Love Lost
By Sonic Blaze
Authors Note: Wow, that took longer than I thought. About six days writing, two days testing and two days editing. Well, in any case, after much delay, here's your new chapter. By the way, if you got the secret message in the first puzzle on my profile, then you won't have spoiled this chapter. It's not revealed until NEXT chapter :D. well chaps, Enjoy :).
Chapter 2: Lost
…Then he rose from the darkness to discover his fate…
"Cold…So very cold…darkness consuming…falling…into the void…"
"Agh!" I yelled "Where am I?"
I was still in the darkness, but I was awake. I sat still from fear.
Everywhere the eye could see, was black, cold and devoid of anything,
but me, and the blackness.
"What the..? Where is this? I'm so confused." I thought to myself,
though if I were to talk aloud, no one would have been there to hear
me. "My head hurts. I feel…dizzy." I calmed down, and stopped thinking
for a few seconds.
"So bleak…What happened? I…I can't remember. Where was I? What is this
place? Who…Who am I?" I came to the conclusion that I had amnesia, but
what caused it is still unknown to me.
"What is this twilight abyss?" I asked aloud. It was a shadow, but not
a normal shadow. I could feel it. It was like… it was alive. It gave me
a feeling of cold, and emptiness. As if I would be lost in it forever.
As I said this, I began to feel tired and soon, I was fast asleep.
"The void…closer…drawing ever closer…consuming…"
"Agh!" I awoke with a sudden jerk and a scared yelp. " Huh? Where am I? The Abyss…What was that…place?" I asked aloud, confused. I examined my surroundings. I was sitting in a closed off meadow, with very little light shining in between the thick foliage that blocked my view of the sky above. There were long blades of grass, a few weeds here and there, and trees, shooting up into a sky I could not see. A few flowers dotted the green landscape as well. Even though everything looked normal, there was something.. unusual about this place. After scanning the area I was sitting in, I decided to get up. I looked down as I got up and saw, to my horror, that I was no longer human. I still had 2 feet, 2 arms, and 2 hands, but they had changed significantly. My feet were now a tannish-pink and only had 3 toes instead of 5. My body was a smaller, rounder, furry body, like a mouse. My arms were also very furry, with my hands only having 3, barely opposable fingers. I was shocked harshly by this discovery. Not only was I in a foreign land, I had changed shape as well, making my journey home, if there was to be one, a lot more difficult. I sat back down to think this tragedy over.
"I'm a rodent. A short, weak, furry rodent. I don't know HOW I became one, I don't know WHY I became one, I don't WHAT I am , I don't know WHERE I am, I don't know WHY I'm here, and to top it off, I don't even know WHO I am." I listed furiously "What the HELL am I going to do? I can't remember anything. Wait…" I stopped suddenly, as I began to remember some survival skills I taught myself.
After spending a few more minutes thinking about the situation
and what I should do about it, I got up and recited my plan aloud.
"I should look around this area, keeping an eye out for food, drinkable
water, and shelter. I should make a weapon of sorts, for protection,
and hunting if necessary." I looked for an area to begin my search when
I noticed the sounds of waves. I followed the trace to the left of my
position, to a small shore. It looked like it was low tide, and that it
as afternoon. I noted the medium-sized piece of driftwood on the edge.
" That must be what I floated to this place on." I thought as I walked
over to it. After a thorough examination I came to the conclusion that
I had no idea how I got on this thing without knowing.
"It looks like bark, but not from here. Maybe I'm from somewhere on the
other side of this ocean." I stared out towards the distant ocean on
the horizon. I watched the oceans gentle waves crash a few feet from
where I was standing.
"High tide is coming. I better move." I said as I turned and began to
walk back towards the meadow, when I stopped and went back to the raft.
I dragged it to the meadow.
" I can't use you right now, but I'll save ya for a time when I can." I
said as I dragged it into a small hole under a few exposed tree roots.
I dusted off a bit while I thought of what to do next.
"Well, right is too thick, and back is a cave of roots, probably
wouldn't make it far over there. I better go forward." I said blankly.
" Who knows what's up there, but I've got nowhere else to go." I walked
up to a lightly foliage-covered opening in the bushes. I walked through
with ease and saw more beachfront
."Not surprising. Well, before I go on, I better make a weapon. It's
almost nighttime," I thought, looking at the sun's position. "Who knows
what could get me at night." I searched the immediate area for a stick,
and found 3. One was very thin, and broke when I bent it slightly.
