Where Time Stands Still

Into The Fire- 1

A/N: Hiiiii sorry this took so long! I finished the art a bit later than I would have liked and then my internet has a seizure for a week. But we're fixed and done and good to go now.

Anyways, introducing our second protagonist! She very narrowly didn't make it into this story, but I loved her too much to cut her so I made it work. Unfortunately for us all, the way she's incorporated gives a lot of angst potential.

Will any of that potential be used? Great question!

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Bow landed on the ground and gasped.

The Horizon was oddly beautiful. The ground beneath her was rocky and streaked with red, the sky was a dark indigo. Stars were suspended in the sky, hung up by red strings. A few flowers sprouted from the rocks around her, and moss covered quite a bit. Further on, Bow could see the start of a field, and beyond that, a forest. Off to her side were many floating rocks that she could climb across that led to what looked like a floating island. Way, way off in the distance was another floating island. This one had what looked like a castle on it.

She headed forwards, towards the field. Her first impression was that it was entirely grey, but as she got closer, she could see the flowers were, although muted, all different colours. Just standing in it made a chill run up her spine, like she was being watched. Bow whipped around, but saw nothing, and brushed the feeling off. She was probably just being paranoid. Across the field started a dark forest filled with mostly willow trees. There were a few closer to her too, the branches low and covered in mushrooms. It reminded Bow of the tree in Subcon forest. She wondered if, like that one, she could climb to the top.

Well, why not try? Bow walked to the base of the tree and looked up. She could see, barely, something glowing near the top. Looking down, Bow could see bits and pieces of a path up, but they were broken up by heights that looked too high for her to jump, including right at the base of the tree. And no hookshots in sight. There was no way for her to get up.

Snap.

The sound of a twig snapping echoed through the air. Bow froze, the hairs on her neck standing up. She reached for her umbrella, bracing herself for an attack. It was silent for a few seconds, and right as Bow was about to drop her guard, she heard footsteps. Bow whipped around and pulled out her umbrella just in time to see a branch being swung at her head.

Bow raised her umbrella and blocked the attack. She gave it a shove to knock the branch away and jumped back, umbrella poised to fight. Her attacker wasted no time, jumping into the air and throwing a black orb at the ground beneath Bow. She jumped to the side as it released a blast of energy, then homed in on the figure with her umbrella. The figure raised the stick, parrying the attack. Bow landed on the ground and observed her attacker, waiting for the next move. She was clad in red, with blonde hair...

Wait a minute.

"Mu?" Bow asked, lowering her umbrella. The girl blinked and dropped the stick.

"Bow?!"

"Yeah. Hi."

"Oh." Mustache Girl grinned awkwardly. "I didn't recognize you for a moment. Long time no see, ey?"

It was definitely Mu. Red cape, pink shirt, messy hair, and slightly incompetent in social skills, just as Bow remembered. The only question was, why was she here? Bow voiced that concern out loud.

"Oh. Well, uh... I wish I could tell you, but I'm not really sure. After... after what happened, I just woke up here." She looked down. "Sorry about all that, by the way. Stealing your timepieces, I mean."

Bow sighed. The apology got rid of some tension immediately, but she wasn't quite sure if she could fully forgive Mu. Not yet. "It's okay. Just don't do it again."