He's had asthma attacks before. Kind of a pain, but a fact of life. Not even that scare, since he has a rescue inhaler.
It's not here. It's probably downstairs, and if Theo weren't in the middle of making breakfast his uncanny Scott- sense would have already kicked in- but instead, he's downstairs, and doesn't notice until Scott has already tumbled down the stairs.
When he hits his head against the wall, Theo is rushing to his side, but he's already gone.
For a moment it feels like he is falling down the stairs again, but maybe that is just because the sensation was recently in his mind.
There is a darkness and maybe that thing over there is the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel...
...except there is something else in here, and pulls him in a different direction. The darkness is interrupted by string of red dots flying around him like snowflakes in a blizzard.
There is no transition, he just finds himself in a completely different place.
Scott is standing on an islet, maybe three or four meters across. There is a much bigger island nearby. This islet contains three coconut trees, a trunk, a pirate skeleton and... Theo. Scott is standing right on top of him... except, that is not actually right.
...Scott is now translucid and he and Theo are intersecting like one of them is immaterial.
"What? Theo, what happened, are you okay?"
He leans down, trying to touch him, examine the extent of his injuries...
He can't.
"Theo?"
"I'm up, I'm up. Morning, beautiful."
He stands, passing through Scott, looking around.
He flinches.
"What happened?"
"I fell, I hit my head against..."
“You wake up on a desert island. You have no idea how you got here. The last thing you remember is a sharp pain in your head.”
They both experience the voice inside their heads, apparently not coming from any specific place.
"Your clothes are wet and tattered. Next to you there is a pirate trunk. On the other side of the pirate trunk there is the skeleton of a pirate. There is nothing else on the island."
No one's clothes are wet and tattered. Theo's are sand covered, but that is what one would expect from laying down on the sand.
"You heard that too, right?"
"I heard it. You check out the skeleton, I'll take the chest."
"What about my sudden inability to touch you? Can I even open a chest?"
"It's probably part of this game or prank, or whatever. Don't worry about it, just try poking around. Besides, you're looking at the skeleton, no touching involved."
He leans down next to the skeleton to examine it.
Anyone with even tiniest bit of understanding of biology would find suspicious how clean the skeleton is and how well-preserved the clothes are. Plus, the pirate's are very... cartoonishly stereotypical. They do look somehow time-period appropriate, but still there is an actual eyepatch there.
When he checks the chest they both hear "What a wonderful treasure!" from the mysterious head-voice. There is a shower of sparkles and the interior is bigger than the outside.
The 'treasure' is composed of: a thirteen silver coins; a folded tent that really shouldn't fit in this chest; a mason jar containing something hard to identify; an iron lantern; some kind of bracelet; and a bottle with a rolled up piece of paper inside.
The bottle is glowing with golden light.
"You should probably wear the bracelet, since I can't wear things now."
He nods, putting on the bracelet.
Briefly the words "Bracelet of Speed +4" appear in front of them, drawn in white light.
"You're gonna get all the cool magic items. Let's do this."
"I'm more worried about why this is happening."
He takes the bottle and smashes it against the mason jar.
The bottle declines to break.
"Inside the bottle there is a message, that describes the deceased pirate's tale."
Again they both hear the voice, but it's changed. Also: no one even touched the message yet.
"Curse Jones! He left me stranded on this island, no way to escape without my treasure! He wouldn't even help me carry it through the water! He just used the shark bait to distracted the dangerous tuneshark and bailed on me! Curse Jones a thousand times! Now I am too weak to swim even without my treasure and I am going to die on this cursed island."
He opens the mason jar.
"Old Gradma Traditional Shark Bait: The best shark bait in the seven seas! Feed this to a shark and he won't be able to chew on anything else, not even your legs! Guarantee or your money back! Just add water! (Or rather, add it to the water.)"
It's hard to identify what is inside, it looks rubbery, but it doesn't smell bad.
"Who wrote this."
"I really hope this a prank. I can handle witches who have nothing to do with their time."
He walks to the edge and pours the contents into the water.
They see a shark fin approaching them... and hear the tune of "Jaws".
Then the shark reaches the bait and the music changes to something suspiciously similar to the "under the sea" theme.
"Great. Scott, I got you a pet shark."
