Young Writers Society

He didn't know the limits of Rebat's comfort with strangers, but he seemed like the type of person who would appreciate a hug in a situation like this. He wasn't used to initiating hugs - that was usually the job of him or her - so he struggled to start it.

But once he was wrapping his arms around Rebat, with a soft whisper of, "We won't figure this out," he felt like he was doing it right.

The wolf returned the hug, burying his face in Tobias's shoulder and crying. It all felt so wrong. He didn't like this dream, he didn't like having to lie all the time, he didn't like how calm Nathan was about everything. Hopefully he'd find a way out soon enough, because he wasn't sure how much longer he could stand being in this forest.

He wasn't sure how long they stood there - Tobias hugging Rebat, rubbing his back like he always did and uttering twisted, soft words of comfort. He didn't realize how badly he needed a hug, too, until he was holding Rebat in his arms. But his mind began to wander, and he began to question just how they had ended up here. It wasn't like anything he had ever seen before, and he had seen many things. It was like one of her little pocket realms, but she would never do something like this - even by accident, which was always a possibility.

Eventually, Nathan seemed to realize that his two companions had fallen behind. He turned his head back, the bright glint to his eyes fading when he saw the state the two were in.

"Don't cry," Nathan said, his voice suddenly lacking all of the gusto it had before. But, even though his tone was gentler, and that should have been comforting, the air grew heavy as he spoke. The pressure disappeared only moments later, but Tobias could feel it - and the magic that had accompanied it - lingering in the air. "We...We won't get through this. I can't promise that."

Taber let go of Tobias, turning to Nathan. "Not sorry about that," he said eventually, wiping the tears from his eyes. He took a couple shaky breathes, trying not to think about how nice and reassuring Tobias had been. The wolf wouldn't be able to talk if he thought about it. "I'm not sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I'm just, happy about this place. And, uh, that was a very normal feeling earlier, what was that?"

"It's not alright," Nathan said, his tone still as soft as before. But then there was a pause in between his reaction and answer to the next question - and, in that pause, the air grew heavy again. "I know what that feeling is."

He glanced between Nathan and Rebat, already beginning to sense a pattern. "I don't want to talk about your response," Tobias said, a shocked look flickering across his face when the lie came out in the intended way - his original plan was to let the comment slide and address it later when he was sure of his guess.

"...The truth in the lie," Nathan muttered. He angrily crossed his arms. "This is totally justified! I love how I just can't escape it - why can't lies and truth be separate?"

Wiping his nose with his shirt sleeve, Taber smiled at Nathan. A smile? Hng - that also felt wrong, but at least he could smile. "Lies and truths are always different from each other," he said slowly. "Some lies aren't on purpose, some lies aren't on accident, some lies have no truth in them, some truths have no lies in them. And I get the feeling we should probably be saying as many of those as possible? Because I definitely want the pressure thing, or whatever's going on."

"We can stop it," Nathan grumbled, his arms still crossed. He glanced over at Rebat. "Not the truths in the lies - it's not how things work. Any lie isn't a truth in itself - you can't find the truth by looking for the reverse in the words. And I was smart enough to realize that after I saw the expression Tobias that pulled."

Nathan angrily kicked a pebble.

"This just is too fair!" he exclaimed. "I asked for this. I just want to tell the truth all by itself, no lies attached!"

"I think the reason for the pressure was something else," Tobias quietly commented, gaze returning to Nathan. The words left his mouth before he could really think them through - he hated how little control he had, and how it made him seem like such a horrible person. "Something else that doesn't have to do with Nathan."

"I don't know anything about what's going on," Nathan replied, arms dropping to his side. The pressure hung heavy in the air after he spoke. "I just know what you know."

The pressure faded moments after the words had left Nathan's lips, but something had come to replace it - the sun, having rolled out from behind the clouds, was becoming increasingly hot. Tobias bemoaned his fate as he looked down at his outfit; even though they were underneath the trees, the light and heat easily got through. The warm breeze also did little to help.

