Episode 0: Across The Sky (Solo) [Complete]
Jul 5, 2021 19:30:24 GMT
Post by Areleh on Jul 5, 2021 19:30:24 GMT
"Sixty-nine... seventy.... seventy-one..." Takashi grunted softly as he lifted himself up, hands folded behind his head. Hanging upside from a tree, he steadily performed a series of modified crunches. Sweat rolled down his face and torso in great rivets, but he steadfastly ignored them. Gritting his teeth from exertion as he completed the final few of the super-set, he let out a relieved sigh and allowed himself a moment to hang from the tree with a weak chuckle.
In such a state, half-exhausted, he allowed his mind a moment of freedom and let it wander. It had been a month since his graduation from high school. His father did not yet expect him to move out of the apartment, perhaps due to not wanting his cook to go missing or perhaps because he did not want the living reminder of his wife to vanish from his life. Regardless, Takashi knew his father had no problem with him continuing to live with him, and that served his purposes just fine. It was hard enough to train to become a rescueman; if he had to work full-time it would have been a nightmare, to say nothing of taking on so many bills.
His moment of reverie came to an end when he opened his eyes and found a young girl staring up at him, clutching a stuffed bear. With a start, Takashi yelled as he fell to the ground in a heap. Coughing, he flipped over and looked wildly around but found no one around. It was a rare, tranquil evening near the Shibuya River. Given the area's status as something of a dump and the accompanying smell, Takashi hadn't expected to see anyone at all. It was hard to say what was more disturbing; that he had maybe seen someone, or that perhaps he had just imagined it.
His phone began to beep in his pocket, the chimes alerting him to the time. Not wanting to trudge through junk and grime as night approached, Takashi quickly began to collect his things before getting started back on the trail that would lead him to his car. He gave one last glance around, and upon no sight of the mystery girl, began to walk away from his little training spot. It was a rare, strong tree that had sprouted up amongst piles of refuse and broken piles of junk where others failed to survive. In some ways, he felt an odd sense of kinship with the tree.
Sending a quick text to his father to let him know what was going on, Takashi felt something cold tap the back of his neck. Whirling about, he saw nothing out of the ordinary that would have indicated just what he
had felt. The area was quiet, as it usually was regardless of the time of day. When another cold sensation ran down his neck, Takashi spun around just in time to notice several large, fat flakes of snow hovering lazily in the air, as if uncaring to be in the wrong time of year or wrong temperature for it.
"W-What?" He expressed with an odd mixture of delight and confusion. He reached a hand out and caught several small snowflakes as they slowly fluttered down from the abruptly overcast sky. Their chill on his bare hands was real enough and all too soon Takashi was alarmed to see the snow coming down in great, thick bands. Dressed in a thing workout shirt and shorts, he was not at all prepared for a freak blizzard.
Hurrying now, Takashi felt an odd pressure begin to build in the air. The wind began to pick up, swirling the snowflakes into great flurries that made it difficult to see. At another time, with different circumstances, Takashi would have been delighted to have snow falling all around him; winter had been his favorite season growing up and he had always enjoyed the snow. Now though it only brought alarm and a deep sense of trepidation.
A faint howl on the wind brought him to a dead stop. Takashi craned his head to one side, listening intently for the noise again. When he was rewarded with a second, ever-so-slightly louder howl, he did not feel a warm sense of vindication. Instead, he was rewarded with an abrupt wail from his phone that made his hair stand on end. Quite unlike any of the usual tones or alarms he knew it to make, it warbled and cried almost like a siren. Fishing it out of his pocket, Takashi was alarmed to see the entire screen flashing with arcane symbols across an almost impossibly bright background.
Again he heard the howl on the wind, this time much closer. That sound and the concern of having to fend off a wild animal with his bare hands was enough that Takashi stopped and began to look around in preparation for having to defend himself. The snow had rapidly blanketed the terrain, making it almost impossible to even determine which way he needed to go. Spotting a piece of pipe jutting out from the snow, he snatched it up in one hand while the other clutched his still screeching phone and he began to slowly spin on the spot in a vain attempt to see where the danger was coming from.
All at once, the snowfall became impossible to see through and his phone gave an otherworldly cry. There was a sudden sensation of vertigo that nearly caused him to collapse before a brilliant flash blinded him while a strong updraft caused him to yell in surprise and shield his eyes with his arms. He did his best to keep himself protected, but could not suppress the shout of shock that erupted from his lips when the very distinct sensation of falling suddenly gripped his body.
With a scream, Takashi suddenly realized that he was falling through the sky. An impenetrable wall of white slowly gave way to something else. Whisps of cloud obscured his view, but it was impossible to miss the lack of ground beneath his feet or the wind whipping violently at his clothes and ears.
