The Outcasts I - The Beginning

Bad Day

(Tw; swearing, harsh language)

Delta fell through a portal again. He smiled as he felt the deep pressure in his feet, knowing they stuck the landing. He wasn't able to stick it fully, however, and managed to get themselves walking quickly so that they wouldn't fall.

They felt a deep ache in his shoulder, but quickly ignored it. "Just tired. Only got a little more to go." He muttered to himself.

However, Delta quickly understood how much they underestimated their exhaustion. He watched as the trees slowly began to develop eyes, watching around him, turning. Just the AU tricking them.

Delta kept their eyes on the ground.

[Keep your eyes on the ground. Scan the area, let up slightly, but don't look at the trees.] He tilted his head up slightly, just below the line of the trees, glancing around to catch his bearrings.

"Delta?" A voice called to him. He stopped, quickly turning. They weren't sure if it was someone they knew or if it was someone they thought was here with him.

"...hey?" He called back, managing a glance up.

No one.

"Ah... nobody. Called it." He turned back around. They heard more people calling to him. No one they knew. He kept his back turned on them. He didn't listen. He never did.

He felt the ground getting darker, the snow turning into a muddy color. They decided to stop and close his eyes.

[You're fine, it's fake. You're fine. You're fine.] They convinced themselves, opening his eyes back up to keep going on.

He heard the whispers of the eye-trees growing louder and louder, nearly overwhelming them. But suddenly, they stopped. He froze in place.

[... they stopped. Why did they stop? Are they done? What're they up to?] He questioned as they slowly paced, circling the area, suspicious of every sound or movement.

Suddenly, they felt a deep ache in his chest. It was a familiar ache, but not a welcome one. He felt his breathing start to quicken, but sat down swiftly.

"You're fine, you're fine, just phantom pain." He muttered again, taking deep breaths, as they tried to let the pain pass through.

A branch snapped behind him, causing them to swivel.

"Ah, shit."

---

He summoned a portal, sprinting through, closing it immediately behind him. They glanced at the nearest tree, and immediately began scaling it, throwing themselves straight at it.

He used the leverage from his speed to propel himself up, quickly jumping to climb it, then grabbed a branch. Thru pulled themselves up skillfully, then continued climbing until he was a good amount up off the ground.

When he was finally able to stop and breathe, they panted in exhaustion from the fight, cautiously leaning on the trunk as he relaxed on the strongest nearby branch.

"Damn it... had to come out of nowhere, didn't he?" He mumbled bitterly, rolling his eyes in annoyance, looking down below.

"Aw, are you fucking kidding me?!" He groaned in annoyance when they saw a patch of his pant near his knee ripped up. He huffed, quickly whipping his backpack over so it would be on their lap so they could see where to dig out the things they needed to fix it.

"There it is! Finally!" He sighed in relief when they found the small pack of needles, thread, and a small patch of black felt to sew on.

"Won't feel the same, but it'll do." Thru moved his backpack to his side, holding it with one arm under the straps to make sure it wouldn't fall as they brought their leg up to sew on another patch.