Cyan Falling

Welcome to the Jungle

The sun's rays beat down on the hot sand, the heat washing over Cyan and Jaesong relentlessly. They had been walking for around six out of the seven hours and despite it being the late afternoon, the heat refused to let up even a little. They had gone through a bottle of water between them and they had subconsciously started to walk faster at the thought of finally being able to duck into the shade of the jungle. 

They could see it up ahead, the trees towering into the sky like giant posts, the green, orange and purple leaves spreading out between them, vines dangling between branches and trunks. Before the edge of the treeline there was a strip of land where indigo-coloured grass was miraculously poking out of the sand, growing thicker towards the trees and growing in more dense clusters by the bases of the trees. 

Beyond that, there wasn't much that either of them could see yet, just some out of focus shrubs and other such flora. It felt so close and so far away at the same time.

Cyan had used their time walking together to attempt to get to know his new companion a little better, but the other man hadn't answered many of his inquiries. It was understandable to a point, given that some of the questions might have involved giving up some personal information. So, after the seventh failed game of 'I Spy' where the only thing either of them spied was sand, Cyan decided to ask Jaesong some more arbitrary questions. Anything to just know a little bit more about him that didn't involve tech (not that Cyan didn't love hearing him talk about tech because he definitely did. He could listen to him talk about his passion for being a tech mechanic for hours).

"So, what's your favourite colour?" Cyan asked, grinning behind his mask.

"What?" Jaesong countered, not having expected the question to be so simple.

"I said... what's your favourite colour?" Cyan repeated.

"Yellow." Jaesong answered with a chuckle. "What's yours?"

"Mine are Orange and Turquoise." Cyan replied before asking another question. "What food do you like?"

"Hmm, I think I like spaghetti." Jaesong answered, thoughtfully.

"You guys have spaghetti here?" Cyan asked, surprised.

"Some things about our homelands and beyond the gates might be different, but spaghetti is universally and inter-dimensionally transcendent." Jaesong said with a confident nod.

"I should have expected as much. Spaghetti is fantastic." Cyan agreed.

"Anything else you want to ask me before we get to the jungle? We don't have very far to go now." Jaesong said, nodding towards the treeline, which had become much closer while they were talking.

"Yeah, I have to ask..." Cyan paused for some wholly unnecessary dramatic effect. "What genres of music do you like?"

Jaesong laughed at that. "It's honestly hard to pinpoint a specific favourite. I quite enjoy Chillwave though. I think I just like the deep bass, slow melodies and synthesizers. It makes me feel like I'm out in space and like everything will be fine." came the unexpectedly serious answer.

"What's Chillwave? It sounds pretty nice." Cyan asked, never having heard it before.

"I honestly thought you would know. After all, it did originate from your dimension, though to be fair, our dimension's version of it might be a bit different." Jaesong replied.

"You'll have to show me some time." Cyan said, smiling despite the fact that his lower face was covered.

"I definitely will." Jaesong agreed, freckles sparkling a little and Cyan was glad that he had asked.

As they walked, it dawned upon them that they could hear something shifting, like something was moving close by, but as they looked around, neither of them could see anything. It was Cyan who noticed it first, the subtle shifting that was almost inaudible over the sounds of their breathing and the sifting of their boots against the sand. 

"Did you hear that?" Cyan asked with quiet urgency.

"Hear what?" Jaesong said, but then became alert when the sound happened again. 

"That." Cyan replied.

"We're being followed." Jaesong said, the both of them still walking normally.

"Any idea what it could be?" Cyan asked, silently hoping that it wasn't the dogs that had attacked him before.

"My best guess? There's two options, neither of which are ideal. Option one is the hounds have been tracking your scent and hunting us. They might have picked it up from the attack when you came through the portal. They don't usually attack during the day though... they're nocturnal. So, the only other thing that it could be, which I really don't want it to be, is a Dry Ocean Basilisk." Jaesong explained,

"A Dry Ocean Basilisk... sounds like something we don't want to run into." Cyan commented.

