Traveller

Pilot

(A/N)

Ok here we go let's see how far we get until these commitment issues of mine get in the way. I'm gonna write a quick intro to the thing I can't remember which prompt this was from it was something like "You fell down the hole of prompts you have to go through every single one of them to get out".

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She felt weightless. She was weightless, falling, flailing, tumbling. Arms reaching out, desperate for something, anything to grab on. Everything was a blur, if not from the speed, then from her stinging eyes, left defenceless from the roaring wind.

There was no way, she would either die from a heart attack or the impact, yet, hurtling towards the centre of the earth was oddly calming. No, the entire ordeal was rather odd. As she tumbled past metres and metres of hard, unforgiving rock and compacted dirt, she pondered— why the hell is there a giant spiderweb stretched across—

She fell. Straight through the gossamer strands, trailing threads behind her as she kept on falling. And she saw it. A cave covered with pigments. A piercing whistle. Hunting. Gathering. Pain, pain like she'd never felt before. The soft cries of a newborn. One last goodbye. Creeping darkness.

She fell. Tearing apart another intricate web, seeing, yet still not quite believing. She saw it. Cozy huts of mud and grass. Tolling in the fields, no longer hunting and gathering, but farming and tending to livestock. Another child. Their village will last. A calm goodbye. She was ready to go. She was ready to embrace the darkness.

She fell. Silky threads followed her decent, clinging onto her hair, her clothes, her skin. She saw it. A mighty empire. labourers laboured. Wars waged. Her people died, the people she loved more than life itself. She couldn't stand by and watch as her flesh and blood was sent on a suicide mission. So she didn't. She replaced them. This time she bought the darkness. And when she eventually succumbed to it herself, the darkness was splattered with red.

She fell. And she saw. Eventually, she understood. More lives, more people, more experiences... Yet she could not understand how they were connected. By this time, the webs had gotten so thick they were slowing her decent, threads pulling her up, grabbing onto her. Perhaps she didn't want to see what was down there if mere spiderwebs had shown her these... visions.

Yet she still fell. She fell into the water, spraying it into the air. The droplets glittered as they sprayed into the air. Air, she needed air she had to get to the surface her lungs burned her limbs thrashed her heard pounded in her ears. She burst through the once serene surface and drew the biggest breath she could, treading the water, staying afloat, looking for land. All she could see was ages and ages of gently rippling water, shockingly cold. It pulled her breath from her lungs. Shouldn't water be boiling this close to the core? 

Paddling around in the water, she caught sight of a small island comprised of rock and started swimming towards it. They were slightly bumpy boulders from the size of houses to the size of a soccer ball. She would attempt to climb higher and get a good vantage point. After that... She didn't know. She didn't know, she had no control in this situation, she was left to the wiles of fate. Fate. What a ridiculous concept.

Her limbs ached. They ached a dull throb, numbed by the frigid waters. The rock rubbed her skin raw, they chipped her nails, they slid against her wet shoes. Her breaths sped up, burning in her throat. She was tired, so, so tired. She would get to the top, and she would stop, she would rest her weary eyes, and perhaps keep them closed.

Collapsing on the rounded peak of these miniature mountains, she hugged her knees to her chest and sobbed. They shuddered through her body, the tears washing away any hesitations, any doubts, and hopes. She would die here, kilometres beneath the surface of the world she loved and hated so much. Beneath the people she loved and hated with all her heart. Breath after shuddering breath, they came, and washed them all away.

By the time she remembered the point of her hike, she looked up, observing, listening, taking it all in. It was so beautiful, so frighteningly beautiful. Gently rippling water lapped against her perch, stretching beyond her sight. The roof was supported by pillars of crystal, emerging from the waters. More crystals hung off the ceiling, and gathered in clusters in the water, extending towards her like the enchanted swords of giants from a land beyond. She was enchanted, mesmerised, she was— she was being watched. Instantly, she stilled, waiting, watching, this time for another living creature. 

Something chuckled, obviously amused at her fruitless attempts. Something, born of darkness, something with the voices of hundreds of entrapped souls.

"Psyche," it said.

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(A/N)

This took so long to write I'm honestly ashamed. 

Quick heads up, it will probably switch between third and first person because these are short stories with the same characters. I reeeeeally need practice with first person because everything ends up being so detached.

Uhhhhhhhhhhh I'll try update at least once a week but once again commitment issues, procrastination, you know. If you see any mistakes or something that doesn't make sense feel free to point it out. In fact, please do point it out.

If you want me to do a specific prompt put it in the comments here and I'll try to do them.