Crack Boom

I... AM SO EXCITED! I can't even tell if my bones are broken from the fall! Sure that and the whole "kill people" thing is bad, but LOOK AT THE VIEW! It's like the Himalayas but not that exciting. I need to stop being such a downer.

I'm on a mountain and I get to see that "Nocilcft" is beautiful. It has a field, a forest, a city, a tundra, a desert, and some other stuff I bet are behind these mountains I'm on. I guess I do have to be honest, though. I'm a bit lonely. Is this just me procrastinating from the project I was working on? Doesn't mat-

I heard a noise. Did I? I think I did. Someone or something is moving around in the bushes around me.

I look around and ask "Anyone here?" to the bushes in my first language. I get nothing in response. I guess it wa-

"Yeah?" Someone says from somewhat far behind. I turn around to see a man climbing with a woman dangling from a rope connecting the two. The woman is unconscious (I think) and I have a lot of questions.

"What are you doing?" I ask him.

"Trying to get the hell out of here." The man tells me very blatantly.

"I'm-" He tries to say as I realize something.

"Is..." I tilt my head. "Is that Teamkollege?"

"Who?" The climbing man is confused. "Look, I'm just trying to make sure something doesn't happen that happened to me before. Just let me be."

"Okay!" I wave. "BYE!"

I heard someone whisper something behind me as the man carried on with his mountain climbing. I sounded like something but I'm not sure what.

"Who's there?!" I jump.

Silence... I hate it.

Out of nowhere, someone jumps from behind me and choke holding using a... I think it's a slingshot.

"Shhh.." The person whispers. "You made them get away."

"Air..." I somehow manage to get out in my first language.

She lets me go and I get a nice breath of air.

"I'm sorry about that." I'm still taking in that sweet, sweet, air.

"I don't care. We've got to go." She picks up some small rocks.

"I'm not going anywhere, sweety." I get up and stare her down. "You tried to kill me and ruined my experience of looking at the wonderful landscape! I'm staying here, thank you very much!"

"I forgot when I said it was a question." She loads a rock into her slingshot. "The faster we get this done, the sooner you'll be able to go back home."

"What if I don't want to go home?" I say back.

"Look at me!" She points to her tired eyes. "You'll eventually wish you weren't here. If you want to stay here, I think we could catch the other by surprise."

"Okay then." I crossed my arms. "Why do you hate it so much here?"

"Bad memories." She answers.

After that, we stopped talking. Just silence. I don't like it.

"Sooo." I try starting a conversation. "What's your name?"

"Names are for friends." The woman checks herself for... something. "I do guess you need to call me something... How about... Twoo."

"That sounds nice!" I try to be positive. "I'm..." I look at my name tag while twisting my head. "Seupikeo? I don't know, it's weird reading latinized Japanese."

' "So you're from..." Twoo tries to guess.

"Come on, you got it." I try to help her with showing my accent.

"Korea?" Twoo guesses, disappointing me.

"Japan." I answer unenthusiastically.

Another period of silence had followed this statement. Twoo isn't that fun to talk to. Wait, I just had a realisation.

I can just walk away.

So I started to. Huh, this is so easy. I should use this technique more often. I don't know I would use it, but-

"Seup," I hear Twoo say as I continue walking. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving." I try to sound assertive.

"Why is that?" She asks, reasonably.

"You aren't that interesting to talk to." I show my reasoning. "I'm gonna find someone else to talk to."

"You'll come right back." She tells me.

"Why is that?" I mock her.

"You don't know anything about Nocilcft." She stares at me. "Knowing your ignorance, you'll probably fall off the mountain."

Ignorance... Ignorance... Ignore- wait a minute.

"Did you just call me stupid?" I am appalled.

"We'll see." She sneers at me. "Go on then, go find someone to talk to. I'll be waiting here once you decide to come back."

Huh, that was easy. I walked off and decided to go up to the mountain and follow where that guy from early was going.

It's nice that there's a trail going up so I don't have to have any mountain climbing stuff. Although, it is a bit lonely. Hopefully I find someone soon to talk to.

"You really just think random people are climbing this tall ass mountain?" a voice says from behind me. What's with it with things appearing behind me.

"I mean, I found 3 people already." I respond. "Wait... who are you. You sound familiar."

"I'm the guy from early." The stranger answers. "You know, 'kill the others' dude."

"Oh yeah!" I remember.

I look at him and see that he has a strangely colored helmet and some biker clothes on.

"What are you doing here then?" I ask.

"Well, you didn't kill Teamkollege." The guy points out. "And that's a no can do."

"So are you going to teleport me to them!?" I eagerly ask.

The strange man lets out a sigh. "Sure, you seem like a nice person, a nice friend even. So I'll send you to them and you'll kill her. Just remember that my powers are a bit inaccurate and you only need to kill the people with name tags." He lets out a wink.

I see a circle go around my feet, followed by another 2 circles that make a sort of eye shape on the ground. It glows purple, then red, then gold.

"By the way," He says as this happens. "My name's Neon."

A ray of light engulfs me and a show up in a somewhat tree filled place. I turn around and GOD DAMMIT HE SENT ME BACK TO TWOO! Don't lose my cool, just play it natural.

