A land forever grasped by a curse, as the bright red sky rests above the clouds, the voices of those who once lived in this desolate land no longer reach the ear. This land, far from the protection of the tree, now serves as a memorial and the confines of an immense force.

  Shattered statues and pillars scatter the plains; a river which divides the lands, leading to the Oasis. Once a land that raised literal gods, it now poses as their final resting place. Eden, the so-called ‘Eternal Paradise’, is immortalized forever now as the Graveyard of the Gods.

  The forest in the distance coated in a haunting white color houses a plethora of dark monsters resembling that of the creatures in the overworld. The trees never rot, nor will they ever see life within them again, without warning, one may find a battle at any given moment within the forest.

  These mindless creatures act upon prewritten instincts by their ‘script’. The ‘Scripter’ left these abominations to pursue, in its words, “Rejuvenation”. He who resides somewhere in these lands is known as the prisoner. The forest never ends, scattered amongst the branches lie the bones of the creatures birthed by the gods. Invaders from the overworld stumble across these plains through error, only to perish beneath the feet of its prisoners.

  Within the blink of an eye, a kind of vortex-like portal tore the sky, splitting into the shape of ‘its’ eye. From within the vortex, another entity scrapes into the lands, creating a crater of odd proportions. And as fast as the vortex appeared, it vanished without wasting another second.

  Within the crater, an odd figure lays dormant. The boy’s grey jacket and torn satchel may hint at more than what he’s worth. Was he an adventurer? Maybe he hailed from another world? The boy, burdened with mystery, opened his eyes to the sky of red. The sight of thin and spiked branches obstructed the sky with its dense presence.

  As he tried to go back to sleep, a force condemned him to press forward. And so, the boy sprouted on his stomach, crawling his way out of the hole he was sent into. Oddly enough, the hole was nowhere as large as it should have been, only big enough to hold around three more beings his size. As the boy left the crater, his mind began to wander and scan the surrounding area.

  Unfortunately for him, the dark creatures around noticed his presence. They sharply snarled as they made their slow approach. With a keen interest, the boy began to crawl towards it, peering at the creatures with curious eyes. The creatures inched closer, lunging at the boy within its range.

  The boy unknowingly kept crawling, and suddenly, his perception of the world turned over as he was pinned down and sent rolling down a short hill. As the boy tumbles, the creatures above attempt to follow, only to be attacked by one another soon turning into a brawl. All of a sudden, a loud burst of crying left the boy's mouth. He was pinned down once more and muffled by a small creature.

  “Shh, hush, what are you, crazy?!” The creature quietly shouted. Pinning him down with soft arms. Its voice sounded soft yet squeaky, high-pitched even.

  As the boy begins to hush, the creature slowly lifts their paws. The voice it made was soft yet aggressive, enough to calm the boy down. As the creatures above continued their battle, some were launched down the same hill.

  The two crawl away in haste so as to not be seen. Many seconds later, the boy falls face-first into the soil again, to which the creature stops and agrees to rest for a while.

  “They aren’t following us anymore,” She pants. Scouting the area, then looking back at the boy. “What were you thinking?!”

  They glowed under the light of the red sky. She was a cat with odd, soft-pink fur. She began to look around, observing the mysterious place they’d stumbled upon. Her thoughts were cut short when she looked towards the boy, quietly sobbing.

  In response, she quickly ran over to the boy's side. “W-what are you doing?!” She whispered in his ear, “Are you okay?”

  The boy continued to wail, muffled, with his tears beginning to flood the soil beneath him. The cat sighs as she looks around the world further. To her luck, an unnatural smoke signal can be seen from outside the forest. She took her chances, whether it be people or just some wildfires that had attracted monsters, they chose to approach that direction. However, another problem emerged.

  “What do I do with you?” The cat asks herself, facing the boy. “I can’t just leave him… Who is he anyway?”

  The cat circled the boy a total of 7 times. The boy begins to sway back and forth, dizzy from following the cat's movement. The cat sighs, judging herself by the actions she chose. As she walked towards the fire signal, a rustling from behind caught her attention. To her surprise, the boy was up on his knees, trying his best to follow her. Even after he fell face-first into the ground, the cat was lightened by his action.

  “Do-oh… I can’t just leave him!” She groaned. “But how am I supposed to bring him along?”

  The cat tries her best to get him to follow her. But to no avail, his face still lies on the ground, sobbing from the sudden impacts his face makes with the weeds below. Eventually, the cat decides that crawling would be the best, but slowest option.

  Slowly but surely the boy clutched the grass below and pulled with no might. The boy lacked strength, pulling nevertheless. The cat encourages the boy by cheering him as she walks backwards. Leading him away from danger inch by inch.

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  “C’mon! You got this!” She cheered as the boy crawled in her direction.

  Slowly and efficiently, the cat gets the boy to crawl through the rotting forest. Hours pass as the two continue to dodge the paths of the dark creature. With the last few trees before them, the cat cheered as the boy made the final stretch.

  When the boy made it through the last tree, the cat felt the light of glory shine through her, maybe that was the sun clearing, and she was burnt out from directing the past hours.

  “We did it…!” She panted.

