Fantasy Another Path.

[NeilH]

"The Dark Valley is forbidden to residents of To," Samantha explained.  "The main way to get there is a road through the mountains, through a pass, which is blocked by His Grace's orders.  Not even I could get through there."
"Shit."  Josh scratched his chin.  "Wait, you said the main way, is there another?"
"Well, yes and no."
"Now you're just being cryptic."
"Fine."  Samantha sighed.  "In theory it's on the other side of the Plain of Never."
"Sounds a little ominous."
"That's because no one who sets out over it ever comes back."
"And there's no getting over these mountains?"
"They're very steep, icy cold and inhabited by creatures who eat people.  So, no, not really."
"Yet your contact is there?"
"He was exiled, a long time ago now.  His Grace used to use the Dark Valley as somewhere to send prisoners."
"A kind of Australia, I see.  And what changed?"
Samantha shrugged.  "It was a long time ago.  I think perhaps he's more confident in his power these days.  Now he just executes people.  Easier and cheaper."
"Throws them to the carrots, eh?  Yeah.  Okay, well, what's your suggestion then?" 
"I've told you already, go to His Grace."
"Not happening.  Damn."  Josh scowled.  "How far is this Never place?"
oOo
It was two days later.  Two days of hard travelling by carriage.
They dropped off the driver at an outpost early on, and then Samantha had taught Josh how to drive the thing.  After that they took turns travelling along a series of roads and paths, some smooth, broad and well paved, others muddy tracks barely wide enough to get the vehicle down.
Josh also discovered that the sun in To rose from different directions, and sometimes veered 'off course' during the day. It made things very confusing.
"You get used to it," Samantha said, at one point, when they had pulled over in a grassy area for something to eat.  The carriage had several days' worth of white blocks, with the consistency of fudge, tightly wrapped in waxed brown paper.  Army provisions, she called them. 
They weren't unpleasant to eat, and came in various, random, flavours, none of which Josh could identify.   
"How can anyone tell the direction they're travelling in though?" he asked, biting down on a block and chewing thoughtfully.  It tasted a little like banana mixed with bacon.
"The stars, at night," she replied, eating a block of her own.  "They are always the same.  You line them up with some landmark and then head in that direction during the day.  Or you can use a compass."  Putting down her food, she rummaged around in a pouch on her belt for a second, finally pulling out a small round device, attached to a chain, which she handed to Josh.
It looked like fairly normal, old fashioned, compass, except the quarters were marked with four symbols he didn't recognise.  One was red.  There was a small button on the side as well.  He raised an eyebrow at Samantha.
"You press and hold the button, and aim the red glyph in the direction you wish to go.  The needle will slowly align to it.  When it does, you release the button, and from then on, the needle will point in the direction you have chosen."  She took another, large, bite of her block, and chewed industriously.
"Handy."  Josh passed it back to her.
She replaced the device, and picked up a metal bottle, one of several that had been in their transport.  "We're nearly out of water, keep an eye out for a stream or something."
Josh nodded, and took another mouthful of banana-bacon.
The water was replenished later that day, when they pulled over near a body of water, some lake, Samantha hadn't known the name of it.  In any case, Josh parked the carriage behind some trees, out of view of the road, and the two had spent a not very comfortable night sleeping on the seats, inside the cabin.
The next day was spent travelling on a fairly straight, but rather bumpy, stone road.  At one point a small group of men in dark robes, the only other people they'd seen, stood in the road ahead of them.  Josh, who was driving, called out to Samantha, who, without any hesitation at all, leaned out of the window and fired her pistol at them. 
"Don't stop!" she called up.
The group had scattered in any case, and they proceeded, unmolested.
