[IC] Crimson Butterfly

[FantasyDreams]

Crimson Butterfly: Journey

The scenery was unlike anything they had ever seen before, as they had lived in the big city of Tokyo. They were in a clearing, a small, circular, patch of dark soil amongst the darkness around them. They were the only living things among this circle, it seemed that everything else was dead. Outside the circle was a forest thick with tall dark pines making it impossible to see very far around them. It was completely silent, no birds, no rustling wind, anything to tell them that this was all a normal forest. If one were to look up from the clearing, the sky would be completely clear. It was such a dark black that it looked nearly blue or purple. It was dotted by tiny silver stars that were completely unlike the sky that they were all used to. The constellations were all in different places. The moon was full and the color of blood, casting an eerie light into the clearing below. From their patch of safety were three very different paths. All of them pointing north, with one straight and the other two angled to either the left or the right. The path in the middle looked like the safest, wide and free from branches, roots, or anything else that could impede their way. The one on the left was narrow enough that they'd have to pass through one by one. The ground was uneven and one who was clumsy might have had a hard time with it. The path on the right was too dark to see down, but appeared to be in between the two on terms on wideness. In front of the left path was a tiny, glowing, crimson, butterfly, the only spot of color other than themselves in the dark scenery. It was fluttering in lazy circles in front of the mentioned path, seemingly trying to lead them teens somewhere. Each teen was in the small clearing, lying a bit a ways away from each other as not to scare any of them. A girl with bright red hair was directly in the middle of the clearing on her back. She'd wake up looking directly as the sky. The boy with snow colored hair was at the edge of the clearing, leaning against one of the many pine trees. His head, shoulders, and legs, were painted with pine needles, telling him that they had been there for some time. The girl with orange hair was laying directly in front of the middle path, a solitary branch from a nearby pine hung over her. The branch was thick and strong, something that would most definitely hold her weight. The final teen, a boy with dark hair was laying on the far side of the clearing. He was on his side and the first thing he was going to see was the girl with red hair.

[Hebigami Shiho]

Tsukasa slowly regained consciousness. It was odd. One moment, he was.... Wait, where was he, actually? He couldn't remember what the hell he was doing before this, or anything substantial but his name at that. He slowly opened his eyes. His whole body ached. Before long, he finally opened his eyes, after blinking quite a few times before that. He was... in some kind of clearing? He looked around for a bit, and he also felt unusually agitated. His breathing was fast and he also felt his heart beating like crazy, After a while, he finally calmed down and stilled his breath. The intial panic subsided to give place to more rational thinking. He looked at his body, just to find himself being a mock of a pine tree. He was wearing a white dress shirt, along with rolled up dark pants, which were being held in place by a pair of red braces with yellow polka dots in them, so his clothes got painted really badly because of the pine needles. 'How long have I been here?' Tsukasa thought, before standing up and taking the little pine needles off his clothes with his hands, and then went on with his head. He stopped briefly in where his hairpin was, and caressed it a bit. He thought he might remember something, but nothing really came to mind. He was feeling a bit frustrated but still... "Well! Things will just come together later!.... I think." Tsukasa said, to no one in particular, as he threw his arms behind his head. After that, he started walking through the forest he was in. It was really odd, to say the least. The trees didn't seem alive, they looked alive, but they didn't seem alive. It was an eerie feeling that took all over Tsukasa's being. His eyes were drawn to the sky next, while he tried to get away from that eerie feeling that made him frown. Much to his surprise, the sky didn't alleviate him, in fact, it just made him feel all the more intimidated. It felt like an eerie premonition for something, but what? As far as he knew, he was all alone there, so no one could actually do something to him, or at least, he hoped that was the case. While he roamed through the forest, though, he suddenly stopped, moved his head around and then scratched his head. "Now, this is a problem. I think I'm a little lost." Tsukasa said. Not that he wasn't already lost, mind you, but the realization did only come to his head just now. He could only barely make out the space he was in. It was spacious, yes, maybe two people would fit into it? It was also pretty dark, and scary. Tsukasa wasn't even able to look down to the floor, for God's sake! Whatever it looked like or if he could use it to guide himself a little better was obscured by the unnatural darkness of the path.

