How You Play the Game

Falling

Jack smiled serenely, grabbing a table salt shaker he'd brought outside with him. He poured some out onto his hand, spreading it on the ground to form a hoop of salt. Then he picked up a nearby slug and plopped it in the middle.
"Try going somewhere now." He grinned devilishly. Mark came up from behind him, grabbing his shoulder. Jack jumped, looking back.
"Uh..." He froze, unable to explain the situation. Mark gave him a hard glare, before sighing and picking up the slug.
"Hey, buddy. You get out of here, okay?" He said quietly to the slug, depositing it back in the grass. He turned back to glare at Jack again, who stuck his tongue out in retaliation.
"Jack, you shouldn't do stuff like this. Stop torturing innocent lives." Mark demanded.
"No way. I've got nothing else to do, and it's not like they'll be missed." Jack replied nonchalantly.
"Ugh, why do I even try with you." Mark complained, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I don't know why, actually. So buzz off, because you can't "save" me or anything like that." Jack retorted, turning so his back faced Mark.
Mark flipped Jack off, grumbling quietly about idiots. He didn't know why he hung out with him so often. Probably because he felt a duty to protect all the innocent lives Jack kept trying to end. And because of Jack's crippling fear of being alone.
"Hey, have you heard of Mt. Ebott?" Jack asked Mark curiously.
"Of course I have. You go up and you never go back, right?"
"Yeah. It's not a long walk to the summit, though. Let's go check it out."
"Why should I bother going?" Mark rolled his eyes.
"I'll kill a cat."
"...fine, lets go." Mark didn't doubt the threats, fully aware Jack could make good on them whenever he wished.
"Hehe. Come on, follow me." Jack grinned, grabbing Mark's hand and tugging him towards the mountain. Mark couldn't help but feel a quiet sense of foreboding.
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As the two boys hiked up the mountain, Jack strayed farther to the back, oftentimes hiding behind Mark when he heard a rustle of bushes or a snapping of twigs. He jumped at every little noise, suspicious of everything around him. Eventually Jack just clenched the back of Mark's shirt. Despite everything, Mark couldn't help but feel worried about Jack. If he didn't get over his jumpiness, he'd never be able to do anything. Mark gently ruffled Jack's green hair, before leading him up the mountain.
When they'd reached the summit, Mark looked down below towards the bottom of the mountain.
"That's a long fall." He said simply.
"Understatement of the year." Jack added, leaning over and peering over the edge.
"True." Mark nodded, getting on his hands and knees and staring harder.
"Hey, do you see some...yellow flowers down there?"
"What? I don't see anything like that. You're weird." Jack glanced at Mark quizzically. Then a bird came flying through the sky. It meant no harm, it was simply aiming for a worm on the ground near Jack. But he was jumpy. He was so jumpy, he leapt away from the bird, lost his balance...and plummeted towards the bottom of the mountain. His hand was outstretched, and his mouth was opened in surprise. He turned to look at the bottom, hundreds of feet away, and immediately lost consciousness.
"JACK!" Mark shrieked, jumping after him without a moment's thought.
Now he was falling, deeper and deeper into the mountain. The walls looked like they had the stars trapped inside them. He wouldn't mind if this was the way he died. He had a beautiful view, at least.
But right now, his priority was keeping Jack safe.
They were about the same weight and height, so since Mark had jumped later, he wouldn't catch up. However, he curled himself into a cannonball. More streamlined, which helped him fall faster. Once he'd caught up to Jack, he unfolded himself and reached for Jack's hand. Mark grasped it firmly. Without hesitation, he pulled Jack into his arms and spun so that Mark was belly up and on the bottom. Mark didn't know how much it would help, but he knew Jack wouldn't suffer the full impact of landing this way. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, glad he could see the stars-or the star-like walls-one last time before his death. Then he heard a "thump", felt a small pain in his back, and everything faded to black.
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Jack opened his eyes.
"Mmh...good morning, Mark." He smiled lazily, as if it were a normal thing to wake up on top of your still-unconscious buddy in a field of yellow flowers.
Then he actually woke up, and the smile vanished immediately. He looked around frantically, finally noticing the sea of bright gold flowers. Oh, Mark had been right. There were some down here. They were in a cave-like place, underground obviously. Jack looked back up to the top of the mountain, but the height was too much and it made him dizzy. He looked back at Mark, realizing he wasn't awake yet.
"M-Mark? Hey, Mark, Mark, wake up. Can you wake up? Are you even breathing?" He asked nervously, placing his ear to his chest. He felt a slow heartbeat, so Mark was still alive. He wasn't alone. Jack breathed out a sigh of relief. Then he heard something. He got nervous and started shaking Mark gently.
"M-Mark, please wake up. C'mon, wake up, okay? I don't like this place, I want to leave. P-please wake up, come on..." He whined plaintively. He heard something farther on in the caverns, and his face broke out in a cold sweat.
"It's probably nothing, it's probably nothing...M-Mark, please, wake up, hurry, please!" Jack squeezed Mark worriedly, burying his face in his shoulder so he wouldn't hear the noises. The noises in the cavern, and the noises in his head.
"Nn." Mark mumbled, slowly opening his eyes to see Jack squeezing him gently and their faces right next to each other. Even though he knew it didn't mean anything, he blushed. It was enough to wake him up. He looked around him to find they were surrounded by yellow-or maybe even golden- flowers. How that shielded them from death, he'll never know. They were in a cave, and when Mark looked up, he could see the top of the mountain.
"Jack, where are we?" He asked quietly in amazement. Jack blinked in surprise.
"U-underground, you big doof." He replied sarcastically, but it was clear he'd been shaken by Mark's incapacitation earlier.
"Well, yeah, but...I don't know, I'm not used to mountains having considerably well-constructed tunnels inside them." Mark pointed towards a tunnel that seemed to lead into nowhere.
"Oh. Do you think that might be our way out?" Jack asked nervously.
"We'll have to check. I, for one, am not currently up for mountain-climbing." Mark pointed at the inside of the mountain. That would really be the only other option. Jack shook his head.
"Dark, intimidating tunnel it is then." He said quietly. He took Jack's hand (in a platonic sort of way) and lead him into the tunnel. Jack felt safer around Mark normally. He made the noises less scary. He kept Jack sane, and human. But he can't get rid of the voice in Jack's head, can he? The one that keeps saying "welcome back, Sean, welcome back, Sean".
Who's Sean? Why was it calling him that?Why does the voice sound like it knows him, really knows him? Why did the voice only start when he fell down here?
And why did he feel like he's been here before?

A/N: Hi guys! I honestly think I thought up a good plot here, trust me. Feel free to tell me what you think!