ECHO [Rewritten - NaNoWriMo '16]

The Epilogue

It felt as though she had simply closed her eyes. A blink and they were open again. Echo frowned as she saw the sunlight peeking through the trees. And it was warm – not cold, not hot – but warm. Echo sat up and looked around her. Trees towered over her, reaching for that blue sky. She was lying in the middle of a trail, with cushioned sand. Echo got to her feet, feeling confused as to where she was. This wasn't Germany. And it looked as though she were in the middle of a well-worn trail but there was no one there. She was entirely alone despite the sun being high in the sky.

Alone. Wait, where was Paiute? She looked around and reached out with her mind, but she couldn't feel him. Echo swallowed thickly, her hands coming up to rest before her chest. It felt empty, as though there were nothing there. And for the first time in years, Echo felt true, genuine sadness wash over her. Her knees buckled and she fell onto that soft sand. She could handle losing any of those feeble human connections that she had had, but Paiute was a loss that would destroy her. He was quite literally her soul, what was she supposed to do without him?

She didn't know how much time had passed, but eventually she realized that the ground in front of her was patterned with lights that were orange, yellow, and red. Echo blinked a few times and stared at the trail that stretched before her and she felt an odd tug, as though she needed to move forward. She stood, pursing her lips and beginning to walk. The bites and the wounds were gone. Her skin was silken smooth. She checked her shoulder, finding that the tattoo was still there. Guess tattoos really are permanent.

For a mile she followed the trail before she paused. She looked off to her right, noticing that while – while there was no trail – the trees had a bit more space between them. And boulders mixed with fallen trees covered the ground, and they were covered in a thick, bright green moss. Echo had this odd feeling that she had to go that way. And so, she turned and began to head that. The moss provided enough grip with her boots that she didn't have to worry about slipping and falling. It also had the added bonus of masking any sound.

Out of years of training, she kept her body in a crouch as she moved forward. She wished that she had her knives, or a gun. Something other than sticks but if necessary, she was just as good without a weapon. The boulders and the logs ended, but the moss still covered the ground, leading to a space between the mountains. Despite Echo's better judgment, she knew that for some reason she had to climb up the rocks, and go to whatever was behind this space. She rubbed her palms together, before reaching up, grabbing the edges of the rocks, and pulling herself up.

Here, the moss covering the rocks didn't help, as it made them slippery and it was difficult to get a proper grip. Echo kept pushing her way up, even when moss ripped from under her fingers and the sharp rock protruding underneath cut open her forearm. She hissed in pain, blood dripping off her fingers. She balled her fist together before continuing. A decent amount of sweat had formed on her forehead and behind her neck, the latter dripping down her back. She rolled onto her back once she reached the top, breathing in the clean air. The sky had become a stunning array of colors; red, orange, pink, yellow, with a dash of purple, and the coming of navy blue.

Arizona.

She was in Arizona. And by the looks of the stunning forest spread beside her, Echo realized that she was in Sedona. After a few moments, she got back onto her feet, climbing down just a short distance. Twigs crunched underneath her feet as she landed. She was in a valley; it has to be at least five miles all around, with a small lake in the middle. There were a few trees, blossoming with beautiful pink flowers. Echo walked forward slowly, the grass rose up to her knees.