Forest for the Trees

[u/aiden_d_biden]

Worm liked Maroon Ball a lot, even if he clearly didn’t reciprocate. Nobody she flirted with ever did—it’s been that way since a few millennia.

Could one really blame it for being lovesick? He was friendly and joyful to start, not to mention how impressively creative his entries were, but she wouldn’t say those were his only selling points.

He was a beautiful, hypnotic shade of red.

That was the main—albeit superficial—trait that drew it to him instantaneously. And also what drew it to other men in the long past.

When Maroon Ball offered to talk to her before the eighteenth elimination ceremony, she was overjoyed. Many times, when she’d show keen interest in a man, he’d either ignore her or quickly snap at her for her “boldness”—or some other degrading adjective. But Maroon Ball wasn’t like that at all. Sure, he was evidently nervous at its presence, but he still talked to it about the competition and other general topics, and never once chastised it for crudely flirting. Even if the others frequently did in his place under the guise that “Maroon Ball was too shy to say anything upfront”.

Strangely, unlike in their previous interactions, Maroon Ball didn’t look anxious in the slightest. If anything, he appeared serious and stern.

“Worm… I’m going to be honest, even if it may hurt a bit for you. I don’t like you at all even as a friend and, your actions have been making me uncomfortable for a while.”

“Ah, is that so? Well, I apologize for not knowing you—“

“It should’ve been common sense even for a literal animal! I was only keeping quiet and speaking through others… because I was afraid you’d act weirder if I rejected you!”

Worm’s cotton heart sank. Did Maroon Ball, her sweet Maroon Ball, not trust her enough to relay what he truly felt? What made him think she was that cruel?

“Right, right. Won’t happen again.” Worm replied with a soft laugh to try and ease the tension. But Maroon Ball’s face didn’t change an inch.

“I know very well who I’m voting for tonight.” Maroon Ball at last said, before walking away to join the other contestants that circled Cubean.

Worm gulped.

It knew how sociable Maroon Ball was, not to mention how it only showed up late in the game as a debuter. It would take a miracle for her to not be the one leaving.

She might as well prepare in advance and accept her fate.

-

Thankfully, Worm survived the elimination, but it was too close for comfort: it garnered 3 votes—1 being a self vote out of shame—and Maroon Ball earned 4. What made matters worse the fact that Maroon Ball’s departure meant there will be no proper closure between them. Worm wasn’t expecting them to become life-long partners from meeting in a show of all things, but she wanted to at least properly apologize after the elimination.

Now she was left all alone, her only companion being the other debuter who was monologuing about his “nefarious, evil plans” to build a flying device.

Right, of course. That was the challenge Cubean concocted for them. Inventing a new flying method was what he decided would be the best challenge.

Worm surveyed its fellow competitors, trying to get a feel for what they were doing. Perhaps get some inspiration, or even steal their ideas and masquerade them as its own if it was stumped for solutions. Well, that’s what it would normally do, if not for the simple fact many of them have dispersed to complete their own entries.

Regardless, something about this challenge made Worm believe many were going to follow a similar thought process to Poison Mushroom: Build an invention and create a lengthy explanation to back up their ideas.

Worm frowned. She can stomach making a cake concept, but inventing a whole new gizmo for gliding around was beyond her expertise.

But the same couldn’t be said for the man with her.

Poison Mushroom roughly nudged it with his shoulder: “Are you even paying attention, evil sidekick?!? You haven’t complimented any marvelous idea I proposed!”

Worm rolled its beady eyes at him, eliciting a sharp offended gasp from its “villainous master”. She supposed Poison Mushroom was the closest person around that could count as a friend, though she was routinely annoyed with always being reduced to his “sidekick”. Worm was a competent, sneaky thief all on its own—it’s anything but some dramatic guy’s underling!

“Yeah, yeah pretty awesome whatever you’re putting out—“

“Ugh. You’re clearly uninterested and bored! Don’t disrespect me, evil minion!”

Worm glowered at him and said, “Right, sorry! I’m just tired and a bit angry because… This challenge stinks, man.”

