A Darkening World And A Sleepy Protagonist Chapter 2 (Unedited)

The scent of lavender is overwhelming, a thick scent clogging his nose with its presence. It was as if Neal had his nose shoved right into the purple colored plant. He had always loved the scent of lavender the most, but this much of it shoved into his face was a bit overwhelming.

As he opened his eyes he noticed a heavy feeling to them, as if something thick and heavy was on them trying to keep them shut. Once managing to open them, all he could make out was the fact everything was blurry.

He attempts to lift a hand to try and rub at his eyes, but finds the effort to do so only resulted in being able to slowly move his hand towards his face. That is when he realizes his whole body felt as if their was a pressure around it. It was as if he were wrapped up in many blankets, cozy, warm and confining. Yet at the same time as if he were in a pool of diluted honey, the thickness there but still moveable. 

Slowly, but surly, he begins to move his body. He stretches his arms out, trying to find something to grasp onto. His hand at one point hitting something soft in front of him. 

Neal’s attention locked fully onto the spot he had hit, even without being able to see what he had hit, he still had a pretty good idea. 

Soon the palm of his hand pressed against something silky soft, a texture he found himself wanting to melt into. Ignoring the strange impulse to use what seemed to be a wall as a bed, he continued on pressing. 

It sunk in, accepting the pressure, and the soft wall began to wrap around his hand. 

He had no time to react when it suddenly gave away, folding open like a orange peel outward. 

He tumbles forward, unable to stop himself from falling out as the liquid around him pushes him. Before he knew it, he had fallen onto his back against the hard ground, bright sunlight entering his vision as the liquid dispersed around him. 

Having no choice but to shut his eyes while under the attack of the sudden light, Neal shut them tightly. He takes another breath in and felt as if he has swallowed water down the wrong way, beginning a coughing fit and quickly sitting up while his eyes remained shut. 

It went on for a bit, the coughing. The lack of air and roughness from the action had his stomach and throat aching, while he grew more and more light headed. He felt as if he were about to throw up, the feeling in no way pleasant in anyway.

Finally the thing causing the coughing came up. A overwhelmingly sweet taste coating his tongue, as the thick substance drops from his mouth onto his lap. The feeling of the lump leaving his lungs was a huge relief, the coughing fit having now stopped and air now freely entering his lungs.

Despite having breathed in air for his entire life, taking in this first breath had him wide eyed in surprise. Different scents of flowers filled his nose, along with a faint cold feeling. As if he had a  mint in his mouth while taking in this breath. 

So different from the comforting warmth of the liquid he had been in. Now that it had begun to drip off his skin, he noticed his body growing a bit cold as a faint breeze went by causing him to shiver. 

Neal opens his eyes, which were damp from the tears caused by such harsh coughing, taking a moment to better adjust to the brighter area. 

When his eyes did adjust, he was left breath taken by the beautiful scene before him. He was in the center of a beautiful meadow surrounded by a circle of tall thick leafed trees. The flowers scattered throughout the meadow were of various kinds, most notably were the ones that covered the most of the meadow. 

Lavender.

He moved to stand, his limbs feeling heavy as he pushed himself off the ground. He takes a better look of his surroundings and sees now he had come out of a giant flower, some liquid still dripping out from inside of it. It looked as if its pedals had formed a dome, he could not tell what type of flower it could be. Not that he knew of any flowers that could get that large either.

Neal was not sure how he got here, but he knew for a fact he was here now. Judging by the placing of the sun in the sky, it would probably be getting dark soon. He wasn’t sure how safe it would be, being in a wide meadow in the center of what seemed like many trees at night. Who knows what kind of animals came out once the sun set. 

“I wonder what happened to Marshall..” his hand was empty now as he looked down on it. Gaze unreadable as he stared at the empty hand for a moment. 

“This stuff…is a bit sticky” Now that he was able to see, he could clearly see the small strings between his fingers. For some reason the liquid had begun to get a slimy and sticky feel to it as it thinned and dried under the sunlight. 

Sleeping in that large flower had popped into his mind, but it would probably be very uncomfortable to sleep in it if everything was sticky. He wondered if he could wash this off anywhere, and decided to venture out to find a place to bathe. 

