Broken Ties: An Adventure Forward AU

Chapter Five: Sinking Wood

I appeared right in front of the snowflake portal and glanced around. Nothing has changed. I looked to my left and noticed a door with Signol and Compale's respective symbols printed onto it. I opened it and walked through.

There was yet another door with a yellow star, a purple moon on its side, and a golden 4-pointed star imprinted onto it. Nearby, a huge broken wooden birdhouse was attached to the golden-grayish wall. I stood there for a moment. Where's Compale? Meh, he probably would want me to go in there. After all, I do see that same 4-pronged star near the birdhouse with "Wooden Workshop" written nearby. I walked over, hopped onto the short, stumpy pole, and went through the portal.

I landed on a soft patch of grass in the middle of a forest. "Wait a minute, didn't the sign say 'Wooden Workshop'? Where's the workshop?" The forest was filled with trees (obviously), bushes, and flowers. A gray stone path continued forward. I got up and walked down the path. I noticed a tripwire and jumped over it. Then my foot hit a loose stone, and I fell onto a huge stone button. It lowered, and a huge boulder suspended over me was cut loose

Is this the end? Is Verano just gonna stay lost forever, and Compale's friends will still fight and think he's dead? Will I never go home? Endless thoughts surged through my head as I awaited the boulder to crush me, ending it all.

Then, a gray hooded person quickly ran, grabbed my hand, and pulled me to safety. They quickly pulled their hood down and revealed themself as Compale. "What the heck were you thinking!?" he hissed. I looked down onto the grass. He sighed and put his hand on my shoulder. "Please be more careful. It appears that either Ploque or whoever now inhabits this world has laid some traps to trick any unwary visitors and kill them."

"Wouldn't it be easier if you just teleported me to the end of the path?" I asked. Compale thought for a moment. "Hm, that would make things a lot easier, and you wouldn't have to face uncertain death, but then again, I do think you should refine your reaction skills. No, you already triggered a trap with your carelessness. I'm going to send you to the end of the path," he said. 

I was teleported away to the end of the path. No sign of Compale, he's probably back at the emporium, I thought. There was a brick house with a chimney on top. It didn't look too shabby, it looked like a lot of the houses back home. Home. "Why did I agree to this in the first place?" I groaned. A raccoon hurried past me. "Oh, so there's wildlife, huh? Oh well, I should probably check and see if anyone is inside." 

I walked up to the green door and knocked on it.

Nobody answered. I turned the door handle, and surprisingly, it was open. I strolled through the hallway and ended up in the living room. It had a vintage look to it. Potted plants were put in one corner, a couch and TV were there (how is there wifi in here), and a table smack dab in the middle. There was a huge, clear door that had another stone path leading to it.

I slid it open and walked on the path. It led to a huge lake. The water was pristine, and the sun bore down on it, and that's when I heard someone screaming. "HELP, SOMEONE!" a high-pitched voice called out from the water. I instantly pulled off my satchel and dove in. I started swimming around, looking for whoever was calling for help. I noticed a brown and light golden shape sinking towards the bed of the lake, seemingly lifeless. Guess my efforts were in vain, I thought as I quickly attempted to resurface, only to realize I was losing my breath before I could make it to sure. I quickly fell under, gasping. I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable.

¯¯¯⌜later...⌟¯¯¯

I woke up, got up, and quickly looked around. Is this a dream? No, this is the shore of the lake. How...? My thoughts were quickly interrupted by a brown to golden point, sitting beside me. They were wearing a straw hat, a white shirt with orange stripes, and blue pants with tree bark markings and light yellow polka dots. They looked like they had just finished crying. "Are you o-okay?" I asked. 

"Y-yea... just, a young deer friend accidentally fell into the lake. I couldn't save her. But then I noticed you dive into the water, trying to rescue them. I really appreciate the effort, but you didn't have to rescue her. Besides, she was quite old already, so she kinda was reaching the end of her time." 

She brushed away a tear. "Anyways, are you okay?" she smiled. "Yea, j-just really cold," I shivered. She quickly pulled my satchel into view, pulled out a black blanket with a yellow star imprinted onto it, and quickly put it around me. "Where d-did you find my satchel?" I asked. "It was on the sand," she responded. "Come on, we should probably head back to my place, it'll be a lot more comfortable and warmer than here." "Good idea."

We got up and walked down the path. I went through the screen door and sat down on the couch. Ploque walked into another room connected to the living room (which I assume is the kitchen) and came out minutes later with a tray. It had a cup and some cookies on it. "Here, take this, it'll warm you up. Oh, and when you're done, the bathroom is upstairs if you want to change your clothes. I don't use it, but I have it, just in case human visitors ever drop by and manage to get past my traps," she informed me. "I see, thanks for your hospitality by the way," I noted. "No problem!" she grinned. "Oh, by the way, my name is Ploque, what's yours?"

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Wowie! This chapter was a little longer than others, and for a good reason too! A lot of people don't like Ploque because she doesn't really have much of a personality, so I decided to try and make up for it with this part (after all the initial part was she freaking drowns and Compale says "Alright let's just go back to the Emporium LOL"). I hope I did her some justice. See you next time birbs :D