The World Beyond

Chapter 3: The Death

"Cripple, wake up," I said as I shook her. She looked exactly the same, same hair, same height, same skin tone, same EVERYTHING! I didn't understand why she didn't change. Everyone else looked EXTREMELY DIFFERENT. Well except for me but I know there's a catch, I thought to myself as I gave Cripple one big shove. She soon flung up from her laying position and looked around like a madman. "I.. We. . . What. . ." She stuttered as she started pinching herself to make sure it was real. "Cripple, it's me, Brea. You're alive. We're all alive" I said as I waved my hand to everyone. She had the most stumped face ever as her jaw dropped to the ground. "But I was just falling off a 400-FOOT CLIFF! How the FUCK am I alive? Explain that to me" Cripple yelled as she tried to stand up but soon fell over. "Cripple, listen to me. Yes, you're confused. We all are. But we need to work together and stay some sort of level-headed" I said in a sort of calm voice. I held out my hand for her to take, and slowly but surely she took it.

"The furry's Andrea," Andrea scolded at the comment as Haddie snorted at it, "The elf is Haddie and the Centaur is Caleb". She wanted to ask questions but she stopped herself, she knew we didn't know any of the answers to the questions she was about to ask. "Sooo. What do we do now?" Haddie asked as she looked around. We were in the middle of a forest. There was no path, no way to go, and no lights nearby. "Well first we should see what ways North and South. Anyone find some moss on a tree," Cripple said as she looked at her friend group. It was strange, the look she gave us. It was like she didn't know us, even though we'd all been friends for quite some time. "Hey I found some moss over here!" Caleb yelled as he pointed to the bark on the tree. The rest of the group walked over to him as Cripple examined the moss. "Well it looks like North is that way," she pointed towards the darker side of the forest. "Great. We're going deeper into the forest. Well it was nice knowing you" Andrea huffed, as we started walking deeper into the forest.

"Hey does anyone see anything?" Haddie asked the group. It's been a couple of hours since we started going North. There was nothing around us but trees and the occasional bird chirping. Other than that it was quiet. . . Too quiet. "Hey guys is it just me or does something feel. . . Off?" I asked the group as I looked around. We've been walking for so long that we don't know what way is which now. I'm convinced we edged off the path just enough that we're lost. "Great. No civilization, no shelter, and no food or water." Haddie grumbled as she looked around. "Hey guys I think I see something up ahead" Cripple called. She was at least a couple of paces ahead of us when she called out. We all ran over to what she was yelling about. "FINALLY A ROAD!" Caleb yelled as he jumped around. We were all still getting used to the fact that he was half-horse and had twice as many legs. As we got on the path Cripple slowed down to walk next to me. "You can finally ride him" She whispered as she pointed to Caleb. "No, he would be riding me" I snorted back as she had a stunned look on her face. "NO BREA IM NOT TALKING LIKE THAT! JUST A NORMAL RIDE LIKE YOU WOULD A HORSE! GET ON HIS BACK AND RIDE HIM" Cripple face palmed herself as she walked away. "Ok, ok, I'll do it. I'm just messing with you" I laughed as I walked up to Caleb. "Hey Calebbbbb, could I ride youuu" I asked as I leaned in close. "Ummm. I don't know. Maybe?" He said with a confused look on his face. The rest were all looking at us as we walked over to a stump. "Why are we by a stump," Caleb asked "Because I don't want to break your back as I try to hop on it like I would a bare back who has experience with humans on their back," I said to him, who understood.

"Come on. Lift your leg a bit higher!" Cripple yelled. I lifted my leg like she said and hopped on his back. The tree stump we found helped a lot with getting on his back. Caleb in his Centaur form now stood around 6-6'1 and it didn't help that he had no experience with being a Centaur. "It feels like I'm giving a piggy back ride almost" he said as he tried to walk. Caleb stumbled a bit but soon got the hang of it. "You know you should really see if you could buck her off" Andrea teased as you could see the wheels work in his brain. "Caleb don't" I pleaded but he just looked at me. "Welllll. It could be funnn" he joked as he started to try and jump around. I wasn't prepared so I grabbed onto his hair as I slipped off. He got yanked back and stumbled before he fell. "Ow that hurt" he groaned, when he fell he landed on my legs. "YOU DESERVED THAT SUCKER! Now will you PLEASE GET OFF ME" I yelled as he got up awkwardly. He reached his hand out and I grabbed it as I stumbled to get to my feet. My legs were sore and they started to hurt more. "You know you could have landed somewhere else" I joked but he didn't like it. Caleb had a guilty look on his face as he turned his  head. "Hey its OK, it was an accident" I hugged him as I jumped back on him. "This time don't buck".

Just as I got comfortable riding him the path was blocked by two burly men.  . . Or humanoids like the majority of us. One was a Naga, half human half snake, and the other looked to be a wizard. "Ooo look what we have here~," the Naga said as he slithered towards us. "Stay back or we'll fight," Cripple said as she was about to pick up something but had a gun pointed toward her face. "Not so fast. We just want something from you people" the Naga said as he held us at gunpoint. "You guys got money? Gold? Silver? Anything VALUABLE" the wizard creeply said. "No, we don't. Now fuck off" Andrea bit back. The Naga pointed the gun at her as he smiled "Well don't we have a feisty one? It would be such a shame if someone put a bullet through your head." He said as he cocked his gun. "Hey. We're not looking for trouble. Andrea already told you we got no money," I said calmly. "We're broke bitches!" Haddie called behind us, "Now please leave us alone" I continued as I slipped off Caleb. "We just fell into this world. Like I said before we're not looking for trouble. If we had money we would have given you it already. Now please leave us alone" I said as the Naga signaled to someone far away then BANG!

A gunshot rang in the air as a sharp pain hit my left eye, I quickly fell to the ground with a sensation of numbness. The last thought that went through my mind was "I don't want to die again". I could hear the voices of everyone as the darkness settled in.