Kaai wiped his sluggish eyes and whispered, "What the fuck, what was that?". He reached out to his phone, even more disoriented, he thought, "Why is my alarm waking me for on a Saturday afternoon?" not that the dream was any better. infact he was happy he woke up. He stopped his alarm and checked the date. It was the 7th of July. As Kaai started to regain a semblance of sanity, he thought 'right today is our birthday'. Then images of the vivid dream started to flash in his mind. He closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to shake off these horrifying thoughts. Then he turned his attention to his room, trying to focus his mind on something else, yet the room seemed both familiar and wrong, shadows stretching where none should be. His hands trembled as he rubbed his temples, trying to erase the remnants of the cold, suffocating abyssal expanse and the memories of the annihilating light that seared into his mind. "It was just a dream," he told himself with a trembling voice, though the fear lingered, stubborn and cold.
He put down his phone, his hands shaking, and reached for his picture frame. Which seemed to calm him down. The picture frame showed a young boy on the shoulders of a middle-aged man with deep onyx eyes and a receding hairline. Kaai put his hand on the frame and let out a deep sigh. Moments later, after his mind calmed down, he got up from the bed, lightheaded, he headed for his bedroom door, and as he went down the hallway, he said, "That was one of the most vivid and horrible nightmares I have had in my life". Just as he was using his right hand to check for his pulse on his left hand, a voice echoed. He flinched as the memories of his nightmare still lingered, and he heard, " Kaai, you awake?" It was a young and feminine voice; the voice belonged to his sister. A door slammed open down the hallway. A beautiful young girl with wide, hopeful eyes and her raven black hair reaching her shoulders. She sped to her brother with a wide smile and said, "Good morning, Kaai." Looking at her, Kaai was able to clear his mind. It was as if seeing another living being put his heart at ease, or maybe it was just another cruel nightmare.
Kaai replied with a tired voice," Good morning, Oli, you look lively today."
Oli smiled "Can't say the same about you, slept through yesterday's storm like it was nothing and still managed to sleep to the afternoon, and after all that, you still look terrible," she continued with a troubled expression. "A nightmare?"
"Pretty much, but it wasn't just a nightmare. It was so vivid and so real. It was horrifying," said Kaai with a trembling voice
Olivia looked discouraged. "Well, don't worry the rest of the day won't be as bad. After all, Uncle Jo and I have all planned, it's going to be the best birthday of your life and…". Cutting her off was a phone ringing. Kaai said, "Is that yours?" before he could finish his question, his little sister ran down the stairs and said, " YEAH, IT IS!". 'Well, she is in a hurry'. Kaai entered the bathroom and looked in the mirror. And in the reflection was a young handsome man in his early 20s with onyx messy hair, dark pupils, a prominent jawline and hunter eyes. Kaai washed his face, took a bath, and went down to the kitchen to make breakfast.
As he was heating bread and cheese, his sister walked in. He asked, "Where is mother? Shouldn't she be home?"
Olivia answered, still brimming with energy, " She still needed to be at Pendragon, they said they are very close to a breakthrough through so they called her to the lab."
"Did she say when she will be back?"
" she still doesn't know but don't worry after all she won't miss her only son's birthday."
Kaai looked at the oven without a hint of emotion ' won't she now'
As he was taking out the bread, Olivia's voice resounded again in the kitchen, " Ah, don't forget you have an airsoft match today. Nour called"
"Did they finally decide where the battle royal will be? " Kaai said with a soft chuckle,
" ye, he said it's at 4, don't be late, and get ready to lose. he sounded very excited."
"Thanks, Oli."
"Anytime"
And with that, he took to his room and doom scrolled until it was 3:30, got ready, took his airsoft equipment, and at the door, Olivia came to see him off goodbye " Don't forget be back here before 8. We can't have our birthday 'man' not coming to his own birthday."
Kaai, wearing his shoes, replied "Don't worry, when was I ever late?"
Olivia raised an eyebrow, "uh-huh"
And so Kaai left with the sun now illuminating his face; he trembled, still remembering the eldritch sensation of that "light" burning him in the dream. He shook his head slowly, as though trying to dislodge the memory. "Don't think about it too much, it's just a dream."