[Taro]

Hideki felt....hard ground under him. He couldn't say why this was his thought but it felt as though it was the wrong kind of ground. 'What does that even mean?' he thought as he began to register the fact that there was little sound around him. Just as he had started to accept that there wasn't much to hear, he heard a voice which caused him to instantly snap his eyes open. "Well! Things will just come together later!.... I think." Hideki heard the footsteps of the boy who had just spoken, but he couldn't take his eyes off the sight just in front of him. There was a girl laying there who had hair that was redder than any hair he could remember seeing. In fact, he just realized, he couldn't remember anything. He pushed himself up and propped himself up on one arm and noticed there was yet another person. Everything seemed......wrong was the best way to describe it. He knew he was in a forest, so where were all the animals? The trees weren't moving, but there wasn't even the feeling of a breeze. Even without that however, Hideki shivered. 'I don't really feel like hanging out here, but maybe one of these other two can help me. Plus, it'd be best to make sure they're alright.' He stood up and walked toward the pathways looking directly at the butterfly. It seemed to be unafraid of his presence, not that he was trying to frighten it, which was unusual. He stepped in front of the middle pathway and looked down it seeing that it seemed to be the clearest and likely best option to move forward. He looked down at the girl laying practically at his feet and noticed the branch. He frowned slightly wishing he could help remove it, but knowing there was no way with how weak he was. He took a step back and turned to an angle where he could face both of them waiting for some sign of life. 'If neither of them move, I'll have to check their vitals. Should I have to check their vitals and there is any sign of life I should probably start gathering food and other sorts of supplies from wherever I can find them...' He quickly was lost in his thoughts.

[WanderBug]

The first thing she remembers is the musky smell of dirt. Erin exhaled deeply and stretched her limbs out, feeling the muscles tense and relax as she regained consciousness. She rolled over and lied on her back, before opening her eyes. The stars shone brightly above her, but a large branch highlighted by the light of the moon obscured her vision. She smiled softly and raised an arm to swat the branch away, but was only able brush the tips of the leaves oozing red. Still disoriented, she closed her eyes and dug her hands into the ground, rolling soft clumps of dirt between her fingers. Red moon. Silver stars. A spasm rocked through her body and she jerked into wakefulness, sitting up to stare at the sky. The moon shone a bright red and the stars sparkled metallically, as if mocking reality. “Huh?” She could not remember who she way or why she was there—she felt her chest hollow and her heart drop. It was then she noticed the presence behind her, and she immediately pivoted, ready to throw her entire weight into whatever it was. It was a boy about her age, who looked just as confused as she. She studied his face for a moment before she relaxed. It was good to be around another person. “Uh, hi,” she said,”You wouldn’t happen to know why we’re here, would you? And is it just me or does the sky seem kind of weird?” It was a strangely casual remark for the situation she was in, but without her memories, extroversion was the default she felt comfortable with. She took the moment to look around and noticed a glowing red light near a path to the left. It seemed to be flittering here and there, reminiscent to a firefly or a butterfly. Before looking closer to investigate, the bright color of red--the shade of a girl's hair--caught her eye. “Damn,” she murmured, and rushed to the girl’s side,”what the hell is going on?” She shook the girl lightly and pressed a couple fingers to her throat. A pulse. She sighed in relief, and supported the girl to a sitting position. Erin looked at the other boy in the clearing and asked, “And you? You ok? I should've asked you that first."

