A gravestone.
The image in front of him started to blur, and he reached his arms outwards, clutching the stone to try and stay upright. His stomach was twisting again, and despite the chilly air he felt a rush of heat wash over him. Panting hard, he tried to fight off the wave of dizziness. Despite his efforts, he found himself lurching forwards. Reeling back in a panic, his hands slipped, pulling the loose stone construction down with him.
The clatter of rock pieces coating his stomach and chest served to jolt him back into awareness before he could actually pass out, but it brought additional weight besides what was physically on top of him. No, it felt like stone had settled in his heart as well, cold and heavy.
He almost considered lying there. Just stay buried underneath the stones, waiting for the cold to finish the job. The chill already felt like it was seeping into his bones, and the tips of his fingers and his feet were growing numb.
Who were you, Akira?
Why did this single gravestone make him feel so...lost? Sick, and anxious, and...sad. Not the sympathetic mourning anyone would feel when stumbling upon a grave, but deeper, more personal...
How did I know you?
What am I supposed to be doing here?
His fingers clasped around one of the chunks of stone, and he lifted it off of his chest, staring at the 'A', tracing the indentations with a single claw over and over.
What am I missing?
Setting the rock back down on his chest, he closed his eyes, listening to the howling of the wind around him. It should have been an eerie sound, but at this point, he could almost consider it a lullaby. He was so tired...Cold and tired. Maybe he could just rest here for a while. Maybe sleep would bring answers.
Thunk.
The sudden sound had forced his eyes open again, wide with confusion. What had that been? He hadn't knocked any more rocks over.
Thunk.
He turned his head from side to side, but he couldn't see anything besides the lonely scenery around him. The land was still, spare the wind brushing a few dead trees, but it wasn't a strong enough breeze to break any of the branches. There was nothing out here.
Thunk.
His heartbeat quickened as he realized that last one had sounded closer, not too far off from the right of him. A panicked glance that way revealed nothing, and he stiffened, holding his breath in an attempt to avoid drawing attention to himself.
Thunk.
There was something out here. Lungs burning, he was forced to gasp as he let air rush back into him, struggling to shove the chunks of stone from his body as quickly as he could. He needed to move. He needed to run.
Standing up took considerable effort, his limbs not as willing to cooperate when they were half-numb, but his spiking terror was enough of a jumpstart to get his muscles to move, and he staggered forwards. Guilt sank in his stomach as he stumbled through the remains of the grave he'd broken not once, but twice. Perhaps this thing, whatever it was that was thumping nearby, was meant to be his punishment.
He didn't have the nerves to wait and find out, even if his fate was to accept whatever dreadful thing was lurking here.
I'm sorry. I'll fix things, somehow...
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
The pace of the noise was quickening, always just a few feet behind him. Sharp branches and the occasional thorn scraped his sides as he scrambled onwards, tripping over his own feet and clawing the ground with his hands as he hurried through the dead vegetation, more old gravestones appearing from the fog as he went further. So it hadn't been just a few lone burials then. He'd stumbled into a full graveyard...
He didn't dare look behind him, always ensuring he was moving forward, his breath puffing out in uneven pants and gasps as he struggled for air. Dizziness began to nag at him again from the strain of so much movement, the edges of his vision speckling with black or white spots, and if that wasn't enough, those strange phantom limb sensations were coming back, causing his already-unsteady gait to falter as he found himself misjudging the distances his legs could travel in each step. The ground leapt up to meet his face as he tripped and fell to the dirt, disoriented.
Thunk.
Fear was still coursing through him, but he wasn't sure if he had the energy to keep moving anymore. Every cell seemed to be stinging, and he could feel the dizziness increasing by the moment, fed by both his exhaustion and the ever-present hunger wracking his belly. Weakly, his clenched claws released their grip on the soil, his bleary gaze staring along the ground in front of him.
Thunk.
Creeeeeaaak...
Slowly, the massive stone slab he'd collapsed in front of began moving, groaning as it slid across the dirt to reveal a dark corridor. The musty stench of decay assaulted his nostrils as a gust of air rushed outside.
A door?
The last thing he saw before his eyelids fell shut was a pair of glowing red eyes. The last thing he felt was an icy touch on his back.