"Thaaanks. What do I do with my new pet shark?"
"Cook it? I don't know. Hey, you with the voice, got anything to say about the shark?"
The weird voice declines to offer a reply.
He puts the coins in his pockets, holds the tent in one hand and the lantern in the other.
"Do you think we'll need the jar?"
"You could put the tent in the jar, if it'll fit. What's the plan, ride the shark out of here?"
"Of course you're going to ride a shark, I don't know what I was expecting. Okay, go ahead. I'll float."
He attempts to ride the shark.
The shark starts swimming towards the bigger Island. It's very tame and doesn't try to drown Theo.
"Hey, do you think-"
"If you make a shark pun, we're breaking up."
He rides the shark, and soon enough, gets off at the island.
He pats the shark to thank it for a job well done.
The shark does move a bit deeper into the water, but doesn't do anything else. The little mermaid tune is still playing.
Once they reach the sand the pirate's trunk materializes while Theo isn't looking. Scott catches a handful of red dots appearing in the ground and then the trunk fading on back into reality.
Scott examines the red dots, while Theo looks at the chest.
The red dots fade once the trunk is all the way solid.
The chest is the same chest they left behind on the islet.
Does it contain the same stuff?
Is it empty now?
It contains anything they left inside. Which is to say: nothing.
"So there's something I didn't mention."
"Oh, we're getting to the thing about the witches? This should be good."
"Right. So witches exist! It's pretty terrible, they mostly eat souls and commune with demons, don't ever talk to a witch. Anyway, a witch made me because she- he?- they were bored. Also as proof of concept. There's a whole long, boring story that I won't get into, since we're on a magical island."
"You're. Some kind of magical invention?"
"Magical construct, science experiment, unholy abomination- take your pick."
He reaches out for a second before dropping his arms awkwardly.
"Okay. So I'm a ghost, right? That's what we're going with?"
"That'd be my guess. Whoever designed this probably wasn't planning on both of being here, all of that stuff about ahead injury- I think it was just for you. We can use that."
Nod.
"You stay here, I can probably take a quick tour of the island-"
He pauses.
"I don't think I'm floating, that's kind of disappointing. Why would ghosts have to walk?"
"You always were down-to-earth."
"I'll be right back, as soon as I walk all the way around the island to escape that pun."
He starts walking.
It sure looks like your typical tropical island, except all fruit trees are weird familiar things and there is only limited animal life.
For how long Scott is planning to do this?
Until he's walked all the way around it, obviously.
Well, what if it takes hours and he still hasn't found the other way around yet?
Also, what is Theo up to during that time?
Theo is petting the shark, obviously.
He's also trying to decide how long it'll last if they cook it.
But Scott gives up after about thirty minutes; if it's that big, there's a better way of handling this.
He turns back and rejoins Theo.
The shark accepts to be petted.
It actually doesn't appear to be responsive to it at all.
On his way back, Scott sees something that way over there that looks unusual.
Okay, he investigates that and then he'll rejoin Theo.
He will see there is an altar there.
The red dots appear again and this time they... bring a skeleton.
The mental voice announces "Another tragic scene. But wait, what are those things that the departed is holding?"
Both Scott and Theo heard it.
He looks at them as best he can without touching them, then.
Theo runs towards him, lantern in hand, other objects forgotten.
The skeleton is male and dressed somehow similar to the first one.It has an arm outstretched reaching towards the altar, there is something... some sort of stone figure in his hand.
The other hand holds a book of some sort against his chest.
It isn't hard to find the spot where Scott is observing the skeleton.
"How many people do you think died playing this game?"
"They're probably just for atmosphere."
He approaches the altar.
The altar is simple and made of gray stone. There are small "slots" engraved in the stone.
"Just what I always wanted, a puzzle."
He takes the stone figure from the skeleton's hand and places it in one of the slots.
It slots easily. Nothing immediate happens.
"I wonder what the diary says?" ponders the mysterious-voice.
"Scott-"
"No. The mysterious narrator is being helpful and probably isn't actually a person."
"Fine, I'll open the diary because I have hands and I take orders from annoying voices emanating from the sky."
He opens the diary.
When Theo picks the diary, they both hear the mental voice again: "You read the last page."
The voice in his head changes.