[kittenlover]

'Mmmm.... Pine? Why do I smell pine trees? And why does my head hurt a bit? Its probably nothing.... And am I laying on the ground? I smell fresh soil too.... I know I need to wake up, but I don't want to open my eyes. I just want to lay here in peace.... Wait, is something touching my neck?! Why am I starting to sit up!? What the hell is going on here!?' Mika thought to herself, quickly opening her Peridot eyes as she stiffened at the sight of her surroundings. She shook off the girl and scrambled to her feet, dusting off her black and white attire as she stared at the three people in front of her; One boys, and another girl. The girl with the orange hair was kneeling on the ground where she once was, having been the one helping sit her up. And then the boy with the black hair.... She looked closely at him, trying to figure out this weird feeling she had going on in her gut. "W-Who are you all, and what are you doing here? What am I even doing here? What's going on, and why can't I remember anything?! Did you two do this to me!?" Rose asked as she started to panic, not knowing what to do, where she was, or even who she was. This was so confusing, she just wanted to curl up into a ball and disappear. So many questions roamed her mind as she leaned against a pine tree, her eyes wandering from the two people who seemed to be the only ones, to the glowing red butterfly that appeared to have the color of her hair all over it. It was absolutely beautiful, her mind mesmerized as she approached it and offered it her finger. "What is a wonderful innocent being doing in such a forest like this?" She questioned it quietly, her blood red hair swaying a bit as she shook her hair back and forth. "Why must bad things happen to such good creatures?" She asked even quieter than before, wondering if anybody had heard her or not. She was calmed by this butterfly somehow, the sight of something good in this ominous place felt like a relief to her. She waited patiently for someone to answer her questions, wondering if they even knew themselves.... Or if she could even trust them for that matter.

[FantasyDreams]

The Crimson Man

"No, no, no, no! Why did Seiji have to go down the right path! He'll never find his way through the darkness without any light." The Crimson Man said to himself in a panicked tone. Not that the teens could hear him in his butterfly form. All they could see what his flight pattern change to something more erratic and panicked. It would seem he would have to lead them down the right path instead of the safety of the left one. The right path was tricky even with light, there were sudden twists and turns that if not followed would lead the teens off the edge of a drop, or onto freezing cold water. They couldn't die here, considering they were already dead, but it would wear him out to bring them back each time. That was part of his deal with Kami-sama, he could manipulate things somewhat in this land between the living and the dead, but not without cost. Because his job would be easy, and Kami-sama didn't want that. Then every undeserving teenager would get a second chance at life and screw it up. Only those who proved themselves got to go back. The Crimson Man hoped that this group would make it. They really did deserve to go back after dying in such horrible ways. He wished he could take his human form and hug them all, but that would scare them. And he couldn't touch them in his own, ghostly form. It was Mika who was the first to approach him, reaching out a finger for him to land on. Normally he would have, but there was no time now. Instead he did the butterfly equivalent of bop to the nose. He fluttered past her, brushing her nose with a wing as he did. He stopped at the right path and increased his glow, showing the teens that he could light the path if needed. And it was needed if they were all going to get to the next clearing safely.

The Right Path

The right path was exactly as described. A long, pitch black road with sudden twists and turns leading to drops, water, ditches, things that wouldn't be fun for anybody. If those turns weren't taken, the teens would find themselves in a bind. Seiji was very close to one that led to a ditch that would be impossible for him to climb back up himself. The path was really only dangerous if one wandered off without the light the crimson butterfly could offer. It was one of the longer beginning paths and could tire out those without much stamina. But was wide enough that those who were clumsy didn't need to worry about falling off.

[Taro]

“Uh, hi. You wouldn’t happen to know why we’re here, would you? And is it just me or does the sky seem kind of weird?” The girl's voice snapped Hideki back into reality. He looked at her and sputtered "N-no I wouldn't. Sorry I was lost in thought hoping that you would both wake up". He watched as the girl rushed over to the girl with the red hair. She seemed to shake the girl's shoulder a bit and Hideki began to stand. He could tell by her sigh that the other girl was still alive. He was happy to know that no one had died. He brushed himself off a bit and looked back at the first girl. "I'm fine thank you. My name is Hideki by the way." He smiled brightly and saw the other girl spring up from where she was laying. She seemed to be panicking which Hideki couldn't blame her for, before she walked over to the butterfly. Hideki smiled even brighter at her conversation she was having with the butterfly. "I don't really know what's happening myself. This other girl has only just woken up before you. I don't know why any of us are here and I don't know that I want to know. The only thing I really remember is my name. I don't know about you two." he watched as the butter fly flew to the right path and began to flutter erratically. He watched as it almost seemed to be pointing them in that direction. "I think your new friend wants us to follow it." he said looking at the red haired girl and gesturing toward the butterfly. He took a few steps toward the rightward path and turned to the others. "I don't expect you to trust me since we only just met, but I think we should go this way. If this is where we part ways then...it was nice meeting you I suppose". He turned back toward the butterfly. "Take me wherever it is I should go I suppose. I don't know why I trust you because butterflies shouldn't glow...but you're the only connection I have right now so, onward!"

