https://spinthewheel.app/genre-wheel || the website i used :D ⚠lil trigger warning⚠: mentions of losing your life and mentions of trauma and cūts and bruises and bIood, etc. ~ i gripped as hard as i could onto her hand. i felt her slipping from my hold down into the eternal abyss that lay below us, the souls seemingly pulling her down further as i tried to fight back. we had split up in the group to look for threats around the area we had planned to camp at. me and ignia decided to check east and south. we didn't run into any problems in the southern direction. it was filled with calming waterfalls, the water shimmering in the sunset. the fragrance of the lavender flowers swaying in the grass overwhelming the air. it was as if an unspoken and unknown tension was broken between us two. a gentle breeze circled around us, lifting us higher in the air. as we traveled east, the moon started rising. the east was much more darker, whether because of the presence of night or because of the clustered trees or some other unknown reason, i'm not quite sure. the path got narrower the further we traveled. we often heard rustling in the trees, but never heard it together. only one person would hear the noise at a time. the noises would get increasingly louder, and dark whispers and wails would fill the air every time. "do you want to keep going?" i asked ignia, hiding the trembling in my voice, "i'm fine if you want to keep searching." i silently hoped to the sea that she would decide to leave. "we can keep going," she said, giving me a tight smile. suddenly, a scream filled my head, echoing in my ears even when it ended. the pain in the voice made tears fill my eyes, years of sorrow and despair filling my heart. i saw ignia flinch, realizing that she could now hear what i heard. the wails and screams started happening more frequently, uncovering memories that i had tried to suppress throughout my life, slashing a deep cūt into my soul. although nothing was physically touching me except for the loosening grip of ignia's hand, bruises & cūts from years of abūse spotted my skin. emotional marks from generational trauma sliced through my mind. i looked over at ignia, who had fully let go of my hand. i grabbed hers to make sure we wouldn't get separated, but when she winced, i looked down at her hand, with bIood spread over the back of it. my eyes widened as i looked at her tear-streaked face, as she tried her best to muster a smile, but suddenly rushed to cover her ears to smother the voices haunting us. "if there's something that's this powerful around our camping area, we should probably take it down ourselves," ignia said, grabbing a sharp stick. i took the stick from her, trying to pull her away from the screams. "neither of us are in the condition to fight anything at the moment." "you can go back if you'd like," she said, hugging me tight, and starting to continue on the path, "but i'm going to stay." "wait!" i called, rushing after her, the voices again filling the air. suddenly, the ground cracked open beneath ignia. i rushed to grab her hand to prevent her from falling completely through. i looked through the cracks in the ground, and i could see the blinking eyes of the voices. the screams weren't stopping anymore. they were filled with despair, asking for help, reaching dark wisps of hand-resembling smoke up. it was as if they were asking for me to pull them up like how i was pulling ignia at the moment. then the smoke latched on to ignia's other arm, pulling her further from my grasp. tears of pain, anger and despair streamed down my face as i reached out another arm to counter the force of the souls. but when i grabbed her arm with my other hand, she smiled and shook her head. "you don't have to keep pulling," she said. "they're too powerful, and you're not in the condition to go against the souls. you said it yourself, didn't you?" i flinched as she used my own words against me. "you were about to risk your Iife for me and the others. i'm not giving up on you now." i gripped harder with my hands. "quoise, you need to let go!" the words brought me back to my childhood. i was squeezing a stuffed animal, refusing to let go, no matter how much trouble i would get in, my parents yeIIing at me to let go and go to sleep. they were practically ripping the toy from my hands, the seams audibly falling apart. i was ugIy-crying on the floor, having a temper-tantrum as kids do, trying to bargain a deal with my parents. "can i at least get an extra five minutes of play time?" i begged through my tears. my parents shook their heads firmly. "when you're older, you'll have to let go of many things without anything in return," my mom insisted. suddenly, my stuffed animal ripped apart, the cotton inside spilling on the floor as i pounded the floor with my tiny fists in rage. but i couldn't let go. not this time. (cont. below +)
genre: angst word count: 1042 notes: the characters can't walk, they float because their legs are more like the bottom of genies- basically they don't have legs, just ghostly wisps and such ~ (cont. +) i brought myself back to reality, realizing that i was slowly slipping into the abyss with ignia, who was starting to seem like she was one with the lost souls. her tear-filled eyes were a misty gray, and her screams for me to let go of her hand became one with the voices. my grip was starting to loosen. ignia looked at me with her other-wordly eyes, and whispered one word, as if she was losing all her strength. "please." i slowly released her to be lost into the depths of the world, wanting to sob like i was a little child again. the cracks closed, the voices stopped, all as if it had never happened. i wanted to scream in pain like the voices had. i floated along the path back to the campsite, practically breaking down when i reached the southern area. when i reached sol, furnan, and raven, i immediately reached in for a tight group hug. and this time, i vowed that i would never, ever let go.