"I recommend that we tread lightly and try not to cause too much sand shifting, but don't hesitate or it might use the opportunity to strike. They spend most of their time burrowing under the sand. They can sense the vibrations from anything moving above-ground. They're not common, but they do appear from time to time." Jaesong explained. 

"Right, so what do we do?" Cyan asked.

"Tread carefully and try not to stutter your movements. Keep up the pace we've been taking so far and slowly speed up. It won't follow us to the treeline as it can't burrow through anything more dense than sand." Jaesong said. 

They continued cautiously, but the further they went, the more obvious the little sounds of sand shifting behind them became. After a few moments, Cyan couldn't help his curiosity, feeling the need to know what was following them. He turned his head to look back over his shoulder, and in doing so, he paused slightly in his walking, not wanting to trip. But, that was all it took.

Behind them, Cyan saw the bulge in the sand, where the Basilisk was worming its way towards them. All of a sudden, the deep brown scales of it's armoured back breached the surface. 

It was massive.

The creature must have been at least forty feet long judging by the thickness of its body and the trail of risen sand moving along its length. 

Then, all at once, it was out, rearing it's gigantic, hissing maw, fangs protruding threateningly from it's mouth like freshly sharpened knives. It was frightening to look at, even for Cyan, who had seen a fair amount in his lifetime despite his young age. This would definitely be one to remember. 

Its eyes were like fire and ice, twisted and spiralled into a sharp, catlike pupil. It hissed loudly, the sound not unalike the pressurised air releasing from an airlock compartment, only far, far louder and more threatening. It lived well up to its name of Basilisk, body coiled up into the air like a battle-forged python. 

Cyan and Jaesong stepped back in a panic as it leaned its head back, baring it's bladed fangs, preparing itself to attack. It was sizing them up, watching them keenly with its slit pupils dilating ravenously. Jaesong let out a choked sound as the creature's tongue lashed out from between its teeth like a whip, tasting the heated air. 

In the next moment, Cyan's eyes widened in surprise as Jaesong tensed and the lines of the power conductors on his suit lit up with a bright yellow light as he took a fighting stance. The beast hissed again and darted forward, mouth agape and ready to swallow them both whole. Cyan dodged out of the way, rolling to the side and away from its strike path, while Jaesong released a short burst of yellow energy from his palms that fired right down the back of its throat. 

The Basilisk recoiled in agony, shaking its head from side to side as plumes of smoke leaked from the corners of its mouth. 

"Get back!" Jaesong bellowed, gesturing wildly for Cyan to get behind him as he, himself moved quickly backwards, never turning his back on the serpent as he moved. 

"Right!" Cyan replied, doing as told and darting across the sand to behind his companion, boots sinking heavily into the sand with the weight of his steps. "How the hell did you do that?"

"Practice! And just think, soon enough, you'll be just as proficient!" Jaesong replied, readying to fire another power attack. 

The Basilisk regained its bearings, narrowing its eyes and hissing lowly as it glared. It lurched forward once more, swiping its tail across the sand, causing the two of them to leap back and fall into the dunes. They scrambled to their feet just in time to dodge the Basilisk's fangs and as it leaned backwards to bite down once more, Jaesong released another burst of energy into its face. 

Cyan unsheathed his moonblades and threw one of them at the beast, slicing through some of the scales on its left cheek as it span around and hurtled back towards him. He reached up and caught it in his hand as it span around over his head. 

Jaesong released two more bursts of energy, one focused to its jaw and one to its neck. The creature recoiled once again, screeching is pain, the flesh of its underbelly charred and lightly glowing with Jaesong's yellow energy.

"Run! While its wounded!" Jaesong yelled, running backwards towards the grass.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Cyan shouted back, not wasting any time in sprinting towards the treeline.

They ran with all their might, trying desperately not to stumble in the course sand as they went. They were half way to the edge of the desert when the Basilisk regained its strength and surged after them, hissing wildly as it wriggled rapidly across the ground. 

