Conscious

by TwizzleDragon

Twists and Turns

The wind blew against my chest, whistling through the holes in my body. It was such a lovely song, if only I could recreate it on my own. The soft tones and many notes passed through me, in utter bliss, I enjoyed it so much. It was what woke me up, crashed on this mountain side in an unfamiliar location.

There were trees, some with prickly, little, thorn-like things instead of the leaves I was used to back in my home forest, some had white bark, but very few of these were around, and some seemed to survive up this gigantic hill, spanning far into the air. They were sharp and spread out more than my forest, soaring from the ground to their very tops high in the sky, glistening in the sunlight. I stared in delight, dazed and afraid, yet happy and curious of this new terrain. This area was something from a legend to me, and yet now, many years from the dreams which envisioned places like this, here I was in front of them. I never felt so small in this world before this point in my life. It was a great feeling, what more could I discover in life? I wanted to explore more, even though I knew this place would be refuge for this filly and I for the night, or perhaps further.

The filly, she was wrapped around my arch, still sleeping. I was worried, very worried, she couldn’t possibly be this lazy. Most of this journey, or whatever this was, she had been sleeping. Was she sick? She couldn’t possibly this tired, nothing could be. But what do I know of ponies? Next to nothing.

I didn’t know where to go, not even from the start had I known, why should now be any different? Despite this debate feuding around in my head, thoughts biasing against each other in a pointless mental civil war, I went with the decision that seemed best for now. I would climb the mountain to its peak, carrying this filly on my back if I had to, to just spot out the surrounding area. It might help me later on anyways, plus I would need to find blight water, and soon. I was weakening, just like the filly. How much time did we have left? I’m hoping enough, but that’s just me overreacting to something so small that looks so big.

I stood up, the filly slipping off of me, falling awake beside me. I didn’t know if she trusted me, but it sure seemed like it. Her trust was that of a newborn to her mother, strangers who had to depend on one another for their lives, or maybe it was just a dream to her? I’d be fine with that, because a dream implies you like it. This experience so far had been a great change in the course of things for me, it was wonderful.

Her head spun in directions, perhaps searching for something? I had to search too, a way up this mountain and for any sustenance suitable for either of us. Whatever she was doing, she walked away from me, no indication of why she had. I stayed put and watched her for a bit, waiting to understand her lead. She walked over, frollocking in the nearby trees, with her head held up high and her legs out strong. She kept going and going until she reached this part where the land drudged downward and out of my view. It was then that I went after her, wanting to make sure she stayed safe.

The ground on the hill was loose and slanted, but the filly didn’t seem to be having any troubles, I suspected the same for myself. I still didn’t see where she was going, or why. Did she know something I didn’t? Perhaps a sense I was incapable of that she had herself luring her towards something she wanted? Whatever the case, I was forced to follow her. The hill connected with another, creating a rain trail.

She was following it downhill, slowly, carefully, but still managed to slip. She gave out a scream, not one of fear, but of surprise, it still managed to remind me of that rabbit, the scream it gave once, and due to my actions, was its last action with another being, I felt sorry for it, but that was yesterday, and today is now, I had other things to think about currently. She slid down on her belly, staining her fear green from the wild grass. I chased after her, only to find myself in the same predicament as her. I clawed the ground, trying to gain some more friction and stop myself, but it went through my paws. I kept clawing for anything, roots, branches, weeds, but even those seemed to be too loose.

I looked back, trying to see if the girl had regained anything of her balance, nope. She was still on her way down, down into what looked like a crack in the earth. The ground had split away, separating our hill from the one next to it. I had never seen something like this, some strange small canyon. I didn’t know what would lie below, but I knew it would probably hurt both of us. It wasn’t far now, so close for the filly. She fell in, scared and screaming, with nothing to do but let it happen. The slope was too slippery to prevent this. I could barely take it, watching helplessly as she fell in. Her hooves sprawled up before she fell in, so tempting to grab, if only I could’ve. I guess she was luckier than me, with less momentum. I fell in, crashing into the adjacent wall, breaking half of my antlers off. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it should, maybe it wasn’t part of me at all?

The thump when she landed was silently disturbing, like a spectral being swatted. It was the last thing I remember. So gentle was it that I had almost believed the same would be for me. What a foolish thought…

---

I awoke into a light night, the kind of night where it should be pitch black, but for some reason you see a surprising amount around you. I loved these nights. So seldom and tranquil, the kind you just stare out into space and think. Didn’t matter what you thought about at all, it was just nice to think about it. You didn’t need anyone, just yourself, and that’s the part I loved the most. I could do this for once and not be missing anything essential, a night perfect to live through, awake or not. Soon it would be over, as the dark clouds approached clearer than leaves on the trees above.