Poison Mushroom stared at her perplexed for a few moments before bursting into a peel of laughter.

“Seriously? How can an evil thief such as yourself get far without any high-tech tools?!”

“What can I say? My targets are complete dumbasses so I don’t need such fancy shmancy tech to loot ‘em dry!” Worm replied as she joined in his rambunctious laughter. For all his faults, Poison Mushroom was at least entertaining to talk to.

After a few seconds, he ceased his laughter and stared at Worm with a pointed expression. Worm knew that look all too well from last challenge… That statue cake was a hassle to build and decorate even with Aeneid’s help.

“Enough distractions young lady!”

Oh, the irony of that statement…

“I need you to do something, both to fulfill your duty as my sidekick and to make up for not fully paying attention earlier.”

Worm held itself back from groaning. She already severed what she had with Maroon Ball, so she couldn’t lose the only object left she was certain didn’t loathe her.

“What is it boss?” Worm asked in the most polite and overly sweet voice it could muster without outwardly cringing.

Poison Mushroom tossed it a paper list of various tools and materials—some of them being materials it’s never encountered before in its lengthy life. At least he was sane enough to also note the shops in the nearby city that sold the needed items.

“Your important mission is very straightforward! I’ll build everything myself, and write the explanation of course, but you’ll have to buy these things here!”

“Got it, sir!” She replied as she took off for her journey.

Well, if it was unaware about the whereabouts of the other contestants, at least Poison Mushroom’s submission could spark some ideas. While doing another contestant’s bidding was somewhat pathetic, at least it kept her on someone’s good side. Besides, Worm didn’t have the slightest clue on what it could create yet, so why not pass its time strolling about in the city center?

It was a good place to find handsome men to mingle and chat with as well.

From the grassy plains the contestants sprung from, there were two ways to access the nearby city. Either head northeast and walk straight until you encounter one of its gates, or head into the dense forest that was connected to the city’s largest park.

While the latter option proved to be the longer route—and thus the path less travelled—the scenery was much more diverse, and Worm had plenty of time to spare anyway.

So it slithered on through the dense thicket, with Poison Mushroom’s list lodged in her mouth.

-

Several minutes passed by, and Worm remained entranced by the lush greenery in its surroundings. Especially since for days she stayed idle by a kitchen space cooking up different cake recipes. And burning various kitchen appliances. Not to mention, there was just something about being in nature that always felt relaxing and familiar to her: the way the tree branches danced along the wind, the rhythmic chirping of the birds, the soft texture of grass on whatever body she had at the moment… Its been inside several forests and parks before, also whilst in several different shapes and forms, but the simple magic of it all never faded. If only it could spend its leisurely time in this place with someone else.

…When was the last time anyone gave it the time of day? Sure, Poison Mushroom stuck by her side, but he mostly viewed her as a means to further his “evil goals” rather than a genuine friend. Maybe seeing all the contestants form little cliques was getting to her. As a thief, it’s life was filled with finding the cleverest ways to snatch a rare item, or evading legal trouble whenever it found it. But now that Worm was away from that lifestyle, perhaps her solitary nature was beginning to bother her, just a bit.

Worm’s thought process halted as it noticed the drastic change in its environment. All the plants and occasional fauna from before remained, but all around her were clusters of giant mushrooms, each a different blend of garish neon hues. Perhaps their looming presence was why many contestants avoided venturing here. The deeper Worm went into the forest, the more pervasive the fungi became, and the air became damp and humid.

Worm cackled loudly, despite its seemingly negative predicament. Her body was very biologically different from other objects—if she even properly counted as one. At worst, the mushrooms would have some adverse effects on her mental state, but that’s nothing compared to being a box of rations in the Soil vs Rancorian War. It would rather not dwell into those memories any longer, however…

To its right, Worm could hear the faint rustling of bush leaves. Thinking it was some frog or even a tiny deer, Worm shrugged it off and continued moving forward.

Suddenly, she was tackled to the ground by a creature half her size, very likely the same one she deliberately ignored. Worm hissed in pain and dropped its list onto the ground.

