The Scarlet Parasite

Chapter 3 -Passage Of Reality-

*Warning*
There is descriptions of blood in the chapter.

"What the fuck."

Sparky cursed. He lay sprawled out, his chest resting against a pillowy, soft, cloud-like surface. His head throbbed, and he could feel wild flashes phasing in and out of his head.

White light flooded his eyelids, drawing him out of his unpleasant slumber. Sparky forced his heavy lids open, cursing as a brilliant glare assaulted his eyes.

"Oww.. so damn bright."

He hugged his arms into his chest, blanketing his eyes from the intense glare with a paw. He flopped onto his back. Sparky lay still, melting into the comforting warmth that surrounded him. It was nice, this warmth and comfort he felt. Uneasiness plucked at his nerves as the unfamiliarity coiled around his heart.

The cream-furred teen lifted his paw, eyes cracking wide open. His vision then unblurred, and the first sight that greeted him was a cloudless, azure sky. Trees and shrubbery enclose the area in a clearing like the one he was in before he passed out.

"This wasn't where I was before..."

Sparky's body shot upwards, his ears flattened and his tail trembling. His tired joints protested from the sudden movement, his head throbbing. But Sparky didn't care, as the most important thought was to figure out where he was.

The first thing the cream-furred teen noticed was the grass. The hue of the blades was a mint color. Their texture felt strange, almost as if they were too smooth by grass standards. The trunks of surrounding trees shared the same tinted hue. Sparky soon realized that everything appeared washed over with the same striking shade.

His wandering eyes fell on the colossal tree ahead, which towered high above him. It was no longer the mysterious, massive oak Sparky saw in the other clearing. Its lengthy branches now drooped towards the soil, its long, as its spindly fingers dug into the dirt. The leaves were thin like needles. Only the wine-colored blossoms remained of the talisman-covered tree he'd previously seen.

The looming and melancholic build of the tree contrasted the calm, cloudy atmosphere. It stood unbothered, rooted in place, radiating a strange but mystifying allure. A gentle, warm breeze circled Sparky, embracing him as if to reassure and soothe him.

Sparky's tense muscles eased, his anxieties washed away by an imaginary stream. As he sat still among the somewhat strange blades of grass, a distant heartbeat echoed in his ears.

Then, as the beat appeared, it vanished.

Cream-colored ears perked up as Sparky strained to search for the sound, to no avail. His gaze traveled across and around the clearing. As he crossed a distant stream, a strange sight caught his attention.

Alongside a quiet stream and across a stone path was a large object. The overhanging branches shaded part of the polished, circular stone table below. It was like the tables Sparky saw in the abodes of the Sapphire Clan, except it only had two seats. Only one was empty as another person occupied the other, their body still and upright.

"Um... Hi!" Sparky greeted, his voice carried further than he'd expected. Sparky paused shortly, stunned. He blinked out of it and waited for a response from the individual, but it never came. It was as if they were in a deep slumber. They could've even been mistaken as a carcass if not for their pristine posture.

"What in the world...?"

Sparky lifted himself, emerald eyes locked onto the unmoving person. His hair stood on its ends as he hesitated in brooding silence. He wanted to approach them, to inquire about what happened to him or where he was. But his mouth felt glued shut, and his joints froze.