With that in mind he headed out, choosing what direction felt best and taking it. 

He didn’t notice that where the liquid had fallen, the plants hit by it grew taller and more fragrant in less then a couple seconds. 

–

As luck would have it, he did not need much time to find a water source. A very clear water source at that, quite lucky. 

Taking his time he approached the pond sized water source. A small waterfall from a higher stream which continued on at another end of the small water source. The water so clear one could see the blue crystal flat ground beneath it. 

Was this really a natural water source? It seemed to..perfect. Like one of those man made decorative fountains or pools.

He had to admit it was far more beautiful then anything man made he had personally seen, a perfect amount of mother natures aura surrounding it. 

What a beautiful place it would be to take a nap. 

He crouches down to cup some of the water in his hands, bringing it to his lips to take a sip. The water was very refreshing, giving him a fresh energized feeling as he drank it. He could not help but drink many more handfuls before he was satisfied. 

It seemed a pity to use such a fresh water source to bathe in, but he was not sure where else he would find any water. Considering it seemed to filter itself with its mini waterfall and continuous stream, he felt it should be alright to bathe and not worry about ruining the drinkable water source. 

He would take his clothes off, but at this point he realized he did not have any. The liquid had stuck to him in such a way he automatically though he was wearing clothing, how lucky no one else was around to catch him in such a embarrassing state.  

He took a seat in the water, leaning against the edge on a rock. Moving his hands along his body he wiped the liquid off, which came off very easily, the water seeming to absorb it off of his skin rather then just wash it. 

The water was a comfortable warm, as if warmed up by the sun shinning on it all day. One could not help but shut their eyes and enjoy it. 

Which Neal did.

–

Neal opened his eyes and saw the sky had gotten darker, he had fallen asleep again resulting in him wasting sunlight hours. 

“Hmm..I want to go back to sleep.” In no way did he look any more awake after the nap, rather he was reluctant to get up as he had been so comfortable. He knew it would be foolish to go back to sleep here and now of all places. So sucking it up he got out of the water and headed back to the meadow. 

Rather then finding the meadow, Neal found himself lost. 

Perhaps due to his hazy minded state from just waking up, he took a wrong turn or is having trouble remembering if this was the path he took to get to the water source in the first place. 

He looks along the ground, noticing another one of the flowery plants with small crystal like gems in it he had been seeing less and less of the more he walked on. Their had been some at the water source as well, at least fairly close in the direction he had decided to walk in, which he picked up along the way wondering if they were edible. Considering the little gems looked like little crystal berries, he could only hope this could work as food in some way. 

Each plant was different in side and shape, one with small flowers and tiny berries at each ones center, while another resembled a blade of grass with a drop of water at the end of it never quite falling off. 

Already he had eaten some of these interesting berries, they gave a bit of a energizing feeling but beyond that he didn’t notice anything really notable. 

He leaned over, a foot up in the air for balance as he reached over to pluck the flower before standing up straight again. Looking satisfied at his growing collection the sleepy looking boy continued moving along the imaginary path set in front of him. 

Night came before he knew it, and Neal was left standing in the middle of the woods with no idea what his left or right was. His only companion the flowers he held tightly in his hands. 

He could not take a single step forward, nor a single step back. Unless he wished to bump into trees endlessly or raise the risk higher of a hungry beast finding him. 

He reached his hands out blindly until he found a tree, one hand clutching the flowers as the other searched. The feeling of the bark under his fingertips was comforting, despite its hard and rough texture. 

Sitting down under the tree he made himself comfortable, using the many flowers as a makeshift blanket to bring himself any kind of warmth. After all he wore nothing but his birthday suit, and the cold night air was in no way the proper party to wear this kind of suit at. 

Despite the uncomfortable conditions, Neal managed to fall asleep. Soon moving in his sleep as if to reach out to grasp a pillow and hug it to himself, a frown forming on his lips when he only got a prickly sensation on his chest where the thorns on one flower dug into his skin. 

–

“Their should be some around her somewhere, we just need to go a little deeper.” 

Annoying.

