Zidus

The forest is beautiful today, so you decide to take a walk through the trail that is the most safest, sunlight shines brightly ahead and the sounds of birds chirping high above in the trees is a pleasant experience. It’s quiet beside the birds, peaceful, the only real loud sound is you stepping on whatever foliage that has grown on the trail. This continues for a long while until you come upon a canopy, sunlight now peaking through the tall trees and leaves and leaving you with that sight. The ground is relatively spread out rather than dense, and you see a small pond, so you get a closer look, walking through the grass and growth and sitting down on a large rock overlooking the pond; water reflecting the thin sunlight.

As you take in the sight you hear a shuffling behind you, turning, there’s nothing there but a small brush. Shrugging it off as nothing more than a small animal you return to what you were doing before. A few minutes later, another shuffle comes from somewhere behind you, closer now. You turn quicker this time, but there’s still nothing but the natural forest. Getting suspicious you gather your stuff and prepare to leave the canopy, turning from the pond and continuing on the trail you walk until you think you’re safe and start to calm down again. That is until you feel someone against your back, lean down into your ear, and whisper. “Ah-ah-ah! Now where does my star think they’re going?” Then something makes contact with your head, metallic but not sharp. Still, the force causes you to fall unconscious, knocked out and falling onto the trail. “Sleep, and when you wake, the grandest play will commence!” That’s the last thing you hear.

You awake to multiple things at once, but the most pressing is the feeling of rough bark against your shoulders, and how you feel your hands tied together with rope that hurts even with the slightest movement. Your hands are tied against a tree you realize as consciousness returns. Looking around frantically you notice you are in a canopy, although if it’s the same one as before is unknowable, there’s a campfire not too far away from and near it - is your materials, haphazardly placed.

As panic begins to set in, a rustle of foliage gets your attention as someone steps into the site. She has light green fur with dark green fur on the legs, a four-pointed mask, eyes in lazy pink coloration, neck collar with pink flower petals, and dressed in a simple outfit, but really what gets your attention is the belt around her waist holding twin sickles and the shackles around her wrists. “Ah-ha! Welcome, welcome, my shining star! You’ve finally awakened, and just in time for the opening act!” She looks at you with an intensity that’s completely at odds with her half-lidded eyes before prowling closer, circling the tree you are bound to, breath warm against your ear and reappearing on your other side. “Now, I suppose it’s time for proper introductions, though I’m certain you already know who I am. I am Zidus, the director, and you, my dear, precious star, are the lead role in a production so magnificent and spectacular that the very heavens will weep with envy at its beauty.” She crouches down so that your face and hers are level, retrieving one of the sickles and pressing it flat against your cheek. The metal is cool and slightly wet, probably washed, even now you can tell how sharp it is. “Forget your previous, dull life, this is where you belong now, and if anyone tries to take my star away… they will know true suffering.” She presses the metal harder again your cheek. “Me and you will have so much fun together.” Her voice is sweet, and slightly seductive.