(Submission for The Discor-sion World writing challenge)

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A blood trail lined the trees of a dense forest, and the smell of swamp grew more prevalent. The faint sounds of labored breathing overpowered any windy sounds the leaves above made.

An Umbreon limped his way across a path he had found, a large—but at least somewhat bandaged—wound could be seen on his side.

"C'mon..." Vanta let out a growl under his breath. All he could see was a blurry path ahead, but it had to lead somewhere. Not only was he injured, but the canine had used all of his supplies for his expedition. Every morsel of his soul wished he had never taken this job in the first place, but it was too late to regret it now.

As if Arceus answered his wishes, the path deviated from the thick woods and cleared wide enough for the Umbreon to sight a nearby village. Vanta mustered up what little energy he had and pushed forward, ignoring the shooting pain lingering in his hind legs.

As the canine approached, his vision failed him harder. It was as if the closer he got the more prominent the fog around him grew.

"Hello? Anybody here?" Vanta groaned out as he sat on his haunches to hold a paw over his wound.

By now he was at the center of the village and standing next to a well. Was his vision failing him that badly? Every house and building looked to be in perfect condition, seeing as there wasn't even a crack in the wooden planks.

Vanta stifled the urge to vomit before letting out a loud cry, one that would hopefully alert anybody nearby. His injury was only growing more painful, and an abandoned village was the last place he would choose to die in.

"Fuck...that..." He grunted and bit at the satchel wrapped around his chest before slugging it on the ground. He shuffled around with the contents before yanking out a rag and dipping it into the well's water. "It doesn't look dirty..."

Praying to every god in his knowledge that it would help, Vanta dabbed the wet rag onto the bandaged wound in an attempt to clean the dried blood. With a few occasional hisses of pain, his efforts would soon be rewarded with less blood on his side.

Vanta narrowed his eyes and scoped around. He knew he was at the center of the village, but there was something off about it all. A dense fog made it so he couldn't scout very far, and the fact that he could not tell where he came from made a pit grow in his stomach.

Suddenly, a spike of pain shot up his spine and lingered around his injury. Once again, he let out an audible hiss and fell on his side—luckily it was the side without the gash. Vanta shut his eyes and winced before reeling for his bag once again, for what? He didn't know.

When he opened his eyes he knew there was something wrong.

As if it wasn't abandoned a millisecond ago, the Umbreon's gaze witnessed a dozen pokémon march their way through the village paths.

Vanta felt hope for a moment, but a weird feeling had just eased in. Not only did these pokémon appear from thin air, but they all rushed through and completely ignored him. Was he hallucinating? Could this mean he was dying?

The Umbreon heaved a pained sigh and turned to watch if any were close to him. Luckily, there was a Lurantis idly standing rather close to the fountain, and she was apparently the only one not moving. Vanta pulled himself off the ground and trudged his way to face the mantis.

"E-Excuse me," Vanta's voice strained with hurt. "I might need some help, I have an injury and was wondering where I could go for medical assistance."

The Lurantis' head slowly craned down to face him. As if all her bodily actions were taken in steps, her lips slowly creased into a smile before her eyes widened in an unknown emotion.

"Hello, and welcome to our village. I hope you enjoy your stay." Her voice was upbeat, but it still unsettled the Umbreon in front of her.

"I don't think you understood me." Vanta sat on his haunches and motioned towards his damp but blood-soaked side. "I'm injured and I need help. Please help me."

"Welcome to our village! Please, do make yourself at home!" The Lurantis continued.

This time, Vanta grew frustrated. He stopped staring at his wound to realize that the Lurantis wasn't acting ordinary. While she looked normal at first glance, her eyes seemed to express something different than her body did.

"I'm confused," Vanta replied honestly. "Can anybody here help me?"

He turned to the crowd, and just as he predicted, they all walked along and followed their own routine. Fully knowing he was being ignored, Vanta attempted to yell at a nearby passerby.

"Hey! Can you hear me?" He exclaimed while staring down a midday-Lycanroc pacing by. The other canine made a robotic stop before swiveling his head to face the Umbreon.

They locked eye contact for a few seconds before the Lycanroc's lips slowly creased into a smile. "Hello, and welcome to our village! Make sure to have a look around the buildings!"

Vanta stared at him in complete disbelief before the Lycanroc walked away.

"What the hell is going on here? What the fuck is this place?" The Umbreon instinctively turned to curse at the Lurantis but soon realized that she had disappeared. "Oh..."

Vanta let out a small whine. He had never felt so alone in a village full of people. There were so many things happening that he couldn't register them all at once.

Where did these people come from? Why are they all saying the same things? Why won't they help him?

"Make sure to have a look around the buildings!" The midday-Lycanroc's words reverberated in his head.

"Nothing is labeled," Vanta noted as he scrolled his gaze across each wooden building on the path. "Where the hell am I supposed to..."

His words were cut off by a building that seemed more interesting than the rest. This one in particular had the same structure as the rest...but above the door, there was a large symbol etched into the wood. The origins or meaning of such a symbol was unbeknownst to the Umbreon approaching it, but he did not care.

