Chapter Text
It was another mediocre morning in the digital circus, albeit a more tense one than normal. Everyone had gathered near the stage, waiting to hear about the adventure for the day. Jax and Pomni stood away from each other, stealing a few strained glances before ultimately glaring at the floor. The previous day had been a rough one for both of them. While Pomni cried herself to sleep, Jax barely got any rest at all. He steeped in his self-loathing for most of the night, wondering what Pomni was thinking.
Was she as mad at him as he was at himself? Did she regret what she had said? What had she done? Had she finally realized that Jax wasn't worth the effort? Even when he tried to close his eyes, all he could see was her face. The way she looked at him like she was heartbroken. He was the one that hurt her. Over and over until she broke. The person who has shown him the most kindness and patience, the girl he was growing to love. He tossed her away like she was nothing. He didn't really feel tired anyway, so he walked the halls until it was morning.
"GOOD MORNING, MY DARLING DEWDROPS! " Caine exclaimed, his tone of voice just as unnerving as ever. "DESPITE THE FACT THAT I PLANNED OUT A BEAUTIFUL ADVENTURE FOR YOU, BUBBLE ALERTED ME THIS MORNING THAT IT'S BEEN A YEAR SINCE OUR ANNUAL FOREST ADVENTURE!" He beamed, tilting his head slightly to look up at the floating orb.
"That's right, bitches! It's been 261 days!" Bubble yelled, despite being a few feet away from everyone.
"Wait, that's not-" Ragatha began before being interrupted by Bubbles' sinister laugh. The group cringed at the sound, along with the imagery of Bubble's razor-sharp teeth. Despite how unsettling it was, Caine grinned and gingerly patted the Orb on the head.
"I'M GOING TO POSTPONE TODAY'S ADVENTURE, AND INSTEAD YOU WILL ALL GET TO SPEND SOME TIME IN THE FOREST!" He grinned. "I'VE EVEN DESIGNED NEW OUTFITS TO GO WITH THE WOODLAND SCENERY."
The cast was mostly unamused, though Gangle perked up at the idea of new outfits. Jax groaned at the thought of all of it: the forest, the outfits, and the fact that he and Pomni were fighting. Were they fighting? Can you even call it a fight when you didn't get along too well to begin with? Though, to be fair, he had gotten along with Pomni better than anyone here so far. He often worried that he might slip up and reveal that he liked spending time with Pomni. He loved it even.
"Are you gonna leave us in there for a week like last time?" Zobble questioned. Pomni's eyes widened at that. She had heard Ragatha and Gangle talk about the forest once or twice. From what she heard, it was one of Caine's more relaxing adventures. An open world to chill out and forget that you're trapped in the circus. But being abandoned by Caine for days sounded like a nightmare.
"DON'T YOU WORRY YOUR ANGULAR LITTLE HEAD ABOUT THAT ZOOBLE. I'M GOING TO HAVE BUBBLE KEEP TRACK OF TIME FOR ME SO I KNOW WHEN TO RETRIEVE YOU!" He replied as Bubble snickered lightly in the corner.
"I- I don't know if that's such a- such a good id-" Gangle began to stammer before Caine snapped his fingers to create a portal. She fell through with the others before she could finish her statement. Caine didn't spend long wondering what she was going to say; he needed to get back to work on his next adventure.
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Pomni fell to the ground with a thud, just as she had in most of her previous adventures. She sighed as she planted her hands on the ground, pushing herself vaguely upward as she had so many times before. She stood in a cozy little cabin, made almost entirely of wood and stone. She couldn't help but gasp at the sight of it; she had never seen something so charming.
"It's great, isn't it?" whispered Ragatha, who managed to spook Pomni despite her soft tone. She jumped back a tad, nearly falling onto a rocking chair behind her. She even let out a small shriek, which she was immediately embarrassed about.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you," she giggled, grabbing Pomni's arm to help pull her back up. "I was just wondering if you could do me a quick favor," she explained, giving Pomni a small apologetic smile. Pomni, of course, wanted to help. She didn't really like open-ended adventures; she wanted real tasks to complete, rules to play by, and objectives to work towards. Plus, she was always happy to help a friend.
