The Weight of Exhaustion

Chapter Four: The New World

Lucas woke up laying on the ground, sun beaming down on him without a cloud in the sky. He could feel grass blades poking him as a gentle breeze blew over him. The sound of rustling grass hit his ears.

Oh? Did I fall asleep outside? Usually mom wakes me up. He thought drowsily. He watched the clouds move across the sky, as his brain woke up.

It was oddly quiet out. Usually he could hear kids playing or people working. It almost sounds like he was...in the...forest!

Lucas shot up when he remembered what happened. His hands were burrowed into the oddly soft grass as Lucas sat there, gathering his bearings.

Instead of a forest, Lucas was now in some hilly plains. They went on and on, until the sky met the horizon. Lucas didn't think he would have gotten to see such a sight.

Nearby, a herd of horses grazed, few looking up and staring at him before going back to eating. He could hear sheep nearby along with an occasional moo from a cow.

Something feathering rubbed against his hand, making him jolt. A chick walked past him, clucking softly. Distant clucking behind him suggest where the chick came from.

Behind him showed the portal he stepped through, more broken than before and deactivated. The circle of rock was in three pieces, two bottom pieces jutted out of the ground, while the top part was laying in between the two.

Well, not going back that way I suppose. Now I just have to find out where I am.

He took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair, wincing when his fingers caught on some knots. The glint of metal on his arm made the air in his lungs freeze. He tapped on his comm, ready to slide it off and break it, when a big white box caught his attention. The words 'no signal' were in bright red, along with a small 'x' in the corner of the box.

His eyes blinked in surprise. As if this was a mere hallucination. There was no way for a comm to have no signal. They were designed and built so that no matter where you were, you could communicate with someone in case of an emergency. At the top of the world to bedrock, the comms were meant to never lose signal. Nether! He heard rumors from travelers that the work in the, well, Nether.

He dismissed the alert and clicked on messages. A dot over his mom's and Ms. Kukri showed he had an unread message from each. Probably when he was still in the forest.

Lucas tapped on his mom's, a the unread message appeared.

<Mom> It's almost time for you to drop and shatter your comm. I just want to say one last time that I love you more than you can imagine. I hope you find Sabre and that the two of you are somewhere safe.

<Mom> Once you hear about our Admin fixing the mess he's getting himself into, at least borrow a comm to send a message. I'll always be here. Love you Lucas.

Lucas took a shuddering breath, and tapped on the message box. He didn't type out a proper message, since he was pretty sure what was going to happen.

He sent it, only for another alert to appear.

'Sorry, this person does not exist. If you continue to have this problem, please inform your Admin of possible comm issues. Thank you!'

...yeah. Figured. Lucas exited out, and debated on whether or not to click on Kukri's. He left it. Lucas could see his mom informing Sabre's mother, and she probably sent a message for him and Sabre once he is found.

He powered the comm off, his arm falling to the side. The no signal issue can be figured out later.

His stomach was grumbling since he missed breakfast by the looks of it. The sun was at its peak, meaning it was around lunch time. Lucas went to slide his bag off only to realize it wasn't there. The air in his lungs went cold.