I'm not exactly sure where I am. Everything is hazy. It's hard to separate up and down from each other. I can't quite remember what I was doing before this, either. It's like I've been sucked in an empty void. Wasn't I trying to get somewhere? I remember who I am, and pieces of my past. Who was I with? It's like I'm just an observer in this place. Time and location don't have any meaning here. My surroundings change a little, everything looking to be in a shade of red. It's a little disorienting. Looking around, I have to squint to see some shape in the distance.

     I take a few steps forward before the ground drops from underneath me. What the hell is this!? The ground comes back with an entirely new scenery around me. It's still all red, but there are distant mountains of red rock with black speckles. I stand close to the wall of some kind of arena. The bricks are a deep, blood red. Something flies back and makes me jump. I whip my head to the side to see someone had hit the side of the arena. They lay slumped against the wall, but it's hard to make out any features. What I can see is red, scaled wings. One of them almost looks broken at an odd angle. Another featureless person is walking away from the crumpled one

     Where is this? Who are these people? I walk towards the hurt figure before everything changes again. I'm back in the first setting with the far off speck of black. I have to get there this time! I break out into a sprint, but again, it disappears before I move more then a few feet. Is it going to keep doing that!? Some part of me is fiercely determined to reach whatever it is. I seem to have gotten closer the second time.

Now, I'm standing upon the top of a red rock hill. Two people are arguing a few feet away. All their features are still too blurry to make out. The slightly smaller figure slaps the other. Hard. They then shove the second onto the ground, where I'm sure they're skin was peeled off from the hard rock. I stay watching this time. Both of the people have the same style of wings as in the arena, but the one on the ground has a wing bent out of place. Are they the same person? They get up off the ground and face the other. This is only met with a punch to the face from the other. They crumple back onto the ground.

I'm then back into the original space with the blurry red surroundings. It's almost like a red cloud. The black lump is definitely closer. I make a break for it, sprinting as hard as I can. I stay running for longer this time. It's almost cruel with how close I get to seeing what the black blur is, but then I'm in a new place. It's frustrating to keep coming so close.

The red is all gone now. It's replaced with a dark forest. The trees look different then the ones I'm used to . The leaves are shaped a little differently. Constellations in the sky are also different. Where am I now? I'm pulled from my thoughts when two figures walk past me. One is taller then the other, the second also having broader shoulders. All their features are still too blurry to make out. I can't hear their voices, but they seem to be having some sort of conversation. The shorter one seems frustrated at the other. They snap silently at the taller, making them laugh. But I can hear the laugh. Or at least, a faint echo of it. The laugh is accented like nothing I've ever heard. It makes the situation seem twice as silly. This seems to annoy the first even more. The figure doesn't have any wings this time, but I'm starting to recognize them. The taller figure has the same silhouette as the one who was thrown against the arena wall, and repeatedly shoved down.

This is getting very ridiculous. I'm back in the blurry red scenery with the black lump. How many times are we going to play this game? The loop just keeps going. It's not like I have much of a choice but to continue. The black blur gets so close, that I'm able to finally see what it is. It's a person! I try to call out to them as I run, but I'm pull from the scene. Damnit! I was so close.......

      I'm still in a forest, but I can't tell if there's anyone near. It seems so much darker now. I just have a vague impression of my soundings, as if half awake or mentally blindfolded. It's hard to describe. Everything is a blur. One thing I can make out is the leaf mulch I'm stepping on. My feet move without me telling them to. There's no control. A massive wave of helplessness and loneliness crushes my mind. These aren't my feelings or actions. How am I able to see and feel all of this? Out of the fog of my surroundings, something grabs my wrist. The contact grounds me, if only for a moment. I can think more clearly with them there. They snap at me in a scolding and worried voice. The only thing that freaks me out is that it's my own voice.

     I'm back in the red room. But I don't have to run this time. In front of me is a slumped figure, all their features distorted by some fogging darkness. They rest on their knees with arms chained above and to the side of them. The chains' ends seem to vanish into the red haze. They shake all over, seeming not to even see me. It's....... disturbing. But they remind me instantly of the same person who I've been repeatedly seeing. Same larger frame, wings tucked in tight to their body. Their evident defeat and helplessness hit me like a stab to the gut. I only understand a few things in this place. This is a fellow warrior, chained broken. How could this happen? Who would do this?

     Crouching down, I hesitantly put my hand on their shoulder. "Hello? Are you ok?". It's been the first time that I've been able to say anything in here. The figure was tensed up even before I touched them. They flinch back at my touch, not being able to get away with the chains. It looks painful when they raise their head to look at me. All their features are clouded in black, expect for the eyes. Their eyes are a burning, blood red.