to.

"What exactly do you mean?" I ask carefully. "About this place, and the reason we're here?"

Sure, this place is odd, but I haven't noticed anything especially uncanny about it. Am I just oblivious to whatever is going on? It wouldn't be the first time that I'd missed seeing something that should've been obvious. I hadn't thought to really question why we'd ended up here either - just thought about getting out. Harley seems like she's far more thoughtful and observant than I am. I hope she's doing ok.

[Flightless_Soul]

Harley Whitfield

--------------------------------------------------

I smile at Will's first response. Good, he doesn't think I'm some sort of paranoid lunatic. Still, I can't shake that nagging feeling in the back of my mind.

His second reply, though, doesn't bring me much confidence. I don't blame him really. None of us know the true reason we were brought here, or by who or what. It could just be the simple fact we just...showed up here.

"Umm...never mind." I shake my head dismissing the question, biting at my lower lip a tad and averting my attention towards the sky. Perhaps soon enough the labyrinth and what may lurk here will answer it. For now on, my focus is just on getting out of here...alive.

"I wonder how the others are doing." I whisper.

[Benzaiten]

@Flightless_Soul@fourtimesnine

You stop walking when you see the labyrinth path spread into three new directions. Left, right and ahead in front of you.

To the left, the path seems clear, but you cannot see the end of it from where you are standing.
The same goes for the right.

The path ahead of you though shows an interesting sight. There's a pit in the middle of the way with no possibility of surrounding it. Inside of the pit you see many, seemingly very sharp metal piles ready to peak into your flesh and end your life in a painful way. Considering jumping, you realise that it would never work. Even with all your strength it is still rather possible that you fall into the sharp, pointed danger.

You realise that the beginning of the pit where you are standing is bevelled, but the other end is not. You could try to slide inside of the pit, it wouldn't harm you. But you could never make it through the pit without being stabbed by those metal piles. And even if you'd make it, you'd have to somehow get up the other side, a straight solid wall of dirty earth. You couldn't climb it up alone. You'd need a boost.

Quick unrealistc scetch

Choose your next action

[fourtimesnine]

William Jones
-------------

A pit of sharp metal looms before us, edges gleaming threateningly. It resembles a spike pit from one of the old platformer games I used to play, except that I, not being a video game character, don't have the ability to leap over it. Walking through it doesn't seem like a good idea either - out here, with no medical supplies and no way of treatment, it would be easy for even a small cut to get infected.

"I don't think we should try crossing the pit yet - it's too risky. Harley, what do you think?" I ask.

There seems to be another letter on the other side of the pit. Just in case there's something else I missed, I search the area without descending into the pit. I'm curious about the letter, but I'm not willing to risk injury for it - surely there's a better way to get to the other side. I look to the left and to the right. Since we're facing south, the left path goes east and the right path goes west.

"Do you want to try one of the two side paths? They look a bit safer," I venture.

[Benzaiten]

@fourtimesnine
You search the area carefully but you find nothing. Are the other two paths better?

Although, this seems like a very strange game to you. And like every game you ever knew, there had to be a solution... right?

[Flightless_Soul]

@fourtimesnine

Harley Whitfield

--------------------------------------------------

I was just about to take another step forward, until quickly my eye caught it, the sharp, insidious glint of certain death I nearly blundered into. With a frightened gasp I stumble backwards flailing my arms, feeling as if the air was sapped from my lungs. "Whoa...close one." I heave a sigh of relief.

The pit before us, it is like the jagged jaws of a wolf or some other ravenous creature, mouth wide open waiting to devour William and I. "No. No way we're crossing that." I say to William shaking my head. We'd have a better chance trying to find another way around. This is a maze after all, so maybe it doubles back to the other side. But....if this pit of death is here....then what else will we find? I am most certain now....someone is toying with us.

While William surveys the two opposite paths, I stand by, nervously chewing at my lower lip till it reddens, cautiously my eyes darting from one path to the next. I can't decide which way is best, left? Or right? Left again? Ugh!

I feel like we should split up again, but, no I can't risk it. What if William ends up stumbling into another deadly trap? What if he ends up injured or.... I don't want to think of it. I should stay by his side.

"I suppose." I reply with a shrug. "Which path do you think?"

Someone is definitely playing a game with us, and if you ask me...I think they want us to lose.

[fourtimesnine]

William Jones
-------------

I consider Harley's question. "I don't know. I can't really see any difference between the two paths."

