Framed By Silence || AOT

I

And then, it all hit me at once. Every sense returning to my body like a boulder crashing into its anticipated obstacle. My senses were high from shock, the deafening ringing that grasped my ears distracted me from the recovering wave of adrenaline pulsing through my limp body.

Heavy pieces of equipment clung onto my clothes, the permanent thought of weight stuck in my head- having rather damaging effects to my body. I had lost complete control over any movement my body made, therefore i might've just been a corpse.

After a few agonising moments, I began to notice things around me. My body beginning to recognise movement once again. Embracing the feeling of having some kind of control again, my mind felt the slightest bit at ease. I'd gathered the motions that determined the way I travelled couldn't be human. Which logically I gathered could only mean one thing, horseback.

With that one realisation, it was enough to convince my eyes to confirm it; they rose open only to stand correct in terms of my assumptions. I was being carried by horseback, facing away from the direction I was heading and slumped against something warm. And alive.

What circled me appeared to be a forest, stretching out in every direction as far as the eye could see. The trees were a nicotine-brown colour, and they stared like silent sentries. Anything of interest seemed to be concealed within the murky shadows of the tree's huge vines. The ground below me was level, almost completely horizontal, it lacked greenery to cover its unadorned surface.

Before I discovered any more, what felt like hot steam gushed into my headspace, clouding my vision enough to force my eyes shut once again, unable to gain the strength to open them. And just like before, all senses were lost, and it was just me alone with my thoughts.

My flight instinct was attempting to influence my behaviourism. However after realising that movement was no longer in my control, it ceased rather quickly. I began grabbing at any logical solution I could to keep my sanity from rioting.

Perhaps I fell from a height and someone found me unconscious? Or I might have fallen dehydrated after a long day. I could've simply gotten lost in the forest and needed rescuing.

All options felt reasonable, yet, why was I consumed by so much fear?

These conceptions replayed over and over through my mentality, countering all ideas with a scenario I'd throw together that appealed somewhat realistic to me.

Forgotten in thought, I barely noticed the aroma around me loudening- the same senses returning in the same way they did the first time, painfully. This time, I decided not to panic and focused on observing sights around me.

A recognisable hot sensation stung the right side of my forehead, the same pain that had knocked me straight into unconsciousness only a few minutes ago. Aching and cold, I managed to convince my eyelids to open. The light was the first thing that bashed my sight- but my motivation acted as a shield to ignore it.

It was a change to when I last opened my eyes, everything was darker and shadowed and now- it was all out in the open. Plains stretching every direction in my view; kilometres distancing singular trees from one another.

The absurd ringing slowly formed into more recognisable sounds. Mainly the more evident ones rose to my attention; the repetitive sound of horse's hooves hitting the ground in a random manor, followed by a matching motion that persistently reoccured. The shifting was violent and fast, enough to strike me right back into insensibility. Yet, I endeavoured to keep my eyes open and my awareness elevated.

None the less, any efforts I made wouldn't cease the pain situated on my head, it only enlarged. My anticipations were to locate more answers, but instead I was only tossed into another wave of oblivion.

This one was more unexpected than the last. A sickening feeling dawned on me that I wouldn't be waking from this one for a long while. When you're asleep, time passes within seconds and dreams go by in minutes; so there was no telling of how long I had been unconsciously travelling.