The old man slowed to a stop. A path neatly cut by a big object stretched across the big forest.
Seeing this, the man was shocked. Whatever had done this had the power to level a whole city at once. He now curious who owned such a thing.
Along the "path" were blackened soil and broken trees. He also picked up a material that as tough as iron but allowed light to pass through.
The old man was intrigued. His hands were visibly shaking at his expectation for the "true" treasure.
'The strange metal was just the start,' he thought to himself while walking even faster. 'Please be a silver treasure. Or even.. gold? I would appreciate that a lot. Holy Ashtebah, bless this poor old man..'
The man was now near the end of the tracks. He saw the big blue thing and felt hopeless.
"It seems I'm not that lucky," he mumbled. "That aside, why does this thing look like a giant arrowhead?"
The man pulled on his white beards while walking around the ship. He couldn't find an opening and thus gave up.
Still curious, he jumped atop the "arrowhead" to have a better view.
'Is this thing from some giant being?' he asked himself. 'What a waste of metal. Sigh, this much would get me over a hundred Pounds of gold, only if I could carry it.'
"Hhmm.." old man hummed. He noticed some human sized footsteps going away from the arrowhead into the bushes. 'I am very sure I came from the other direction so might this be the owner's footprints?'
The metal thing was mysterious but he wasn't powerful enough to carry it. With a heavy heart, he left the chunk of metal there.
'Maybe the person made a huge arrow to get blasted past the storm into the forest.. aside from that, I don't see any other use of such a big object..' the old man theorized while following the footprints slowly.
AAARGGHH!
The usually silent forest was disturbed by an ear piercing scream.
Following the direction of the scream, the old man started running. He wasn't the only one going there however, as a black shadow hopped from tree to tree a distance away.
'Shit! The beasts have felt the mana surge and are trying to find the source,' he thought. 'I hope the caster is powerful to resist such a number of creatures.. I'll watch first then..'
THUD!
'It's a woman?!' The first reaction the man got was shock. 'What mad woman would come to such a dangerous place? Even warriors come in groups?!'
Soon after, the man realized that whoever the woman was, if he didn't take action now she'd be dead in some few moments. Whatever had made her scream aldo knocked her out completely.
'Why does trouble keep following me!' he thought in dismay as he ran towards the woman then picking her up he sighed, "You'll have to pay for this teleportation scroll. I bought it for fifteen gold coins and I don't do Charity."
".. Ri.. na.." the woman mumbled something. The man thought it was a funny name and he chuckled.
"Whatever.." he said then threw a piece of paper on the ground and a bright light covered the two.
Suddenly, a creature that someone might have called a sabertooth jumped from a tree. It's target was clearly the woman now carried in a bridal way. When it approached the light, however, it bounced off as if it had hit a wall.
Whatever the light was, it didn't stay forever. After a few seconds, the light disappeared, and with it, the two humans.
...
"..ake up.."
".. Andrea? Are you okay?" A soft voice drifted into her ears.
Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was a face. A face she knew very well.
"Rina?" she asked, not sure if she was dreaming or not. "What's going on? Why are you standi.."
Then it happened.
Memories of what happened these last few days came crushing into her like a huge wave.
Tears ran down her face nonstop. Rina was gone. Only her spirit haunted her.. stayed sounds better. But now, she's right in front of her.
Without saying a word, Andrea stood up and ran to give her friend a very hearty hug.
"No.. don't.. we can't.. Ahh shit.." Rina tried stopping Andrea from touching her. She failed, however, as her friend was faster than she was.
"I've missed you a.." Andrea started to say as soon as she pulled Rina into herself. Her words however remained mostly unsaid.
The moment the two touched, a torrent of images battered Andrea's brain.
The images weren't randomly placed but came systematically, and although there was no sound at all, she instinctively knew whatever she saw.
After a few seconds, she realized she was holding someone and the flow of images stopped.
"Who's Mark?" Andrea asked in a whisper. However, since she was still in a hug with her friend, the whisper was definitely heard but assumed.
"Why do you care?!" Rina pushed Andrea away then ran away into a dark corner.
Wait.. dark corner.. dark floors.. darkness everywhere?
"Rina where is this place?" Andrea asked carefully, not sure if they were alone or if there were other creatures.
"..."
"Come on Rina," Andrea frowned at Rina's childish act. "I know you saw my memories too, I saw that too." Although she said it loudly, her voice was squeaky and her cheeks brightened.
"What do you think?" Rina walked back but kept her head down. "It's your mind you idiot!"
Andrea was stunned. Her brain failed to register Rina's words at first.
"How.. how is that.. impossible?!" She blurted out. Realizing she was too tensed, Andrea took a deep breathe, an action she later realized was stupid for there was no air at all, then asked again, "What did you say? Can you be specific?"
Rina just rolled her eyes then instead of calming down her friend, she went ahead and summoned two black chairs from the ground.
"Am I dead? What's going on? Or am I dreaming?!" Andrea started mumbling and shifting backwards until her legs hit the other chair and she fell right into it.
"Chill out, okay?" Rina smirked then disappeared and appeared right beside Andrea.
"Uwaah!!"
Rina screamed then bolted out of the chair. That was when she realized something else. This entire time, her entire chest had been exposed and when she jumped she saw her breast move with her.
Shocked, she immediately blushed and wished she had a blanket to hide under.
As soon as she thought this, her vision went black but before she started screaming again, she noticed it was a blanket, and one she was familiar with.
Rina sat on the black chair, a smug look on her face. She was surprised how fast Andrea had caught the gist of this place.
As Andrea came out dressed from the blanket, Rina couldn't help laughing at her red face.
"Stop laughing or I'll just summon a lazer blast right in your stupid mouth!" Andrea threatened.
"Why don't you try.." Rina spit her tongue out.
After the initial awkwardness settled, the two now talked.
Apparently, when the earring broke, Rina was forced out but the strange atmosphere couldn't hold her. It immediately pushed her into the nearest solid object which, in this case, was Andrea.
Resistance was futile as the atmosphere was like a mountain. Contrary to her expectation, Rina didn't take hold of Andrea's body. She was instead sent here and shortly after, Andrea followed.
"Just like you, whatever happened to you is a repeat of what i experienced," Rina concluded. "I touched you and saw your memories too, so I guess we're even. One thing that's weird in this place, we both came naked."
Andrea averted her eyes at the last statement. Remembering something else she asked, "Can i make anything I want in here?"
Rina shook her head. "Only those you've seen with your eyes."
"How do I get out of.."
WHOOSH!
A black whirlpool opened beneath Andrea and then she felt something touch her.
Opening her eyes, she immediately saw two bright eyes looking right at her.