Is this a dream?

When Vito woke up there was a smell of freshly cut grass. He was back near the sloop of the hill he fell off of, he wandered his eyes around, not moving, not making any rash decision. He wanted to grasp whether or not he was awake or asleep.

He pinched himself lightly and there was an ouch of pain, he caused a small wince from his body. Forgetting that he had gotten some sort of strength buff he didn't know he had to readjust his strength.

"Did Alex bring me here?" he asked as he took a small walk to look at the field beneath him.

"But I didn't feel the same sensation. The blue energy that would grab at my skin when I would teleport. Is this an advanced dream or am I truly in this place? Maybe I can only reach here when I fall asleep in that room in the base?"

Multiple thoughts were running in his mind right now. He wanted answers to what was going on.

It wasn't the first time he was here but he had forgotten about this place after arriving at the base. One thing led to another so he didn't have time to work on the smaller details.

Looking around the scenery was quite similar to the first time he was here except that the grass felt shorter as if someone had been here not too long ago. The tomatoes were ready for harvesting and the oak tree seemed to be growing archons.

"This place has had some changes," he said out loud as he raised his hand to cover the sunlight that was hitting his face.

"It's daytime here, but I was sleeping just moments ago, perhaps this place is on the other side of the world, that would make sense." All the pieces were sticking together well but Vito felt like he was closer to understanding now than before.

Then something in the field caught his eye. Something was moving, No! Someone moving. As he turned his head and moved towards the edge of the hill, but not directly on it, he started making out who it was.

"I know who that is. Terra!?" he asked surprised.

The first time I thought I recognized someone in an unfamiliar place it was Cyrus, the second time it was Terra. What is up with these guys!? Do I attract other representatives?" he wondered.

"Well that wouldn't be so bad, but can the next one be a girl? I would hate to see that the next one happened to be Dawn or some other guy," Vito asked looking at the sky as though expecting an answer. He raised his hands upwards waiting for a sign and he got nothing.

He was saddened by the silence. He truly expected something magically to happen, even something as simple as a breeze would have been enough.

Vito stepped over the edge and slid down the steep slope. He landed perfectly on the ground with his hands in his pockets. Vito had always been confident in his skills because he had received special training growing up. And after punching a tiger he was more so than ever.

That confidence led to many failed attempts in the past but he would always learn from it. But he would always learn from those mistakes. Repeating them would only make him suffer, so he was a fast learner.

This was his mindset.

After jumping down he walked over as silently as he could. He wanted to sneak up and give Terra a little fright. He had been careful not to make any sounds or big movements but the moment he got within a few meters of him Terra instinctively turned around.

There wasn't a sound or any loud movements. The grass was low and soft so you could expect to hear much noise with them and there wasn't a quake in the ground or anything.

As soon as Vito got within a center range of him, Terra instinctively knew that someone was there.

Maybe it was luck, maybe it was a sixth sense, Vito did not know. Terra had been facing the giant tree all this time. To why he turned so abruptly had confused him a little.

"Vito!?" Terra asked making a face.

"What are you doing here?"

"And why were you sneaking up on me!?"

"Don't tell me that you are trying to kill me again!?"

"No, no no no! You have the wrong idea, I just wanted to surprise you is all. How did you know I was there?" Vito asked smiling while trying to defend himself. He found the situation odd amusing so it was hard not to smile despite making him guilty.

"I don't trust you, when it's just the two of us alone who knows what you would do? Besides, what is this strange place? Did you kidnap me?" Terra asked pointing his finger at Vito.

"And why would I kidnap you? How low do you see me? I made a mistake once and you already forgave me, so it makes no sense for you to accuse me now. Besides, I learn from my mistakes and am truly sorry about what happened."

Vito was trying to sound reasonable. Terra had just been brought to a strange place and despite feeling peaceful here, he was still on high alert until he could properly understand what was going on. It wasn't like him to throw out accusations like this so he figured the least he would do was hear what Vito had to say.

"Alright, you made your point," Terra reluctantly said as he put his finger down. He was still cautious of what was going on but he wouldn't outright do something absurd.

"So where are we?" he asked.

Vito decided to say the most logical answer he had when he first arrived. It was still valid until proven wrong.

"We are in a dream," he said as he dramatically moved his hands around as though to make a mind-blowing explosion.

Terra crossed his hands once Vito was done, he wasn't smiling, he just looked Vito up and down and said, "That can't be the case."

"Why not?" Vito asked.

"Because I would never have a dream with you in it," Terra replied as he turned back around to take another glimpse at the tree before looking back at Vito.

He felt a calling and asked himself, "What would happen if I touched that tree?"