[WanderBug]

Erin looked up from her position on the ground to Hideki and said, “Hey, that’s good to hear. I’m Erin." She lost her balance as the girl with striking red hair shot out of her arms and jumped away from her. Erin was about to reassure her that they were all in the same situation and that they could work together, but the girl suddenly turned and approached the floating red light she had seen earlier. It came closer and fluttered gently—a butterfly. There was nothing to explain. Hideki had already briefed the girl on their situation and had done so with a warm smile. “What a nice guy,” she thought,”We’ll get along fine." She walked up to the pair as the butterfly started to zig zag across the air, as if alerting them of something; Erin watched the creature in fascination as it flew to the right road and continued it’s erratic movements. The others seemed to be inclined to follow the butterfly, but the clear road to the middle appeared much less dangerous. She looked at the two roads again before nonchalantly shrugging. “Sure, let’s go! Better than staying here, right?” She said brightly, ”As long as we stick together, it should be fine. Plus, we have a new member to the party.” Erin pointed a thumb at the butterfly and beckoned the rest towards the road. “I’ll go first to make sure there aren’t any weird steps,” she said, before following the butterfly into the dark path.

[kittenlover]

Mika listened to the male as he spoke about being just as clueless as her. But she stared at the butterfly as she followed it closely, getting to the right pathway and wondering if this was a trap or something. But she couldn't just stay here, just in case this was not a trap and they were both truly clueless. "I'll go with you two.... But only because I can't stay here alone.... It'd be too dangerous, and being with two people is better than no people.... This place is too weird for us to split up now." Mika said quietly as she looked at the two, deciding to trust them until they crossed her.... If anything, she could get rid of them easily if she had to. But right now, not trusting them wasn't an option. So she silently followed the girl with the orange hair into the dense, weird forest, hoping that they'd maybe find some tools or some useful items, shelter, or maybe even food. All she knew is they'd need somewhere to stay, and fast, as this place didn't seem like the best place to camp out under the stars or anything close to that.

[Hebigami Shiho]

"What's up with this forest? It's seriously creepy." With his hand still behind his head, Tsukasa continued on walking through the forest. He tried his best to try and keep on track, but more than once did he hit his nose against a branch or something similar, or at least, he hoped it was like that. Hitting something that wasn't a branch right now in a forest that seemed straight out of a horror movie would be the absolute worst, and something he didn't really want to even think about. "If I could only remember what I was doing here... Maybe it'd be easier to find a way out of this creepy forest." Tsukasa said. While he wasn't clumsy, he still stumbled upon something. He was just about to fall, but he was able to regain his balance and not fall down, while putting his arms to his sides to keep his balance. "Ah, that was close. My clothes are already dirty, making them any dirtier... It'd probably be hard to wash off." Tsukasa looked at his clothes, trying to see if they got any dirtier. Luckily, they didn't. He let out a relieved sigh. Still, he started hearing some voices from behind him. They were faint, but they were there. Tsukasa turned around, feeling hopeful. At the very least, he wasn't alone inside that clearing. "So there were other guys here?" Still, the thought of talking to them just like that was a bit intimidating. He was a bit unsure of what to do, but still, the light he was able to see all the way to where they were was actually relieving. Instead of doing anything else, Tsukasa decided to wait for them. He turned around and waited for them quietly.