The two of them were almost there when Jaesong slipped and tumbled to his knees. Immediately, Cyan turns around and grabs onto his arm, pulling him back to his feet. Just in time, they make it to the thicker ground, feet no longer tossing up sand as tufts of grass grew between cracks in the beige earth.

When the Basilisk reached the edge of the loose sand, it hissed at them, and unable to go any further, it glared at them pointedly, as though memorising their faces, before it turned and buried itself back beneath the sand. Cyan and Jaesong took a few more steps backwards as they watched it disappear, risen ground following it to some dunes before vanishing from sight completely. 

Once they reached the grassy area, Cyan immediately felt that he was able to breathe easier. It was a relief to finally be out of the desert, even if the dry heat of the sandy dunes was about to become a stifling humidity. They paused in their step for a moment, taking in the immensity of the jungle that loomed before them in all its magnitude. 

There was a thick line of tree trunks and vines and thick brush, like a wall standing between the jungle itself and the open sands. Cyan and Jaesong could both already feel the tall tufts of grass brushing against their shins. It was a relief. The first thing Cyan wanted to do upon walking beyond the treeline was to take off his boots and empty out the sand. He felt like they had kicked up half a beach between them on the way over. 

Maybe it was the cool plants or the breeze that was rustling the leaves above them, but he felt calm, he felt grounded and centred. It was as though they had reached a small milestone in their journey and everything felt closer and a lot more within reach. After having lost track of Callus as soon as he had crossed through the Vortex Gate, there had been this feeling of failure and frustration living in the back of his mind and he hadn't quite noticed how much it had been wearing on him until it had lightened.

"We'll find him. We'll find him and I'll end him for good. He's not going to get away." Cyan said, more to himself than to Jaesong.

"We will, and I'll do everything I can to help." Jaesong replied with a quiet determination.

"Well, let's go." Cyan walked forward, making his way into the thick forestation, closely followed by Jaesong.

"Welcome to the jungle." Jaesong joked quietly as he pushed some bending branches out of his path, stepping between a couple of bushes. 

Once on the other side, it was much, much darker. It was almost as though they had stepped through time from the middle of the day to the middle of the night. If not for the little stream of light dipping through the canopy above, it would likely be pitch dark. It gave Cyan concern that it would be even harder to navigate come nightfall, understanding why Jaesong had brought both torches and glow sticks. They would definitely be needing them where they were going.

Their path was partially lit by bioluminescent plants, but the light wasn't enough for them to judge their direction or make out their path very well. 

They moved through the trees, Jaesong somewhat leading the way. Cyan may have had the tracker in his visor, but Jaesong knew the terrain. He knew what plants to avoid, what not to touch, what could just be shoved out of the way and what couldn't.

So, he lead the way through the trees as Cyan gave him the directions from his navigator. It wasn't much to go on, just the bearings. It was not that much of a step up from having an old fashioned compass, the kind that were rare to find even when Cyan's parents were young children.

It had probably been hundreds upon hundreds of years since they had last been commonplace. Most people simply had some kind of GPS system installed on their communicators or their gear, along with every other kind of navigation software one could wish for. It had become something that was just run of the mill. 

Though, nothing was really 'run of the mill' on Earth anymore. It was all just memories of things that no longer existed. The only thing that was still there was dust and ashes. Everyone and everything was gone forever, and they would never be coming back.

He still didn't understand how or why it had happened. It hadn't ever felt like it had been something natural, hadn't felt like it had been a fluke or a freak act of nature. Just, one moment everything was fine and then the next moment everything was gone.

Cyan had never really dealt with the aftermath of what had happened to his home, to his family and to his friends. He had never really allowed himself to process it fully. He simply pushed it to the back of his mind every time the thoughts of it managed to pop up in the forefront. He pushed them down as far as they would go and tried not to think of them. He didn't know what would happen if he really thought about it all, but he didn't think that it would be good. Maybe he was just a coward though, deep down, maybe he was just too afraid of how real and final it would all feel. 