As I try to walk away, Twoo spots me and gives me a smug look.

"I knew it." She laughs to herself. "You couldn't even last... I'm thinking 12 minutes."

"Well I was just leaving!" I try to convince her. "I was just exploring and happened to come back here. BYE!"

As I try to move back to the trail, Neon shows back up in the way.

"Looks like that didn't work." Neon lets out a light giggle. "You win some you lose some I guess."

"Did you do this on purpose?" I ask him.

"Who are you talking to?" I hear Twoo saying to me in the background.

"Doesn't matter, continue what you are planning on doing." I tell the stonewall you may call Twoo. "Anyway, what were you saying?"

"I'm saying that it would be better for you to wait for the others to show up. High ground advantage and stuff." Neon tosses me an apple. "I guess I could talk to you so you don't feel lonely."

"How do I know you're-" I tried asking.

I get cut off because the apple I caught (which I feel proud of catching) has bursted into flames. Because I panicked, I accidentally tossed it towards Twoo, who promptly stomped it out.

"You ain't no Fein." He laughs. "I'll talk later, I have some things to do."

"Wait!" I grab his hand. "When are you coming back?"

But he just... vanished. I feel sad. I barely got to know Neon and now I don't even know if he's coming back!

"Oh god, I think he's back." Twoo looks at the smoldering apple. "Seup, I think you might have seen someone that you should stay away from."

"Neon?" I ask.

"I..." She pauses. "That wasn't his name before, but that's all I can remember... He's toying around with my memory, maybe even time."

"Okay," I question her. "What's so bad about him?"

She tries to say "Nothing" but her lips don't match up with the words.

"Uh, okay." I try not to say anything that would upset anyone listening.

We sit in silence. I hate it, but I fear what will happen if I break it. I don't know what to do. Should I break the silence? I don't feel it would be right.

"Say," Twoo does it for me. "How do you know so much english?"

"I travel a lot." I tell her. "I'm usually not this fluent though."

"Could you think that Neon did this?" Twoo resumes. "I've never used a slingshot before I came here and I instantly became a master at using it."

"Are you saying," I ask back. "If I grab your slingshot, I'll become a master?"

"I don't know..." She honestly answered.

She then walks off and comes back with her slingshot. She gives me it and 5 stones. She points at a stick on the part of the mountain that strange man was climbing earlier.

"Try hitting that." She tells me.

And so, I try to prepare myself. This should be easy, I just put the rock on the thingy and then I... No wait. I think I got it.

With the precision of someone with great precision, I launch the rock right into my head. To be honest, it does hurt a bit.

"I guess it doesn't work anymore." Twoo laughs. "Anyway, I've got things to do. Gotta get ready for anyone heading our way." She walks off and then turns around. "Oh," She adds. "If you see Neon, do what he says but don't believe him." She continues looking for pebbles.

I have nothing to do. I guess it's getting kinda dark and I could sleep... OR I could watch the sunset... by myself... Yeah, I need to sle-

"SLEEP!" I hear Neon say, though I can't see him.

"Yeah, no need to shout." I accidentally say out loud. I don't feel guilt though. It would ruin my sleep, which is already bad because I don't see anything comfy to lay on.

I just decided to lie down on the ground and try to sleep. It's hard to be honest. These rocks aren't the best for sleeping.

"Picky aren't you." Neon shows up again.

"You're back soon." I slowly get up. "I don't really feel like sleeping."

"Then I guess we can continue chatting." Neon sits down and pats the ground next to him. "I think a group of people will be coming up here tomorrow."

"It sounds like I can finally talk to someone interesting to talk to...." I respond. "Except for you of course."

"Seppuku," I think Neon tries to say Seupikeo. "I am the strongest creature in this world and one of the strongest in our world. Earth, Terra, Whatever you people call it. This is because I've devoted myself to a 'thing' and also some other non-important things. Some people hate that and want to ruin something perfect. This is where you come in."

"Are you saying that the other people you brought here so they can kill you?" I ask.

"It has more to do with a powerful bastard giving me strict rules." He corrects me. "I need to know who will be the most reliable. You need to prove yourself and kill them."

"O... okay," I try finding a response. "But how?"

Neon pulls out a handgun, points it at me, and shoots.

Oh! It... It was... a dream?

I woke up when I tried to sleep last night. The sun is in the sky and I can hear a loud sound echoing through the mountains. I can also hear Twoo cursing in the distance to herself.

I feel something on my head. I try touching it and it's something I can grab. I grab it and take a look. It's nunchucks. Of course, he gives me the nunchucks because I'm Japanese. You could've given me AT LEAST a katana, a useful weapon that I might know how to use!

"Oh god, oh fuck." I hear Twoo whispering to herself. She then stares at me for about 2 seconds before she promptly dashes towards me and puts me in an armlock. "Shhh... they're coming and they have guns. Fucking guns. All I have are some rock tossing sh-"

"Calm down." I act calmly. I cannot feel the pain because I was laying on my arm and it's asleep. "I think it was just Neon."