I look left, then right again. They still don't look any different. Following the logic we'd used to choose the southern one, we should go west in order to keep following the sun. But if I remembered correctly, west is the direction that Jason had already looked at, so we might be reexploring old ground... I was probably overthinking this, and actually exploring one of the paths would be a better use of time than debating which one to take.

"If I had a coin, I'd flip it to decide, but I don't," I say apologetically. "If I were to randomly guess, I'd choose the path to the right. Unless you would prefer left?"

[Flightless_Soul]

@fourtimesnine

Harley Whitfield

--------------------------------------------------

It didn't really matter which path we chose. Both had me feeling very apprehensive. The western path however my eyes kept moving towards. Jason did say earlier he searched this one, but maybe there was something he missed. Who knows?

"Jason said he already went that way, didn't he?" I inquire. "Maybe we should go left, unless he missed something." I can't keep being fickle like this. We have to pick one or the other, and it's certainly not the spike pit before us.

[fourtimesnine]

@Flightless_Soul

William Jones
-------------

"Ok, the left path it is," I agree. "Let's go."

It seemed as likely to be correct as going right, and if it wasn't, we could just turn back and try the other one, assuming that we didn't get lost. Eventually, we would have to go back to the garden - even if we found the exit, we'd need to tell Jason, Josh, and the sleeping person - but we could explore some more first.

[XxLyraxX]

---

Outfit

---

The first thing Ember was aware of was the smell of summer, of freshly cut grass and sweet fragrant flowers. It smelled of the times where she would lay under the apple tree and gaze up at the gray sky, trying to imagine what other people saw. Plenty of folk have told her time and time again that the sky is blue during the day but how was she supposed to visualize that if she didn't even know blue itself looked like? Sure, if given a choice between blue and some color like yellow, she would be able to tell the difference because blue is a darken shade of gray than yellow was. She couldn't recall how many hours she spent with her mom as a child, objects in front of her while her mother told her what colors they were though to Ember they were all shades of gray, white, and black. They made a game of it, her mom picking two objects and Ember having to try and guess which color they were.

The colors on the opposite ends of the spectrum like black or red were easy to distinguish from yellow or white but once it moved into different shades of a color Ember was as good as lost. People took it for granted, the color of the sky. She couldn't remember how many times she viewed how people were too entranced by the devices in front of them to even appreciate the colors around them. She sometimes wondered how lost they would be if they suddenly saw what she has seen her entire life, her world of gray. Plenty of people have asked her how she functions every day, if she misses not being able to see colors other than gray, white, and black. But how can she miss something she has never had? Sure, she sometimes wandered what the dark gray of an apple would look like in red but for the most part she has accepted the fact that she will never see how green the grass is or the sky as the sun is setting. It simply is and there is no reason for wallowing in self-pity.

As she lay there, Ember became aware of other things like the feel of something gently tickling against her arms and legs. Her brows furrowed as her eyes blinked open, the gray world slowly coming into focus. The sky stretched above, a medium gray. As her senses came trickling back to her, she could feel the soft breeze against her sky and hear the gentle rustling of leaves. Her frowned deepened. Why was she outside? Where...Where was she? She slowly sat up and took catalog of herself. She didn't feel sore or bruised anywhere. Nothing was broken and aside from being hungry and thirsty she felt fine. But...something didn't feel right. Why couldn't she remember how she got here? Or what she ate for breakfast? She looked down at herself and felt panic sweep over her. She didn't remember putting this outfit on!

Before the panic could completely consume her, Ember forced herself to take deep breaths. My name is Ember, I was born to a British mother and an American father. We live in a small apartment. I have a baby brother. I am sixteen years old, home-schooled. I am looking to become a professional ballerina. I can remember long-term things, just not the past 24 hours. Everything will be fine, just breathe. She felt her chest loosen up and her heart-rate slow down. She continued taking deep breaths and scanned her surroundings. She was laying on the grass under an apple tree. As she stared up at the crisp looking apples, she deduced they were red judging from the dark gray they were. Granny Smith or yellow apples would be a lighter gray. She could see four paths branching away in different directions. Oh dear. Was this a maze? She wasn't very good with mazes. She was hopeless when it came to directions and navigating. She could also see a well aside from the paths and the tree. The beautiful colors were lost on her but she didn't let herself mourn. She had been like this her entire life and had accepted it as apart of herself. Her mother said it let her see a different aspect of the world.

