A bright blue light sped past them while the vortex twists and turns, yanking and pushing them in almost every direction. While blitzing through the vortex, no one knew what to do, so most chose to scream as their primary option. Hiro, the loudest among them, holds on to Chung's leg, believing it to be his only means of survival.
Wataru and Yong hold their mouths closed, feeling the mountain of sandwiches they eat coming back up, while Sungwoo decides to fall backwards while relaxing his hands behind his head, smiling at the swirling vortex. Kenji, despite the chaos, scans around the vortex, not knowing what he was searching for, but wanting to find anything. As the vortex tosses him around, a silhouette catches his eye. A silhouette that resembled a person beyond the blue vortex walls. Kenji closes his eyes and shakes his head, but when he opens his eyes, he is nowhere to be seen.
Mei and Jin extend their arms desperately, struggling to reach one another. The vortex vanishes as their hands are inches away and a storm now surrounds them. The pouring rain made it nearly impossible to hold on to each other's hands. But as their hands finally connect, a loud screeching noise fills their ears as a dark hawk swoops in and grabs Jin. Mei, taken by surprise as she continues to fall through the thunderstorm. The rain and clouds blanket their surroundings. But as lightning fills the sky with light, it reveals Jin in the talons of a massive hawk being guided by a man in a dark hood navigating his way through the storm.
Mei's eyebrows scrunched together, confused at what she saw. It couldn't be. Those don't really exist.
A deafening screech fills Mei's ears again as six more hawks emerge, taking Sora, Junichi, Yama, Yong, and Wataru. Mei couldn't deny it anymore when she faced a monster she once knew as fiction. A tenedraug. A monster so terrifying it sent chills down Mei's body. Bright red eyes that pierced through the storm, a dark fog pouring down their bodies and into the air. Sending a loud screech as it approaches her, Mei looks into the beast's mouth, showing nothing but darkness. The tenedraug reaches with its talons but barely misses her as Mei twists out of the way. The tenedraug extends its boney wings and turns around for a second attempt when a massive thunderbolt hits the guards and the hawks. Evaporating the tenedraugs and sending the guards spiraling down into the storm.
Mei wipes the water from her eyes, hoping to locate Jin. Luckily, lightning struck again as she examines the area frantically, but realizes that Jin was nowhere to be seen as the light dimmed. I can't be the only one who saw that, Mei thought. She soon realizes she's the highest amongst the group and everyone was too far down to see any of it. Sungwoo stares at the ground with a zombie-like expression while everyone else closes their eyes, terrified of their impending doom. But as Mei fell, unable to think of anything else but Jin flying off, her hitting the ground became the least of her worries.
A butterfly flies through the sky and lands on the bridge of Sungwoo's nose, waking him up. Sungwoo opens his eyes and notices the storm has cleared, as they all lay in the forest. Being the first to get up, Sungwoo stretches and surveys the area. He strolls by, feeling the trees, stumbling over the giant roots that surrounded them. The trees were so massive and old, when looking up, he couldn't even see the top of them. Sungwoo shook his head, seeking to make sense of everything that had happened. But wherever they landed, it was peaceful. He closes his eyes, feeling the sun's warm rays, cooled off by a light mist coming from a waterfall nearby. It's beautiful. He thought.
"What the heck was that?" Hiro shouted. Sungwoo opens his eyes in disappointment, having his serenity disappear. "No one told me about being flung through a vortex." Hiro said.
Everyone slowly rose to their feet. Still feeling the effects of what they've been through, especially Kenji, who felt every muscle ache and tense struggling to stand.
"I don't recognize this forest. Are we still on a set?" Chung asked, but already knew the answer.
"I don't think so. It must've pushed us far away." Sungwoo said.
"What was that thing?" Kenji asked.
"Whatever it was, it must've been something on the set malfunctioning." Hiro said.
"What could have possibly been on set that produced something as intense as that?" Mei asked.
"I know it sounds crazy, but while we were in the vortex, I thought I saw a silhouette of a man floating behind the blue walls." Kenji said, scratching his head while trying not to look at anyone.
"That must've been a crew member." Hiro said, barely giving a thought to what Kenji said. Kenji knows that isn't the case, but decided not to continue, hoping to avoid any follow-up questions.
Ito scans the forest and realizes that not everyone is there. He counted twelve people in the vortex. But only six now. "Wait, where is everybody?"
"Maybe they're playing a joke, or we got the wrong cues." Chung said, saying anything that came to her mind at this point.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
"No, there were men riding on hawks with this black smoke coming off them and they carried them off." Mei shakes her head, as even she has a hard time believing what she said.
Hiro stares at her with a befuddled expression, wondering if she hit her head on something. "Black smoke? On the hawks? Like the one from the show? Obviously, it's the lights playing tricks on you."
"I know what I saw. But it happened so fast. I think I need to sit down." Mei said while looking for a place to sit. She put her hands on her head, trying to make sense of this. As Mei squeezes her head, Chung grabs her hands to help her relax.