"You good?" Jaesong asked from up ahead, looking back at him with concerned eyes.

"I'm fine, just... lost in thought for a moment there." Cyan replied.

"You sure?" Jaesong asked again, not quite believing it.

"I'm sure. Don't worry about it, we have bigger things on our plate." Cyan replied, voice clipped.

"Okay." Jaesong said, though not without one last sceptical glance.

They continued through the jungle for what must have been hours upon hours, though it was difficult to judge the time of day with the sun being blotted out by the sweeping canopy above them. Faintly, the sound of a running river or stream could be heard over the rustling of the leaves and the scent of surrounding them became pungent with the smell of the exotic flowers and plants that lined their path. 

There was a rustling, too. Something that came from the brush and the depths of the trees and bushes, and came from the branches that stretched out above their heads. 

Cyan had no idea what to expect from this new environment. He had already come across two hellish creatures that he would rather have remained blissfully unaware of. The hounds and the basilisk, both of which had all too gleefully and ravenously wished to tear him limb from limb. Unfortunately for them, and every other predator the planet had to offer, Cyan didn't plan on becoming anything's lunch, breakfast or dinner any time soon.

As they kept going, a strange smell began to permeate the air, it was something that Cyan didn't register right away. It took him a moment to realise that he shouldn't be able to smell anything from the forest too strongly through his mask. 

It was something that began quite subtly along with the appearance of colourful flowers along the cluttered path that they were taking. Really, he should have realised what was happening a lot sooner than he did.

When Jaesong told him to be careful and not get too close to any of the flowers, it was distant and muted despite their relevant proximity to each other. His vision was drifting, as though his body was tipping or the ground was slowly wobbling and turning sideways, though he couldn't quite be sue which option made more sense anymore.

He paused in his step, swaying slightly from the halt in movement. He vaguely registered Jaesong saying his name, but it was so muffled that he could barely make it out. It was as though his ears were full of cotton. He wanted to keep moving and go towards Jaesong's voice as it grew fainter, but he couldn't move anymore. It was like all of his will power, all of his bodily autonomy had been sapped away from him, snatched from right under his nose.

Beside him, a tall purple flower opened up its petals, revealing the deep kaleidoscopic patterns within. Each petal was incredibly intricate and perfectly symmetrical. Cyan found himself entranced by it, drawn in by its sickly sweet scent and the hypnotic swirling of its markings as they seemed to move on their own accord, spinning slowly towards the centre.  Everything was sideways and upside down, the green and purple collided and whirled and everything was off-kilter.

In the next moment, Jaesong was in front of him, putting himself between Cyan and the plant. Cyan couldn't register much through the tilting and swirling, but he could see the panic in his companion's eyes and it was as clear as day. 

He felt himself being shoved backwards and then there was a flash of yellow light consuming his vision before everything was back and the head of the plant was thudding heavily against the ground.

Jaesong turned his head back to look pointedly at Cyan, eyes fierce and furious as his body heaved with every breath that he took. 

"Are you stupid?" He seethed.

"W-wha-what... w...." Cyan couldn't speak, his words slurring and suddenly he felt his stomach turn and he had the extreme and urgent need to vomit.

"Cyan?" Jaesong asked, voice sounding much smaller than it had a moment ago.

"I... c-can't... I... need to... get... this... off..." Cyan made to pull at his mask, fingers clawing at its edges desperately.

"Cyan, no!" Jaesong yelled, darting over and pulling Cyan's hands away as forcefully as he could. "You can't remove the mask!"

"I... need...air." Cyan begged helplessly. 

"I know! I know... it's going to be okay I promise, just focus on breathing, okay? Your mask filters the air for you, you just have to breath. Look at me, Cyan." Jaesong took both of Cyan's hands in one of his and guided his face so that their eyes were locked.

"Jae..." Cyan struggled to speak, though his limbs had gone slack. "What... what's hap-happening... to me?"