The petite and 4'11" girl climbed to her feet, brushing off any grass or dirt that might be clinging to her attire. "H-Hello?" She called out in a raspy voice, wondering when the last time she had drank anything was. Was she alone or were there more people here?

[Flightless_Soul]

@fourtimesnine @XxLyraxX

Harley Whitfield

--------------------------------------------------

The decision was made. We would go left.

It would have been a bit more plausible anyways, other than taking a path that was already searched by one of us just moments ago. However, I still get this feeling we should have chosen right instead of left. I don't know why honestly.

I follow behind Will without any more qualms, well, any more visible qualms, but then I hear something, faint in the distance. It's another voice, a girl's. Then I realize, there was a girl I had recognized, one of us who hadn't woke up yet. She was awake now. "Will, wait." I say to him almost urgently. "Did you hear that?"

I'm wondering now if she would keep pressing forward or return to the clearing to greet our newly awakened acquaintance. Then again, Josh and Jason should still be there trying to climb the tree. Maybe they would help her.

[duskshine749]

@XxLyraxX

"Oh, hey, you're finally awake," Jason went to grab some water for the girl, glad that the last of the group had finally woken up. As he grabbed the water he thought he saw something in the well. "Is that...?" He shook his head and headed back to the girl with water for her. "I'm sure you're confused, everyone was when they woke up," he explained to her, "basically what we've gathered is this is some kind of labyrinth. Two others, Harley and Will, they went to the southern path, despite my protests." Jason said that last line with some contempt, he really wanted them all together. "Anyways, Josh and I, I'm Jason by the way, we were going to try climbing this tree and check what the note in it says. I know this is a lot to take in, I'm sorry you're in here with the rest of us."

[fourtimesnine]

William Jones
-------------

As I'm about to start down the left path, I hear a remote, indistinct sound from the direction we had come. I would have dismissed it as Josh and Jason talking, but it sounded like a female voice. After a few moments, I hear a different person start a conversation, though I'm too far away to make out the words. Harley seems to have noticed the sound as well.

"Yeah, I heard. Do you want to go back? I think that might have been the last person waking up - we could check on them." I say in reply.

If the voice had belonged to the previously-sleeping person, she's probably disoriented and confused right now - I want to make sure that she's doing alright. Even if she isn't, I'm not sure that I can do anything to help, but at least she'd have all of us with her instead of being here alone. Also, I'd been ambivalent about splitting up in the first place, and this is a good chance to get the group together again. After all, we have a better chance of getting out if we can communicate with each other and cooperate.

[BilboTheGreat]

Josh

Josh turned his head as he heard a female voice behind him. He peered over his shoulder, then turned so that he was facing them as he saw she was awake. He had almost forgotten that she was there. He looked at the girl, and then at Jason who was getting her water. "Hello". He said to her, letting Jason explain to her about the situation. He didn't really want to explain something to somebody that he didn't understand himself. He would probably just confuse the poor person even more. Turning too look towards the maze entrances, he hoped that the other two would return soon. He never thought that splitting up was a good idea. Safety in numbers, right?

[Flightless_Soul]

@fourtimesnine

Harley Whitfield

--------------------------------------------------

I turn back to the entrance, then towards the path.

I want out of here, just as much as anyone else in this predicament with me, but also, part of me wants to find out why we are here. I think Will wants to go back though, back to find that girl we heard earlier. Josh and Jason, I hear their voices in the distance too. Seems they have it handled, but Will, he's always wanting to be helpful. I can...sorta tell that from him. It's a good trait.

He wants to go back and make sure she's okay. I don't mind really, plus, it would be great to have her in our little group. I don't know why honestly. Guess I'm just trying to be optimistic, even when our situation is a little bit grim. I still think this labyrinth houses things even deadlier than that spike pit.

"Why not." I shrug. Maybe it's best we stick together now.

[fourtimesnine]

@Flightless_Soul

William Jones
-------------

"Alright, thanks," I say, relieved that she agreed. It's nice to have everyone on the same page. I set off back the way we came, going North back to the center of the Labyrinth. It hadn't taken us very long to get to the pit - hopefully the return trip would be at least as fast. The green walls enclose the path, leaving just the ground before and behind. It looks like it would've been a lot of work to make them. I wonder who had gone to the effort of constructing this place, and why.