Another was way too long and heavy, making it a reject as well. The
last one was slightly heavy, but not too long either
."Hmm. Medium range. 180-degree arc Area of Effectiveness. Rather
strong, at least knock the wind out of a rat." After deciding to use
this stick, I looked for a sharp rock to sharpen it with, but didn't
find one. I began to walk around looking for something to sharpen it
with.
"Hmm. What can I use. That rock isn't sharp enou…Yeow!" I screamed in
pain as I stepped on something sharp. I looked down at the ground and
there, slightly buried, was a small shard of glass. I picked it up
carefully and decided to use it. Before I began to sharpen the stick, I
looked at my foot. The glass had made a rather small cut into my foot,
though it hurt a lot. I looked around and found some abandoned cloth to
use as a bandage. I wrapped it snuggly around the cut. After making
sure it would stay, I began sharpening my stick.
An hour or so passed and the stick was sharp enough to defend myself with
." A perfectly good pike, stab or swipe." I thought to myself. I
decided it was time to study this beach closer. It was a rather large
beach, continuing down ahead farther than I could see. It was deserted
completely, probably due to the fact that it was cold
."Hmm. I didn't notice it was so cold." I said as I wrapped my arms
around my small hairy body, realizing that my fur coat would not be
enough to keep me warm. I noticed that the beach went up a hill to the
right, to a plateau that might lead me somewhere safer. I walked
towards the hill, only noticing when I was close that it was rather
steep. I began to walk up the hill, but slipped many times. After many
slips and almost slides all the way back down, I made it to the top. I
looked back to the ocean, feeling proud of my accomplishment, when I
realized that it was almost nightfall
."What? Nightfall? I better hurry up and make shelter before any
creatures of the night find me!" I said, scared. I began running
everywhere on the sandy-as-the-beach plateau, when I hit my head on a
tree's base while looking at the ground, searching for some wood,
making me do a forced sit. As I looked up, however, I saw a savior.
"A tunnel?" I thought , becoming excited as I looked inside. " Looks
long, and hilly, but it looks like bigger predators can't get inside. I
might as well take it. I've got nowhere else to go." I began to walk
inside when I noticed it was going to get very dark inside. Seeming as
if to answer my fear, the lights along the tunnel sparked into life.
Joyed by my luck, I ran inside, pike in hand..
"It's going to be a long walk…" I said disappointingly.
After
several hours of walking, falling, almost falling asleep, and running
uphill, I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Unlike the white lights
in the tunnel, this light was burning orange.
"It must be a lantern! That means there must be people up ahead!" I
said, thrilled at the thought of someone else to walk with in this
lonely world. I ran all the way to the exit, passing many lights, a few
burnt out from long usage. However, the closer I got to the lantern,
the less I thought another person was there. When I finally reached it,
my theory was proven. There was no one at the exit. I would still be
alone.
"I wonder if there is any one in this area at all? No one at the beach,
no one in the tunnel. I'm alone." I said, on the verge of tears. "But I
must press on. I need to find at least one person." Looking down, I
remembered the cut I got at the beach. Realising it
didn't hurt anymore, I undid the cloth and looked at the cut. For the
most part it was gone. I would be fine.
I walked out of the tunnel to what seemed to be the dead of night. I looked around. I was at the base of a large tree. The tree was surrounded by grass, weeds, and flowers, all blowing in the cold, winter wind. I raised my pike, in case any creatures were around. Suddenly, it felt as if an earthquake was starting on, but when I turned around, I noticed the tunnel had caved in."Good thing I got out of there when I did." I said aloud. "Well, no turning back now." After scanning the area for a few more seconds, I finally noticed a large building to the left. "It must be a house! Maybe someone inside can help me." Then, I suddenly realized I was hungry. " I haven't had anything to eat since before I woke up, if I even ate then!" I walked to the grass area in front of the house to look for food. I began sniffing around for food when I smelt something ahead and to the right. I began running, head up, when I tripped over something."Wah! What the..?" I said as I looked at what made me trip. It was a sunflower seed, "A sunflower seed? Awesome! Food!" I yelled as I ran to it. I was about to bite it when I noticed that it was bitten open on the top and the seed had been almost all the way eaten. There were maggots inside and it was rotting all together."Holy crap! Get that thing away from me!" I screamed as I threw it away. As I turned around to look at the house, I noticed I was at the cement porch. I climbed up top when I heard a rustling. I picked up my pike from the floor and looked around, anxiously searching for the culprit.