"This will be my last message. I am sure. Unless I manage to escape this island. Which I am not sure. I hope that whoever finds this journal sends my regards to my beloved Maribelita or at least has better luck than I did while uncovering the mysteries of this place."
Theo is actually looking at the first page, but it does contain the entry he just read. A bookmark suddenly appears and glows.
Great. And what does the bookmark mark?
"Following the instructions of this journal should prove key to survival."
The voice changes into what must be Jones' voice.
"I figured out how the totems work. You place one at the altar and giving them an elemental offering. I discovered this when I placed one of the totems in the slot and sneezed. My breath counted as an offering of air."
Again the words are repeated in the actual book. Except there are also the following words:
Goal: create an air totem. 0/1.
"I guess I'll sit out this part of the adventure."
Since the rock is already in the slot, Theo just blows on it.
The totem lights up and changes color, from gray to a blue-white scheme that is vaguely wind-like. It glows faintly.
What, no helpful narration?
"Okay, so we have an air totem. I wonder if we can finally do something."
"Maybe you have to pick it up?"
He removes the totem from the slot.
A new bookmark appears in the book, it glows.
It leads to a page titled "Know Your Totems" in elaborate cursive.
The page after that there is a picture of the small totem, under the name "smol air totem" and with the following description:
The weakest air totem, but it can produce a gust of wind that no human could with their lungs. Basic air manipulation. Single use.
"Okay, so we need to find more totems. Pre-totems, whatever. I think this calls for some exploration."
"I'll go out ahead, in case there's anything dangerous."
So they walk, Theo carrying his totem and his lantern.
He places the diary in the chest before they go on.
One of the bookmarks is glowing again.
Okay he checks that page, then they can go.
"Quest complete!" Chirps the mental voice. There is a shower of sparkles, they gather in a sphere that appears in front of them and then vanishes.
A new quest shows up.
Goals: find new totems. 0/5
Hint: the mischievous totems-spirits relocate the totems around, if you can't find a totem in one place, try again an hour later. They like to hide slightly out of sight.
Great.
He places the diary in the chest, and they do what they were planning to do anyway.
"Totem spirits, sounds fun."
"It's a game, Scott. There's a way to win, and they're just a minor obstacle."
"Life isn't usually a video game. This is a little weird, but I don't think we can just assume anything."
Shrug.
They walk further from the beach, looking for somewhere totems could be hiding.
Well, there is that one place, that is on that another place.
Scott, might soon realize that the red dots announce the sudden materialization of a totem.
He points this out after they've found their next totem.
Is there some sort of condition for this one?
Lucky they left the diary behind so it doesn't bother them!
Totem hunting is a nice distraction from dying.
Red dots and then the treasure chest materializes nearby!
To the treasure chest!
Is the diary still in the chest?
Yup and once he opens the quest page there is more showers of sparkles and the sphere of energy gets full.
Level up!
+1 speed
+1 stamina
+1 magic
+10 health
Extra Health boost from leveling up, doubled health until damaged.
From Scott's perspective a grid of dots in a four by four configuration rises from the ground and "projects" the words in the air. While another grid of red dots rise behind Theo and shoots beams of light that don't appear to have any obvious effect until the second grid turns towards Scott and shoots him. Then the entire light show vanishes.
Scott feels considerable more solid and less transparent than before. Not all the way to normal though.
"I can't believe Ty is missing this."
"We know what he'd say, something about how a life of sitting on the couch playing video games has been training for this. It's just like having him here with us."
"Let's keep moving. The faster we level up, the better."
They also have a new quest!
"Surviving alone is hard task and more so without shelter! All I did the first night in the island was think about that tent that I left behind in my chest. And then there is food! Water! And warmth!"
Goals:
Hint: the fire doesn't need to stay on continuously, but it only counts from dusk to dawn.
He checks the chest for the tent.
It's right where he left it. When picked up, the tent "squirms" out of his hand and unfolds itself neatly.
He claps politely.
"We should light the fire first, since we have a time requirement."
"I never got my wilderness survival merit badge. How am I supposed to start a fire?"
"Get some firewood? I've never done this either."
The book fails to provide better hints. At least it shouldn't be hard to find firewood in here.
