○ F A L L E N ○

Chapter 1: Fallen

Rain fell onto your umbrella as you walked through an empty alleyway, headphones in your ears as you drowned out the city noises. Staying a late shift at work had caused you to walk to your apartment in the dark of the night. The city was beautiful at times, yes, but you also found it dull. You've thought about moving, but it seemed too unlikely considering where you worked.

Something glowing caught your eye, and you couldn't help but find it oddly intriguing. Walking towards it, and around a corner, a tall glowing building stood before you. Your feet unconsciously stepped forward, wanting to understand its odd glow. You reached out to touch it, and pulled away. You hand dripped with the glowing substance, drops falling to the street floor. Each drop fell and expanded as it hit the ground, glitching outwards and spreading itself.

You looked up, and thought you saw someone inside the glow.

"Are you okay? Are you trapped?" you asked.

Taking another step forward, the glow swallowed you and closed up around you. The building no longer glowing as you fell into darkness.

_

You blinked your eyes open slowly, the sun glaring into your eyes. After your eyes adjusted, you sat up and got a look at your surroundings.

You were in a field, surrounded by floating lands in a light blue sky. A waterfall was on another platform of land next to you, the water going down off of it and into the clouds. A few trees were scattered around as well, but there was no sign of a living thing anywhere. At least, that's what you thought, until you turned your head and saw a man unconscious and bleeding only meters away from you.

You quickly got up and ran to the man, checking for a pulse, and trying to shake him awake.

"Hey! Hey! Wake up!" You called, the man still unresponsive.

You noticed his blood was similar to the texture of the building you had encountered just before. It was "glitchy", if there was a word to describe it. You had to stop the bleeding, so you took off your jacket. It wasn't ideal, but it would have to do.

You adjusted his position so he was flat on his back, before pressing the jacket onto his wound. You wondered how long it would be before he woke up. You didn't know him, he was a complete stranger to you. How would he react? 

What had you gotten yourself into?

More importantly...

Where were you?

Maybe it would be best to get to the waterfall so you had a water source, but it looked pretty far, and you still had this man to keep an eye on. You'd also have to jump from platform to platform of land to get there. You thought for a minute, thinking of your options, before tying your jacket to him. It would help with the bleeding while you were gone.

You stood up, and walked over to the edge of the land. The drop off was so deep, you couldn't even see the ground, just clouds and the blue sky. You looked at the distance of the platforms. For each one, you were going to have to run and jump.

You turned your head, looking back at the man, before widening your eyes to see your bag lying near a rock. Quickly grabbing it, you took out your water bottle, and was finally ready for the small journey as you clipped the bottle to your waist.

Adrenaline rushed through you as you began to run, fearing of missing the platform. Your feet were beginning to reach the end of the platform, hitting the ground hard. Your left foot reached the edge, and your right lifted off the ground. It felt as if you were floating, like everything was going in slow motion, before you feet hit the first platform.

"WHOOO!" You raised you hands in the air, a smile on your face.

You had more confidence this time, leaping onto the next one gracefully. One more, and you will make it. You jumped again, and your heart leaped in your chest, the platform suddenly going upwards in your vision. Your hands reached out, and your grip found the platform. Your arms burned and your breathing quickened, looking down as your feet dangled in the air. You quickly swung yourself up, you arm muscles burning. Relief flooding through you as you collapsed onto the platform, exhausted.

You felt water on your hand, your head immediately shooting up and saw water run by you. You scooped up the water in your hands, gulping in the water, not realizing how thirsty you were. You unhooked your water bottle and unscrewed it, dipping it into the river.

Once it was full, you headed back, the trip much easier this time as it went downwards. You sprinted to the man, and checked the wound. Luckily, it hadn't gotten any worse than before, but continued to press onto it.

You unscrewed your water bottle and let some water fall onto his face, hoping it would wake him up. He stirred, his eyebrows scrunching up in pain.

"Hey, wake up! You gotta wake up!" You shook his shoulder.

His eyes fluttered open, squinting up at you before his eyes adjusted and his vision cleared. Brown orbs looked up into your eyes, confusion clouding in them, before closing them with a groan. He tried to sit up, but you quickly pressed a hand to his chest, forcing him to lay down lightly.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. You need to rest." You said.

"Where am I?" he mumbled.

"I don't know." You said, "We're in some sort of.... fantasy world. I know, its uh, a little weird, but thats the best I can explain it."

"I know where we are," His eyes blinked open, and he became more alert, "We've fallen into the Worlds."