"Sure! What's up?" She asked, now feeling a bit more excited about the day. She began to smooth out her outfit from the fall she had taken when she realized that Caine really did update their clothes. Her usual colorful suit had been replaced with a dark blue dress and red cloak with a large hood that rested on her head in place of her jester hat. The dress was a bit shorter than she liked; it flowed to about her mid-thigh, but it was only for one adventure, so she didn't mind it too much. She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a deep sigh from Ragatha.
"Last time we had an adventure here, I was trying to figure out what Kinger's favorite pie flavor is. He couldn't remember the name of it, but he said if he tasted it, he would know it." She chuckled, causing Pomni to laugh as well at the absurdity of the statement. "We tried just about everything, every fruit and berry you can imagine. Zooble even made a peanut butter pie, but none of them tasted right to him." She pulled out a light blue notepad filled with scribbled notes and crossed-out flavors, taping the paper lightly with a black pen she had pulled from behind her ear. Pomni noticed her outfit had changed as well. Her tattered blue dress was now covered by a beautiful apron.
"I was thinking about doing a cherry pie this time, but I couldn't find any in the kitchen. It's usually stocked pretty well, but it can be hit or miss with fruits." She shrugged, motioning over to the small kitchenette behind her. Pomni leaned to see around her, noticing the baked goods piled on the countertops. There was a large loaf of bread, a towering cake, a couple different kinds of cookies, and some lemonade in a small pitcher.
"Wow! You made all that?" Pomni questioned, and Ragatha laughed and nodded.
"Yeah, last time we were in the forest. Time doesn't pass here while we're gone; in fact, some of the muffins are still warm if you want one." She replied with a kind smile. "Speaking of warm, I'm defrosting some pie crust now, but I don't wanna leave the oven on without me here, so…would you mind grabbing some cherries for me?" she asked, delighted to see Pomni nodding her head in response. Pomni was nervous at the thought of leaving the cabin. She just knew the forest was going to swallow her whole, but she cared about her friend, and looking for cherries would help keep her mind off her fight with Jax. She wanted more than anything to stop thinking about him, and being scared out of her mind would certainly be better than telling Ragatha about her troubles with him for the hundredth time.
"You are a lifesaver, Pomni! Thank you so much!" She lunged forward to give her a quick hug before placing a small wicker basket in her hands. "I stashed some chocolate chip cookies in the bottom, just in case you get hungry," she added, slowly making her way to the door as she recounted instructions to Pomni.
"All you have to do is follow the path through the woods; try not to stray too far because Caine put some strange things in the deeper forest." Of course Caine would make what was supposed to be a relaxing adventure scary somehow. She glided past her baked goods and to the front door, turning back to Pomni while she reached her hand to the doorknob. "Since cherries don't technically grow in forests, they might be a tad hard to find, but I know they grow out there somewhere," she said, as she turned to unlock and open the door. "Caine groups plants together, so when you start to see other berries, you're on the right track." She stepped to the side, allowing Pomni to walk past her. "It shouldn't get dark for another couple of hours," she explained, quickly shifting her eyes away from Pomni. She seemed tense, like she was on the edge of deciding this was all a bad idea. "But if the sun starts setting, you should turn back to the cabin, ok?" Pomni smiled at her, attempting to not look nervous about that last part.
"Ok!" she replied, seemingly confidently enough to put Ragatha more at ease. She gripped the basket in her hands, turning to walk down the brick steps. She began to hum a small tune as she walked from the cabin, stopping to wave at Gangle and Zooble, who sat at a picnic table eating one of Ragatha's failed pies, and again later to say hello to Kinger, who was looking for bugs at the forest entryway. Pomni did her best to push down the uneasy feeling in her stomach, instead focusing on how happy Kinger was to find rollie-pollies under a decomposing log.
