Slenderverse One-shots

Lost in the ARK ⊗ MH

Tim is somewhere he shouldn't be

He stared at the bleak landscape around him in confusion. How... How had he gotten here? Where was here? Tim turned to look over his shoulder; tall, spindly dark trees rose up against the permanently overcast looking sky. Their branches stretched and seemed to reach out for anything they could ensnare. Fog swirled around as he took a cautious step forward. This wasn't Rosswood—though he'd known going back there had been a bad idea.

"But what if Jay was there..." Of course that was just some lies he'd used to create some sense of false hope that Jay hadn't died. That maybe, on a slim chance, he'd been taken to the burned out hospital or the red shed or the tunnel...

He didn't even recall seeing that tall thing in the suit—The Operator, as many of Alex's scribbled drawings seemed to call it. Something about this place screamed it was wrong. Just like the faceless monster. The feeling of paranoia and eyes following him didn't lessen as he continued searching for... He wasn't sure. An exit maybe? Yeah. That'd probably be a good thing to find.

"But what if Jay's here?" Something nagged at his thoughts that it could be the chance to find Jay and bring him back with him. A thought that whispered promises of his other friends being returned as if the past years hadn't occurred echoed in his head.

It seemed to tug him forward, urging him instinctively to the open expanse that the trees surrounded. With the fog, he couldn't see what he was headed towards but each step became less cautious and more desperate to reach the location he was mentally being pulled to.

A shape moved to his right, jolting him from his haze. Tim sucked in a breath and whipped his head around, trying to see where the figure had gone. He didn't have much on him in terms of a weapon, only Jay's folding knife. He spotted a distinctly human blob darting by again; the person was circling him... and closing in fast.

"...Jay?" He knew deep down it wasn't. Jay would never do this to him. Another person came to mind. "Brian?"

Nothing. Everything seemed to still. Tim spun, taking out the knife as he tried to find his stalker. "It can't be Alex... I killed him. So who—what?"

A slight scraping sound and weight fell onto his back, arms wrapping tightly around his throat. Tim gave a startled, choked noise as he adjusted his footing. At least they hadn't sent him to the ground, as they were a rather light weight. A shudder went through him as he felt a familiar plastic against his head and arms as he twisted and turned to grab the figure and throw them off.

Their body thumped to the ground as he flung them down. He coughed as he caught his breath and glared at the slender masked figure. Tim nearly choked on air as they rose and he could fully see their mask; it looked a little too much like The Operator's 'face' for his liking. At least it wasn't that entity. A human being he could fight.

He rammed into them, not letting the figure make another move; the two tumbled to the dirt. Alarm shot through him as the wall of fog disappeared and revealed the pit he'd nearly sent both of them falling into. His grip on their shoulder tightened as he stared below at the abyss, silently thankful most of his body was still on solid ground—gooey ground but solid enough.

"What is that? It feels... bad." He felt the hole calling to him again but didn't fall for the trick again. "Another few steps and I would've walked right over!"

Hands pushed back and grabbed at his flannel as his attacker struggled to avoid the gaping hole beneath their shoulders. "Wait... I... I'm trying to help!"

The voice wasn't familiar and he had little inclination to trust them, but the feeling of the ground sinking down and into the pit made up his mind. Tim shuffled back, dragging them along; at least he could get answers from them.