He made his way to the meetup location. He went into the airsoft lobby and met with 3 guys standing in the airsoft equipment. A deep voice resonated. Each word falls like a hammer striking bronze, resonant, ringing out and echoing through the bones of the people in the lobby. "Finally, he arrived, big boss, the legend himself, the unconqueror king of airsoft. DEAD EYE" Kaai laughed and rolled his eyes." It's good to see you, Danny", Danny replied with laughter and hugged his friend. Another voice replied, this one less deep, more even, emotionless, "You're late." Kaai replied, "It's good to see you too, Ryan". Suddenly, a hand wrapped around Kaai. It was Nour. "It's been so long, Kaai, exam season really butchered us this year". Danny said with a shining smile, " It wasn't that bad" Kaai looked discouraged." Says our smart giant." Suddenly, a voice echoed in the speakers, "Gentlemen, please get ready, as the arena will be open in 5 min. Get ready for the battle royal". As soon as the speakers fell silent, whispers broke it; many were excited, many were nervous, and many were passionate. Kaai looked up at the speakers and said, "So I am not late after all," and with that, Ryan angrily hurried him to get ready and put on his gear.
So it began, Kaai was wearing his equipment, a helmet and a vest alongside some emergency tools, rope, a knife and an extra pair of clothes inside a bag. He had a rifle as well as a pistol. He was walking through the woods. The trunks of trees seemed to grow endlessly into the bright sky, as they rose from every side like ancient pillars, Kaai couldn't help but think back to his nightmare. The forest city, just how big were these trees? He tried to shake off these unnecessary thoughts, trying to focus on his match, and yet, he couldn't. The smell of thick wet bark, crushed pine needles and the sour rot of ancient dead leaves on the ground all assaulted his nose, filling his lungs with every breath until he carried the entire forest on his shoulders. " That damned nightmare," he cursed out loud. He felt out of place, yet to him the forest wasn't alien at all. On the contrary, it was an old friend. He knew every corner of it like the back of his hand. So he made his way to an abandoned building in the north. As soon as the building was in sight, 2 shots fired, Kaai ran only to slide and dropped flat near the giant rubble that covered the vicinity, his cheek pressing against the dirt, his heart hammering, eyes narrowing, he got hit, the other airsoft BBs bounced off the wooden bark and landed close to him. he calmed his mind and focused. He didn't return fire yet, not until he found out where the bastard was.
The building rose two stories above the forest floor, its walls of weathered stone streaked with moss. The upper floor jutted slightly beyond the lower, connected to a smaller annex by a stone bridge. His intuition told him that the shooter was on the 2nd floor east building, as the only available path to it was the stone bridge. By taking that floor for himself, he locked down a strategic high ground. Kaai was on the west side, taking cover behind the fallen rubble. Too many variables, he was at a severe disadvantage, but he could turn the tide of this lost battle. He needed to confirm one thing. Suddenly, Kaai ran across to the west building, catching the shooter off guard, and the shooter missed his shots. Kaai slid using the rubble as cover and rested.
He shifted, lungs burning. Short bursts from above pinned him, every shot rattling the stone walls like a drum. He counted—two seconds between shots. A bolt action. One man, not a team. And more importantly, unaware of the building layout. If he shifted his position on that second wall, he could easily fish him out, Yet he didn't. Which meant that the shooter also didn't know about the backdoor to the east building, 2nd floor. A plan formulated in his mind.
He pulled the rope from his bag, rough fibers scratching against his rough hands. He took out a sturdy stick from around the rubble and wrapped it around it, checking the knot twice before picking up a large rock from the rubble. The rock was molted and heavy and smelled of rotten bark. He balanced the rock under the sturdy stick and leaves further east towards the building, close to a collapsed wall. Under the rock were leaves and fragile stick. He took out his vest and helmet and wrapped them around his bag, tying the bag further up the rope. With that, he was done
He then shot 2 cover shots, causing his enemy to duck. Using that short window, he threw the rope to the rubble close to the south, just around the wall separating him and the shooter, as the rope was hidden in the bed of fallen leaves. He picked up the rope and stealthily made his way to the rubble of the east building, using the enemy's tunnel vision as cover once he reached the east building. He pulled the rope as hard as he could. The shooter heard the breaking of withered leaves and sticks, then saw a silhouette rushing past the rubble to the east building. The shooter, confused, opened fire on the makeshift puppet only for its helmet to get knocked over. His blood ran cold, and his heart stopped for a second. Adding to his fear, a sensation of a barrel hit the back of his helm. Kaai said " gg" before opening fire. 3 shots fired. The shooter groaned and said with a perplexed expression, " H..how?"