All I could feel was pain as I woke up. I felt my throat catch as I tried to call out I struggled to open my eyes, feeling the sting of blood in them. Hadn't I jumped? How had I survived my fall? I fought the pain and pushed up with my palms to find myself in a strange cavern. Light filtered down from above; it seemed to be dusk outside, a few hours later than I remembered. But how could I see outside? And where was I?
I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my head. I felt something warm and wet near my temple. I didn't bother touching it: I knew it would be blood and had enough sense not to touch a wound at risk of getting it even dirtier than it already was. I tried to speak again, successfully this time. "Hello?" There was no response. I waited a moment, then called out once more, "hello?"
This time there was a rustling near the end of a short corridor I had missed. My heart and breathing sped, as it occurred to me that whatever was down there probably wasn't friendly. Not sure why this thought came to my mind, I pushed away my apprehension and listened carefully.
A voice echoed down the hallway, that of someone around my age. "Who was that? It sounds like it came from over here."
I sighed and let myself relax. Surely a kid wouldn't hurt me. Besides, I was already injured. What more could damage could they do? A young… goat?... appeared. "Oh, you've fallen down, haven't you? Are you okay? Here, get up."
Since he hadn't given me time to answer, I interjected before he could continue. Might as well introduce myself. "I'm Chara."
"Chara? That's a nice name," he replied. "My name is Asriel."