Indigo's Owl [Indigo Rewrite]

Chapter 7 - Mindscape

Shift fell through nothing, acutely aware of the fact that he was still conscious as some unseen force tumbled around his thoughts and dragged him along with it.

It could have been a second or an hour when the nothing finally spat him out.

Shift stumbled forward as his body reappeared from the darkness, and disoriented, his training kicked in. He reached for his wristlet, cursing as he realised he was no longer in his Keeper suit. The clothes he wore were entirely unfamiliar, and trying not to think about where his suit had gone, he patted himself down, hoping to find something he could use to contact his team and came up empty-handed.

His hopes sank further as he took in his surroundings, quickly realising he had bigger problems than a missing Keeper suit.

He was in the middle of nowhere, and he had absolutely no idea how he'd got there.

The ground was grey and cracked, covered in a fine layer of dark, powdery ash that swirled at the slightest movement. A smoke-like haze smothered the horizon, leaving him with zero chance of locating a landmark in this wasteland — not that he expected to find one. There was nothing in sight except a single, lopsided shrub that barely came up to his knee, basking in the sole beam of light that broke through the fog.

It seemed impossible. There was nothing like this even remotely close to Sirah. He'd heard places in Nomstral resembled it, but that was a dead continent an ocean away. Even the strongest teleportation abilities in history struggled with that distance, let alone with a passenger.

Shift retreated back towards the shrub and forced himself to take a breath, coughing as the ash came with it.

Despite the dreamlike quality to everything, it all felt real enough. That left him with two options. One, Athira's Colour had done something weird and he was hallucinating, or two, he'd been kidnapped.

"Wouldn't be the first time," muttered Shift as he circled the shrub, scanning the hazy skyline for a hint of anything when he found it.

He squinted, not quite believing his eyes as a cloaked figure stepped out of thin air, their back to him, and began rapidly walking into the fog.

Shift didn't hesitate. He ran after them, because even if they'd brought him here, he had a better chance with them than he did alone in this wasteland.

"Hey!" he called, keeping his tone light. Starting with accusations never ended well, and he was an expert at wearing a big, dumb grin while playing nice. "Hey, wait! Do you know where we are, or how we got here?"

The figure stopped and turned towards him, giving Shift the chance to close the distance.

They were short, barely passing his shoulder in height, but between the haze and the black, layered cloak with the cowl pulled over their head, their features remained hidden.

"Hello?" said Shift, barely a few metres away when his run slowed. "Can you hear me?"

"Maybe I did go insane," they muttered, pressing a gloved palm to the side of their head. A line of runes trailed up the bare skin of their arm. Runes that Shift recognised. "I knew it was impossible. First Raph, then Zoe, now this."

Shift stopped. Stared. "... Athira?"

This close, he could see every single uncertain line on her unmasked face as she stared straight back at him in silence.

Shift's 'play nice with your captor' plan went out the window as confusion took the wheel. "Where are we? Did you bring me here?"

Athira didn't answer him. Instead, she reached up and placed a hand against his sternum. Caught off guard, Shift didn't get the chance to move away before she snatched her hand back, clutching the silver amulet that hung around her throat.