Shrouded Paradox ://: BTS

~II~ : Crimson Cape

April 18th, 2018

Just North of Gayasan National Park

Seongju Country,

South Korea

Her Eyes flew open.

A rush of fear flew through her mind as she felt the shudder of the voices against her ear, pulling y/n from the darkness she had been unconscious in. She frantically patted the ground, determining that in fact she was on earth, not in the red void: In another place or time.

Yet, this ground did not feel the same. The familiar dusty dirt of Green Mountain did not touch her fingers as she pressed her hand into the earth. No. This dirt was covered in moss and moist to the touch. The dark earth that now lay in he fingers was soft and smelled like rain. Scanning her surroundings, y/n saw a forest in fog all around her. Emerald leaves sparkling with dew under a monotone grey.

'Where am I?", she uttered to herself breathlessly. Strangely, fear did not fill her heart, but a rush of curiosity came instead.

Her hands picked up another handful of dirt, she stared at it. Felt as each grain of earth saat in between the creases in her palms and fingers. The feeling was so foreign, and y/n couldn't help but feel happy. She felt connected to its soft texture. However, this thought was strange in and of itself.

The glint if the strange stone caught her eye as it lay only a few feet away from her. Glistening dark in the fogged out forest, the emerald tones reflecting strange on the surface if the stone.

Feeling a sudden urge to touch the stone, y/n crawled over to it and plucked it from where it sat. Her mind was swirling with confusion as she looked around at her surroundings yet again.

Why was she here? What did the stone do? Was she dreaming?

"No. If I was dreaming then this dirt wouldn't feel so real. Everything is so..." she paused, looking around and getting to her feet. "...vivid."

Y/n brushed off her jeans and slipped the stone into the bottom of her backpack, keeping it safe. The whispers the stone made as she did so fluterd through the wet air.

She needed to find out where she was. Or at least a local location. Wherever the red rock had dropped her off was definitely not the the Denver Frontrange.

Pulling out her phone, y/n looked at her lockscreen. But then something caught her eye.

"No service! Ahhh!" Y/n bellowed out if frustration, tilting her head back and groaning in irritation.

"This is why we humans shouldn't become reliant on our phones! Because we GET LOST!" She yelled again. A few startled blackbirds fluttered from the trees in the distance.

"Ok i'll just use my compass app and head..." she paused. "where should I go?"

All the leaves looked the same, and she couldn't hear the sound of a river or stream. It was foggy and the sun was cuddled beneath a blanket of grey.

She was hopelessly lost.

But, she had to get moving, so she started walking south, according to her compass app.

The forest started to slope downwards and become more dense. Trees were covered in lichen and moss. Ferns and small scuttling sounds of animals were all around her. Large boulders loomed against the fog like sleeping giants. Dormant and content with their unmoving and peaceful life.

Lucky, she knew how to hike. She went hiking all the time. Unlucky, she had converse on, not her trusty hiking boots at home. Her feet were beginning to gather moisture and mud. The cold seeming into her bones. Her face felt sticky as sweat clung to her pores, as did the air around. Lips like a desert, she was licking them, unknowingly drying them out even more.