The road ran into a hilly area, and Josh had to slow down slightly as it wound around some tight turns, and then started to head down. 
Finally, they drove over a brow of a hill, to look down onto a village, maybe a small town, surrounded by fields of purple and yellow crops, below.
"That's Never," Samantha said, peering out of the window when Josh paused the carriage.  "Look beyond."
Josh looked.  Beyond the town, an expanse of level green stretched as far as the eye could see.  The Plains of Never.
Samantha waved at him, and he kicked the carriage into motion again.  Driving carefully and slowly, they made their way down into the town, which was a bustling place, resembling a kind of medieval village with advanced alien technology mixed into it. 
Eventually, Samantha indicated an area that looked a lot like a car park.  Josh turned into it, and pulled the carriage up near the far corner.
"So, we're here," she said, climbing out of the cabin. 
"And what do we do now?" Josh asked, stretching his legs.  It had been a long and rather harrowing journey.
"Open that hatch there."  She pointed at a small latch on the back wall Josh hadn't noticed before.  He did as he was directed.
The latch sprung open to reveal a small leather pouch inside.
"Take it out."
Josh reached in and extracted it.  He pulled the small bag open and looked inside.  There was a large quantity of small, shiny, purple counters.  He looked at Samantha and shrugged.
"Purples," she replied.  When he looked blankly at her, she explained further.  "Money."
"Oh," he said.  "How much, and what are we buying?"
"We're going to need supplies if we're going to be insane enough to try crossing the plain.  This will buy us those supplies."
"Fair enough," Josh said.  "Let's go shopping then."
It took another day and a half of preparation, buying supplies, clothing, equipment from the numerous shops that had been, apparently, set up specifically for this very thing.  Samantha had treated them to a small hotel for the night, using her purples. 
"May as well have one good night of rest," she explained. 
Josh wasn't about to argue, although he was a little disappointed when she got them single rooms.
The next day, after a well needed wash and a nice breakfast, they took the gear they had bought, and set out for the plains, until finally, they stood on the edge of the seemingly never-ending expanse.
Josh looked at Samantha, who was setting the compass in their intended direction of travel.  Finally she nodded, and slipped the chain around her neck, so it hung in front of her.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be," he replied.
"Then let's go."
They went.
oOo
The first few days went without incident.  Samantha had used their 'purples' to good effect in the town, and the compact supplies served them well.   More rations, of a similar fashion to those in the carriage, sustained them, as well as water that Josh carried in a large skin container on his back. 
At night Samantha unrolled a tent, which was just large enough for them to sleep in, although Josh was finding it difficult to be in such close proximity to her.  He could smell her body in the tent.  Yes, she was sweaty, but he was falling for her more and more. Even though they barely spoke, concentrating on their footing as they trekked their way over the endless green, spongy, grass that made up the Plains of Never.   It felt a little like the Middle, without the fog.
He woke up on the morning of the third day and frowned.  There was a woman, an attractive woman, he had to admit, sleeping next to him.
"I..." he started.
The female woke up and looked at him with big, attractive, eyes.  "You okay Jo... Jox?" she asked.
He frowned.  Jox?  Was that his name?
"Are you okay?" she repeated, frowning.
"Is... Jox my name?"  he asked.  He rubbed his head, which was throbbing.
"Jox!  You're scaring me!" 
"I..."  Josh shook his head. "Sorry, sorry!  I don't know what happened there.  I just... wow, that was weird."
"What happened?" Samantha asked, pulling herself out of the covers they had bought for the trip.
Josh was distracted for a moment by the very delectable body of Samantha in the rather flimsy shirt that she slept in.
"Yeah, sorry.  I must have been half asleep.  I couldn't remember who I was.  Really odd."  He rubbed his head.