"The plant's poisons must have somehow gotten to you. They're carnivorous plants, they release a toxin that lulls their prey into a trance. I told you not to get close to them." Jaesong explained. "It will take a moment for it to wear off. We need to get out of this section of jungle as quickly as we can. I need you to look at me and take a deep breath, okay? Can you do that?" 

Cyan nodded, unable to respond verbally and did his best to let the air pass into his lungs. It was like breathing in acid for a moment. Soon enough, though, everything started to clear. His vision, the fog in his mind, the cotton in his ears, it all slowly ebbed away until everything was back to normal and he was left breathing shakily, but with much more ease as he sat on the ground.

He hated feeling like that; feeling so helpless. He hated not being able to control himself, having all of his power taken from him so easily. The worst part was that it was somewhat of a wakeup call. This journey, this mission, would be a hell of a lot more difficult and a hell of a lot more perilous right off the bat than he had ever expected.

It was normal for his job to be filled to the brim with danger and the possibility of death, but he could usually rely on his intuition, instincts and his training to guide and assist him through all different kinds of environments and terrain, but already he had been close to his own death four times over. It had been less than thirty-eight hours and had he been alone, he would have been dead four times.

It was a hard pill to swallow.

Jaesong checked over his mask, feeling along its edges to search for any gaps where the toxins could have leaked through. 

He hummed to himself in thought and brought his bag down over his shoulder to rummage through it. He pulled out a small electronic tool that Cyan couldn't recognise. He held the pointed end to the mask on Cyan's face and he simply sat still and allowed Jaesong to do whatever it was that he was doing.

Before too long, Jaesong was pulling away again and shoving the tool into his bag, hoisting it back over his slender shoulders. In the back of his mind, Cyan couldn't help a moment of wonder at how effortlessly graceful the other man could be in the simplest and most unassuming of movements. 

"How are you feeling now?" Jaesong asked.

"I've been better, but the floor is where it should be, so I'd call that a solid improvement." Cyan replied.

"Are you alright to keep going?" 

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Be a doll and give me a hand, though, would you?" Cyan joked, holding his hand up to Jaesong, who was already standing again.

"Sure." Jaesong said, rolling his eyes before he grasped the hand that was extended to him and pulled Cyan back to his feet.

"Oh." Cyan said, focusing back on the information displayed in his visor.

"What is it?" Jaesong asked.

"We're much closer to this place than I thought we would be." Cyan replied.

"We have been walking for hours. It should be nightfall soon. We need to find somewhere to set up camp that's out of the way. Luckily, lighting a fire around here should be able to keep predators at bay." Jaesong said.

"Funny. Where I'm from, you would usually have to snuff out the fire to keep predators away." Cyan remarked.

"The creatures here have adapted for the dark, they cannot see well in the light. It's why they are more concentrated in numbers the further into the jungle we go, and why they don't usually venture to the outskirts or pass the jungle's border." Jaesong clarified.

"I suppose we better find a space then and set the fire. I could do with a food break." Cyan said.

"Yeah, we'll need our energy for tomorrow. There's a lot more and a lot worse than a few carnivorous plants waiting for us in here. We'll have to sleep in shifts. You can sleep for the first few hours, then I'll sleep." Jaesong suggested.

"Sounds good. We'll get going again at dawn." Cyan agreed.

Jaesong cleared a small area for them to sleep and eat a few feet ahead of where they were. He pushed the dead leaves away to the sides while Cyan collected some twigs and sticks from nearby. Soon enough they were sitting cross-legged in front of the fire, breaking out some of the rations that they had brought with them. It was hardly a gourmet meal, but almost anything can taste good if you're hungry enough and neither of them had eaten anything in over twelve hours.

The evening air was much cooler than it had been during the day, but that was essentially the only difference between day and night under the shadowy cloak of the trees.

The bioluminescent plants and fungi glowed around them, light emanating from them dimmed by the light of the fire. The stress from the daytime drained from them as much as it could in the relative silence, not much sound around them but the ambient rustling of leaves and small creatures darting about in the undergrowth.