Chasing Colors (ONC) | Fade to Grey #1

Chapter Six

After arriving back at Wandering Woods, Scarlet set her bag down on the brown stump a few feet away from where she was standing. Luckily it was still brown. She couldn't understand why she could see the colors disappearing, but Silver couldn't. Thoughts of it being connected to the blobs popped into her head again. Ruling out the option couldn't happen just yet. Maybe the clues had something to do with it.

To her left, Silver was chopping blocks of ice which he conjured for practice. He was in this mode for quite a while, each square coming at him faster but he never fell behind. Rain splashed the ground the minute he separated the cubes, a smile spreading on his face every time. They needed to figure out where to go next, but Scarlet didn't want to bother him.

"Come on, Scar. Don't you wanna practice with me?"

"I'd love to," she responded. "But we need to figure out where the next clue leads."

The ice above Silver's head fell right after he stepped away. He grabbed her hand, pulling her forward. "We can do that while we practice. After that mermaid, neither of us have any idea what we're gonna find. Let's take a little break and have some fun. Just like old times."

Scarlet laughed. "Alright, fine. But you better be ready to lose!"

"Only in your dreams," he answered.

Without taking any time to think, she hurled a ball of fire in his direction. It almost reached his side, but he managed to jump out of the way in time.

"Hey, watch it! Your fire actually hurts." He grinned. Any part that could've been serious went right out the window at this point.

"Bring it on."

Water flew towards Scarlet, but she sent fire Silver's way before the water got too close to her. Both of their elements collided, creating fireworks as the two sent their powers down in every way.

Silver dodged the fire while hiding behind a rock. With Scarlet distracted looking up at the water, her footsteps dancing as she moved out of the way, he threw some rain on top of her.

Unable to get rid of it, it drenched her entire body. Her clothes stuck to her skin easily. "Alright, you won the first round, but this isn't over." She sighed, tossing the paper that held the clue in his direction. "Do you think the next clue is in a jacuzzi or something?"

"It can't be." Silver shook his head. "Well, I mean, it could. But think about the first one. It was at a beach. I doubt the second one would be in some place small like that."

"That's true. Where do you think it would be then?" She took the advantage to start round two and moved her hands in a small circle, looking up at him. Seconds later, tiny fire pellets poured into his hair. It wouldn't hurt him considering they messed around like this a lot, but watching him jump around a bit could be pretty funny.

"I don't know, maybe a vol—" He hissed, running his fingers through his hair, trying to soften the fire. Once he got it out, he said, "Unfair. I was talking to you and trying to help."

She laughed. "And that's exactly why it's funny."

"Oh you started it now." His hands moved so quick that Scarlet didn't get a chance to think before she was drenched in more water. He kept flinging it toward her until she finally relented.

"Alright, alright! Round two is yours, just stop..." she trailed off, giggling but trying not to swallow water.

Silver walked towards her, reaching his hand out to help her up. He raised his other arm in the air. "And the champion continues to reign. He has yet to be defeated. What will happen against his next opponent?"

Standing up, she shoved him just enough to make him lose balance but still held on to his hand. "Oh shut up."

He grinned, holding the clue. "In all seriousness, I think this is going to be a volcano."

"Why?"

"Think about it. It says it's somewhere hot. There's no way it can be anywhere little. Maybe this clue is meant for you."

"It's possible," she answered. "But where is there a volcano here? I've never seen one."

"Do you think there's a map in that building where we found the clue? Maybe we just missed it."

Scarlet grabbed her bag and put the straps on her shoulders. "Let's go find out. The faster we get the clue then we can find my parents!" She ran out of the woods waiting for Silver. Moments later, the two of them were walking back to the abandoned building that started their adventure. They were running out of time considering more grey continued to pop up in unusual places, taking the color away.

When they finally got to the area, nothing around it held any shade. Everything was so grey it was almost depressing. Scarlet knew that there were still some places with color, but she had no idea how long they'd be that way. Not that she'd want to wish this on anyone, but she wanted Silver to be able to see what she saw. Just so she'd have someone to talk about it with. At this rate, even though he was her best friend, she didn't know how to bring it up to him. Maybe it'd be something she'd always have to deal with on her own, but she hoped that wasn't the case.

The door squeaked open as they both walked inside searching for a map to help them find their way. It was too hard to notice anything. Silver was lifting up little boxes that were on the shelves to make sure nothing was hidden underneath, but nothing was found. Every piece of grey just became worse as they moved everything they could think of. "Maybe there's nothing here," Scarlet told her best friend.

"Don't give up yet," he said. "We'll find it."

"How do you know?"

Silver flipped a switch on the wall. The right side of the building's wall moved, revealing another room. "Because we're not done looking yet."

Scarlet's mouth fell open. "You knew that was there and we spent all this time searching?"

"Relax." He patted her shoulder. "I didn't know it was there. It just appeared."

"Huh, strange."

Looking in her direction while they walked through the wall, he laughed. "You got that right."

More grey. Scarlet grew tired of seeing grey twenty-four seven. Almost tearing the sunglasses off her face, she longed to see some sort of color. At this point, she'd even take her least favorite color, green. But grey was still in her vision. Knowing Silver didn't see the same thing, she didn't want to ask him, but she did anyway. "Do you see grey anywhere?"

He was shuffling through the shelves, pulling out another piece of paper and opening it. "No, why?"

"No reason." She sighed, moving toward him. "Is that a map of Smoky Meadows?"

Blowing the dust off, he coughed then said, "I think so. Look! It shows a volcano to the left of here. 'Pointed Peak'. I've never heard of that. Should we go?"

"Of course we're going." Without another word, Scarlet walked off through the wall and out the door. Leaving tiny trails of fire, she continued to the left. If these clues were going to fix her vision and find her parents, there was no time to waste. Hopefully she could still see the beautiful shade she loved so much when they made it to the volcano. Determination ran through her. She was ready for anything now. At least that's what she kept telling herself as she continued through the trail. All she needed was that confidence to get her through the rest of it.