The curtain was about to close. Sophia could feel it; it was in the air, and the tension seemed to be reaching its climax. It also helped that she had been guided by Piper’s telepathic messages. Actually, the entire thing seemed to be her idea, and she was just following thought-by-thought, action-by-action. When she agreed to end it with a simultaneous punch, a real punch, she couldn’t help but know that the show was about to end. And, despite the friendship that lurked behind the curtain of their play, Sophia intended to be the winner when it was all said and done.
She just hoped that she could actually throw a punch hard enough.
She cocked back her arm, preparing to deliver just a simple right hook. The healer knew she couldn’t afford to do anything fancy—it wasn’t the venue. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward to deliver the blow, swinging her fist like a baseball player would swing his bat. Her knuckles seemed as though they would connect soundly with the medic’s cheekbone, but to her dismay, she vanished from sight. Sophia grunted as she stumbled forward, scolding herself inwardly for forgetting that the girl possessed such a skill. Sophia felt her presence behind her shoulder, but couldn’t turn fast enough to react. Instead, the toe of her shoe curled under a tree root, and she fell flat on her face on the earth below. The air of Piper’s chop rushed above as she whiffed as badly as Sophia had just moments prior.
Rolling around, she gasped. Piper still had the advantage, and sharply thought to deliver another punch towards her fallen opponent. Almost unconsciously, the healer lifted a hand to catch the medic’s strike, charging an orb of venomous ki in her other appendage. The energy collided into her chest. Piper’s eyes widened to their limits before they snapped shut; the medic crumpled to the ground, knocked out cold. Sophia could scarcely believe it as she scrambled to her friend’s unconscious body.
“Piper? Piper?” she tried to keep her voice to a whisper, although she was practically boiling over with concern. She shook Piper by the shoulder as she continued talking. “Are you okay? Does that mean I win, Piper?”
Piper didn’t have the chance to respond, however, as Sophia’s collar pierced her eardrums before another second could pass. Suddenly she was whisked away again, still confined within the forest. She sighed as she sat back on her heels, looking around the area. It was hard to tell the difference between that place and the areas she had been in previously—after all, every tree started to look the same after her extended stay. Shaking her head, she stood to her feet. At that point, she knew, there were several options available to her, though only two of them made sense: she could either try to consult her map, or she could wander around aimlessly until she found an area of interest.
Sophia looked around again. Since there was no discernable characteristic about the area of the forest in which she was, she merely closed her eyes and began spinning around. Once she felt that she had spun enough—which was, ironically, the same point when she felt like she might have thrown up—she stopped and pointed straight in front of her. Opening her eyes, she took note of the direction she was walking towards and began walking.
The more she walked, the more she began to lose hope. She swore that she had seen the exact same tree at least a dozen times, though, again, they all looked the same. In fact, everything seemed to be the same—a rock here, a root there, a patch of grass here and there. Just when she began to think that she was stuck in a loop of some sort, a shelter revealed itself in the distance. It must have been the bunker, or at the very least, the coolest homeless shelter she had ever seen. Sighing, she made a mad dash towards the building and burst through the doors.
The inside was rather unassuming, just like the last bunker she had been inside. It didn’t matter, she guessed, since it supplied her with anything she could have wanted. The beds seemed particularly tempting, as she hadn’t even rested since she left the afterlife. Smiling, she walked towards the nearest one, but she stopped when something caught her attention. Sage and Kaden were lying in beds just a few feet away from her. Expressions of intense sorrow were pasted on the faces of them both, though she would have been hard-pressed to think of a moment when Sage didn’t look like that. She breathed a gentle sigh, smiling softly as she looked upon them. She supposed there wasn’t anything to be particularly happy about. Heck, her own heart was feeling heavy, too. However, the healer valued the potency of a joyful exterior, even if it didn’t match the interior.