[Taro]

As the butterfly led them down the path Hideki tried as hard as he could to remember something...anything. He remembered only what had recently transpired however and it was beginning to frustrate him. He could hear slight movement not too far down the path and began to feel slight panic along with the frustration. That was when the light from the butterfly revealed the face of another boy. Hideki felt his legs begin to want to carry him the other direction, but he continued anyway. He called out to the other boy "Hey there! Are you okay? We woke up in a clearing and have no idea how we even got here. My name's Hideki by the way". He looked to the boy curiously. He then turned to the girls and smiled at them. "I can guarantee you that we're going to get out of here eventually. There has to be an end to this forest and from the end it'll be easy to make it to a town or something where we can use a phone". He smiled as warmly as he could hoping that he was right. 'If I'm wrong...I'm going to unfortunately be letting them down. I have to get us out of here and I hope this guy can help. He's probably the one who was talking when I woke up'.

[WanderBug]

She stomped over dead leaves and twigs that scattered the ground, the light of the butterfly her only support. The forest gleamed an ominous red from the light that managed to get past the cluster of trees, but it was not enough to aid a smooth passage.

“Ah, damn,” she cursed, and pushed a branch that had almost hit her in the face away,”watch it, guys."

It was quiet, the only sounds coming from the trampled objects beneath them and their own shaky breathing—she became more frightened the further she moved, the more twists she followed, and the darker it became; however, her resolve to stay strong reared it’s stubborn head.

She coughed her throat and said, ”Well, let’s do introductions again. I’m Erin, and this is Hideki—we really don’t know why we’re here, but I think we’ll be ok together."

The distant sound of a voice cut her off, and she stopped speaking; she continued forward, a steely resolve to find the source of the noise; the butterfly seemed to be undeterred by the noise and pressed on—so she followed.

Hideki surpassed her and approached what appeared to be another boy; Erin walked up to the two, and noticed the butterfly was not progressing without them. She immediately relaxed, and turned to the strange boy before grinning and saying, ”I’m Erin. We’re all trying to get out of this creepy ass place, so we’re following that butterfly…That sounds a bit stupid when I say it like that, but we’re ok. You don't know why you're here, either, huh?"

[kittenlover]

Mika stared at the two people in front of her as she walked behind them, hearing the girl introduce herself as Erin and explained that the boys name was Hideki. Apparently they were as clueless as her, and she wondered where exactly she was headed as they all followed the glowing red butterfly, as if they were blind as a bat.

"I'm Mika.... Nice to meet you both." Rose said quietly, wondering if Erin and Hideki heard her as they sped up and moved towards an unknown voice. Mika hesitated for a second before she started walking up again, meeting up with the two people she knew and.... Another boy who must've wandered down this path while they were unconscious and before they even came close to waking up.

"I'm Mika, I'm glad to see another person. The more people we have in our party, the better a chance we have at survival." Mika explained, knowing everyone might've thought this once they all had first woken up. If not, then they were hearing her opinion on the whole 'survival in this devilish woods' thing. She was also glad that she hadn't woken up here alone.... She probably would've had a heart attack and died if she did.

[Hebigami Shiho]

The other guys approaching him seemed to be a group of three, being two girls and one guy. With Tsukasa, they would be two boys and two girls then. Still, when everyone just suddenly arrived and started introducing themselves, Tsukasa didn't really know what to do. "Eh? Oh, um." He nodded, at everyone's introduction. "I-I'm Tsukasa. Nice to meet you, I think?" Tsukasa simply said, while rubbing the back of his head. Somehow, he felt a bit awkward in this whole situation. Still, that guy, Hideaki.... He did mention something about phones. Did they even have their phones with them? "Um... no, I don't know either why I am here." He looked around, and the only real source of light was the butterfly... the butterfly. The red butterfly...

