CHOICE FOUR
As soon as your foot touches the water, the placid lake begins to churn. You try to pull your foot away, but it is far too late for that. Panicking, you turn to look at the boatman hoping for his help. He looks back at you without moving, eyes glowing a hot and fierce white. There is no help to be found at his hands any longer.
The churning water sucks at your foot, drawing you further and further into the water. You flail your arms to keep yourself from sinking under entirely, but the pull of the currents is too much to fight against. Soon you are completely submerged, the lake a completely different world underneath the surface.
You find that, surprisingly, you are not having any trouble breathing. You stop clawing at your throat and take a deep breath. It’s strange, pulling water through your nose like air but strangely soothing as well. You don’t even feel particularly burdened by your sodden clothes which, ordinarily, would have drug you down to the bottom by now.
Around you, dark shadows swirl. They brush against your skin, leaving a glittery trail in their wake.
Is this it? Is this how you gain incredible icon making skills?
It’s surely as magical as they say. There’s no other explanation for your sudden ability to breath underwater. You feel almost at peace just floating there suspended in liquid. You could, in fact, just stay there forever and never move another inch. Come to think of it, why do you need incredible icon skills anyway? Those aren’t necessary for floating in water for eternity. You don’t need icons at all. There are much better things for you right here under the lake.
You smile to yourself and take another large breath of water, marveling at how incredible the sensation still is. The dark shadows swirl languidly around you, little anonymous friends coming to give you encouragement.
Why wasn’t everyone clamoring to stay underneath the lake?
This thought stops your effervescent joy in its bubbly tracks. Perhaps no one is clamoring about it because no one knows. Anyone who had experienced the lake would never have returned home to tell the tale.
Your hands are back at your throat now because the once soothing inhale of water has become the choking you expected. The once docile shadows swimming around you have become agitated, shifting from languid beings to sharp, pointy ‘t’ shapes that stab and poke at you as they try and drag you even farther under the water.
There is no way for you to escape. Already you feel too weak to swim, and the lack of air is making you light headed. The shadows have a firm grip on you, and with their assistance, you are sinking deeper and deeper under the lake.
You stop thrashing around, admitting defeat, and you wonder how it’s possible for a simple lake to be this deep. But down, down, down you go deeper and deeper. If you had the energy left, you would be surprised that you are still alive. Shouldn’t you be dead by now?
And just when you are about to close your eyes and surrender to that thought, your feet touch the ground.
You gasp for air and are rewarded by the sweet rush of oxygen through your lungs. The area around you is dark until your eyes adjust, and then it comes alive with crystal color. It’s completely dry here, but dark as though you’ve woken up in an undersea cave of sorts. You cautiously sit up to observe your surroundings.
The malicious shadows are now gone, leaving you to your own devices.
In fact, you seem to be utterly alone, and that thought coupled with the cool air over your wet skin makes you shudder. You may have set off on your own not that many hours before, but this aloneness seems different somehow. It’s as if you are entirely cut off from the icon community: a lone maker.
The area around you sparkles with rainbow lights and deep, dark shadows like purple bruises, and you make your way to your feet, wobbling slightly as you regain your equilibrium. Drowning kind of takes it out of a person.
You can feel your graphics program still snugly clinging to your back and breathe a sigh of relief. You hadn’t even thought to heck. What’s the matter with you? As you mentally chastise yourself, you hear the pitter patter of feet in the distance. You crane your neck, listening as hard as you can. Those feet are definitely heading in your direction. What are you going to do?
Sinking back into the shadows to hide yourself from their approach seems like the best idea. [JUMP LINK: SINK INTO THE SHADOWS]
But you could also try running away. If you keep ahead of them, maybe you won’t run into any trouble. But that’s a big maybe… [JUMP LINK: MAYBE’S ENOUGH FOR ME...RUN AWAY!]
THEME: SHADOW
blue_emotion | nightbulbs | innocent_lexys | deiaaa | applepips16
The churning water sucks at your foot, drawing you further and further into the water. You flail your arms to keep yourself from sinking under entirely, but the pull of the currents is too much to fight against. Soon you are completely submerged, the lake a completely different world underneath the surface.
You find that, surprisingly, you are not having any trouble breathing. You stop clawing at your throat and take a deep breath. It’s strange, pulling water through your nose like air but strangely soothing as well. You don’t even feel particularly burdened by your sodden clothes which, ordinarily, would have drug you down to the bottom by now.
Around you, dark shadows swirl. They brush against your skin, leaving a glittery trail in their wake.
Is this it? Is this how you gain incredible icon making skills?
It’s surely as magical as they say. There’s no other explanation for your sudden ability to breath underwater. You feel almost at peace just floating there suspended in liquid. You could, in fact, just stay there forever and never move another inch. Come to think of it, why do you need incredible icon skills anyway? Those aren’t necessary for floating in water for eternity. You don’t need icons at all. There are much better things for you right here under the lake.
You smile to yourself and take another large breath of water, marveling at how incredible the sensation still is. The dark shadows swirl languidly around you, little anonymous friends coming to give you encouragement.
Why wasn’t everyone clamoring to stay underneath the lake?
This thought stops your effervescent joy in its bubbly tracks. Perhaps no one is clamoring about it because no one knows. Anyone who had experienced the lake would never have returned home to tell the tale.
Your hands are back at your throat now because the once soothing inhale of water has become the choking you expected. The once docile shadows swimming around you have become agitated, shifting from languid beings to sharp, pointy ‘t’ shapes that stab and poke at you as they try and drag you even farther under the water.
There is no way for you to escape. Already you feel too weak to swim, and the lack of air is making you light headed. The shadows have a firm grip on you, and with their assistance, you are sinking deeper and deeper under the lake.
You stop thrashing around, admitting defeat, and you wonder how it’s possible for a simple lake to be this deep. But down, down, down you go deeper and deeper. If you had the energy left, you would be surprised that you are still alive. Shouldn’t you be dead by now?
And just when you are about to close your eyes and surrender to that thought, your feet touch the ground.
You gasp for air and are rewarded by the sweet rush of oxygen through your lungs. The area around you is dark until your eyes adjust, and then it comes alive with crystal color. It’s completely dry here, but dark as though you’ve woken up in an undersea cave of sorts. You cautiously sit up to observe your surroundings.
The malicious shadows are now gone, leaving you to your own devices.
In fact, you seem to be utterly alone, and that thought coupled with the cool air over your wet skin makes you shudder. You may have set off on your own not that many hours before, but this aloneness seems different somehow. It’s as if you are entirely cut off from the icon community: a lone maker.
The area around you sparkles with rainbow lights and deep, dark shadows like purple bruises, and you make your way to your feet, wobbling slightly as you regain your equilibrium. Drowning kind of takes it out of a person.
You can feel your graphics program still snugly clinging to your back and breathe a sigh of relief. You hadn’t even thought to heck. What’s the matter with you? As you mentally chastise yourself, you hear the pitter patter of feet in the distance. You crane your neck, listening as hard as you can. Those feet are definitely heading in your direction. What are you going to do?
Sinking back into the shadows to hide yourself from their approach seems like the best idea. [JUMP LINK: SINK INTO THE SHADOWS]
But you could also try running away. If you keep ahead of them, maybe you won’t run into any trouble. But that’s a big maybe… [JUMP LINK: MAYBE’S ENOUGH FOR ME...RUN AWAY!]
THEME: SHADOW
blue_emotion | nightbulbs | innocent_lexys | deiaaa | applepips16