"Hello?" I said sternly, trying not to scare away a possible friend. "Anybody there? Please, don't be scared. I'm just looking for food." As soon as those words left my lips, I realized that there was no one there.
Disappointed, I lowered my pike and walked up to the door mat in front of the door. The wiry reed-root mat was rough and scratchy as I stepped onto it. However, as soon as I set foot on that mat, I knew I as not alone. Ahead of me was a dark shadow. It was 5 times my size, from a distance. I immediately raised my pike and proceeded cautiously. When I got within 15 feet of the shadow, It appeared to get up and walk towards me. Soon, I was looking straight into the face of a giant black cat. It was mostly black, except for its paws that were a light gray, which I could see because of the moonlight hitting the cat in a silver streak. I knew great fear at that moment. I was scared beyond anything that had ever scared me before. I thought of my plan in 30 seconds, and now was the time to execute it. I stabbed my pike into the cats neck, sideways stabbing to buy me enough time to turn around and run. I had learned earlier in the tunnel that running on 2 feet didn't do much, so I ran on 4 feet. Not having much time, I quickly glanced around the landscape. To the right of my running position was a row of hedges, but they were too thick for me to run into. To the left was a long, stretching sidewalk, but it wouldn't help me to hide. Up ahead, far way, I could see a tree, the only tree within my reach. The tree with the tunnel wouldn't help, now that the tunnel had caved in. So, mind set, I ran off quickly to the tree.
My little feet couldn't make me any big strides, so I had to
rely on my speed for this race. I was running for a while when I looked
behind me and saw the cat had gained on me. It was within paw-swiping
distance, so I ran even faster. Pushing myself to the limits, I kept
the tree in my sight.
"Come on! It's so close! A few more stretches of grass and we will be
there!" I thought to myself. I had already passed many grass patches
with dirt spots, but up ahead, there were no dirt spots, as the grass
was well kept over here. The grass was , unfortunately, cut low. With
no places to hide, and fatigue beginning to catch up with me, I felt
like I wasn't going to make it.
"You can do it! You know you can make it!" I thought, reassuringly. I
looked behind me and the cat was gone. I didn't think I outran him, so
I ran as fast as I could, knowing something was fishy.
Finally, after much determination and speed, I got to the tree. There
was a boulder propped against the tree, dead center. Thinking this
boulder might block the entrance to another tunnel, I attempted to push
it out of the way. I tried and tried, but I didn't have the strength. I
beat on the tree wall for help, in case someone was inside.
"Help! Help me please! There's a cat trying to eat me! Heeeeeelp
me-e-eee!" I yelled, beginning to cry. It was no use. The cat was going
to be here soon. Sure enough, as if he actually had heard me, there was
the cat, striding over to the area in front of me. I turned my head to
look at the cat and I panicked. I had to think quickly.
"Ok, so I'm in front of a tree…Well, can't rodents climb?" I thought. I put my plan into action immediately.
"You want me cat? Then you'll have catch me, bitch!" I said bravely.
I turned to face the tree and I jumped at an angle to the tree. I dug my tiny claws into the tree and I stuck! I moved one foot after another, keeping a steady pace. Then, when I was sure I could, I ran. I ran to the first branch I saw. Even though I knew and saw that it was rickety, wobbly, and thin, I got on it. I ran to edge of the branch to check if the cat was still there. This time, the cat was gone. I let out a sigh of relief, and then I turned around. There was the cat, right behind me. I got scared and backed up. I fell off the branch, but caught the edge with my right hand. Unfortunately, the cat was smart. He pushed his paw, claws out, onto mine. The screeching pain was all I could think about. I let go, and there I fell.
Wind rushing beside me, I was in freefall. This was it. I was dead. Back turned down to the ground, I turned my head to look at the ground, but I blacked out before I could see it.
"The darkness…falling…death…" Was all I said.
Another chapter well done, in my opinion. I'd like to thank CappyandPashy4Ever for being a great friend, for giving me suggestions, and for tesreadig my chapter. I'd like to think my Steam friend
AOC EvilDead for also testreading this chapter. Last, but not least, I'd like to thank SilverAngel for offering to testread, but damn Gmail wouldn't let me send the file to her (Damn you "Message Truncated" >:O.) Please R&R and get ready for Chapter 3: Strangers.