Tsukasa approached it with a curious look in his eyes. "It's so pretty... Hehe, it shines. How do you shine? Can I shine like that too?" He touched its wings with curiosity, being careful not to hurt it nor to scare it away. "Why is such a pretty thing in a forest like this? Can you guide us out of here?" Tsukasa talked with it, even though he knew that it probably didn't understand him. He then turned around ready to keep walking. "We should keep walking. I-It creeps me out a bit just standing around in one place in this forest. It feels as if someone were watching me." Tsukasa had a question in mind, but he had already forgotten what he wanted to ask.

[FantasyDreams]

The Crimson Man

A soft breath of relief escaped the Crimson Man as the children started to follow him through the darkness. If he was lucky, they would stick together through the whole forest and he wouldn't have to wear himself out trying to find them. When they caught up with Seiji he stopped and began flying around the children, just glad they were all safe for the moment. He would give them a moment to introduce themselves and feel a little bit safer with each other before pestering them about moving on. It was important that they trusted each other enough to stick together before moving on. If they all decided to take separate paths he most certainly wouldn't be able to protect them at all.

After they introduced themselves, Seiji came over, reached out a finger and touched one of his wings. Casually he just fluttered a bit of a ways away, just out of the boy's reach. He was fine with landing on people, but his wings were sensitive, he wasn't a big fan of them being touched. Instead of focusing on that, he started fluttering around Erin's head to get everybody's attention. They couldn't stay on the path for too long, it wasn't entirely safe, even if it looked like it was.

The Next Clearing

The next clearing was about the same size as the last one. In fact it was identical in appearance save for two features. This clearing only had two paths to continue along. One was narrow and small, though well lit, they'd have to crawl through it. But it was the safe path, other than the scraped up knees and elbows that they were sure to get. The other was pretty looking, the trees were covered in bright, colorful flowers. Unfortunately, like many things in nature, those pretty colors meant poisonous. The toxins the flowers gave off would have slowly killed the children, if not for the protection of the Crimson Man. It would still not be a pleasant experience for them.

The second different was the tree stump resting directly in the middle. On the stump were four pieces of paper. The birth certificates of each child. Giving them their names, birthdays, parents, maybe things they were dying to know. Even if they knew their names, it was completely confirmed now. This was the first step into them discovering their pasts and the truth about why they were stuck in this forest between life and death.

[WanderBug]

"It's good to meet you guys," Erin said with a grin. They huddled together under the ominous shade of the trees, their only light from the butterfly, as the night sky was obscured by the bushels of leaves that bent towards them, as if with the intent to consume.

The butterfly fluttered towards her, and rested around the crown of her head. She felt calm despite the precarious situation she and the others were in--there was no use in doubting her instincts now. It led her to the boy who was as lost as she and could potentially lead them out of the forest. She had nothing to lose.

Signaling to the others, she pressed onwards, careful to avoid stumbling on the thick roots and uneven floor of the forest made visible by the crimson light. When they reached the next clearing, Erin immediately fixated on the pieces of paper on the stump in front of them and picked up the one with her name on it.

"Erin Iwasaki.." She murmured, her eyes scanning the rest of her document. Name, birthdate, gender, parents--all the normal information that there was on a birth certificate. She felt a chill run down her spine; they weren't here for no reason. Someone, or something, had put them there together with complete intentionality. Erin turned back to the two others with wide eyes and said, "You guys may want to take a look at this.."

[Taro]

"You guys may want to take a look at this.."

Hideki had been staring at the trees around him. The darkness was definitely frightening and it almost made him panic. When he noticed Erin had moved on he followed swiftly behind her coming to a rest near the stump. He noticed the piecces of paper and picked up the one with his name on it. In his head he read his own name, and the name of his parents. His noramlly cheery disposition faded a bit as he read over it. His birth certificate said he was born in Tokyo. But this didn't look anywhere near the city. Someone definitely brought him here and his suspicion began to rise. It was likely to be one of those with him.

He turned to face the others and smiled. "Well, at least we know a little bit more about ourselves now right guys?" His face showed a very bright and happy smile perfectly masking his inner thoughts. As soon as whichever one of them it was that brought him here made a slip-up, he'd be sure to lead the other to safety. There was no way he was going to let everything end here.