'The labyrinth of white...' I thought as we entered. 'Why is it called that?' I questioned as I thought about the things the voice had stated. 'I don't know about the secret objectives, but the main objective seems to indirectly say that there is a path through and there is an exit on the other side.' I pondered as I slid forward a little more.
*Ding*
[Congratulations! You are the 3rd organism to enter!]
Calculating rewards...
+ 1 all stats
'It seems we weren't the only ones on our branch after-all. Two other creatures have arrived before us...' I thought as I looked around for any traces of other creatures.
Nothing.
I paused and looked down the white corridor. It seemed like there was only one path to take and that was forward. We moved forward slowly and vigilantly. I looked around as I expected a creature to suddenly jump out.
'Whatever's made this structure may still be around.' I thought as I looked upward as well.
Surprisingly, there was a ceiling of white that spanned above us - not a branch. Spanning two times my height, it seemingly placed a sort of height restriction on the labyrinth's entrants.
'Interesting... I thought. It seems like only certain organisms can enter. But why... why would a labyrinth appear here of all places?' I wondered. It seemed illogical to me that a tiny labyrinth would be located on a small section of a tree especially in a forest with giant creatures.
I gave after a few moments as I was pulling at straws. I saw the black bar flash once more. Like a constant reminder that I was running out of time, I knew one thing:
We needed to move.
I looked around at the passageway ahead of us. Perfectly straight - the ceiling met the walls at ninety-degree angles. It was unnatural. The structure didn't seem to belong in on our tree or anywhere in nature for that matter.
'Weird.' I thought as I slid forward with Sim as I didn't want to gawk any longer and waste any more time.
...
Following the bark-lined path, we moved forward at a slow pace. Unknown of the dangers, I had Sim follow from behind me just in case.
The corridor from the entrance ended in a right turn and we followed it. Still, there were no forks in the road or divergent paths. The only way to go was forward.
'Why did the voice call this the "Labyrinth of White" when we can only move forward?' I questioned while I looked down the path in front of us. 'It just seems so out of place.'
As my little brother Sim and I moved in deeper, the light began to dim around us. But surprisingly, it didn't become completely dark as you would expect. Twinkling above and around us, the filaments seemed to allow light to filter through them like they weren't white after-all, but translucent.
I continued to stay as vigilant as possible was we slid forward. But suddenly! Nothing. Just like you, I was expecting a creature to pop out from the walls - the creator of the white corridor - and yell something like "HOW DARE YOU ENTER MY DOMAIN!".
But nothing did.
We spent the next hour or so following the corridor. The ceiling slowly got lower but everything else stayed the same.
My mind seemed to be put on autopilot and my senses seemed to dull. There was nothing new. Just a path with turns. I saw the same old white walls and the bark floor.
Right. Right. Left. Right. Left. Left.
Another hour later, we still hadn't come up against a single obstacle or another soul. The light continued to dim as we moved forward.
Suddenly, I had a thought.
'Why don't I hear anything?' I questioned myself. My senses seemed to numb as we moved further into the path as the heat from the warm and humid air from outside the labyrinth seemed to disappear as well.
"Sim!" I tried calling out as I looked behind me. The walls around me begun to shake like they were alive.
He stared at me and looked at me while confused.
"Sim." I tried once more. The walls vibrated once more and Sim didn't seem to hear what I was saying.
'Interesting.' I thought.
This time I used my body and gestured like 7 would when he tried to speak.
"Sim."
I think he tried to reply with "Yeah?" but couldn't. With surprise, he tried to yell out loud, but couldn't. The walls shook around us once more.
He was mute. We were mute. He was deaf. I was also deaf.
Shifting his body, he tried to use only gestures to communicate. "What do you think this is Boss?"
"I don't know." I gestured. "It seems the walls are cancelling out all noises.... but for what?" I asked.
"Could it be some sort of defensive measure?"
"I also don't know about that. We should be more careful from now on as we can only communicate with our bodies now."
We were actually very lucky that we could still communicate with body language. I could imagine that the Spiked-shelled snails would have been completely out of luck if they were here first instead of us.
...
Moments later, I shivered.
'Wait... Why am I shivering?' I asked myself as I suddenly noticed that the temperature had dropped as well. The humid hot air that I had been used to for the past few days seemed to disappear and be replaced with a cool frigid air.
"Sim." I gestured. "Cling to my shell, we are getting close to something."
He followed my order and clung to the top of my shell. As always, the safety of my siblings was almost at the top of my priorities.
...
Another right turn.
And finally something different.
A dead end.
The bark-covered path ended.
'This can't be.' I thought as I looked forward. Thick filaments lined the walls and the ceiling leaving no way forward. 'We travelled all this way for a dead end? Did we somehow miss something?' I questioned.
I slid backward.
Frantic taps and knocking came from atop my shell.
'Sim.. but why?' I thought.
But it was already too late as I felt my body being lifted upward.
Instantly, I reacted and clung to the branch below me and fought against the sudden pull. I heard the blood pump through my veins as I felt a rush of adrenaline run through me.
'How?!' I thought.
With half of my body still attached to the branch, I glanced backward.
White. White filaments!
More than 20 filaments had latched to the back of my shell from nowhere.
Fighting the against the tension, I didn't know what to do. Unable to turn around to snap them with my foot, I was I was at the complete mercy of the filaments...
... and I was losing.
Rip, more of my foot detached from the bark below as the bark itself ripped off from the branch.
I shook with panic as I tried to regain my footing.
Flashing before my eyes, the yellow bar reflected my current situation as I began to slowly lose strength in my foot. More flashes filled my vision as the black coloured bar below it began to decrease at a faster rate as well.
'Not good.' I thought as I looked at the strands that were firmly stuck to my shell. 'I need to a way to get them off!'
Gathering my strength, I decided to pull back.
I pulled. A chunk of yellow disappeared from my stamina bar. I pulled once more. Another chunk fell off.
'Please break.' I prayed as I forcefully tried to tug the against the pull in short bursts. I hoped that the sudden force would break the strands.
Unfortunately, it didn't. Like elastic bands, my struggles were rewarded with even harder tugs as it pulled back even harder.
My foot began to slip off even more.
I gave up on pulling.
'Please break.' I prayed once more as I held steadfastly. Closing my eyes, I used as much force as I could generate with my foot as I tried to remain attached to the bark below me.
'Please.'
As if the heavens were listening to me, the force seemed to decrease just a little.
Seconds later... it decreased once more.
I opened my eyes and looked back. It wasn't the heavens or a miracle.
It was Sim.
Riding on my shell, he acted as quickly as he could.
With a mucus-covered foot, he forcefully slapped against each filament. With the mucus mixed in, the begun to lose integrity, finally they snapped. 'Good job, Sim!' I thought as I slowly dropped back down on the branch.
Regaining my footing, I pulled once more and more strands snapped behind me.
With a thump, I felt the back of my body slap against the branch as the final strands broke.
Took a deep breath and sighed with relief. My stamina bar had nearly depleted.
'That was close.' I thought as I watched the yellow bar fill up once more.
Then felt my shell get lighter as Sim quickly slid off my shell and moved in front of me.
His eyes wide and his movements erratic. He waved at my face trying to bide for my attention as quick as he could.
I knew something was wrong. Before I could even thank him for saving me or ask what it was, he spoke - gestured.
"I saw it!" he exclaimed. "I SAW IT!"
...
He saw it.