A Matter of Important Consequences

Exhilarating

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Slight Gore Warning (blood)

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"Hey," Firey kicked at Pin's plastic body; she was still embedded upside down in the ground by her point. He glanced up at the sky, noting that it was getting darker. "Pin, wake up." He commanded, kicking harder this time. Nothing happened. "Come on, wake up already." He continued to kick, until finally something gave way under his foot. Pin's point popped free from the ground, causing her to roll onto her side.

"Hm..." She said quietly, rolling over and sitting upright. "Wh-what? How long was I out for?" She asked, rubbing her eyes as she looked around the area. "Where am I anyway...?" She muttered to herself, examining her surroundings. There was nothing nearby except for some large rocks and a small patch of what appeared to be grass.

Firey shrugged, his face displaying indifference as he stared straight ahead. "Dunno. All I remember was Four sucking us up." He replied flatly, turning his attention back to the sky. "I think it's about to rain..." He added wearily, "We need to start looking for shelter or something..."

"Mhm..." Pin agreed, nodding slowly as she rubbed her temples. She noticed that there was a slight breeze blowing through the air, and she could see a faint profile of a mountain in the distance. She could also make out a river flowing alongside the mountainside. "W-wait, shouldn't we look for Coiny... a-and everyone else too! Heh..." She trailed off, remembering the last time that she saw Coiny. "He's in Four, too, isn't he?" She asked, sounding worried. "What if he's hurt or something?!" She exclaimed, panicking slightly.

"Ugh! We don't have time to worry about anyone else, if we don't find a cave or something soon then the incoming rain is going to kill me, so lets go!" Firey offered no room for negotiation, stomping his foot impatiently before turning to leave. Pin let out a soft sigh, and reluctantly followed him. "Besides, Coiny has a knack for talking his way out of everything, so I'm sure he's fine."

"Y-yeah, okay..." Pin nodded slowly, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. She knew that Firey was probably right, but she didn't want to believe it.

"Let's just keep moving."

***

"So, where do you think Clock could be, Needle?"

The pair were sitting underneath a sturdy tree; avoiding the pounding rain the best they could. They had been searching for hours, and they hadn't seen anything, or anyone, yet.

"I don't know, Coiny. I'm more surprised that he hasn't managed to kill himself by now." Needle replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I mean, his clock hands can really only get him so far when it comes to survival." She added, scratching her metallic head before closing her eyes.

Coiny chuckled lightly. "Well, he's survived so far. He must have some quirks we've never noticed before." He reasoned, looking up at the sky. "I think it's almost time for the sun to set, though." He commented, pointing to the horizon. "It looks like it's getting dark pretty quickly. Maybe we should make one last round and-" He stopped mid-sentence, noticing something in the distance.

A dark, shadowy figure that initially resembled one of the many trees in the forest; it seemed to be uprooting itself and lurching forward. The closer it got, the clearer it became that it was not going to be a tree at all, but a massive, hulking monster. Its body was covered in sharp spikes and blades, making it look like a living weapon.

"N-Needle, we need to run."

Needle opened her eyes slowly, "Hm? What for? Where's the danger?" She questioned, yawning.

"We need to go. Now!" Coiny pushed her out of the way before the creatures spindly arm-like appendage reached them; the beast's growth smashing the trunk of the tree, and splitting it in half down the middle.

Coiny ducked under the falling debris as Needle scrambled to her feet; she turned to face the beast as it approached them. "What is that thing?!" She whispered frantically, backing away as she watched it turn around in order to face her; it's glowing eyes narrowing dangerously as it growled menacingly.

"No clue! Just run!" Coiny shouted from the other side of the monster, dodging another swipe of its blade-like digits. "If we stay here we're dead meat!" He added, running towards the edge of the clearing as the creature lunged at him. His leg caught on something, and he fell to the ground; the creature looming above him as he struggled to stand back up.

But before the creature could finish him off, Needle jumped into action. She ran forwards, jumping onto the beast's shoulder and repeatedly stabbing herself into its neck. As the beast began to lose control, it stumbled away from Coiny, allowing him to scramble out from under it. He turned to watch as Needle hopped off of the beast's back, landing gracefully on the ground beside him. Her body was stained red with blood, but she didn't seem bothered by it at all. She merely grinned widely, and raised both of her hands high into the air triumphantly. "That was so exhilarating, lets kill something else!" She cheered, grinning ear to ear as she turned to face Coiny who was certainly not excited by her newfound bloodlust.

"Uh, how about we... don't? Please?" Coiny pleaded, holding his stomach as he doubled over. "I nearly died back there." He complained, wiping a few drops of blood off of his forehead. "And besides, we don't even know what that thing was! I really think we need to find the others, I don't know if they'll be able to survive out here."

Needle frowned at him, "Why? If we die here, we'll just get recovered later. No use worrying about it." She remarked, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"Needle, don't you realize?! If we die here, who's going to recover us?! We're all in here!" He argued, gesturing to his chest, "And then we'll all just get eliminated one by one after we lose the next sets of challenges. Do you want that?!"

Needle shook her head, "No, I suppose not... sorry."

"You don't need to apologize, Needle. Let's just- let's just rest for a bit, and hope nothing else comes out of the woodworks." Coiny suggested, rubbing his metal sides tiredly. "We'll find them tomorrow, I guess... I just hope they'll be fine."

"Yeah, me too..."

***

Hopefully the slight blood didn't disturb anyone. I don't want this story to be too graphic, of course, but I did want to introduce a bit of life to the Four-lorn Realms. Hope you've enjoyed.