She rounded the edge of the bed in front of her and stood a few steps away from the row of beds that her friends were in. She never liked waking people up, but there was a few things that they needed to talk about in the wake of her forced encounter with Piper. Sophia put a finger to her chin, pondering the choices she had in waking them up. She could either gently wake them up, or…
“Hey, guys!” she shouted, her voice echoing loudly in the room.
She just hoped that she could actually throw a punch hard enough.
She cocked back her arm, preparing to deliver just a simple right hook. The healer knew she couldn’t afford to do anything fancy—it wasn’t the venue. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward to deliver the blow, swinging her fist like a baseball player would swing his bat. Her knuckles seemed as though they would connect soundly with the medic’s cheekbone, but to her dismay, she vanished from sight. Sophia grunted as she stumbled forward, scolding herself inwardly for forgetting that the girl possessed such a skill. Sophia felt her presence behind her shoulder, but couldn’t turn fast enough to react. Instead, the toe of her shoe curled under a tree root, and she fell flat on her face on the earth below. The air of Piper’s chop rushed above as she whiffed as badly as Sophia had just moments prior.
Rolling around, she gasped. Piper still had the advantage, and sharply thought to deliver another punch towards her fallen opponent. Almost unconsciously, the healer lifted a hand to catch the medic’s strike, charging an orb of venomous ki in her other appendage. The energy collided into her chest. Piper’s eyes widened to their limits before they snapped shut; the medic crumpled to the ground, knocked out cold. Sophia could scarcely believe it as she scrambled to her friend’s unconscious body.
“Piper? Piper?” she tried to keep her voice to a whisper, although she was practically boiling over with concern. She shook Piper by the shoulder as she continued talking. “Are you okay? Does that mean I win, Piper?”
Piper didn’t have the chance to respond, however, as Sophia’s collar pierced her eardrums before another second could pass. Suddenly she was whisked away again, still confined within the forest. She sighed as she sat back on her heels, looking around the area. It was hard to tell the difference between that place and the areas she had been in previously—after all, every tree started to look the same after her extended stay. Shaking her head, she stood to her feet. At that point, she knew, there were several options available to her, though only two of them made sense: she could either try to consult her map, or she could wander around aimlessly until she found an area of interest.
Sophia looked around again. Since there was no discernable characteristic about the area of the forest in which she was, she merely closed her eyes and began spinning around. Once she felt that she had spun enough—which was, ironically, the same point when she felt like she might have thrown up—she stopped and pointed straight in front of her. Opening her eyes, she took note of the direction she was walking towards and began walking.
The more she walked, the more she began to lose hope. She swore that she had seen the exact same tree at least a dozen times, though, again, they all looked the same. In fact, everything seemed to be the same—a rock here, a root there, a patch of grass here and there. Just when she began to think that she was stuck in a loop of some sort, a shelter revealed itself in the distance. It must have been the bunker, or at the very least, the coolest homeless shelter she had ever seen. Sighing, she made a mad dash towards the building and burst through the doors.
The inside was rather unassuming, just like the last bunker she had been inside. It didn’t matter, she guessed, since it supplied her with anything she could have wanted. The beds seemed particularly tempting, as she hadn’t even rested since she left the afterlife. Smiling, she walked towards the nearest one, but she stopped when something caught her attention. Sage and Kaden were lying in beds just a few feet away from her. Expressions of intense sorrow were pasted on the faces of them both, though she would have been hard-pressed to think of a moment when Sage didn’t look like that. She breathed a gentle sigh, smiling softly as she looked upon them. She supposed there wasn’t anything to be particularly happy about. Heck, her own heart was feeling heavy, too. However, the healer valued the potency of a joyful exterior, even if it didn’t match the interior.
She rounded the edge of the bed in front of her and stood a few steps away from the row of beds that her friends were in. She never liked waking people up, but there was a few things that they needed to talk about in the wake of her forced encounter with Piper. Sophia put a finger to her chin, pondering the choices she had in waking them up. She could either gently wake them up, or…
“Hey, guys!” she shouted, her voice echoing loudly in the room.
Quote:Sophia enters the Forest Sector bunker