  Her back fell to the ground, and as she looked up at the red sky, the smoke grew larger. She exhaled in delight, looking down at the boy sitting up and looking past her. The cat became curious as to why, as she looked up, she was struck by a sharp pain in the chest by the sight of a man walking over with a hatchet-like tool. Her panicked expression worsened when the boy began to get on his knees again.

  “No, no, no!!!” She yelled, “Kid! Get down!!!”

  The man drew closer, and the cat jolted up and dashed at the boy. The cat pounces on him, knocking him over. Her fears drew her to be dizzy while she tried to pull him away by his undershirt.

  “Shoot, Shoot! Kid! Crawl away! C’mon!” She pleaded as she tugged the boy.

  The boy slowly rolls over to try and stand, however, as the figure approaches, he seems to have grown at an alarming rate. The boy rolled on his back while the cat continued to tug on him. The man kneels and grabs him by the collar jacket. The boy was lifted high, the man's hands wete so big they could easily wrap around the boy's chest.

  “Who are you?! Did you follow us?!” The man yelled, stabbing his axe into the ground, rubble, dust, and dirt flying around aimlessly.

  The cat began to screech, attempting to scratch the man's tough skin, “W-We didn’t m-mean to! W-Who are you!?” She stammered.

  The man’s face revealed itself within the light's reflection on his axe. His face, littered with soot, looked tethered and wrinkled. He scoffed and lifted the boy to eye level by the collar. The boy seemed far more feeble compared to the man. The cat clung itself to the boy’s back. The boy's feet were already meters off the ground. There was nothing he could do but tear up.

  “No, kid! Don’t cry, I-I’ll think of something!” The cat said frantically.

  As she began to struggle out of his grip, she noticed the man's face from peeking over the boy's shoulder. His expression had almost entirely changed, looking more distressed and worried than threatening.

  “Aw shit, uhh…” The man said confused, “W-Why are you crying?! Did I do something?! I-It was you who followed us y’know!” He yelled frantically, trying to diffuse the situation.

  Another voice from behind the man began to call. His silhouette stands before a roaring fire. The man calling grabbed his frayed scarf and repositioned it behind his back. He snapped his fingers as he called to the man.

  “Hey-a! Jack! Found something?” The man yelled ecstatically. “Better be worth it! I left Roy to deal with the fire back at the camp!” He laughed.

  The man appears far shorter than the man holding the boy. The man's face matched the height of the boy’s knees, being lifted. His face illuminates itself with a fire from his hair tip. He appeared joyous and more pleasant than the man holding up the boy.

  “Hey, so there’s this kid who followed us right?” Jack said, holding up the boy.

  “I’m listening?” The man responded. Cracking his knuckles.

  “So he and this cat followed us, so I started asking questions right? But this guy started crying, is that normal?” He asks.

  The man laughs, “No no, haha, see here.” He pats Jack on the back as reassurance. “You’re a big strong fellow holding an axe about twice the kid's size. I’d be quivering too.”

  Jack puts the boy and cat down, the cat still clings to the boy's back. The boy stops tearing up and faces Jack and the man. Jack picks up his axe and walks back to the camp. The man in the scarf looks down at the boy and reaches his hand.

  “Sorry for the scare, kid, I’ll take ya back to our camp for a bit,” The man chuckles.

  The boy slowly lifts his hand, curious as to what the man is doing. The man grabs the boy's hand with a smile and pulls him up. The cat remains on the boy's shoulder, clinging. The boy stands to face the man as a delighted look streaks the man's face.

  “Alright, haha! C’mon—” The man laughs heartily until a loud thud catches him in the middle of his sentence. As he looks back, the boy lies face-first into the ground.

  “Ahh! Kid! You alright?” The cat squealed. In response, the soil beneath the boy's face becomes soaked, and he lets out a short and quiet groan. The man laughed hysterically, picking up the boy and looking at his grass-covered face.

  “C’mon, quit fooling around, follow me!” He told the boy, lifting him. He places the boy upright, only for him to fall right back down. The man sighs, picking him up again. “I’ll just bring you,” The man said, tugging on his clothes.

  The man takes notice of the pink cat at the boy’s side. Confused, he kneels to pick her up.

  “I’ve never seen a pink cat—odd…” The man tells himself, holding the cat “Heh, cool.”

  The cat starts to struggle again, “Can you people stop picking me up so uncomfortably!” She yelled. The man doesn’t seem to understand, for all he hears is loud hissing and meowing.

  “My bad kitty, I’m gonna take your owner to our camp!” He says in a sing-song.

  “Quit babying me—!” The cat cried.

  The man put the cat on his shoulder, picking up and placing the boy on his other. As he begins walking back to the camp a sudden noise from in the forest catches his attention. From this, the cat starts freaking out.

  “Hey! Why’d you stop?! Please go!” She yelled, pressing his shoulder.

  The two looked back to see a small wolf-like pitch-black creature creeping on him. The creature snarls as it slowly approaches him.

  "Hey... Hey! Do something!" The cat cried to the man.

  In an instant, the monster bursts into flames, the black essence making the monster disperse and vanish into the air. Before the cat could realize it, a wave of wind hit her, sending ashes and soot in their direction.

  “Woah, alright, there’s more of 'em,” The man told himself. He said, turned towards the forest.

  The man turns back around and begins to head back to the camp. He begins to whistle a lighthearted tune as he does. As for the cat, however, she was left with a gaping mouth.