Meanwhile, Vito was somewhat hurt to hear what Terra said. It's not like he wanted to be in another guy's dream but it was rude of someone to just say that to someone. Especially someone you know.

"Well, then how do you explain the facts? You lay down in the bedroom and not too long ago you woke up here, it is morning yet you slept at night, you don't feel tired despite being exhausted not too long ago! Voila, dream!" Vito said happily as he made his point.

He could have been wrong but now he just wanted to mess with Terra for fun.

Terra considered everything. Placing his hand on his chin it made sense that someone could have used a strange power to bring them here. With everything they had been introduced to so far, the idea didn't sound far-fetched. Still, he was in denial.

"Anyways, the important question isn't how were are here, it is why? Shouldn't we work together to investigate? Two heads are better than one," Vito offered.

Terra thought about it, he thought about it more. And then he stopped thinking about it.

"I've got nothing. I have no clue where we are or why and honestly I'll just let it happen," he said.

Vito was shocked. 'How is this guy so ok with this situation?' he thought.

The thing was that Terra wasn't the type to think hard about what he didn't understand. He was more of a go-with-the-flow kind of guy, so when his friends would randomly show up saying they needed they wanted to go somewhere with him he would just shrug it off and accept.

So after failing to understand the situation his mind went into a neutral mood and he just went along with it like it was natural.

"But, we should investigate! Find some clues? Work things out? Gosh darn it there is a cottage with smoke coming out of the chimney right there!!! We could literally be making progress, so what do you mean just accept it!?" Vito asked pacing about. It wasn't normal for someone to just accept change.

"It means I don't understand what I don't understand. Let's not make it more complicated than it is. If someone brought us here then they will come to us, if this is a shared dream then we will wake up. Either way, we won't be like this forever so it's not a big problem," Terra explained.

"But you don't know that!" Vito yelled.

"Neither do you! So you can't prove that I am wrong, anyways I gonna do want I want to do and that's to touch that tree over there," Terra said.

"The tree!? The tree is more important than the obvious house!?" Vito asked. He too felt a calling but thought that it would be better to understand rather than rush things. Terra just wanted to go with it without thinking much about it.

"Fine, go to the tree! I am going to the cottage! I am going to figure out more information than you ever will by going there!" Vito shouted.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

They both yelled at each other conflicting with how the other wanted to handle the situation. Each turning to their own path.

But as Vito moved further from the tree and Terra got closer, Vito felt a sizzling sensation on his shoulder. No matter what, he did not want Terra to touch that tree.

"Terra, stop!" he screamed out loudly. They were not far apart so the need to yell felt unjustified to Terra.

"What is it? Scared to go to the cottage alone? I could come with you after the tree," Terra asked smiling, but when he turned to look at Vito his smile left his face.

"Before you touch that tree, Terra, I have a question for you. What makes you think you are qualified for the position of being our representative?" Vito asked. There wasn't a single smile on his face, it was as if an emotion was burning up in him. And his shoulder was glowing fiercely.

"What this again? Haven't we been through this Vito? Why are you asking that again?" Terra asked trying to be as convivial as possible. Vito seemed to be acting strange.

"Don't you feel unqualified for the position? You are not the smartest guy on the planet and definitely not the strongest, you're not the fastest nor do you have the best physique. You are so laid back and friendly even with me, the guy who tried to kill you, though I know you don't truly trust me after that. Your eyes portray a sense of fear and distrust." Vito was now moving closer to Terra, he was walking calmly and collected but his fist had clenched midway through his speech.

His eyebrows furrowed and his gaze was unrelenting, he didn't seem to want to have a calm and collected discussion with Terra. Definitely Not Calm.

Terra was surprised at the sudden switch that Vito had just made, it was a whole other attitude, different from what he normally had. It felt dark.

Vito was now closer to Terra than he had ever been today and was standing his ground firmly. Terra had prepared himself for the worst, expecting a sudden punch or sneak attack.

"Fight me. Terra." Vito said calmly.

"What?" Terra asked frozen for a moment.

"I'm not so low as to throw a sneak attack and not so weak that I would need it. Right here and now, where no one can see us. Fight me. Let the winner represent our planet." Vito requested.

"What are you-"

At that very moment, Terra had felt a blow push him back a foot as he guarded it with his arms. Vito said he wouldn't throw a sneak attack and yet he did just that.

"That was only a warning, not an attack, otherwise I would rush you right now. I wanted you to understand. We are not talking this out. We are going to fight," Vito said as he got into a fighting stance.

Terra stood with his feet shoulder-width apart for balance, he bent his knees slightly for mobility and kept his hands up in a guard position as he was ready to move in any position.

This was when he recalled that fighting things out was another way to communicate.