On the first night, Tyler dreams of the soft bite of fresh, loose soil breaking between his toes. He's walking along a shallow but wide furrow in the earth, as though celestial fingertips had once traced it's path as gently as they knew how. On either side, a line of hundreds of dead white saplings stand sentinel to his every footstep, like antlers stolen from the skulls of stags and planted in the dirt. Regarding them with increasing curiosity, Tyler allows his footprints to veer, and strokes the pad of his thumb along a twig. It bursts. He leaps back hastily as green launches from the shattered barrel of the wood like parade streamers. Branches and bright leaves burst skyward, and the fertile ground beneath him trembles as thick, strong roots plunge their fingers deep. Before Tyler's next breath, an outstretched canopy filters the previously scorching sunlight, letting it play in dappled blotches across his skin. He's awestruck, agape, tilting his head back to watch the leaves shimmer and buzz with life. Birds flit from branch to branch; vines blossom as they ensnare the trunk, scattering it with colour. When Tyler's neck aches too much to keep watching, he walks to the next and - stomach dancing with apprehension - gives it a gentle prod. It follows suit, and now there are twin trees reaching for the clouds.
He flicks the third with more confidence; he high-fives the fourth; he sprints with one arm outstretched along railings. He doesn't stop until the forest is vast and magnificent, tight-knit, and the air sings with movement.
Tyler realises all of a sudden, that he is surrounded and can no longer see the path upon which he is sure he is supposed to walk. A drop of anxiety colours the whole miracle and turns it bad, like blood in a glass of water. As he's about about to set off towards the sun, a desperate fluttering of movement amongst the nearby leaves seizes his attention. It's a honeybee trapped in a spider web. He watches uneasily as it gradually stills, leaking honey in shivering strings from the web. It puddles stickily on the forest floor. As Tyler walks away, he tries his hardest to unsee it.
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Neptune Rising (Twenty one Pilots)
FanfictionThey're calling it the end of days. Teenagers selected for a week of tuition at Camp Wormwood are trained to protect their hometowns against the worsening rise in demonic attacks. On the final night, pairs of students are each sent to an isolated ca...