"No, let's not assume that," she said.
"What do you mean?" he asked looking at the side of the tent.
"This place is somewhere that no one ever returns from.  Anything could be the cause of that.  I suggest we take precautions from now on.  What did you feel like, when you woke up?"
"I... I couldn't remember who I was.  Or you, for that matter."
"Maybe it's what this place does.  Imagine.  You wake up, and you can't remember anything?  What would happen?"
Josh thought about it, and nodded.  "Nothing good."
"Right, so we need to be prepared."  She sat up, dropping the cover.
"Oh my fuck," Josh said.
"What?"
"Give me a minute, I need to... use the toilet."  Josh scrambled out of the tent, his hands over his crotch.
oOo
"Who are you?"  He was in a small tent, next to an, admittedly, very attractive woman.
"Are you looking at my tits?"  The female pulled her sleeping bag up to her chin.
"I... Hold on, what's this?"  There was a piece of paper with bold black writing on it, next to him.  He picked it up.
"You are on the Plains of Never," he read out loud.  "It makes you forget who you are.  Your real name is Josh, but you must use Jox.  The pretty lady next to you is Samantha."  The writing changed at this point, adding: "She is not your girlfriend."  Josh, or Jox as he had to be called, looked up at her for a moment, and then continued reading.  "Follow the compass.  You must get over the plains."
He put the paper down, and then reeled, as memories came flooding back.
"Wow, it happened again." 
Samantha was gasping herself.  "Oh my word!" she said.  "Yes, at least reading that label out seems to kick start our memories."
"Let's get going," Josh said.  "The sooner we're out of here, the better."
They scrambled out of their tent, and went through their by-now well practiced morning routine, although maybe a little faster than usual, and soon, after Samantha had checked their direction on the compass, they set off, munching on some ration blocks as they walked.
"How long do you think we've been walking?" Josh asked, after some time.
"I think... four days?  Maybe five?  Oh my gosh!" She put a hand over her mouth.  "I have no idea!"
"It's just, I had a shave in the hotel, and, well, look."  He pointed at the beard that was accumulating on his chin.  "And the rations are lower than four or five days too.  We're actually running short."
"But we remember!" Samantha pointed out.
"We remember this morning.  Do you remember yesterday?  Setting up the tent?"
"I..."  She frowned, which looked cute on her.  "I don't know."
"Exactly.  We're in trouble.  The water is a lot lighter, we've nearly had it all.  Does it ever rain here?"
"I've no idea."  She was looking worried now. 
"So, what can we do?" Josh asked.
"There's nothing we can do.  You've said it yourself, the water is getting low.  We'll never be able to walk all the way back without running out.  We have to continue and hope for the best."
"Onwards it is then."  Josh made a face, and sped up his pace a little.
Whether by chance or destiny, some time later Samantha gasped and pointed.  "Look!"
Josh, who had been plodding on, face down, looked into the distance, where she was indicating, and his face broke out into a grin.
Ahead, still many miles away, just barely visible, dark hills could be seen.
"Yes!" he shouted, and impulsively hugged Samantha.
She did the same, and they both jumped up and down, only to stop suddenly, as they both realised their faces were very close to each other. 
"I..." Josh started to say.
She stopped him by kissing him. 
For several seconds Josh was in heaven, but then it ended abruptly, as she pulled suddenly away.
"I..." he started again.
"No, never mind. Not now.  That would be a mistake," she panted, looking flushed.
"Didn't feel like a mistake."
"Nevertheless," she shook her head.  "I have to maintain discipline."  She stood still and looked at him.  "We will... reevaluate this later, but first, we need to get to safety, agreed?" 
Josh looked at the distant hills, and nodded.
"Agreed."
"Let's go then."
Spurred on by the possibility of finally getting off the plain, they started walking again, at a faster pace than before.