As his concern grew, Takashi found himself blinking hard in stunned surprise as the clouds gave way and he could see the ground below him. But the geography was all wrong. It wasn't any part of Tokyo that he had seen or known of, and the ground was approaching quite fast, and he certainly did not have a parachute. Before alarm could take him though, Takashi found the ground suddenly approaching considerably faster and barely had time to register that the ground was suddenly in his face when he lost consciousness.
---
WC: 1,115
In such a state, half-exhausted, he allowed his mind a moment of freedom and let it wander. It had been a month since his graduation from high school. His father did not yet expect him to move out of the apartment, perhaps due to not wanting his cook to go missing or perhaps because he did not want the living reminder of his wife to vanish from his life. Regardless, Takashi knew his father had no problem with him continuing to live with him, and that served his purposes just fine. It was hard enough to train to become a rescueman; if he had to work full-time it would have been a nightmare, to say nothing of taking on so many bills.
His moment of reverie came to an end when he opened his eyes and found a young girl staring up at him, clutching a stuffed bear. With a start, Takashi yelled as he fell to the ground in a heap. Coughing, he flipped over and looked wildly around but found no one around. It was a rare, tranquil evening near the Shibuya River. Given the area's status as something of a dump and the accompanying smell, Takashi hadn't expected to see anyone at all. It was hard to say what was more disturbing; that he had maybe seen someone, or that perhaps he had just imagined it.
His phone began to beep in his pocket, the chimes alerting him to the time. Not wanting to trudge through junk and grime as night approached, Takashi quickly began to collect his things before getting started back on the trail that would lead him to his car. He gave one last glance around, and upon no sight of the mystery girl, began to walk away from his little training spot. It was a rare, strong tree that had sprouted up amongst piles of refuse and broken piles of junk where others failed to survive. In some ways, he felt an odd sense of kinship with the tree.
Sending a quick text to his father to let him know what was going on, Takashi felt something cold tap the back of his neck. Whirling about, he saw nothing out of the ordinary that would have indicated just what he
had felt. The area was quiet, as it usually was regardless of the time of day. When another cold sensation ran down his neck, Takashi spun around just in time to notice several large, fat flakes of snow hovering lazily in the air, as if uncaring to be in the wrong time of year or wrong temperature for it.
"W-What?" He expressed with an odd mixture of delight and confusion. He reached a hand out and caught several small snowflakes as they slowly fluttered down from the abruptly overcast sky. Their chill on his bare hands was real enough and all too soon Takashi was alarmed to see the snow coming down in great, thick bands. Dressed in a thing workout shirt and shorts, he was not at all prepared for a freak blizzard.
Hurrying now, Takashi felt an odd pressure begin to build in the air. The wind began to pick up, swirling the snowflakes into great flurries that made it difficult to see. At another time, with different circumstances, Takashi would have been delighted to have snow falling all around him; winter had been his favorite season growing up and he had always enjoyed the snow. Now though it only brought alarm and a deep sense of trepidation.
A faint howl on the wind brought him to a dead stop. Takashi craned his head to one side, listening intently for the noise again. When he was rewarded with a second, ever-so-slightly louder howl, he did not feel a warm sense of vindication. Instead, he was rewarded with an abrupt wail from his phone that made his hair stand on end. Quite unlike any of the usual tones or alarms he knew it to make, it warbled and cried almost like a siren. Fishing it out of his pocket, Takashi was alarmed to see the entire screen flashing with arcane symbols across an almost impossibly bright background.
Again he heard the howl on the wind, this time much closer. That sound and the concern of having to fend off a wild animal with his bare hands was enough that Takashi stopped and began to look around in preparation for having to defend himself. The snow had rapidly blanketed the terrain, making it almost impossible to even determine which way he needed to go. Spotting a piece of pipe jutting out from the snow, he snatched it up in one hand while the other clutched his still screeching phone and he began to slowly spin on the spot in a vain attempt to see where the danger was coming from.
All at once, the snowfall became impossible to see through and his phone gave an otherworldly cry. There was a sudden sensation of vertigo that nearly caused him to collapse before a brilliant flash blinded him while a strong updraft caused him to yell in surprise and shield his eyes with his arms. He did his best to keep himself protected, but could not suppress the shout of shock that erupted from his lips when the very distinct sensation of falling suddenly gripped his body.
With a scream, Takashi suddenly realized that he was falling through the sky. An impenetrable wall of white slowly gave way to something else. Whisps of cloud obscured his view, but it was impossible to miss the lack of ground beneath his feet or the wind whipping violently at his clothes and ears.
As his concern grew, Takashi found himself blinking hard in stunned surprise as the clouds gave way and he could see the ground below him. But the geography was all wrong. It wasn't any part of Tokyo that he had seen or known of, and the ground was approaching quite fast, and he certainly did not have a parachute. Before alarm could take him though, Takashi found the ground suddenly approaching considerably faster and barely had time to register that the ground was suddenly in his face when he lost consciousness.
---
WC: 1,115
