I hesitate at the suggestion. Yellow is not nearly as exciting as Red, and this is quite a contrast to what I'm used to. However, it's not like I'll get this chance again. When's the next time I'll be in Red? Entire body shaking with excitement or nerves, I shrug my shoulders and flash a smile at Candy.
"Hell yeah, let's do it!"
I follow Candy as she follows the others to an open area that stretched for miles. It really put the distance that the train travels into perspective. I couldn't even see Orange from here. Around us were a lot of structures and buildings that probably helped with the skydiving. We entered one small building that would prepare us for what we're about to do. It suddenly occurred to me; isn't there something we have to do before we just walk in to go skydiving? Is skydiving that casual to these people?
After filling out a couple contracts and getting suited up, Jae and I were brought into a helicopter. The suits were actually red wing suits ans I felt somewhat like a bird. Fear and the wind left my skin in goosebumps, but I was ready.
The helicopter flew over the bright city over towards an area of Christmas colored trees dotting a high mountain valley. Eventually, they lingered over a specific spot and a pilot approached Jae, the rest of the strangers, and me. He handed us these strange looking goggles. I placed mine on tightly over my head. I looked over to Jae, wondering if she was scared like me.
"Alright kids! To turn on the goggles, press the small button on the sides." Jae and I exchanged glances. Turn on? He continued to yell over the wind. "The goggles are not just to protect your eyes. It will serve as a video game type of experience. You will all be getting points as you follow the route the goggles provide. I have already set your groups into divided paths, so you won't have to fly with strangers. The goggles may show anything - including mythical creatures. It will also enhance your surroundings, so don't be afraid when you see images like castles in the distance or trees of different colors or even a waterfall or an ocean. Each group path has it's own scenery. You won't see the same as the other strangers, but you will see the same as the friends you came with. I hope you all enjoy this activity! The wing suit automatically will land you, so do not resist! Get ready!"
Jae and I simultaneously pressed the button on the right side of our goggles. "Woah," we both said as numbers and other things began to appear in our vision. The color of the helicopter melted into a rustic orange type of look. We both looked outside to see everything had changed. The trees were ranging from yellow to orange to red to burgundy to brown. Villages were on the outskirts with smoke coming out of chimneys and carriages with horses in the distance.
"Whoa," I muttered as the magic starts to happen. I start to feel a little dizzy, the surroundings suddenly changing. This is such a different experience than I had thought, but it was exciting nonetheless. The instructor went over the basics once again in a swift breath as he confirms that we're good to go. "Alright, team A, you first." The first group of kids stepped up to the platform and give each other a thumbs up before jumping. Immediately, their bodies fell through the air and we couldn't see them from our angle. The instructor turned to Candy and I and nodded.
"Team B, your turn."
I looked over at Candy with a sense of hesitation. Are we actually about to do this?
I held Jae's hand, feeling my legs shake. My heart was about to explode, but I had a friend right there next to me. "Ready?" I smiled. Before she could reply, I pulled her off and we fell in through the clouds.
We were both screaming. All my inner organs felt like they had fallen out of my body, and the wind was horribly cold. I had my eyes closed for a while, but I peaked and gasped. "Jae! Look!" I pointed to a red dragon in my vision as it flapped it's wings around the mountain of trees. The wing suit noticed we weren't flying towards the designated rings and began to pull my body by itself. "Woah," I yelled as I soared closer to the mountain. Fear mingled with adrenaline and caused me to laugh as I looked around at the breath-taking view.
how to: funking write about this
I giggle a little, my heart racing along with the wind through my hair. Candy and I were screaming at first, but as we gradually adjusted to the wild fact that we're currently falling from thousands of feet in the air, I was able to look around at the surroundings. Of course it wasn't what was actually there, but it was beautiful nonetheless. We progressively made our way to the target landing area as I turned my head every direction to get a view of everything. The glowing red and orange particles, the dragon, the volcano, everything. It was magical. I looked over at Candy, who I'd hoped was still in my vicinity. I wanted to tell her this was cool, but I knew she wouldn't be able to hear me over the wind, so instead I just gaze at her, smiling with my eyes.
le time skip
Our landing was as smooth as they promised. I smiled to Jae as I collapsed from shaky legs. The workers at the bottom handed us our items. The man with my stuff had an annoyed face. "Your phone's been ringing the entire time," he muttered. Alarmed, I rummaged through my bag, trying to find out who could have been calling.
On the screen, the named Adrian appeared. "Oh no, we never told him we were leaving," I groaned. Jae giggled, still in an adrenaline rush from the skydiving. I called him back, trying to hold back a laugh myself.
"Guys? Where the actual hell are you?"
I laugh at Candy's expression as I hear Adrian yelling through the phone. As I change out of the skydiving gear, Candy tries to calm Adrian down and explain everything that happened. Suddenly I felt someone bump into me as they walked past me, not even bothering to turn and apologize. As he walked by, I caught a glimpse of him.
