June Monthly Challenge

This was a collab between samedoll, soaptoast, and me, and it's our entry for the June Monthly Challenge \o/

  - Sketch
 - Lineart
 - Coloring
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Upon entering the room, the daring trio noticed quite a few changes. Minor ones of course. There was for example, a vast white landscape ahead of them instead of a dark room as they’d assumed. And when they turned around, there was no longer a door but more snowy hills and clear sky. At least whatever it was that had sent them to this snowy world gave them winter gear, something they all joked and commented on.

Seeing as there was no going back, they decided to go forward. All the while, they discussed fears and what could possibly happen as they got progressively colder with the passing time. It seemed wherever they walked, all they could see was the frozen wasteland around them. They noticed they were on a higher elevation as often their path was cut off by a sheer drop into a haunting darkness down below. If freezing to death was their collective fear, this wouldn’t be as big of a challenge as they feared.

Their confidence disappeared immediately as the ground shook. Was it an earthquake?

It was not an earthquake, “it” was approaching them from one of the snowy mounds they’d noticed earlier. “It” looked like a giant serpent as big as the three agents were tall. “It” was enough to send the three running as fast as they could as the giant snake barrelled towards them.

They yelled ideas to each other, only hoping the snake did not speak the human tongue, and agreed to split up at the same time as to confuse the snake. Unfortunately for them,  the snake was only confused momentarily and decided to follow in the path Roi took. Determined but unsure, Matias turned back and chased behind warning Roi of the snake on its path. Darin’s path led to yet the edge of another drop. She turned back to look at her comrades running and despite feeling her body stiffen from the cold, she knew it would be unforgivable for them to end their lives like this.

Stretching herself much beyond her capacity she latched onto the snake and sprung herself back, causing the snake to be tugged backwards just a bit. Furious, this monster turned around sharply and headed right towards the attacker at full speed. What she failed to recognize was that in its turn, the snake managed to push Matias over the edge and with the end of its tail, was able to grab onto Roi.

The redhead didn’t even register at first the tail grabbing onto him, it all happened in such a blur. The rest felt like slow motion as Darin rolled to the side to grab onto Matias before he fell. At the same time the snake, unable to stop itself, fell over the edge and the two agents watched in horror as Roi was dragged along, panic and terror clear in his face. Matias desperately tried to reach forward to grab onto Roi but missed.

They only heard the scream of fear as Roi plunged into the darkness.

Matias was useless, again. As both Roi and the snake were swallowed by the darkness, he was silently horrified. A frustration with the strength of rage, but with the serenity of uncharacteristic determination consumed him. It was so powerful, in fact, he could hardly feel the draining effect Darin's grip on him had. He was tired of being filled with the fear that he couldn't do anything. After a couple of seconds, his will simmered, finally leveling out with the realization that he'd let his teammate die. Never again, he mouthed to himself. Nunca más. A heavy dread settled on his shoulders - one that would last for a while.

Darin had overcome her fear, she got over her selfishness and risked her body to stretch beyond the limits to try save her friends. Here she was, barely hanging on but still holding onto Matias. Yet how could they just let Roi go like that? The cold was numbing Darin’s hand as she grappled to keep her grip on land. Pushing her hand in more, she felt a smoothness she’d earlier pocketed before they’d gone through the door. The Candle!

This nightmare would end after all… she just had to light the candle. Yet with one hand stretched and nearing a breaking point, holding onto Matias and the other one firmly on the ground and the candle, Darin turned to look down at Matias.

“I found the candle.”

There were really no words need to be said, Matias knew what had to be done as it was in his pockets that the matches hid. Darin had no more strength to lift her arms back to their normal length. It was a silent nod that pushed Darin to only grip the candle once Matias had his hands around the match.

They jumped into the darkness, doing their best to light the candle and soon they were met with the blackness and cold.

Darin sat up first and realized they were in a room and she could see the back of a door again, she also found Roi and Matias lying on the ground beside her. They were alive?

Roi managed to wake up just barely after Darin, although the moment he regained consciousness, he didn't look at all sound. He visibly trembled, eyes wide and unfocused on anything. He couldn't even face his teammates, he was so petrified still, stuck in his own thoughts as everything races back towards him, replaying constantly in his head as his breathing came out shakily, uneasily. He died just then.  No questions about it, he died.

The rest of Roi's time outside of the room was met with an eerie silence from the usually extroverted boy as he sat with his knees to his chest and kept his distance. Needless to say, he wasn't okay--couldn’t even muster enough to cry, he was so stuck in fear. The challenge proved too great, and there was a lot he had to think about because of it.

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There it is \o/. This was super fun to work on with soap and doll and we hope you guys like it!