Sleepless Days

Arc One - Start

Running.

Running, running, and more running.

That's all he was capable of doing in the world that isolated itself from his very name. They wouldn't give him a break, the world would shun him at the slightest sight, not even a speck of hesitance to this action. Everything for the poor soul was in dismay. There was no light at the end of this treacherous road, only the dark that declared it would swallow him whole. And with every step he took across this landscape, these thoughts began to become a reality. It was a forest. Typically they are wide, vast, and full of plentiful trees, and this one wasn't the slightest bit different in that aspect. Large organic sticks stabbed straight through the soil, reaching towards the skies above. More often than not, there will be a variety of pickle green leaves attached to these bits of organic life by the threads of their stems, holding onto the base purely for survival. Not that anyone would recall the sight of missing a single, pale leaf amongst the hundreds that littered the plentiful universes, masking away the invading light from stars. It was a pitiful sight to realize that none of this foliage had a purpose up above in the skies, just like the ones that litter the flooring of the forest. From each blade of withering grass to the stumps of wanna-be trees(commonly known as bushes,) none of it truly held a purpose in this ecosystem. This was only considering the organic masses, and not even adding on the little speckles of pebbles scattered across the landscape, hidden away by the fallen lives of vegetation. They were all just weaved around, masked by the dead lifeforms that lurk in the shadows provided by the looming trees. Every ecosystem is truly disappointing, and this forest doesn’t find itself to be any better.

Yet, despite that, this was where his legs had brought him to run. It wasn't as if he held better options other than this isolate universe. This might as well of been the only place that he could finally take a moment to rest, having spent many moons running to no end without rest. It didn't aid him that his person was littered in scratches and wounds, not to mention a few of his ribs had been cracked to bring him to this location. The origin of such measily wounds was a story for another day, as for now the man knew he just needed to rest. He had been stumbling around this darkened forest as light barely breached from the bed of leaves from above, brushing away a vine that angrily waved before his face. It was trying to grasp at his skull to draw his attention elsewhere, but the skeleton didn't budge. With a grunt he pushed forwards, nearly tripping over a simple stone as he did so. With a hitch in his breath his right hand lifted upwards to feel his ribs, the sudden shock of nearly stumbling causing a rapid spike of pain to shoot through his bones. With a wince he took a second to stand still, propping himself up against a tree to take a breather.

This was the beginning, the beginning of the end.

Arc One - Start!

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545 words.