Awaken

Ryne slowly opens her eyes to the empty room around her. She is usually alone, something she is used to by now. After her father was killed she didn’t like company much anyways. People always tossed comments under their breath; some pitiful, some cruel. She would rather stick to what's close to her heart, like her father taught her, than try and be around people who just couldn’t get it. Already planning her escape to the forest, when it clicks something is different; no dreams last night. Ryne liked to listen to her dreams looking for signs, teachings from her father.

Her father taught her ancient wisdom, most of it out in the forest. She not only heard his knowledge, but she learned to listen to the land. Her father showed her the medicines for the people, while the land showed her the beauty of life. They were often out looking for plants or signs that could lead them towards harmony again. The world she lived in was a poisonous prison, but somehow she always believed in the world he painted for her, one where they would be free and safe to build a life in harmony with nature again. One that was restored from the chemical imbalance left from human ignorance.

Most people hated nature, for they believed it was her waging war on them. They could not accept that this fate was brought on by the chemical warfare of people; it was people who created toxicity at such a level that even nature could not fight it anymore. No one could escape it. Every night the Earth would begin to sweat, releasing a poisonous mist; infecting all the water and people it came into contact with.

*

With her spear in hand she tosses a bag over her shoulder and makes tracks towards the forest. Unfortunately for Ryne she has to go through camp, which sometimes she could make it past unnoticed but more often would get stopped by the guards.

Looking around she swiftly makes her move, only to narrowly pull back and miss Jac, “Off in a hurry today hey Ryne?” he speaks down to her.

“Just hoping to avoid you actually, but it seems ya got me. Yes I’ll be back. No symptoms and yes I know the risk. If I see anything strange I’ll be absolutely sure to find you right away…” she replies, pulling away towards the gate hoping she's given them enough. It was their duty to monitor what and who was going through the gate, to keep out any infected or intruders, but they often just used it as an excuse to be pricks.

An arm quickly catches her and pulls her right close to a big sweaty man. His breath was hot as he smirked and said, “You’ve been selected to be tested tonight sweetheart, so don’t be back too late and don’t make us hunt you down.”

She jabs her elbow into his side pulling herself away. “What do you mean selected?” Ryne asks not sure she really wants the answer.

“Heard they are testing young people or something, they don’t tell us much…” Jac replies nonchalantly, “ but I overheard them saying they are looking for a new way to wake the sleeps. Even saw them hooking up all these wires to people's heads...”

Ryne’s stomach drops, she doesn’t like the sounds of being part of their experiments. They’ve done enough experimenting in creating a world like this.

“Well, guess I’ll see you guys later then,” Ryne says, moving quickly to avoid any further comments. She’s not surprised by this news, her father never hid the truth from her. He was killed because he thought everyone deserves the truth. He knew too much of what they were doing.

*

Slowly Ryne enters the forest, her feet gently crackling over the sticks and leaves below. Taking a moment to pause, breathe deeply and connect with all of her senses. She looks around her taking in all the directions; grazing over the landscape, feeling the familiar and the unfamiliar. It is hard for her to be in the forest, as every moment reminds her of her father, yet it's far harder to imagine a life without the forest. This is where she finally feels herself; moving her fingers across the trees, feeling a breeze gently blow across her face. Today she moves with extra caution, still feeling the hot breath of the guards warning. Something was to come today, she didn't know what but wanted to be ready.

Maybe she should just stay in the forest, she thinks to herself. Take her chances with nature rather than be experimented on. Feeling a fire start to brew in her belly at the thought of their experiments; how it created this locked down version of life. A sense of hopelessness begins to creep in, so she looks up to watch the trees swaying gently. Remembering there is still hope right in front of her. She reaches to touch the heart shaped locket that her father left her; quickly jumping into a panic as she notices the locket is not there. The locket has never not been there… Ryne looks around quickly, beginning to feel unnerved and unsafe. She hears a rustling not far from her that snaps her back to reality.

Drawing her spear she moves with caution. Moving slowly around the rustling, trying to catch an eye on what it could be. Ryne notices the hunch, the familiar posture. This is a sleeps for sure she thinks to herself, slightly lowering her weapon. When it comes to sleeps it’s best not to approach aggressively. They say if you are touched you can become infected, but you can usually keep your distance if you don’t disrupt them first. Becoming infected means you become asleep to all around you, to all within you; lost to wander. It's always hard to see sleeps, it’s like a slap of reality to the face, but serves as a good reminder of what the mist will do to you.

Ryne wanders over to get a little closer, wanting to fill her curiosity. Something about this sleeps seems familiar. As she gets closer her heart begins to race, being less careful she snaps a twig beneath her feet. The sound catches the sleeps attention and as it turns Ryne lets out a gasp.

Neither make a move

Ryne feels as if there's a roller coaster within, starting with a drop in her stomach then rising to her throat; feeling it tighten and making it hard to breathe. Questioning what her eyes are telling her.

She is looking at herself asleep, eyes clouded over and body hunched as if lost in a sea of nothing.

So unsure of what she sees, her spear raises in reaction to the fear. Sleeps are known to become disruptive if provoked or sense danger and Ryne can feel the energy change between them.

She goes on the defense as this version of her makes fast movements forward; Ryne jumps out of the way to avoid contact. She wants to run, not sure she can face what she sees, but another piece of her wants to know. She tries to get her footing, to connect to the ground beneath her, but loses her balance as if the ground was as unstable as she felt. Her back hits the Earth; all she can see is the trees, the blue sky and the sunshine peeking through. And her locket.

Ryne lets go of everything else and takes in the Ryne in front of her. The heart locket exactly where it always is, only this time on the sleeping version of her.

The aggression is gone and neither makes a move again. Ryne breathes slowly and intentionally. Choosing to focus on her breath and observe what she sees, what she feels. Soon she notices their breathing is synced. The subtle movements of breathing somehow interwoven between these two beings. Ryne’s heartbeat begins to grow louder; she can hear a subtle beat. It feels like it's reaching her eardrums rather than coming from within her though. She gets up slowly, hearing the heartbeat grow louder as she gets closer to the sleeps version of her. Ryne connects to her own heart space but the energy is not coming from inside her, but from where the locket is. She slowly reaches out one of her hands to take the sleeps, the other reaching towards the locket.

She can feel the heartbeat pulse into her finger and ignite all the way through her blood. It all begins to blur as she looks down at her hands and feels this tingling sensation all over her body. Ryne looks down to see the locket resting on her chest before it goes dark.

She can hear a faint whisper in the background, "She passed, we finally found her, the one who will wake..."