"That's too personal for Neon to do." Twoo rambles. "We are staying in these damn bushes until we see them. Don't make a noise."

"But-" I try putting my opinion in this matter.

"I will shove one of these small pebbles where the sun doesn't shine if you don't shut up." Twoo threatens me... I think. I don't know what that means, but she sounds mad.

And so, the boredom resumes. These bushes are itchy, I'm still tired, and my arm is asleep. Scratch that last part, my arm is starting to wake up, but I'm not.

After what feels like an hour or 2. I look to my left and see that Twoo is sleeping. I think I could use this time to stretch. Afterward, I'll wait for Twoo to wake up, tell her she's being paranoid, and most likely do the same thing I did last time.

I get up and take a stretch. It makes me feel much better after I spent a long time laying down on my stomach. It's better than getting a major in techno metal... slightly.

....

....

....

My heart stopped as I heard people talking. She was right. I can't tell what they are saying though. It sounds something like "Paper cott" I don't know. What I do know is that Twoo would be upset with me and I've already upset her enough. I decide to leap into a nearby bush.

Right as I land, everything goes quiet. After a few seconds, I hear a deep voice say "COME ON OUT HERE!"

I don't want them to burn down the place, so I decide to pop out the bush with the nunchucks in my outfit. I take a look and

"HEY! I KNOW YOU TWO!" I recognize the people from earlier "YOU'RE HERMIT AND... Gros... gors..." I don't know how to pronounce the other's name. There are 4 people, two of them I know and the other two I might know but, I don't see a name tag on them... yet.

"Paul." Paul corrects me. It is easier to pronounce.

I'm really excited and I want a hug so I try it and....

"OH GOD!" I jump back from Hermit as I see (what I hope isn't) an arrow... I think, "Is that an arrow?"

"Yes, It's a long story." One of the random people answered. I don't know who she is, but I really want to know why Hermit is just walking around with an arrow in his heart.... I think.

I hear Twoo getting up from her slumber. I turn and see her, after a deep yawn, stare at the group in confusion.

I try to explain to both Twoo and the group I just met (ish?) about what they don't know. I told the group about Twoo and what I did yesterday (not about Neon or the climber from earlier though). I also told Twoo about all I know about the group that wouldn't make her want to kill me, I hope.

"Twoo? Really?" The woman who promised to explain the arrow thing. "First Club, then this? I respect it, but come on!"

"I know better than to give anything away about myself from you, Rose." Twoo responds.

"I didn't do anything wrong without being forced to do so." Rose explains. "I don't see why you hate me."

"AHEM!" I interrupt. "I love the drama and all, but Hermit has an arrow in his heart area."

"Knowing you're here Rose," Twoo tries to answer. "It could've been Archie. Archie is too kind though, so this bastard must've done something to anger her."

"I didn't see her!" Rose objects. "But I think it prolly was her."

Twoo looks at Hermit with a face of disgust. I think that's a bit hard on the dude. When I met him, he was very nice and I'm sure something else might've happened.

"It could've been someone else." I try calming things down.

"The only other person who I know could do that is Sandra." Rose aggressively taps her foot. "Oh, I'm sorry, 'Towo.'" Sandra. At least it's a better name than "Twoo". Like, is that the best you could think of.

"You're talking mad shit for someone in my general vicinity." Sandra puts her arm next to her pocket which holds her slingshot.

"Listen, listen, listen." Hermit tiredly stumbles into the conversation. I don't even think it's noon yet. "I know she can be annoying, but give her a break. She..." He pauses for a bit. "She got shot by some arrows and a bow and we need dedededed to get up the hill to help her."

"What hill?" I ask.

"I'm not done yet, hun!" Hermit turns around, almost falling down. "We gotta go up the hill because Pablo over there says there will be medicine for Rosa." He turns to me and whispers. "Duuhhh, she also thinks I have an arrow in me instead of her. She's so goofy."

"Come on, Herm," Paul calls him. "Both of you stop bothering the fine couple, we have better things to do."

"Hold on." I stop him. "Why don't you get to enjoy yourself for a bit and hang out with us... EVEN BETTER, WE could come with you."

"I don't think-" Sandra tries saying.

"If you want to, you can join us." Paul states. "But we gotta go."

"Okay then." I get up and walk towards him. "Bye Sandra!"

We walk off and continue up the mountain. Rose is helping move Hermit and some other dude is there. He isn't that important.

"So, your name's Seupikeo?" Rose starts up a conversation.

All of a sudden, I hear Sandra getting caught up with us. I turn around to see her making a dash catch up.

"Oh hi Sand-" I say as smugly as possible.

"I'm only here because I need to make sure you make your way safely to your destination." Sandra pants. "First, don't you dare call me Sandra. It's Twoo. I'll only let Rose say that.

"Yeah, whatever." I brush her off. "Anyway, My actual name is Akio."

"Well you might already know that I'm Rose Collar." She smiles. "And this is Herm. He's a bit crazy because of the blood loss, but he's nice."

Twoo grabs my hand and pulls me away from Rose. "Second." She whispers angrily. "Do not speak to the murder."

I continue walking with the group. I don't know why, but I feel like someone other than Neon is watching.

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