The hills didn't look much closer an hour or so later, when they paused to take a drink.  In fact, when Josh looked again, they seemed to be slowly disappearing.
"What's happening?" he gestured.
Samantha squinted for a few seconds.  "It's a storm," she said eventually, "a big one too."
"Now it rains," muttered Josh.
"Yes.  Come on, let's keep going."
So they set off once more, but it wasn't long before the wind started to pick up, and visibility started to drop drastically.
"This isn't good," Josh had to raise his voice over the rising gale. 
"No, look, let's set the tent up now, get into shelter," she replied.
"Agreed." 
Samantha slipped the tent bag off her back, and, with some difficulty, they got the tent out, struggling to set it up in the ever-increasing wind. 
Then, just as Josh thought they had it, and enormous gust yanked the thing out of their hands and took it away, high into the air.
"Fuck!" screamed Josh, and started to go after it, only to be held back by Samantha.
"No," she cried in his ear, "you'll never catch it, and we don't want to lose each other.  Here."  She pulled a short rope out of her bag, which they hadn't used thus far, and passed him one end.  "Tie it around you," she said, wrapping the other end around her own waist.  "Make it secure."
"Good idea!"  Josh busied himself with the rope, and soon they were linked.
"Come on, if we can't get shelter, we should keep going!"  Josh could barely hear Samantha over the gale. 
He nodded, and they set off again, leaning into the wind and, soon after, the rain.
"Fuck fuck fuck," Josh muttered.  His jacket had a hood, which he pulled over his head, but the clothes they had bought, whilst practical, weren't waterproof enough to keep them dry in a torrential downpour, which the storm soon became. 
As if that wasn't bad enough, lighting struck nearby, several times.
"We have to find some shelter!" screamed Josh.  "We're a magnet for lightning here!"
"Where?" Samantha screamed back, gesturing around at the flat plain.
"Fuck!" repeated Josh, and kicked at the ground.  Then, looking down, he kicked again.  He dropped to his knees, and began tugging at the turf loosened by his kick. 
It took some doing, and it was cold and wet, but he finally managed to yank the top layer of grass off, which peeled away like an old carpet, revealing dark earth below, into which he began to dig.
Samantha, seeing what he was doing, joined him, pulling out a short, stiff board that had helped support the tent and using it as a makeshift spade.
In a surprisingly short time, they had dug a small hole, which was hardly comfortable, but crawling into it, and snuggling up together, was a least warm.  Josh pulled some of the peeled away turf back over them too, to form a bit of a protective shelter.
"We're going to be very wet," Samantha said, the water will drain down into here.
"Better than being struck by lightning," he said. 
"I think so."  She put an arm around him, and he breathed deeply.  "Don't go getting any ideas," she added.
"But it's so romantic," he said, then jumped as another bolt of lighting crackled overhead.  "Shit."
He smiled, and then tried to straighten his leg a bit, unsuccessfully. 
So they lay there and listened to the rain and tried not to shiver too much as the rain trickled in.  It didn't seem likely, lying in a cramped, wet and claustrophobic hole, but finally, Josh fell asleep.
oOo"
He woke up, to find himself in a hole in the ground, cold, wet, stiff and very uncomfortable. 
"Fuck."  Struggling upright, he sat up and peered around.  He was on a green plain, which seemed to stretch on forever.  In one direction, some distance off, he could just about make out some low hills.  He looked down, to find a rope tied around his waist, the other end was lying loose, in the hole.
Crawling, painfully, out of the small pit, he stopped.  A young, and admittedly attractive, woman was pointing a gun at him.
"Who are you?" she asked.  "Why were we in a hole?"
"I'm..." he stopped.  He had absolutely no idea who he was.  "I don't know."
"And who are those people, are they your friends?"  She gestured with the gun behind him.
Swivelling around he could make out three, maybe four figures, some distance away, but definitely walking towards them. 
"I don't know!" he wailed.

