Gem paused in her walking to glance down the path behind her, had she heard footsteps? Gem considered this development, if they were foot steps that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, friends were always nice, adventuring buddies would be even better. The Clouds parted suddenly letting bright sunlight cover the trail, Gem pushed back her hood letting the ray's warm her cold cheeks. The change in the weather seemed unnatural, the footsteps grew louder, Gem had an uncanny feeling that she had traveled a lot further then she had just walked.
Wes had his suspicions of Elana’s Trail. He had walked just a few moments, yet he could no longer see his house. Nor the land around it.
Instead, his eyes rested on the swaying trees, yet they made no sound. His ears were filled with the sound of footsteps… them stopping periodically as he continued to walk on.
Could there be someone else out here? he wondered to himself. I’ve never heard of anyone voluntarily going to Elana’s Trail…
Still, he continued to walk, his pace never hitching.
Cleo attempted to ignore the footsteps that she had begun hearing, though the chills on her arms suggested otherwise.
Maybe they are just echoes of my own, she tried to convince herself, though that proved unsuccessful as well. Just don't look back. It's all fine.
Sucking in a breath, she lifted her head and walked, taking no mind to the unnnatural feeling the forest had.
As he blinked away the spots, Kade heard other footsteps, coming toward him, breaking through the eerie silence. He stiffened and glanced around, but could see no one. Was he just being paranoid, or was it something else?Was there actually someone there?
Gem rounded the bend to find a young man standing in the road, she paused. He didn't exactly look like a friend. He was tall with unruly black hair, His eye's caught her attention, Golden. It took her a moment to speak, "Not many travel this road, you startled me friend."
"Oh. Uh… hi," Kade said, totally not startled. "I, uh, I wouldn't know. I don't travel this way a lot."
Wes came to see two figures outlined in the woods. He held his breath, willing his legs to keep walking. If this forest didn’t scare him enough, the potential social interaction did. He gulped, his green eyes staying straight forward as he passed the other people.
Oh dear, oh dear, Cleo stiffened as she saw people a little ahead of her. She dusted invisible dirt off her arms as she came near the three, pretending to be involved in something important. She walked a bit faster; hopefully, they wouldn't care and simply just ignore her.
Gem Smiled, "I see, I don't usually either, but I had this really weird dream, and it told me lots of things but I don't remember most of them, and it said to come on this trail- Good heavens I'm monologuing again and you don't even know my name." Gem inhaled, sharply before holding out her hand to the young man, "Hi I'm Gem, Oh, look more friends! Hello!" she waved at the two new people energetically. "And here I though I'd be adventuring alone."
Wes stopped in his tracks, already sweating nervously.
“Y-Yeah, it’s odd,” he stuttered, a hand behind his head and resting on his neck. His backpack mounted on his back was torn like the cloth of his clothing. “No one is ever… o-on this trail.”
He could feel the excitement permeating from the girl, and the calmness from the black-haired boy. He felt a sudden sense of social anxiety and turned, watching yet another girl walk past. He resisted the urge to beckon her over. With feeling all of these emotional extremes, his head hurt. Sometimes he hated being an empath.
Cleo let out a sigh, turning around. Why couldn't they just let her be? However, the girl did mention something about a dream; could it be that she had one too? In that case…
"Hello," she said politely, smiling. "So… you had a dream? What do you remember from it?"
Kade pursed his lips. "Oh. Um… well, you see, I had the same dream. I just don't remember anything about it. It's very annoying, really." He ran a hand through his hair, watching the new arrivals with wary eyes.
Gem tipped her head to one side thinking, "It's not that I remember nothing, there's a set of instructions, stay on the trail. And the trail lead me to all of you so I can only assume were supposed to travel together." She concluded nodding her head slightly.
"Ah… I also had the dream," Cleo admitted. "The only thing I remember was that I was supposed to go here. And if all of you had the dream as well, then it has to mean something, doesn't it?"
Gem nodded enthusiastically, "I do believe it must, more of it's coming back to me now." the scene unfolded in her mind Figures met along the road, four, their identities indiscernible. The voice returned Narrating the scene. The Trail will bring together four, four to take on the quest. Elana knows her travelers, her paths twist and merge, four will find a way through them. Separation, will bring wrath.
"I think we're to stay together." She added the final warning ringing through her mind. "It can't hurt to travel in a group, there is safety in numbers."
Wes nodded. “I remember it all. S-so we are the four?”
Wesley could feel his own emotions rising within him. Part of him was excited, but it was quickly washed over with anxiety and worry. He had no clue who these people were, and he had just up and left his family. He cursed himself inwardly. He was stupid.
Wes swiftly brought himself up beside Gem, giving the best warm smile he could.
“W-what else do you remember?” he asked quietly. “So we could compare and analyze. Do you remember anything about the dangers ahead?”
Gem waved a hand dismissively, "Nope, listen, Dangers going to happen if we sit around and mope about it or not. I for one would rather go meet it, shake it's hand and tell it that they have a rather nice hat." She adjusted her cloak before speaking again, "This trail isn't going to travel it's self, well actually it might but that's not the point I'm trying to make, Let's be off."
Kade scowled. Just what he needed. A bunch of strangers coming along with him to supposedly save the world. He hadn't signed up for this, and he certainly didn't want people along.
Cleo did not expect this at all, though she figured it wasn't too surprising considering the day so far.
"Fine with me," she told them, shrugging. She adjusted her bag on her shoulder, continuing along the trail.
She looked back at the other three. "Are you coming?"
"Fine," Kade grumbled. It's not like he had anything better to do, or anywhere to go. He shouldered his back and started to walk, not looking at any of the others.
Wes timidly stepped forward, then took another. He could tell they were nervous, but clearly they were all more curious than worried. The boy put on a small and gentle smile.
“I’m in,” he said softly.
Gem smiled warmly, the sunshine glinted off her blonde hair, "Well this is going to be an adventure indeed." She started off, thinking. The tall moody one might be harder to crack, she had a feeling the timid one would warm up once he was comfortable. The girl seemed friendly enough, no, the only one she would really need to work hard on was tall dark and moody. She grinned and spun in a circle while she walked.
Wes followed loosely, holding a hand to the back of his head to see if he could repress the headache. His gaze shifted all around nervously, and he held the small pack with a tight grip. His torn clothing swayed slightly against him with the small breeze.
Cleo walked along, feeling a bit awkward. Sure, they all had the same dream but she wasn't exactly comfortable with them yet. They seemed alright enough, though she had no idea how to act around them.
"Sooo," she settled for finally, turning around and walking backwards to face the others. "Does anyone know what's at the end of this trail? I only vaguely know the legends."
Gem shook her head, "That's half the fun now isn't it." She replied, the sun seemed to disappear further down the trail this was strange for it appeared to be high noon where they were currently, there wasn't a cloud in the sky either.
(You all can make up your own stories about the trail, every character would have heard something different)