I looked around the crevice we had fallen into, seeing no clear way back up. The area itself was a stream, an old one carving out the hill for centuries probably, the water wasn’t deep, barely three inches in the middle, and didn’t go far up on the side.. The walls were light up, water reflecting from the moon, sparkling so bright. The filly had fallen near me, she appeared to be half-awake, shivering and wet, other than that she looked fine, besides her previous injuries and suspected illness.

I tapped her with my paw, grabbing her fur and lifting her up. We couldn’t stay here, at least not for long. There was no way up revealed to us currently, heading downstream would just put us somewhere unknown and probably in a pond or a lake, this filly wasn’t ready for that, but upstream didn’t seem like the best option either, at least it was closer to shelter than we could hope for tonight. She got on my back, accustomed to this way of travel now, and we were ready to take off. I didn’t start off sprinting or running, just simply walking up the trail like it were routine taken every night. The filly rustled around on my back, trying to find a place to hold on and stay comfortable. I liked the feel of her, not in some odd creepy way, but in a way that it was nice to have someone next to you after the ages of solitude, perhaps that is a creepy way… aren’t I one anyways?

I walked in twists and turns for what seemed to be miles. An hour, at least, passed by and the storm neared us. The walls never ceased to heighten, but it was too late and risky to turn back. I didn’t know what to expect, most of the rain would’ve slid into this abyss anyways, not down a ramp. I guess I was hoping for my knowledge to fail, or maybe an area where the water wouldn’t reach us in this narrow hallway. But oh, prayers don’t suddenly come true just because you want or need them to, they only come when nature suddenly gives a way.

I felt the first drop fall down, after a while the wall had a secondary made of water, so flat and smooth falling down to the blunt floor. The filly was going to be soaked, and that itself was a horrible problem. She was already sick, a cold was too much for her right now. I had to hurry.

My back was still in pain, the filly on top of it wasn’t helping too much, I wouldn’t be able to run very fast, maybe it’s for the best that I don’t, I might slip. The filly coughed, I paid no unnecessary attention to it. Continuing through this maze seemed to be hopeless. The water started pouring down in larger amounts, raising the level. I was trudging through a foot in the matter minutes. The filly was losing her grip, I could feel her hooves sliding off my neck. The water just kept rising and pushing me back. The walls narrowed and twisted a little less. I could hear the pounding of water close by. The floor started to slant now, lowering. A waterfall was near. I kept pushing myself forward, even as the water began to slam into me and the filly from above, forced upon us by the walls forming almost a roof. One more turn through this path and I could see it. It splashed all around, white water and a large area carved out. I still had no sight on any ramp or cove, but I had to keep moving forward.

Stepping into the pond area, I found myself falling into the water, the floor disappearing. I couldn’t reach with my paws at all, and I wasn’t the best swimmer. I tried my best, but I could barely keep my head above the water with the filly holding me down. She was panicking and squirming all over, splashing water in every direction, fidgeting on her natural instinct. I looked up, forced to just so I could keep looking at the direction I was heading. Rocks were falling down, forced by the mountain flow. They weren’t boulders, but they sure would hurt. I could see an opening behind the waterfall, some sort of mined out hole. I made my way around the waterfall, trying to avoid its force as best as possible. It worked well, as I could feel pebbles near my paws, the floor was rising over here. We were going to make it.

Splash…

Author's Note:

I was going to make this a longer chapter, but then it was hard to get this done. I'll finish up what I was going to do in the next chapter. Sorry it was so short.
Kinda want to redo the dream for this chapter, but it'll tie in later anyways.
This chapter was inspired and based off 48 hours or whatever that movie was called.

Comments

[Iceshadow]

All I have to say is write some more. It's been forever since the last update, which is a shame because I really liked this story. I like where it's going, and where it could go. It's probably the best story on timberwolves I've read so far, and I like it. Don't stop now. Don't slow down now. Thanks.
Iceshadow

[TwizzleDragon]

3406963
Sorry about the long wait for an update. I've been lacking motivation for all my stories, been trying to get a chapter out for my more serious ones and it just takes me a while to do so for even just one.
I will continue this, I know where I will take it next chapter. I will also be editing and getting rid of the dreams from former chapters as they won't have a purpose after a while.
Thank you for the comment, it brightened my day to see someone wants more of my work :D

[TwizzleDragon]

Sorry about deleting Chapter: Summit. I really didn't think it felt right to just give you 1000 words of boring nothingness while you waited for the next part. I'll release it again but with the finish on that chapter. Dialogue :D

[mapu]

I don't get it. Good luck writing anyway.