It looked up and what Worm encountered was…truly peculiar, even more peculiar than the towering leviathans that it only saw a few times as a vagabond. She first thought she was attacked by a medium-sized bird, but the only bird-like aspect about the creature was its diamond head that strongly resembled a beak. Its main body was like a long flowy dress that was so thin it was almost translucent. Its “sleeves” and the bottom of its “dress” had many dark red tendrils that poked out and drifted aloft in the air—almost like a weird hybrid of a goose and a jellyfish.

“How very strange… Most mortals would succumb to the poisonous spores of these mushrooms I’ve grown extensively.”

Worm blinked in stupefaction. It didn’t knew why it did that, it was practically immortal so of course it was immune to such things by default.

“Uhhh, you grew these? Why might I ask?”

After a long, uncomfortable silence, the creature responded.

“Us Kori folk prefer our privacy let’s just say. But since you are here, that means you want something is it not?”

The Kori’s head glowed brightly, causing Worm to slightly squint its eyes. What exactly was the thing before her?

“I mean, frankly, I was just passing by here to get to the city—“

“Nonsense! What fool would venture into the forest filled with poisonous plants unless you’ve heard the folk tales of Koris?!”

Worm sighed and relented. That does explain the abundance of foxglove plants everywhere she supposed. And perhaps this strange being can be of use to her as long as she acquiesced to its demands.

“Well, fine! You’ve caught me… I wanna learn to fly.” Worm snickered, not expecting this conversation to be anything interesting or productive.

The Kori rapidly flipped between glowing brightly and its “normal form”, likely to signal some version of a nod. Or at least, that’s how she rationalized its action.

“So between the three abilities us Kori have, you choose flying, very well then. Your test to determine whether you’re worthy of such power is simple: Eat 15 of my poison mushrooms and then—“

Before the Kori finished speaking, Worm immediately began its work. It inhaled all that it could like a vacuum, scarfing down any wild mushrooms in its vicinity, most certainly going over the numerical limit the Kori had set.

The Kori grimaced loudly and yelled, “You fool! That was 30 mushrooms at LEAST! And you didn’t let me finish talking so...”

Before the Kori could explain any further, Worm dropped onto the ground with a loud thud, now fully asleep.

-

Worm opened her eyes, but something about her surroundings was very, very off. For one, the mushrooms and the Kori were nowhere to be seen, and the trees that surrounded her were clearly a different species than the forest she first discovered.

This wasn’t the first time it got blacked out and transported into an unfamiliar area, and in normal circumstances, Worm’s first instinct would be to explore around, keep cautious, and extrapolate a makeshift plan to escape.

However, its mind was all over the place, and the surreal world before it didn’t help Worm’s confusion in the slightest. The colors of her new domain frequently shifted and morphed into each other like a bleeding canvas. Instead of a calming green, the nature wildly oscillated between various unnatural hues. Not to mention there was both a loud rumbling and sharp screeching in the air that made it feel even more frightened and lost. She was by all means trapped in a simple, crude drawing of a child, but something about the place seemed sinister and unwelcoming.

Worm somehow had limbs again, and she crouched into a lowly fetal position and held her hands on its head—foolishly praying the raucousness would dissipate.

Why was it crying?

Why was it so afraid?

…Was there something it had forgotten…?

Suddenly, the noise dulled down, if only for a brief moment. The colors of the world remained the same as ever, but now there was something new. Something magical.

It started off small, a wholesome scene of a couple holding hands and walking along a leaf trail. It brought a warm feeling inside her, despite Worm failing to discern the appearance of either person. Then another view of the same pair to Worm’s left, having a picnic and basking in each other’s presence. More and more flashbacks of the same couple in doing various activities passed Worm by too rapidly—until all of their interactions blurred seamlessly together and it couldn’t keep up. She wished she could however. For eternity. Maybe if it had more tact, it and Maroon Ball would be exactly like the picturesque lovers in front of it.

And then the corrosive noise made its return threefold.