“You said that twenty trees ago Jerry! The further we go, the less worth it, it feels when the risk increases like this. I don’t know about you Jerry but I happen to like my insides ON THE INSIDE! Not scattered to be used as tree fertilizer!” 

Noisy.

“Tch, stop being so dramatic. Taking a few steps more does not hurt, besides think of the money we can make! The further we go in the more likely we are to get rare goods that we can use to make our lives easier!”

Ugh what does it take to let someone rest around here!

Neal’s eyes shot open, glaring at the empty air in front of him as he listens to the voices growing closer. 

He attempted to try and block them out and shut his eyes again, but found it difficult as he did not feel comfortable at all! His body ached and felt a bit itchy from lying on the dirt, a few red spots on his chest where the flower with thorns had been pressed against to tightly. 

Neal was not thinking about how he could use this chance to get help out of the forest, instead he was more focused on getting sleep. How he already missed his bed, even his school desk sounded comfortable. It did not help he slept lightly in order to try and have some guard against the creatures in the dark, in order to know when to try and run away if any appeared. 

He did not feel safe so of course he could not sleep deeply! If only he had stayed in that flower longer! Ugh, how annoying. 

The sound of foot steps grew louder then soon stopped, a silence covering the area at once.

–

The two villagers who wore simple looking clothing with a thin layer of armor, looked upon the figure leaning against the tree. High grade magical plants covering them and fresh blood coating the stems and petals of some flowers. 

The figure looked to be unmoving, eyes shut. Their pure white yet slightly violet colored hair was down to their shoulders. Some strands went across their face and blew gently in the faint breeze. 

The flowers were arranged in a way, covering him, that the two villagers automatically found themselves seeing this stranger as a unnaturally beautiful looking girl. The face so beautiful one could not help but admire it. 

The girl had skin that looked as if it had never been touched by the sun, as well as soft and smooth appearing. Their was also a faint lavender scent that drifted over with each breeze. 

The two were taken in by the beauty, but as they took in the flowers and drops of blood their blood ran cold. 

Fertilizer. 

Covered in flowers, seeming sleep in such a dangerous place. The almost flowery feel from the girl herself. 

This girl must have went to deep in the forest and got caught by those beasts that guard it! Her body left here to feed the earth! Seemingly stuck to the spot, she was defiantly left there to be given to the earth! Spiritual energy spent till the last drop till only her body remained to give physical nutrients. 

They focused on the fact that it was impossible for anyone to just casually sleep in the woods and live. Let alone be naked, covered in flowers sleeping against a tree which clearly had been recently absorbing direct spiritual energy!

“Let, lets get, lets get out of, get out of here!” The one who had been complaining about going deeper earlier stuttered these words out in a whisper. Looking at his companion with a wide and urgent look in his eyes. 

“But look right in front of us! All those high ranged plants, if we grabbed those then we will be set for life!” He had a clear look of fear in his eyes, but greed kept him rooted to the spot as he looked at those flowers. 

As well as the girl who laid there, his gaze pausing a moment as he licked at his bottom lip as his thoughts drifted for a moment.

“Leave them! They were most likely placed there in order to keep her body fresh longer! If we take them we will be cursed by her if she sees them as an offering to her departing soul! Let alone the result of taking them may anger the beasts of these woods!” The man slapped Jerry’s arm, hoping to bring him to his senses. He noticed the look in his eye and wanted to cry as he realized the other things going on in the other mans mind. 

“We don’t have much time! What if they come to check on her? We must go now!” He was afraid, and did not want to be in these woods any longer!

No matter what he said the man just shrugged him off and stepped over to the girl till he was right beside her, swallowing a lump in his throat as he reached forward. His friend gave up on Jerry and began walking away. He decided it was not worth staying and trying to convince his friend only to result in both of them being killed by the beasts of these woods.

Dark purple eyes opened, looking straight at the man with a empty gaze. The man jumped, a scream ripping from his throat as he ran off instantly. Not noticing, or if he did notice did not care, the bag he was carrying fell to the ground. The only thing in the area a reminder of the man having been there once he had run far enough away.

Neal stared at the bag for a long moment before over at where the man ran away. 

He looked around and did not see anything around him, so what caused the man to freak out so much?

No matter, at least it was silent now.