>>>>
Right, sorry, that went on longer than I thought.  I didn't realise they would get hit by the weather. 
Anyhoo, obvi, need suggestions on who these people are, and if they are friendly or not.
Any other ideas as to what sort of environment the Dark Valley is, where it is, how to get there, etc.  also very welcome! 
As always, thanks for reading!
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[NeilH]

"Well, what do you know?" she snarled.

"I know you're pointing a gun at me for no reason," he pointed out.

"You had me tied up!"  The woman gestured at the rope.  "Maybe I was your captive."

"Why would I leave you with your gun if you were my captive?" he pointed out, quite reasonably.  "Maybe I was your captive."

"I..."  The woman lowered her gun, looking confused. "I don't know who I am.  I don't know where I am!"  She looked around, at the green expanse.

"Yeah lady, that makes two of us."  He stood up and tried to stretch the aches and pains out of his joints, before looking around.  There were two backpacks in the hole.  One looked like it contained water.  He stooped down to pick it up.

"What are you doing?"  the woman asked.

"I'm thirsty.  This looks like it has water in."
 
"Oh.  Well.  Pass it over when you're done then."  To his immense relief, she holstered her pistol whilst he recovered the bags.

The one he had spotted did, it turned out, to be mostly a large water skin.  He turned a spigot near the base, and then lifted it up to drink the liquid that dribbled out. 

"Hey, don't drink it all!" the woman said.

"Sorry."  He wiped his mouth and handed her the pack.

Whilst she quenched her thirst, he recovered the second pack, and gave it a quick once over.  There were a number of supplies in it, as well as a sheet of paper with some writing on.  Before he could read it though, the woman interrupted him.

"Those people don't look well," she said.

He glanced at her, and then in the direction she was looking, which turned out to be the group he'd spotted earlier.  They were much closer now, and he could make out three figures, one of which was pulling some kind of cart.  Squinting, he saw what the woman meant.
 
All three were wearing long green, somewhat tatty, robes.  Two looked human, whilst the third, who was the one pulling the cart, was an enormous green skinned being.  Both humans were male, one very tall and thin, whilst the other was female, with long black hair.  The tall human was using a long, pale, staff as a kind of walking stick.

All of them had black lines under their skin, like some kind of subdermal plant, and, where the tendrils had spread, the travellers had become splotchy green, or in the case of the large fellow, even more so.

"They look half zombified," he muttered, retreating to stand slightly behind her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"From these packs I'd say we were travelling together, and you're the one with the gun, so..."  He shrugged.

"Fine."

They stood and waited as the three approached.

"That's far enough," the woman shouted, once they neared the other side of the hole.  "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"Hail," the tall one shouted back.  "Blessings of the Green be upon you!"

"Blessings of the Green!  The Green will sustain," the other two intoned, as one. 

He looked at the woman, who raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, that's nice.  Can you tell us where we are?" she asked.

"Why, you are on the Green of course," the tall man replied.  "Blessed is the..."

"Yes, yes, blessed is the Green," she interrupted, before they could kick off again.  "And where, exactly, on the Green are we?"

This seemed to throw the man for a second.  "You are on The Green," he repeated.  "Glory to the Green, for it sustains!"

"Glory to the Green!" the other two chanted.

"They're nuts," he muttered to her.

"Well, it was lovely meeting you," she shouted, "but we'll be heading off now.  You have a nice day."

"Oh, but no, you must join us," the tall man said, raising his staff.

"No, no, I don't think we must."  She put her hand on her gun.

"Don't worry, the Green will sust..."

"Sustain, yes, yes, we heard you.  All the same, I think not."  The woman pulled her gun out and held it, although pointed down.

"No.  You will."  The tall man pointed his staff, and a bolt of white light flashed across, hitting the woman and knocking her backwards onto the grass.

"Hey!" he shouted, turning and going for her gun, which she had dropped.

"Don't move," the tall man said, striding forward and raising his staff.

"Fuck you," he said, putting his hands up to defend himself.

There was a flash of blue lightning, which leaped from his upraised palm to strike the tall man in the middle of the chest, blowing him several metres backwards.  He landed hard on the green, a small crater smoking in his torso.

"Shit," Josh said.  "Shit!  I remember my name!  Don't come any closer!" he said, pointing at the other two.  "Unless you want the same."  He looked at the woman.  He still didn't remember what she was called, but he had a feeling she was on his team.  Maybe even a girlfriend?  She was cute.