He looks familiar…
I tap Candy's shoulder and whisper to her that I'll be right back before turning to follow the boy. I watched his eyes shift as if he was looking for someone, but with his path I could tell he was trying to leave the area, so I took a detour. I know a lot of people in red wear the same colors, but this boy matched exactly what I saw last time. I waited around the corner for him to arrive. After a few moments, his familiar footsteps approached, and I stepped in his way. This time, he paused, locking eyes with me and eliciting a shocked expression.
"Why are you following us?" I declared, trying to sound more bold than I actually was.
"I wasn't following you." He retaliated.
"Bullshit. It was you in the supermarket too, wasn't it? What do you want from me?"
He hesitated, unable to defend himself.
"It's…your purple hair." I realized how little I was thinking about my hair lately, and I started to feel defensive.
"So what? It's not like I'm-"
"Did you come from Purple? Were you born there? What's it like? How did you get out? Is it as scary as everyone says it is?"
"Adrian, I know, I'm sorry we left without telling you, yes it was a mistake, I'm sorry!" I sigh, rubbing my temples. Jae suddenly taps my shoulder and points to a kid in a red shirt. Before I can react, she runs off to follow them. I make a mental note of where they go before returning back to Adrian.
"You can't just leave me here! I'm still processing…" he cries over the phone.
"Adrian, please calm down. We are coming back, okay? I promise this won't happen again," I reassure. I try to take off the wing suit while holding the phone to my ear. Adrian stops yelling finally. "We have some food for you, I got to go! Bye!" I hang up before he can continue talking. After I gather our stuff, I attempt to retrace Jae's steps when I hear her voice.
"It's not like I'm-"
"Did you come from Purple? Were you born there? What's it like? How did you get out? Is it as scary as everyone says it is?"
I step away from the tree I was hiding behind. "What's going on?" My eyes shift between my friend and the stranger whom I recognized from the store.
"What's going on?" Candy emerges seemingly from no where as the boy and I look over at her.
"This kid's been following us since he ran into me earlier today." I remark at Candy, feeling a bit better now that she's here.
"Geez, sorry Red isn't enough for me. I'm curious."
I furrow my brow at him and scoff.
"But not curious enough to come up to ask us?"
"But not curious enough to come up to ask us?" Jae retorts.
He rubs his arm, brows furrowed. "It's not like we see someone from Purple every day!"
I stared at the dark-haired kid in surprise. "She's still human. What's your name?" He relaxes slightly at my forgiving tone.
"Ashton."
"Okay, Ashton. Why don't we go somewhere more cozy, like a restaurant or something, and then we can talk?" I look to Jae, hoping she would be okay with my sudden suggestion. "We can get Adrian along the way."
I shrug at Candy's suggestion. I don't know this kid, but I'm a little suspicious of him; he followed us all day and now Candy wants to have a chat with him? I mean, I suppose it's okay, but I don't want to trust him so easily. I guess we should make at least one friend, but what is it about this kid that I just don't seem to like? I try to ignore it as I follow Ashton and Candy out of the skydiving area and head to the hotel to pick up Adrian.
Before we enter the hotel, I pull Jae aside, keeping Ashton in sight. I didn't want to shun the poor kid, in case he was just truly curious, however if he wasn't able to be trusted I didn't want him to know where our room was.
"Listen, you stay with Ashton in front of the hotel's window. I'll let the front desk girl know to make sure you're okay, and to make sure she doesn't tell Ashton anything if he comes looking for us later. Don't worry, I'm stupid, but not that stupid," I whisper, eyes flickering to Ashton every now and then. Jae nods, still tense, probably from the idea of being alone with the kid again. I
slap
her back in encouragement and run into the hotel to get Adrian.
"Listen, you stay with Ashton in front of the hotel's window. I'll let the front desk girl know to make sure you're okay, and to make sure she doesn't tell Ashton anything if he comes looking for us later." I hesitate, wondering if Candy is positive that this is a good idea. I worry that Ashton and I got off on the wrong foot and that this situation will only make it worse, but I agree with Candy's suggestion anyway.
"Don't worry, I'm stupid, but not that stupid," She whispers, smirking at me with a tone of contagious confidence, causing me to nod back at her. She walks away and I turn back to return to Ashton.
The silence drills into my mind as I desperately wrack my brain for a topic. Ashton beats me to it.
"How long have you lived in Purple? Or were you born there?"
I blink my eyes, trying to remember how many days we actually spent in Purple.
"I didn't live in Purple." I whisper, the memories flashing through my mind, as if the experience was traumatizing enough to shoot bullets in my head with each image.
"I planned on living there, I was born in Yellow."
"What happened? How long did you stay?"
I look up to the sky, feeling something tugging at the corner of my eye.
"One night, I think."