"Maybe we all got knocked out and had the same dream." Ito said.
"What are dreams? An escape from reality? Reality?"
"Shut up Sungwoo. All you do is ask questions and make us more confused." Hiro yelled.
Chung holds Mei in her arms, rocking her slowly and asking her to take a few deep breaths. "Maybe we should look around for any mountains or hills to get a better view of our surroundings." Chung said.
"That's a good idea." Mei gets up and inspects the area, not expecting to find all her answers, but she knows sitting here stressing out wouldn't help. "Hey, it's the peak." Mei said while pointing to the top of a hill.
Everyone follows Mei as she rushes forward, sprinting up the mountain. While everyone else takes heavy breaths behind her, struggling to keep up with her pace. She suddenly stops and stands motionless as the rest of the group finally catches up to her. One by one colliding into one another, surprised to find Mei just standing there. They follow her eyes and see movement in a nearby bush. Everyone immediately freezes. Kenji contemplates whether to run or follow his curiosity. Seconds later, a wolf like emerges from the bush, his eyes glaring and slowly makes his way to them. Kenji immediately regrets not choosing to run.
"Guys, don't move." Mei said with a slight quiver in her voice.
Chung stares at the large animal in front of her, amazed by the beautiful creature. "Whoa, how majestic."
"Yeah… Majestic." Kenji said, barely making out the words.
Ito stands in the back of the group, paralyzed with fear. But after staring closer, he notices metal needles in the wolf's cheek.
"Wait, guys, I think it's hurt." Ito said as he made his way to the wolf. Showing both hands and walking slowly, attempting to communicate that he doesn't want to hurt him.
Mei focuses on the wolf, wanting to help but not knowing how. Whispering, "Be careful." is the only thing she could think of.
Hiro glances at everyone, questioning why everyone was so scared. "Be careful of what? These are trained animals they're not going to bite."
Ito slowly pulls the first thorn out. The wolf squeezes his eyes in pain but doesn't move. As he pulls out the last one and attempts to pat him on the head, the wolf picks up a familiar scent and speeds off in the direction it came from. After the wolf disappears into the forest, the rest joins Ito.
"Wow, you're so brave." Chung said while Ito stands back up, trying his best not to show his red cheeks to Chung. "It's nothing. I had a feeling it wasn't seeking to hurt us."
"Duh, what don't you understand about trained animals?" Hiro said, exasperated how no one else understands.
Hiro sees a baby bull in the distance, walking up the trail and smiles, wanting to show them it isn't a big deal. "Watch, I'll show you." The bull slowly walks toward them and seems lost. "I'm not going to hurt you." Hiro said with both his hands up. The bull stops a few feet away from Hiro and immediately goes into an attack stance.
Ito had a bad feeling this bull isn't a trained animal. "I don't think you should–" before Ito could finish his sentence, Sungwoo put his hand over his mouth. As Hiro reaches for the horns, the bull instinctively drives his horns through Hiro's thigh and sprints down the path. Everyone stares at the bull with admiration as it disappears into the distance. Hiro tries standing up but winces in pain and collapses after putting some weight on the injured leg. Looking down at Hiro, Mei actually felt sorry for him. "Hello! Isn't anyone going to help me up?" Hiro shouted.
Mei's remorse towards Hiro disappears instantly, while she and Ito hesitantly help him back up.
"It's just my luck to be nice to the one untrained animal on set. Well, I think I proved my point."
Kenji looks at Ito with a confused expression. "What point did he prove by getting gored by a bull?"
Ito shrugs his shoulders and laughs, but as he starts to walk forward, he notices Chung standing still while gazing forward at the picturesque view. "Wow." Chung said, staring at the mountain range with amazement. The sun slowly set behind it while painting the sky orange and red, making the scenery even more beautiful. "What a gorgeous sight." Chung said. Ito looks at the sky and turns his attention to Chung, thinking the same thing.
"Everyone stop. We're getting sidetracked. We need to keep going. It's going to be dark soon." Mei said. As the forest darkens and the moon shines down on them, Kenji notices the plants and the forest seems to give off a glow. The forest is filled with every color he could imagine, moving with every breeze, giving a familiar sight of fireflies sputtering in the night. He takes a deep breath and really appreciates the sights this place offers.
Chung continues to scan the area, shaking her head, and turning to Mei. "Doesn't this place seem familiar? I can't help but think I've been here before."
Mei didn't want to admit it, but this area seemed very familiar, especially after seeing the tenedraugs.
"We must be close to the set. There's no other explanation. The director will call cut anytime now." Hiro said, while scanning for any clues. Mostly trying to convince himself.
"It can't be that simple. What about the hawks?" Mei asked.
"For the last time, you didn't see any ducks." Hiro yelled, running out of patience with Mei's madness.
"Hawks!”
"Whatever, you didn't see any hawks. But to be safe, we're going to the top of this mountain to get a better view of where we are. I swear, do I have to tell you people everything?"
"If you know so much, then what are those?" Chung asked.