Part 1:
Under the trees that cover the rays of the observing sun, a beautiful environment hides in the shade.
Adorned by thin beams of light that slipped through the green shining leaves, it finds the perfect illumination to pleasure the witnessing eyes.
Birds and small animals alike go by their day, making sounds calming the mental state of passers.
Small yet noticeable puddles of water dot the ground, indicating that rain has already paid a visit to this forest.
Green grass, mushrooms and strange plants sprout forth from the ground and trees, meticulously adding richness and decoration to everything.
Undisturbed by outside turbilations, and offers a cover for those in need of silence.
But it's the way of nature, that is, things never last forever.
In the blink of an eye, a shining light appears in the most spacious area allowed by the terrain, this light then manifests itself into a shape that of a human, aged 10 years old, more or less.
Clothes colored green and black, a jacket and sports pants, breaking the palet harmony in the forest.
Waving his head around at comical speed, widening his eyes as he sat on the ground as if he was pushed down, the boy opens his mouth, "What in the hell..."
He raised his right palm and rubbers his forehead with it, straining his face as if recollecting something.
The boy speaks, "Wh-where am I...?"
As those words slowly exist his mouth, almost as if laying down low, they can hardly be heard.
He picks him self up, wipes off the dust quickly from his clothes, postures his back in an unstraightened manner, and moves his legs slowly.
He lets his eyes wander around to gauge the terrain, the boy starts speaking to himself, "Man there's so many plants I've neve' seen."
As he whispers, the intentions of the boy can be drawn by the way he's show himself.
He's lost, obviously.
And he's not from this world, obviously.
And... not obviously, he possess enough situational awareness to start exploring his surroundings to find a way out.
He looks at the sky and pinpoints the sun, squints his eyes and holds his hands above them to block the light peeking through the forest cover.
It's the after noon.
Temperature seems warm, perhaps even hot without the shade.
The boy then diverts his eye and looks straight, takes a deep breath, slaps his face lightly, and starts walking again.
He's wearing a tense expression.
Einer whispers to himself again
Einer:"things ain't looking all bright, but I can't just sit around and do nothing."
A growling stomach and a pale face, it's only natural to secure food.
Which seems to have been resolved as he finds himself facing a river.
"Splash"
Not deep, clean water, rocks sprinkled at the bottom of it, and lone fishes jumping up and down.
Still covered by the shade, Einer wears a smile and drives out his abrupt shivers.
He takes off his green jacket, and throws it on the ground, he turns his head around slowly and,
Einer:"Something sharp, sharp, sharp... Found it!"
Einer locked his vision on a peculiar dagger, it stood out easily from the trees and plants hugging the river.
Laid down right next to a blue mushroom, covered in dirt as its piercing the ground, Einer walked to it hurriedly, grabbed it by the handle, closed his left eye and started examining it.
Einer:"Color me unsurprised, hehe, my luck has never betrayed me once. Finding this dagger randomly was indeed an inevitability."
Smirking as he watches his reflection on the dagger, Einer heads back to his green jacket laying on the ground.
Then, directing his dagger to it, Einer pierces through his green jacket, and makes holes as he slowly penetrates it.
Sitting on the ground, he puts the dagger inside his pants letting the edge of it act as a sheath, holds up his green jacket and with an "ok", he stands up, raises the lower end of his pants to his knees, and walks towards the river.
The current was strong but nothing too noticeable, after having removed his shoes, he touches it with his toes, he then puffs up his chest, and enters the river.
Water, cold, surprisingly very cold, but doesn't pose any issues whatsoever.
Fishes pass Einer as he positions himself against the current, and Einer spreads his jacket, holding it with his hands and both of his feet to stop it from being swayed by the current.
And not before long.
Fish piles up one by one.
Einer, satisfied by this, shapes his jacket into a casket, and holds it with one hand.
Einer:"one, two, three, four... seven! This place is wonderful! I shouldda went camping with all this talen' I got!"
With a loud excited voice, Einer declares as he counted the fish using his index finger.
It seems like Einer is adapting well to the environment.
With bright eyes and a straight posture, Einer heads back to the depths of the forest.
Part 2:
Einer's later conducts were rather simple, with no trouble whatsoever, he found sticks and a good place to start a fire.
No salt or any seasoning is found but the salt of the river's water seems to have been sufficient.
The fish turned out to be quite tasty, and an abnormal taste accompanied it but not off putting in anyway.
Einer thought that he was quite accomplished, and carried a high spirited attitude.
But then,
the sun started settleing and dusk came.
With it, a dramatic drop in temperature occurred.