He sighed, almost as if he was disappointed.
"So you didn't like it?"
"I didn't say that."
"So you want to live there?"
"I didn't say that either."
"Can you just explain your whole story so I don't have to ask so many questions?"
"Hey," I smiled to the front desk girl, who was still here for some reason. It had been hours, so I assumed her shift would've changed. "Listen, see that guy outside, next to my friend? If he ever comes asking about us, pretend you don't know us. Oh, and please make sure my friend is safe until I get back. Can you do that for me? Pretty please?"
My red-headed friend pretended to think about it. "Of course, Candy. I'll keep watch of your gal for you!"
When I got to our room, I rapped the door, yelling to Adrian, "It's me, Candy! We're in a hurry, let's go!" Adrian whipped the door open, with a slightly terrified face. "Oh, good, you're ready. Let's go before Jae dies!" I grabbed his arm and pulled him with me back to the front entrance.
Ashton blinks his eyes as he listened to me tell the story for the first time ever, causing me to make a few revelations. When I finished, he nodded.
"So, why did you leave Jade in purple?"
I shrug, not actually sure of the reasoning myself.
"He told us to. I think he was concerned about our safety."
"Why couldn't Jade come along?"
I start to feel a certain type of guilt. I had tried to talk with him when he told us to leave Purple, but Jade left before explaining anything. My heart swells as I feel a pit forming in my stomach.
"I-"
"We're back!" Candy exclaimed as she and Adrian strolled out of the door, causing me to clear my throat and straighten my posture, realizing I had relaxed into somewhat of a slouched and depressed position.
"Ashton, this is Adrian, Adrian, Ashton." I introduce the two to each other and look at Candy.
"What's our next plan of action?"
i can't believe i refrained from opening this until i was ready to respond and this is what you said
"What's our next plan of action?" Jae asked.
good question! we cry. kill jade. fuck purple.
anyways
I scratched my chin. We had already done the most thrilling thing, in my opinion, in Red. I figured relaxing time was over.
"Time to bulk up, I guess. There must be some martial arts teacher or some weaponry guy somewhere in this city. We can't go back to Purple without at least some skills." I turned to face Ashton. "You wouldn't happen to know someone, would you?"
ashton puffs his chest out as his demeanor suddenly becomes super different
"hello everybody from now on u can call me sensei"
Ashton perks up as if he wasn't listening at first, shrugging his shoulders.
"My dad makes me practice hand-to-hand combat just for fun. It's seen more as a competitive sport rather than used for defense or attack, though."
I look over at Candy, eyeing her as I silently hope she agrees with me on this situation.
"Do you think it'll be sufficient either way?" I ask Ashton, who's nervously scratching the back of his neck.
"Probably. We could try a few moves and see if you think they'll work."
i chop him in half and reveal to everyone i am the true master
"Probably. We could try a few moves and see if you think they'll work."
I nod my head in agreement. We moved towards the side of the hotel, where less people were and where a patch of soft grass was. Ashton beats adrian up and accidentally kills him i mean
Ashton looks back and forth between the three of us. "Who wants to go first?"
I step up to the boy, mildly unprepared. "Give it your all," I smirked and bent my knees a bit. Taking a deep breath, I swing my right arm towards his head, only for Ashton to grab my wrist and slam my entire body into the grass - all in one swift quick moment. I groaned as the impact of the ground sent pains through my back. That's gonna leave a bruise.
"u rlly snatched my weave shweechie"
I gasp in amazement but also shocked concern for Candy as I could almost feel the impact of her back hitting the ground with immense force. I wince as Candy forces herself up, coughing a bit and breathing heavily, as Ashton didn't even break a sweat. On the one hand, I definitely wanted to learn that, but on the other hand, I don't know if I could bring myself to do it to another person, much less practice it with my friends. Am I really ready to fight someone? I turn to Adrian expectantly.
Adrian returns Jae's stare with a terrified expression. She shrugs and prepares herself. I watch as Jae hesitantly walks up to Ashton. Jae tries to kick Ashton's side, but he dodges and swiftly grabs Jae's arm, twisting it behind her back. I could see he could've gone farther, but his body was forced to stop so that Jae wouldn't get hurt.
"Is that good enough?" he says, letting go of her arm.
Jae and I exchange impressed glances. "Teach us."
Ashton raises one eyebrow, proud of himself for impressing us as he straightens himself back up, letting me go. He claps his hands conclusively and adjusts his standing position, holding his arms art ever so slightly to give off a bit of a leading energy.
"Alright, so first things first, we need to start with the most important thing; stance. Your opponent can and will use every opportunity to knock you off your feet and get you at a disadvantage, so what you need to do is hold your ground."
He straightens his feet and then moves his left foot backward, holding up his fists in a defensive position.
"Whichever hand is your dominant, use that foot to step back. This will also give you more initial power in your swing."