As she said goodbye to him, she tried her best not to be a nervous wreck. She didn't often find herself alone during adventures, but as she walked deeper and deeper into the forest, she found herself missing the company more than she expected. The path looked beaten into the ground, as if many people had walked the very same trail before her. If that were true, it would have been comforting to her, but she knew that it was only coding designed to make her feel that way. In reality, very few of the other cast members had found themselves walking in the forest. Like Ragtha said, the kitchen was mostly stocked, and the cabin area was so nice that they rarely found themselves leaving.
Pomni fiddled with her cloak as she walked, holding herself tightly when she heard any sound or movement. She kept the basket grasped tightly in her hand, praying it would be a good enough weapon if need be. It quickly occurred to her how much she must have looked like Red Riding Hood, which unfortunately did not comfort her either. She knew how much Caine loved a troop…what if he had programmed wolves to just attack her? He could be sitting back in his chair right now, waiting for her to get torn to shreds. She shivered at the thought of it, both being watched and being murdered by hungry wolves.
Try as she might, she couldn't seem to calm herself down. Her mind began to conjure up terrifying scenarios in which she was somehow eaten or slaughtered in the woods, which was growing creepier by the minute. "I'm on the trail," she would remind herself. "That means I'm safe." It wasn't much, but it was all she had. And yet she found herself nearly screaming when she would hear a twig snap or the sounds of rustling leaves.
"I'm on the trail," she whispered to herself, forcing her eyes to look at the path instead of continuing to let them dart around in fear. "That means I'm safe."
Pomni hated the feeling of being without direction, and she was absolutely sick of this already. She wanted so badly to go back to the cabin, but she knew that Ragtha would be disappointed, even if she tried her best not to show it. Pomni looked up at the sky, realizing that the trees were blocking most of the sun. It wasn't dark yet, so she still had time, though she was beginning to wonder if it was even worth it at this point.
She had nearly talked herself out of continuing when she heard a shuffle behind her. It wasn't a small rustling of leaves like before; there was definitely something there. Pomni froze, holding her breath and gripping at her sides while listening for more movement. There was a loud thud that nearly made her heart stop. She bit her tongue to keep back a whimper, but she knew she was done for. She heard breathing, deep and gravelly. It was close; it had to be with how clearly she could hear each breath. Her ankles began to buckle underneath her, which was enough movement to push some adrenaline through the rest of her legs.
She ran as fast as her small legs could carry her, not even listening to see if the thing was following her. Her vision blurred, but she knew she would keep running until her legs gave. She wanted to scream, to cry, to feel something that wasn't fear in that moment, but her heart kept racing as she ran. She didn't know if she was still on the path. It didn't matter to her much anymore; staying on it wouldn't do much for her now. She felt her legs ache, but she didn't care; she didn't even care what direction she was going in at that point. She tried to breathe the best she could, but her gulps of air quickly became small, strangled gasps. She felt like she was hyperventilating, thrashing her head in all directions, searching for any trace of what was following her.
She began to slow down, laughing as she struggled to catch her breath. Had she really outrun it? Surely whatever was chasing her would have caught up to her by now. It almost felt too good to be true. She continued to walk just in case. If whatever it was tried to follow her, she wanted to have a good distance between them. Her body was buzzing with endorphins, which were starting to make her feel a little dizzy. She felt just as shaky as before, but this time it came with a pleasant numbness that she much preferred to the pain in her legs. She felt a small buzz throughout her limbs, similar to the feeling of being a bit tipsy. That was when she saw it.
A small grouping of trees, far more detailed than the random oaks and pines that surrounded her. Each one had branches that hung heavy with different fruits. Apples, peaches, lemons, and, in the center, a small cherry tree. Joy rushed over her in that moment. Her labored breathing quickly turned into eager pants as she stepped towards the tree. The sound of crunching leaves beneath her feet filled the air. She reached her hand out to begin grabbing cherries, but the tightness in her chest began bringing tears to her eyes. Was she holding her breath again? It felt as though she was fighting for air, rasping out small breaths in panic. The dizziness she felt before was increasing, making her feel drowsy and weak. "Maybe I should sit down…" was her last thought as she fell to the ground.