Putting those feelings aside for a moment, he knelt down and shook her shoulder.  "Hey, you okay?"

She groaned and looked up at him.  Her eyes were really pretty, he noted.

"What happened?" 

"You were hit by tall man's staff.  Don't worry, I took care of it.  Here."  He passed her her gun and helped her upright.

Josh looked over at the surviving two travellers.  Instead of lamenting over their dead friend, they were frantically looking through a large book and pointing at passages within.

"What are they doing?"

"I have no idea.  My name's Jo... Jox by they way."  Something in his confused and addled memory told him this was important.

"Nice.  What's my name then?"

"I don't know.  I think we were travelling together.  We may even be a couple."  He smiled, more in hope than anything.

"Are you certain? I'm not sure you're hot enough for me."

"Well, I'm not going to argue there," Josh replied. "You're at least a nine."

"I don't know what that means.  Oh..."  She looked over at the two strangers, who seemed to have come to some conclusion.

"What?" Josh asked.

"You are the One!" the woman declared.  "All hail the One!"

"Okay."  Josh looked at the woman, who shrugged.

"What do you mean, the One?" Josh asked.

"It is written in the Memories," the large green said, jabbing a giant finger at a page in the book they had been poring over.  "For he who shall wield the Blue is the One, and they shall be the author of great change, the likes of which has never been seen before," he quoted.  Looking back up at Josh he nodded.  "You are the One.  And yet, this was written many Greens ago.  Many, many Greens.  It is the most sacred prophesy.  All hail the One!" 

Both of them fell to their knees and prostrated themselves towards Josh.  "All hail the One!" they chanted again, for good measure.

"Wow, you certainly have a strong impact on people," the woman said, holstering her gun.  "Still not sure you're hot enough for me though."

Josh just frowned.  "Explain these Memories to me," he asked the two quivering beings on the ground.

Both looked up.  "This," the woman said, hefting the large book, is a written account of all Greens, spanning... well, a long, long time."

"Okay."  Josh frowned, and marched around the hole to stand closer to the two.  They both sat up as he approached. "Explain to me two things.  Firstly, who, or what, are the Greens?"

"We are the Greens," the woman said.  "We belong to this place.  We wander the plains, looking for others to carry the Memories."

"Right, and, two, the Memories are what, exactly?" Josh asked.

"Exactly that," the green man replied, tapping the book. "If you stay in the Green, you will forget everything, who you are, what you are, where you are.  Every night, anything new is written in the book.  So, when we awake the next day, we know who we are.  The Memories are from the many Greens who have come before us, for whilst the Green sustains, it doesn't sustain forever, and, after some time, we must, in turn, sustain it."

"I think I see."  Josh scratched his head and remembered something.  "Hold on."  He marched back to the woman, and dug through the bag he had found in the hole with him, pulling the paper he'd seen before out, and reading it out loud.

"You are on the Plains of Never.  It makes you forget who you are.  Your real name is Josh, but you must use Jox.  The pretty lady next to you is Samantha."  The writing changed at this point, to add: "She is not your girlfriend."

"Told you," Samanth said, smugly.  "Oh, wait..."  she held her hand to her head and staggered back slightly.

Follow the compass.  You must get over the plains."  Josh finished off.

"I... I remember!"  Samantha looked at him.  "Josh!  Oh fuck!  We could have..."

"Ended up being a Green?" he finished her sentence.

"We have to get to those mountains, get off this plain."


"No arguments there," he said. 

"We shall follow the One," their two new companions said, together.

"Great," Josh said, dryly.


>>>>

Very well, shorter episode this time.  So, our heroes are heading off the Green, and back towards the Dark Valley.  Of course, the DV isn't right there.  There has to be some other feature they will have to encounter first.  What I would like to know is... what, exactly?  A tribe of sentient dead?  Another geographical oddity?  Wandering drunkards?  Savage beasts?  A malicious salesperson?

All and any ideas welcome!  Glory to the Green!  The Green Sustains!

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