"Where are we?" Jake shouted in panic.
"Calm down." Aruda murmured. He observed his surroundings. All around him, huge trees and dense bushes were visible. The sky was completely black so that staring into it was like staring a void.
Suddenly, a distant howl made Jake froze.
"It is far away. We are safe." Aruda assured, although he too looked terrified.
"Can anybody tell me what just happened?" Jake yelled.
"Are you trying to summon all the animals inside the jungle to us? Also, I have no idea what just happened. So, will you please calm down and help me figure it out?"
Jake gave no reply to Aruda.
"Hello? Do you hear me?" Aruda asked again.
"Shh! Something..... moving.... bushes." Jake pointed at bushes that were almost five feet tall. Sure enough, the leaves were rustling as the creature inside tried to make its way past the bushes.
Suddenly, Jake forgot all his hatred towards Aruda and hid behind Aruda's body.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Aruda shouted at the bushes.
Suddenly, a figure came out of the bushes and landed on the forest floor, taking heavy breaths.
"Who are you?" Aruda slowly approached towards the figure.
Once he was close enough, he saw a teenager with black skin and muscular body in front of him. The teenager was wearing a plain white T-shirt and track pants, both of them torn at various places revealing cuts on body.
"A-Are you okay?" Jake helped the muscular boy stand up.
"Yeah, thanks." The boy said.
"What's your name? Do you have any idea what's going on here?" Aruda asked.
"I don't know. There was this white light and suddenly I found myself in these dense bushes with many sharp twigs that did this to me. By the way, I am Jaden." The muscular boy said.
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"I am Aruda and this is my cousin Jake." Aruda introduced.
"Oh, nice to meet both of you. Since we all are clueless, perhaps we can.... Woah!" Jaden was cut short by a purple circle that suddenly appeared above him.
"What is this?" Aruda inquired as he stared at the object. It's circumference was purple and glowing. There was a huge black void in the center.
"I don't know. It just appeared here and.... Ack!" Suddenly a girl appeared from the circle. She accidentally knocked Jaden with her knees and then landed on the ground besides Jaden.
"I think God got me wrong when I told him I want beautiful girls to appear in my life." Jaden said, getting back up and examining the girl who looked exhausted.
"Where am I?" The girl asked before passing out.
"Is the girl okay?" Aruda and Jake got closer to the girl to investigate her.
Suddenly, two more portals appeared over Aruda and Jake's head. Before both of them could react, two more teenagers appeared from the portal. A girl landed on Aruda and then rolled away while Jake was knocked down by a fat boy.
"What the hell is going here?" Jaden asked as he helped Jake get up.
"I don't know. But I think these people too have no idea what's going on." Aruda suggested.
"Ouch, my head is still spinning because of that fatty boy." Jake complained. "You guys get girls and I get this fatty."
"We need to get them to wake up." Aruda said as he inspected the bodies.
The girl that landed on Jaden had light skin and blonde hairs tied into a ponytail. She was in her nightdress.
The other girl had her hairs dyed green. Her skin was tanned, and she was wearing a white hoodie and black jeans.
The fat boy had curly brown hairs and face full of pimples. He was wearing shorts and a light green 'Legends are born in May' T-shirt.
"I'll search for water. Aruda will search for food and Jake will take care of them." Jaden said.
"You don't have to." A voice came from behind.
All three turned around to find an old lady in tattered dress staring at them.
"You are the same lady who appeared to me on the streets today." Aruda said.
"And you were the one who had got into my house without permission." Jaden said.
"Yes, I came to warn all of you." The lady said. "I don't have much time, so we need to hurry things."
The lady concentrated hard and three black fruits sprouted from the ground.
"Whoa!" Jaden exclaimed.
"This is a very simple magic you all must learn. These fruits provide energy to us. Feed them with these fruits, and they will wake up." The old lady said.
The fruit indeed did its job. As soon as the three teenagers were fed the fruit, they immediately got up, examined the surroundings and then their gaze fell on the old lady.
"You? What are you doing here again? Did you trap us here? Is this some kind of illusion?" The girl with blonde hairs shouted at the old lady.
"Yes, I did appear to everyone but only to warn you. I didn't cause what is happening to you. All five of you were the creation of Grenetas, my daughter who took up dark sorcery. I realized that she needs to stop now. She considered you useless but I knew that you all can put an end to her. So, I stole you from her and was successful in keeping you safe from her by sending you far away."
"Okay, so where are we exactly?" The fat boy asked.
"In your own world right now. Grenetas has cast her magic on your world and turned it into a forest. All the other people are sleeping below the ground. But you're still standing where you were before all of this happened." The old lady said.
"Which is why you had to get the others to us through a portal." Jaden guessed.
"Yes, you are right."
"So, how can we put an end to all of this?" The green hair asked.
"You'll have to defeat my daughter in her home turf - Kuruk, a land beyond existence, a place where many laws of universe fail." Grenetas' mother said.
"And how exactly are we gonna reach this 'land beyond existence'?" Jake asked.
"There are lots of openings in your world which leads you to Kuruk. These gems will guide you to the nearest entrance." As the lady spoke, five purple gems sprouted from the ground.
"Can't you make another of your portal to send us to this 'Kuruk'?" Jake asked.
"I can't. The body you see in front of you is just an essence of me. My real body is trapped by Grenetas. I can't perform much more with this form. I must leave now. But remember, the gems I gave you are not only to guide you. They can be whatever you want them to be." The lady said before her body started disintegrating.
"Wait!" The girl with blonde hairs said, "You talked about five people, but we are six."
The lady looked at Jake. "He wasn't supposed to be here." She said before disappearing.