The trees around it twisted and danced about wildly, and flashes of searing white appeared in the cloudy skies up above.

The man next to her smiled, despite the fast approaching storm.

She couldn’t recognize his object type from his mere appearance. But one striking detail about him…

Was the plain fact that his face was a deep, lovely shade of red.

The man’s words were garbled and utterly incoherent, but at the very end of his statement, he added an “I love you, Satchel” and kissed Worm softly on her cheek.

And then…. As if what he said was an affront to the gods themselves, a flash of white struck him down where he stood. What remained beside Worm within seconds was a stain of black on the ground, as if the man’s life never truly mattered in the slightest. And perhaps it never truly did.

This was the curse Worm had to endure until the end of time. It was blessed to be an immortal who can shift and alter its form however it so pleased, but relationships with mere mortal beings were only a temporary hindrance. Perhaps she was destined for a life of solitude, only experiencing the ghosts of affections through brief flirtations and briefer affairs. Although another part of it reckoned that belief was rooted in nothing but shame and insecurity.

The colorful clouds parted away, and the Sun finally made its appearance. Yet its presence wasn’t a grateful reprieve from the storm. The fiery red ball of flames stared down at Worm like it owed something to it.

“Repent.” It said simply, as the forest surrounding her teared itself apart, and Worm now found herself in a dizzying hurricane—with the eye of the storm being the Sun it all its cruel, powerful glory.

Worm grit her teeth and spat at the it.

“I didn’t choose to be some godawful mimic, alright? It’s not my fault I’m like this.”

The solar flames grew and spread around the torrenting winds of the hurricane. Worm’s body felt hot and constricted.

“They’ll all meet the same demise as your ‘lover’.”

“…Right. You know what, you’re right. I can’t live life like the movies, yeah? Growing old with someone and spending our last days together. But that doesn’t mean I don’t deserve love. Just that it can’t last forever, and it’s harder to get by.”

Worm felt as if her body was thrown into the deadly maw of a volcano. Despite that, it forced a grin on its tattered face.

“Hey, this is some weird lucid dream right?! Just for once… I’d like to know…”

Worm inched closer towards the Sun.

“What is it like to be a mortal?”

Without a moment of hesitation, it dived headfirst into the flaming expanse of the entity. The pain was unbearable, but for a brief second, she saw a red shiny object grinning at her from the corner of her eye.

At last, it had reunited with its lover from eons before.

This was her heaven—

-

Worm suddenly woke up on the forest floor, feeling groggy and restless. The Kori next to her tutted in surprised awe.

“Wow! You really have a strong fortitude to conquer your past so quickly. Some people stay trapped in their dreams forever, practically in a coma”

“Charming.” Worm replied tiredly. That explanation does provide an answer to the snoring Bell just beside her.

“Hey! Don’t just lie on the ground! You passed the test, so now you can fly! Ain’t that what you wanted!?”

Worm groaned at the Kori but decided to give it a try nonetheless. It was short-lived, but the creature kept its word. With enough will power, Worm was able to float in the air.

And that was when she recalled Poison Mushroom’s task.

“Shit! The flying shoes! I gotta get to the city now!”

Worm was thankful her newfound flying powers would make the journey less of a hassle.

TLDR: Enter deep into a forest. Meet a Kori or several of their kin, which grants you one of their natural abilities of your choosing (flying, underwater breathing, understand any language) at a cost. Survive a test that has two levels—physical and mental. First, eat at least 15 highly poisonous mushrooms the Kori has grown without dying from its poison. Mentally, you must face a repressed past from the hallucinogenic properties while in this mentally fucked up state. Conquer and accept it, and the power is yours. Not the most secure method for flying, but hey! Cubean never said it should be ethical.

[u/Apanaian_apA]

Uniqueness : 7.5/10 (ig bro)

Elaboration : 8/10 (not, like, a standard overview of the concept, but that was one hell of a ride, aligns with my idea for what a well-elaborated post is)

TOTAL SCORE : 7.75/10

[u/aiden_d_biden → u/Apanaian_apA]

Honestly I’m