Three beams of light. Three strings of life. Three destinies change and alter forever with nothing but the will and power of one.
Lush green forests appear for as far as the eyes can see. If a pair of eyes even can see. Darkness and trees the height of skyscrapers cloud over the land, hiding within it secrets and death. Predators of all nature reside within it for its reliability, while many others crave its protection.
Interrupting the great cycle of nature and peace and stability of this land, three stars fall graciously and ruined onto the land, gently placed down as a favor from the wind.
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~Consciousness will be accessed in five... four... three... two... one
~Consciousness initiated
~Stepping off
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"Camrin!"
"Camrin!"
"CAMRIN PLEASE!"
The desperate cry earns an echoing reply from a murder of crows; their fluttering wings a chilling omen in the dark silence of the forest. Ragged breathing and the inaudible sound of a heart broken and without hope vibrate and settle onto the trees and leaves, and branches of the jungle, like a physical grief too heavy to carry.
Slowly, painful, delightfully, a girl opens her eyes. Tears are the first thing Camrin feels, or maybe it's rain. She tries to see past the blurry haze in front of her, but the fog remains stubbornly in place. Wind grazes her face, like a gentle caress, warning her of a future, but unwilling to intervene. The blood feels frozen in her veins, fingers crooked and nails broken. The girl attempts to sit up but to no avail. Next, she searches her surroundings for the source of that sound, the one that woke her. That was a real sound, right? That did happen, right? Tired, confused, and paralyzed, Camrin fades back into sleep without a sound, leaving any hope of reaching her severely diminished.
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On another corner of this cursed territory, Lila cowers in fear, using leaves the size of her torso as protection from the rain and her growing panic, actively ignoring the paw prints big enough to make her heart stop with one look. Food and rest have not even crossed her mind within the last.... however long she was awake for. Genuine fear grippes her heart. Her breath comes out in choked gasps.
"I don't think they taught us this in college. So much for learning survival in the 'real' world", Lila whispers to no one in particular. If only she can wake herself up from this horrible dream and go back to learning about the extensive process Newton took to understanding motion. Th teacher had made them complete research like no other and thoroughly explain Newton's thought process to teach them that any human can discover new things. Unfortunately, that did nothing but further the hatred of science to the students. And keep me distracted Lila thinks as she finally registers a hushed sound somewhere behind her. Not even the presence of birds and insects accompany her. Lila's heart stops, then jumps into a chaotic rhythm, thumping adrenaline-soaked blood into every inch of her body, until she's basically trembling from it. Unsure whether the wise choice is to turn and face whatever it is, pretend she isn't afraid, or just run while she still has feeling in her two legs, Lila freezes in complete and utter panic. The steps grow closer and closer, pushing in on her in a way that makes the vast jungle feel like a barred cage.
thu-thump thu-thump thu-thump
Every one of her heartbeats count along with the seconds she has left to live.
Thu-thump thu-thump
She needs to move. Now.
Unprepared and unfamiliar with this encounter, Lila takes off running into the dark.
Unfeeling of the scratches marking her skin or the wind ripping her hair, Lila goes from what she thinks is her fastest run, to a dead sprint only possible in the presence of adrenaline and a life-or-death situation. A messy animistic need for survival quickly overtakes Lila's thought. Yet the thing behind her does not stop. Wind rushing deafeningly past her ears, twigs snapped underfoot like a red alarm broadcasting her location.
And within seconds, they answer the call.
Wolves, or what look like to be wolves from afar, start to peak through the trees. One, then two, then three, then five, quickly multiplying as Lila watches in horror. Some scrawny with bones pushing through their fur, some tall and muscled with bodies the height of humans, none of which she could protect herself against. Then the blood freezes in her veins, her brain finally working to connect information. The thing behind her has secretly been herding her towards the wolves, until they're all that fill her vision. Now face to face with the wolves, Lila starts shaking. Racing for her life still and yet shaking like a leaf in the wind. She's going to die. Right here. Right now. Her skin peeled off the bone or her body cut in half with her intestines falling out, or simply being decapitated by the animals, all were now an option. She would die crying and afraid-
"AAARGGG" The animal behind her bellows so loud, it takes her a second to register the wolves have roared back. Puffed fur, bodies low to the ground, Lila recognizes their stance.
"AAAAAHHHH" With her last remaining brain power, Lila quickly dives into the ground, letting out a war cry as she smashes her face into the root of a tree just in time to avoid a wolf's bite.... going right to the beast's neck. Lying flat on the ground, holding her bloodied nose, and keeping her eyes fixing on the fight, Lila retreats from the scene, watching as the beast rips a wolf's arm clean off. The threat was not to her after all. Despite the echoes of violence in the forest and the thunderous pounding of Lila's heart, everything remains still.
Except a tiny little thing, moving farther and farther from the attack, hand-stained red with blood, and a look of dying terror in her eyes. She would have remained like that had the Winds not taken pity on her and sent her a blessing. A benefit of this situation. Broadcasting your location brings you enemies, but it also brings you friends. And so, when Lila finally spots Stacey not too far away, staring at the place where her friend could have been ripped apart, her body moves no more. The last thing Lila sees is a cunning Stacey racing through the trees, hidden, to get to her before anything else did.
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There is no more air. There is no more air in this world. No more. Otherwise, Camrin would have been able to breathe. Her lungs fight. For a time, they fight and gasp and beg for air but nothing changes. Then....
~Initiate consciousness.
Silence.
Again
~Initiate consciousness
~Creature 16657 has run out of essential substances
~INITIATE CONSCIOUSNESS
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Gasping, coughing, stuttering for air, Camrin wakes up once more. Lifting her head, she takes in her surroundings. Her body is faced down to the ground, and overhead, the clouds rage with an anger she wishes she could stop. Lighting and thunder accompanying the blanket of heavy rain as if to make a statement. That statement could have included her death, Camrin realizes as her slow brain works to keep up with no energy. She's drowning. And sinking. The mud filled ground sucks Camrin into its clutches, rendering her movements useless, while the beating rain pushes on her from above, from behind, from the sides...the forest does not like her. As so, she crawls. Hands and feet pushing, shoving her way through the mud, still lying flat on her belly, head barely above the dirt. It starts to feel like thick liquid, like quicksand, and yet Camrin does not stop. A rock slices her arm, gushing blood through a five-inch-long wound, that mixes with the mess of soil and rock and grim swimming along with her. Right hand pulling forward, left leg pushing back. A tiny insect-like beast in the water snipping at her feet, peeling off a thin layer of skin. Left hand clawing forward, right leg plunging back. Again. And again. And again. Again, until her hands are covered in cuts. Again, until her legs are raw and bloodied. Again, until even breathing is not possible unless she stops completely and lets the slush drag her back a few feet. Again, until she finds a set of large rocks. Again, until she finds an opening, ripping the nails right off her fingers as she shifts the rocks away. Until she finally reaches shelter.