Vile

Violet stood almost directly under the hollow light of a single black sun. It morphed across the sky as she moved, as if seen through a shifting glass of water. She made her way up an iridescent hill as the gentle sound of leaves blowing in a still wind drew her forward, brushing through the grass that danced carelessly about her. As she continued forward, the grass began to thin until it rested just above her kness, leaving her in the shadow of a vast, impossible tree. It had two trunks, both at least twice as thick as her armspan and tall enough to hide where they ended. They curved lazily around one another, touching only with their canopies, seemingly bound around the empty space between them. Its leaves were as red as the blood in her veins, possibly even more so, and they writhed with undeniable life. In contrast, the branches shimmered with every colour she could imagine and more, as if woven from solid light. Over the grass behind her, she could now see as uncanny jellyfish pulled themselves from incandescent flowers at the base of the hill, drifting slowly upwards, but somehow also sideways - directly towards the sun that now consumed almost half of the horizon. In the distance, much larger and older jellyfish hung in the air, splitting open and spilling purple vines into the tangle bellow. They seemed to come from nowhere, but that didn't mean much in comparison to the rest of this world; after all, nothing she was seeing made any sense. Watching them in this peculiar dance of flight and rupture gave her the sensation of looking at one thing in a still frame, yet they all drifted on nonetheless - paying her no mind as their countless numbers filled the sky. She turned back to the tree, startled to see its colossal form twisted towards her. Before her eyes, it shuddered, retreating slightly with a quiet russle of its leaves. It took a moment, and then leaned forward a little once more, this time reaching a branch forward. She reached a hand back to meet it.
"Celia..."
As the unknowable voice behind her echoed out across the field, the tree quickly pulled it's branch back, freezing in place. Violet turned to see a bandaged figure floating past her towards the tree, its hair slowly writhing around it with boundless motion in the same red as the leaves that were held in the air around her. It stood no taller than a child, yet it moved with distressing purpose, its face hidden under a veil of shadow. It reached out towards the formerly outstretched branch and wove its fingers between the twigs before turning its head back to Violet.
"She says sorry."
Violet stepped back slightly, this bizzare scene burning into her mind. The words hung in the air as the figure turned its head up to the tree.
"She didn't mean to startle you."
As it looked back down, the figure fell to into the grass below, covering it up to the waist. Slowly at first, as if remembering how to walk, it ambled forward. Once it reached Violet, it looked up and stood there a moment, as if eyeing her over - despite the obvious lack of eyes. It reached a hand up to greet her.
"Nice to meet you! Where are you from?"
Violet opened her mouth, but the sound never left her chest. To her distress, she found that she wasn't even able to breathe. Nothing filled her throat as she opened her lungs. It was an unsettling feeling, but it didn't hurt like it should. The figure pulled it's hand back a little.
"Oh... But you're.... Hmm."
It stepped forward and jabbed a finger into her hand.
"Huh! Oh that's cool!!"
It looked up at her while stepping back and a white-lipped smile formed where its mouth should be, followed by white eyes that opened above it. They too looked up at her now, glancing across her body.
"How did you get here?"
Its head tilted slightly as it spoke, eyes fixed on her. Violet looked at the bizzare world around her and shrugged, the presence of a face to talk to easing her worry a little, even if she couldn't respond.
"Did you mean to come here?"
It said, its hollow eyes searching hers. The sound of leaves shuddering sent soft ripples down the back of her neck. She shifted her gaze to the tree, shaking her head before looking back down at the figure, gesturing to the tree quizically. It looked between the two of them before screwing up the corner of its mouth.
"It's probably easier you don't know."
Violet frowned, stepping forward to inspect it closer, but instead tripping over a purple vine that had crawled around her feet. The figure threw a hand forward and the vine tore itself apart as it writhed on top of her, leaving a weird taste in her mouth. The figure walked towards her with purpose this time.
"Time to go,"
It said, leaning down and planting a kiss on her forehead,
"Best of luck though yeah?"
The ground beneath her gave way as she fell in a direction that she didn't even know existed towards the open mouth of the black sun.

Vile was my biggest attempt at creating and publishing a story. Would you believe that a lot of the code of this website actually comes from the prototype of Vile as a web comic? I've come a long way since writing this.

Its world has now been developed into a more balanced story with Under The Sky.

Vile

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