Fragmented

Chapter Six

The group appeared on the recently installed teleportation pad in the Red Kingdom. Sabre beheld the beauty around him. Quaint red cottages surrounded them, and cobblestone streets weaved between them. Bright red banners hung from the entrances of shops and the lampposts that lined the roads, and long ribbons of crimson fabric were wrapped around the posts, connecting them. Poppies and roses grew in abundance on and around the buildings. The hubbub of the bustling marketplace nearby filled the sweet summer air. He could hear the faint trill of a flute coming from one of the houses. Steves of all colors rushed past them to complete errands, mostly Red Steves.

"Come on, Sabre. Light's waiting for us." M said, beckoning towards the lab. Sabre hadn't noticed him move. The cheery kingdom around him had captured his attention wholly.

Sabre glanced through shop windows and marveled at the expansion of the kingdom from when he had last been there as they passed groups of Steves and came closer to Professor Red's laboratory. As they grew closer, the copious amounts of bustling Steves dwindled and the slope inclined. The lab was built on a hill since there was an observatory on the top and it would be easier to see the sky at night.

Light was waiting for them. When Sabre had returned, Light took time off his duty to visit, which was something he rarely did. He looked mostly the same, aside from a few new scars from an encounter with a band of robbers a few months before. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and watching a few birds sing in a tree with red blossoms nearby. When he caught sight of them trekking up the path, he smiled and started walking towards them.

"What took you guys so long?" he called jokingly. He was dressed in light armor and his sword was in its sheath on his back. Light was ready for combat if it came to it.

"The Professor took a little 'shortcut'- " M made quotations with his fingers- "that took ten minutes longer than it should've." He rolled his eyes.

"Hey! It's not my fault that happened! The route we took would have been faster if it had rained in the last two weeks!"

Time shook his head. "This isn't the time to argue." He chuckled a little at his unintentional pun, then turned serious again. "We should get moving."

"I agree," Light said. "Professor, lead the way."

"Gladly!" He pulled a small device from a pocket in his white lab coat that looked like a calculator and began pressing buttons. After a few seconds, he pointed east towards the thickest and darkest part of the forest. "The area is over there."

"Really? The creepy, dark, scary part of the forest? Really?" Sabre complained. "Something's going to hunt us down one by one like in a horror movie or something."

"What's a horror movie?" M asked.

"It's- how do I explain this- it's like a scary story, but you watch it on a screen. Like with your Interdimensional TV, Time. Now can we please get going?"

"Wait," Light said. "Before we go, Professor Red, can you tell us what dangers there are where we're going?" Sabre hadn't thought about there being any dangers. He suddenly wished he had brought his sword. He at least had his knife like he always did.

"Nope! I have no idea what might be down there, that's why we're investigating it. Now, onwards!" The Professor bounded down the hill, leaving everyone in the dust to try and keep up with him.

The group dashed through the forest past incredibly large spruces and prickly holly bushes that tore at their clothes. The trees crowded closer and closer together, until they could barely see each other. The amount of undergrowth grew as well, and everyone had to avoid tripping on vines and running into tree branches. The noise they made stampeding through the undergrowth scared away all the animals in the vicinity, so they didn't encounter anything except the dense foliage and a thick, cold mist that clung to the ground.