Insomnia Wake #Wattys2016

Chapter 15 - Programmers Really Like Putting Easter Eggs In Things

Dedicated to DoppelGengar, who is the biggest fan of this series and who pestered me to get this chapter out.

The light came back to my eyes. I was cold, and everything was white. It took me a second to realise that I was standing on a snow covered mountain.

"A little bit weird the first time, I know," said a voice directly behind me.

I jumped and spun away to assess who was talking. It was Arlen.

I looked around frantically. I was nowhere near where I was a few seconds ago.

He looked at me for a second, then started walking down the mountainside towards some trees.

"W-what are you doing?! What did you do?!"

He stopped and looked back. "It's my, Arlen D. White's, special technique: Re-bro-cation! I can teleport to places that I've never been before, but only places that I've never been before. It's the power of adventure!" He then walked up to a tree and broke off some branches.

I was dumbfounded. Questions raced through my head like racecars on a track, constantly racing around and around in my head only to come back to me seconds later, no different than before. My illogical brain decided to get stuck on the fact that his last name was the same as mine for some reason, no matter how many times I tried to force it out and think about something else.

"W-what?!"

"I'm just building a fire. If you want it to get done faster you should help too."

Is this guy for real?! "No! I don't know why you've brought me here, but I need to go back!"

He shrugged. "No can do bro. We're probably about 1200 miles away from them I think, and my power shouldn't fully recharge for another day or so. Even then we won't be able to get as far because I won't have Fantasia's help, but if we run 24/7 we might be able to get there in about four days!"

"1-1200 miles?!" My brain simply couldn't comprehend that large of a number. He was either lying or that scary of a person.

He saw my shift towards gloom and cringed. Something was bothering the guy. Part of me expected this, but the other part questioned it. He seemed so confident in his actions just a minute ago, so why was he regretting it now?

He stopped messing with the trees, glanced at me, and started walking further down the mountain. He halted and looked back when he could tell that I wasn't moving. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get a move on! The cold won't kill you, so we don't really need a fire."

I looked around. Unfamiliar landscape all around. No cities anywhere in site. If I didn't follow him I would surely find myself lost, but he seemed to know what he was doing. Also, there was no doubt in my mind that he could destroy me if he felt like it. I swallowed and reluctantly followed him.

Once he saw that I was following he smiled and broke into a run. I chased after him.

And so we ran. And ran. And ran. We didn't get tired, so there was no need to stop. Day turned to dusk, and with the coming of the night more dangers asserted themselves. Darkness could mean collisions, tripping, or even running off of cliffs. But worst of all, it brought the monsters known as blightmares.

Suddenly, several hours into our run, we were interrupted. A giant moth-like monster swooped over us as we passed through an alpine forest, and it saw us. It quickly beat its wings against the ground and changed its direction.

I pulled out my knife without thinking about it, but I knew that such a puny weapon would be unable to do anything against this monster. The moth flapped its wings forcefully and slashed at the tops of the trees with its many feet, slowly drilling its way towards us.