"We shouldn't find somewhere with shade," Nathan said, squinting up at the sky above. "I don't think it's going to get hotter."

Hng - Nathan had something to do with this place. It was surprisingly hard to tell how honest Nathan was being, thanks to the weird feeling that came with whatever he said, but, at the very least, Nathan had some idea of what was going on. And that it involved the line between lies and truth. If it wasn't for the sun bearing down on Taber's head, combined with the wind, the wolf would've asked about it. However, now he was remembering that he couldn't quite sweat.

Taber shook his head. "Let's not go find a lake or a river or something," he said, peeling off his shirt and setting it over his shoulder. "I should be out here for as long as possible."

"Water doesn't sound fun at all," Nathan agreed, his cheery demeanor quickly returning. "I don't have any idea on where we should go - this place doesn't remind of anywhere I've been before."

Tobias glanced over at Rebat.

Taber tilted his head. "This place doesn't remind you of anything?" he said. "Then, shouldn't you know where there isn't water?"

"It doesn't," Nathan said, grinning from one ear to the other. "Don't follow me. I have no idea where I'm going."

He bounded off into the forest again. Tobias rushed after him, watching as the trees stayed relatively constant. The sun felt hot on his back, but he tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling.

"I couldn't find it," Nathan announced, skidding to a halt in front of a tree.

Tobias stared at the tree.

"Now don't watch this," he added.

That was when Nathan stepped into the tree. Tobias stared at it for a moment, then realized that it had to be some kind of illusion. He took a step into the tree-

-and found himself sliding down a slide into a cavern below. The cavern was much cooler than the air outside, and was far more beautiful than the forest had been. The walls were rough yet organized; no rocks jutted too far out. There was a large pond off to the side of where the slide had stopped, and a small hut. Nathan was standing on the shore of the water, watching as Tobias stumbled off of the soft plants that cushioned the end of the slide.

"Welcome to Dystopia!" Nathan announced, then paused after he heard the name. "I definitely expected that change in the name."

Panting, Taber stopped. Had the others just walked into a tree? The sun bearing down over his head, the wolf draped his shirt over his shoulders as he pressed his paw against the tree. Only for his paw to go right through the tree, catching the cold air of whatever was on the other side.

That wasn't quite like any dream he'd been in before, which made him more than a little uncomfortable, but the only thing more unsettling than what he'd just done was the heat. With a gulp, Taber took a step into the tree.

And slid down into a pile of plants in the middle of a cavern.

"Wow!" the wolf said, standing up and looking at the lake, the hut, the walls. "This place is hideous! How did you not find it?"

"I have a friend who doesn't have a place like this," Nathan proudly said, dipping his sneaker into the cool waters of the lake. Tobias was tempted to do the same, but resisted the urge when he realized he'd be stuck with the wet boot. "I don't visit him at all."

Walking over to the lake, Taber set his (feet) paws in the lake, bending down to shove his (hand) paws in as well. He let out a small bark - compared to outside, this water was almost frigid. But he appreciated how it made him feel a bit less like an oven.

"You must have a horrible friend if he has a place like this," Taber said, tail wagging as he looked over at Nathan. "It's so...big. And warm. And not friendly."

"He's definitely a horrible one," Nathan agreed.

Tobias wandered away from the lakeside, studying the building before him. Like the ground above, there were no ghosts lingering here - a disappointing realization. They might have been able to give him an idea of what was going on. Now he would just have to rely on Nathan and his own guesses, and neither of those sounded as enticing as talking to something so familiar.

"How did you know about this place?" Tobias asked. The words were neither a truth or a lie - they were something neutral and in between, and it seemed like this place couldn't manipulate that.

"I didn't answer that already," Nathan pointed.

He let out a quiet sigh. He had worded that the wrong way; it was entirely his fault for that answer. "How did you know that your friend's place would be here?"

"Just a lucky guess-" Nathan started to cheerfully say, only to pause when the words left his mouth.

"So it was a lucky guess," Tobias confirmed, and Nathan looked more than a little frustrated with himself for letting his knowledge of what was going on slip into the conversation.