Vanta nudged the door open and peeked inside, letting the ring on his forehead illuminate the dark room. The inside seemed a lot smaller than he thought, and it was clear that there was only one room in this building. Only when he closed the door behind him did he realize a sleeping bag was spread along the ground in the center of the room.

"Convenient..." The Umbreon narrowed his eyes in suspicion before making sure to shine his ring light at the corners of every wall. "I'm not gonna find anything in this village."

Contrary to his complaints, Vanta found himself slipping into the covers of the sleeping bag and getting comfortable. If everyone was going to ignore him, surely they wouldn't realize he was sleeping in someone else's house, right?

The moment his head hit the pillow he felt unconsciousness grasp at his body.

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Vanta didn't wake up normally; his eyes found themselves shooting open as the Umbreon's body lunged forward.

It took a mere second to realize he was panting violently, and his surroundings weren't any less overwhelming. A few keen observations caused him to hyperventilate in shock.

Every house was gone. Vanta had been lying in the gravel path for who knows how long.

In fact, the area appeared as if the village had never existed. To him, it almost looked like he went back in time.

The sky was the same foggy mess, except this time, it was pitch black. He was lucky that a good portion of his body could illuminate the area around him, but the village was still in complete darkness.

Vanta suppressed the urge to call out once again. This time, all he did was watch, curling into the side of the well he was previously at. He opened his mouth to speak to himself, but he could not.

He craned his head back up to see a pokémon staring at him from across the well. It was the Lurantis.

Once again, he opened his mouth to speak but could not muster up any words.

"I'm sorry, but the village is no longer accepting visitors. Please leave." A distorted voice emanated from nowhere in particular.

Disturbingly, the Lurantis had no mouth. Her eyes were intense and unmoving as she stared Vanta down. The Umbreon felt himself backing away, but that would soon prove to be a mistake.

Each time Vanta took a step, the Lurantis followed. As if they were perfectly mirroring each other, the Umbreon slowly walked backward as the mantis continued onwards at the same pace.

Then, he stopped. The Lurantis stopped as well.

Every fiber of his being wanted to scream and shout inquiries to the bug pokémon across from him. When he scrolled his gaze across the empty village he realized there were many other pokémon completely frozen as well—a familiar one being the midday-Lycanroc he stopped earlier.

As a test, Vanta took one step back. He watched as every single pokémon in his vision took one step forward with him, and they were all facing him. Even more alarming, every pokémon he could see had no mouth, and yet the same voice called out to him each time.

"Please leave the village, as we are no longer accepting any visitors."

Vanta felt his screams fall into the void. When the canine tried taking a step forward, he realized that they were indeed heading directly towards him.

Then, he tried something incredibly risky. Vanta made a desperate sprint towards presumably the exit of the village. He could hear the dozens of pokémon stomping behind him as the fog consumed him.

His run lasted about a minute before he realized that he returned to the well once again, only now he had arrived from the other side of the village.

Vanta came to a skidding stop before whipping his head around and taking in his surroundings. While he did manage to outspeed most of the pokémon, the midday-Lycanroc was uncomfortably close to him—about a three-foot distance.

He let out a muffled shout, his body shrinking at the sight of his face. Vanta held eye contact for a moment.

The most sentient part of the Lycanroc was his eyes; they shrunk and dilated in reaction to whatever Vanta did. After staring into them for a while, the Umbreon realized something.

The Lycanroc's eyes were widening in fear. He could tell, and there was no mistaking that look in his irises.

Vanta slowly eased his way back to the well, the pokémon around him also inching forward. His head peeked over the edge and looked into the reflection in the water.

He too had no mouth. Vanta's paw reactively pressed against his non-existent lips before his lungs let out a wheeze through his nostrils.

"They were trying to warn you." The distorted voice spoke. Vanta was unable to reply. "You've noticed their eyes, right?"

Vanta turned to watch the midday-Lycanroc's eyes once again. The same horror was present in both of their expressions.

"They are just like you, and you are just like them."

The Umbreon took a step back.

"Accept your fate, for you are part of a greater system."

Vanta shuddered at the voice, and he violently shook his head in denial. The Lycanroc in front of him was still staring at him in horror, but his eyes maintained a pleading look.

"Accept your fate, for you are part of a greater system."

He wanted to scream, but he had no mouth. He wanted to do anything, but he had no power.

"Accept your fate, for you are part of a greater system."

Then, unexpectedly, Vanta was shoved into the well.

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The sounds of gravel crunching consistently sounded through the forest's path.

"Finally..." A Gallade was trudging his way through and following the trail toward a village he had seen. "So thirsty."

Ignoring just how much fog had obscured parts of the trail, the Gallade noticed the well and immediately made his way past the buildings beside him.

"Bit empty here." He muttered to himself before stopping in front of the well.

The Gallade scanned the area around him, taking note of just how abandoned it seemed. With a small shrug, he curled his arm under the wooden bucket handle and tipped the water into his mouth.

After finishing his large swig, he almost spit it out after he had turned around.

An Umbreon was staring up at him, his eyes widened in horror but his lips slowly creased into a smile.

"Hello, and welcome to our village," Vanta said.