Dead Inside

52.

It wasn't long ago when Portal Steve decided that Bright Steve might've entered the rainforest. Now, they were struggling to make their way through the thick rainforest as they followed Portal Steve. While they trekked, Sabre's mind had slipped into chaos. He had seen Forest Steve attacking his friends, the God of the Steves' death, and Sabre turning to dust just as Portal Steve had said. These daydreams weren't quite clear so Sabre couldn't understand them. He ducked under a leafy low branch. He longed to see them clearly, so he could fully understand them and why they were coming to him. But, if these were visions of the future, shouldn't he be asleep to see them?

"Is there not anything to eat around here?" Galaxy Steve complained. "I feel like my stomach is going to eat itself!"

"That's gross," Rainbow Steve said. 

"I'm sure there's something out there somewhere," Portal Steve told them. "Let's just not eat anything we find until we know food here is safe."

Galaxy Steve groaned, but didn't argue. The group of friends continued their tough journey through the thick jungle. Sabre knew exactly how Galaxy Steve felt; He was beginning to grow hungry, as well. He gazed tiredly up at the sky, which was blocked by a large canopy of leaves that looked as if they could go on forever. Sabre couldn't help but wonder how big the jungle was, or how long it would take the group to find Bright Steve.

Thinking back to his "vision", Sabre thought about what Emburn had said.

"He's stronger than you'll ever be!" She had said. "I know his secret, and he could destroy you if he wanted to."

Stronger, the word echoed in his head. Secret. What did it all mean? Even if it was just a nightmare, there had to be some sort of meaning to it.

* * * 

The trek through the jungle was going on longer than expected, though Sabre didn't know how long it was going to be. It had been over two hours, he guessed, and he knew the others were beginning to become impatient and tired. He, too, longed to stop, but why would they? They didn't know how much time they had left before Forest Steve got to the Cemetary of Bones to completely destroy Emburn and the other spirits before coming after Sabre. They had to find Bright Steve, and Blue Alex, before it was too late.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Sabre could hear Dust Alex complaining behind him. "How much longer? What's taking so long? Why can't we go any faster? Where is Bright Steve? Shouldn't we have found him by now? When are we going to get out of here? Why does the jungle have to be so thick? Why must everything be so difficult? When are things going to get easier? Can't we just forget about Bright Steve and move on? Won't he be coming back out eventually? Can't we just wait for him to do that? Or are we just going to waste our time walking endlessly through an unknown jungle that's probably filled with wild man-eating animals which could be a bad idea? Well, why would we stop? And, when are we going to get food? Where is the food? Why isn't there any food? How does food not grow here?"

"Alright, we get it!" Blue Steve stopped her from going on. "Just please stop with all of these questions before I get a serious headache."

Dust Alex's only reply was a shrug.

"I'm sure we won't be any longer now," Portal Steve stopped to glance over his shoulder at them. "After we find Bright Steve, we'll get out of here, find a place to set up camp and eat, and leave at dawn. Sound good?"

"It could sound better," Galaxy Steve grumbled.

Sabre let out a long, silent breath. He was beginning to wonder if Portal Steve was lying, that Bright Steve wasn't out there, but instead a long, endless, pointless journey to tire them out so Forest Steve can easily kill them off one by one.

No! Sabre yelled at himself. That's ridiculous, why would Portal Steve do such a thing?

Then again, Portal Steve did say he use to be Forest Steve's right-hand Steve. But, that didn't mean anything; Portal Steve was their friend, he would never do such a thing.

Right?

"Wait," Portal Steve stopped. The group quickly halted behind him. Portal Steve just stood there with a hand raised, standing frozen in place. There was a long, silent pause. Sabre gazed around their surroundings, eyeing every shrub and shadow he could see. Nothing seemed off.

"What is it?" Galaxy Steve whispered.

Alex was about to reply when Portal Steve shushed them quickly. Then, Sabre knew why they stopped. Not a long distance away was a rustle as if something was pushing it's way through a thicket of shrubs and twigs. It went quiet once again.

"What was that?" Entity Steve whimpered quietly.

"Oh!" Dust Alex exclaimed, startling everyone for a moment. Portal Steve whipped around to shush her, but Dust Alex already bolted off in the direction of the noise.

Entity Steve watched her disappear, his gaze filled with worry. Sabre's mind began slipping into thinking he and Dust Alex were a thing, similar to Bright Steve and Emburn, but pushed it away quickly when the rustling noise returned. This time, it was closer. Entity Steve grasped the nearest arm he could reach, which was Rainbow Steve's who stared at a patch of leaves which trembled in rhythm of the rustling. Sabre watched, as well, as the tensions rose. The russling continued. Galaxy Steve was now stiff with worry with Alex taking a step back. Blue Steve stood behind Green Steve who stared at the trembling shrub with narrowed eyes, as if he were going to attack whatever jumped out of there. Rainbow Steve glanced at Sabre who gazed back at him, his throat dry.

Entity Steve screamed when the something jumped out of the shrub, everyone else jumped back in surprise. Sabre couldn't help but push breath through his nose in annoyance like an angry bull, when he saw who jumped out at them. It was only Dust Alex, who stood in front of Entity Steve. Entity Steve blinked back at her with a shocked expression.

"Geez," Dust Alex said. "How jumpy are you, again, Entity Steve?"

"I-I- Uh-" Entity Steve stammered. "Y-you scared m-me, t-t-that's all."

Dust Alex smiled at him before standing straight and gazing at the rest of the group. "Look who I found!"

A young male slowly followed behind Dust Alex. He had glimmering silver, white, and bright celeste hair with bright celeste clothes. Sabre blinked. He recognized the male from one of his nightmare-"vision" dreams. It was Bright Steve.

"Tada!" Dust Alex exclaimed, throwing her hands out to the side like she was presenting something. Everyone just stared back at her with wide eyes and gaping mouths. It was him, they had found Bright Steve.