The one with hands gets to work on that, seeing if he can spot any food while he collects the wood.
Scott is capable of lifting small objects but it might not be the most efficient use of his time.
It takes a while, but they eventually can find the ten fruits (all are rather familiar and species, most don't fit the island's climate), they also come across a freshwater stream and enough firewood.
"Do we have a container?"
He eyes his lantern speculatively.
"We had the mason jar. Did we leave it on the other island?"
"Yeah. We can go back, but we should probably just find something else."
"I can sort of pick things up now, and I can probably walk across water."
"That might take a while. I don't want us to split up."
He thinks about this.
He vanishes.
"Scott! Scott?"
Back in the islet, everything is the way they left it, minus the treasure chest, the palm trees are over there, the skeleton over there, the jar over there and the bottle with a message over here.
He picks up the jar and tries to want his way back.
When that doesn't work, he starts walking.
Theo gets on his shark friend, leaving everything in the chest, and sets off.
The water isn't particularly turbulent, but it's still water. The two can meet halfway... or try, because the shark keeps going towards the islet instead of stop where Scott is.
Scott does manage to teleport again, before Theo has been moving for more than a few minutes, and he calls out from the island.
"Theo! It's okay, I'm okay. I got the jar."
He stops fighting the shark, and turns back.
When he reaches shore, he rushes to Scott's side.
"I thought you were gone, I didn't know- let's just keep moving, okay? Let's figure this out."
"I'm fine, I'm safe. Let's get the water and go."
The trip back to the fresh water stream is uneventful except they find two extra smol totems.
And then they've completed their quest, which probably means something good, right?
Well, there is still the bit about keeping the fire lit during the night, and it's still day.
They sit around the fire, trying to keep the ember between them burning.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, he breaks in with "Did you turn off the stove?"
"That's the least of our problems."
"It's bad enough Ty is going to come home to find us missing, but if the house burns down-"
"He's always been a wet blanket."
He examines the totems.
They are pretty much identically shaped. Carved as two round spheres with markings to draw the features of the faces and limbs. There is a sense of cultural style to it, but he would've no way of guessing which cultural style it is besides "not one I am familiar with".
"If we can make air totems, there are probably others. Water, fire..."
"We shouldn't use them up now, we don't know what the next quest needs."
He takes the totems and puts them in their chest.
"So are we going to talk about the part where I'm definitely a ghost?"
"We're in some kind of video game, or reality show. This isn't that weird compared to the totems."
"This isn't normal, Theo, this doesn't happen every day. Whatever happened to me, we have to figure out how it works."
"Okay. You're having trouble touching things, right? We can practice."
"We should both be glad you never tried to pick me up, I'm not sure I would have gone for it."
Scott practices.
Theo provides a willing test subject.
He keeps one eye in the fire, but otherwise, they can spend a while doing this.
Eventually the night falls. If they are paying attention to the quest page, they will discover it's counting down to the six hours mark.
After an hour, they both need a break.
Scott decides to look for any local wildlife.
Theo examines the quest page. Can he fold it, tear it...?
It folds alright, it tears to a certain point and then it's like the page changes - it looks the same but the material becomes rigid.
In red letters appear at the bottom of the page.
Hint: tearing away pages will revoke quests. Some quests re-appear later. This quest is important for story progression.
He stops tearing and starts flipping through it.
If he tries flipping the pages it will eventually become quite clear there is a very large number of them. He will in fact fail to reach the end.
He tamps down his thoughts and waits for Scott.
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my?
No lions and tigers and not even bears. There is in fact a weird absence of mammals and reptiles, but there are tropical birds and insects if he looks for them. He spots a single frog hopping around a puddle.
He probably shouldn't get distracted by the frog, but he totally gets distracted by the frog.
Frog: is green and splashes around the puddle some, it doesn't find Scott particularly distracting.
They don't need a pet frog. That's what Theo would say if he were here.
He's not there, but Scott goes back anyway.
And eventually the quest countdown ends there is a shower of sparkles.
The mental voice announces: "The fire was so warm and so comforting." Sudden suspenseful music. "Wish I knew it would attract their attention. I would've preferred the cold darkness."
Scott sees a bunch of red lights zip about in multiple directions.
There is a new quest in the book.
...okay.
He reads the book.