Einer's face wore a complex expression, and started thinking to him self, maybe the night here is cold, maybe I shouldn't have used my jacket, maybe I should start looking for shelter.
But this wasn't the end of it, pondering these thoughts, a white drop came from the sky.
Einer gazed at the grey clouds forming above him, straining his eyes, he widened them and slowly opened his mouth with a "You got to be kidding me."
Snow.
A nice weather where you could have fun outside. Throwing snow balls and shaping various objects using your imagination, is rather a nightmare for outdoor survivors.
With no shelter or appropriate clothes, snow can be extremely deadly, or rather, coldness that is.
Einer shivered and started wiping his arms with his hands, hugging him self as his teeth clicked with each other.
He's previously accomplished attitude no longer stood by him.
He's now being held by anxiety.
Einer stood up and started walking hurriedly, repeating "Shelter" over and over again.
The snow became stronger, the wind became stronger.
Ground became white and his vision started to get blurry.
Einer couodn't see anything further than ten meters ahead of him.
Hid eyes twitched, snow covered his hair.
The wind was so cold and strong that it even penetrated his skin.
Einer hands became purple and with it his face gotten redder, even having his eyelashes painted with white.
He started running, breathing quickly, he pushed his feet against the thick snow that got to his knees.
But it was only a matter of time... he can no longer go any quicker, only slower.
Fighting the merciless storm surrounded by trees that are unrecognisable to their previous form.
Einer desperately clinged to dear life as he walked, pointing his arm to the front, pushing it against the wind.
But it was all for naughty, slowly, he was being overpowered, to the point a turtle could give him a run for his money in speed.
His posture straightened only to be pushed even more to the back.
His face was frail, tears forming on his eyes only to be frozen by the cold wind.
Letting out rebellious shouts that were silenced by the ensuing storm.
Einer's mind wandered off, thinking how it has gotten to this point.
Only then, he bumped into something, waking up to reality.
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Einer:"..."
He fell backwards with no resistance and was covered in snow.
Holding his hand against his face, Einer who was laying on the ground slowly looked upwards.
He sharpened his eyes and looked at what collided with him.
There stood a figure, dark skin with dark purple outlining it, violet eyes and black hair.
A coat covering everything below the neck, and fur acting as its cover for it.
The figure, with a straight posture and indifferent expression, gazed at Einer.
Sharp eyes and a scar on it's left one.
He uttered,
???:"A knocking merchant, have you not learned your lessons yet, Preachers?"
Einer raised his eyebrow as he looked at the figure, he then,
Einer:"Knocking wh-what?"
Perplexed by what he heard, Einer replied to him.
The man:"I can't grasp how you could even think of saying such a thing, do you take me for someone who's deceived so easily? Or have you mistaken me for another target?"
Voicing his opinion with confusion and asserting tone, he raised his left eyebrow and pushed his hands to his chin.
The man:"My eyes are most excellent at seeing souls. You, acting all confused, do you truly believe that a gigantic pool of Ekdilosi could escape my eyes?"
He then leaned forwards, looking directly at Einer with eyes that went through his heart, not even the storm can block that terrifying gaze.
Einer:"I don't even know what you're talking about!I was in a dark room before then next thing I know I'm in the middle of a forest lost with no way home! I'm gonna die from coldness and ye here talking about a merchant and preachers or whatever the hell!"
Shouting with wide eyes and a trembling hesitant voice, Einer then assumed a position as if he was praying, and then looked at the man.
Einer:"Pl-Please... I beg you, I wanna go home, just te-tell me where the hell I can find a place out of he-here..."
The man:"..."
Giving in to the strong look of the man, Einer started tearing as he begged him.
Shivering and moving in the same place,
Einer awaited a response.
The man then relaxed his eyes and wore a "I see" face, and pointed behind Einer.
The man:"Well, if you go straight ahead, you'll find a village with windmails. The villagers are warm towards lost people so shelter will not be a problem."
With that reassuring tone, the man went back to his normal posture, while also keeping his arm held forward.
Einer:"... th-thank you."
Einer thanked the man, and prepared to stand up.
Not before long, the man waved his index finger up.
And Einer's vision split in a half.
Einer thought—Huh?
The man:"That dagger, and the mana that only the forest spirits are privileged to, couldn't be more obvious."
The man looked at the body of Einer that had evenly split in a half revealing all of its organs as blood flowed and colored the snow red.
—Are you shitting me? Are you serious? What do you mean by all of this?
The man:"You have my praise, though, that acting was well executed, befitting of your fowl conducts, preacher."
The man turned and walked away from Einer's corpse as he left those words to be carried away by the storm.
Only then to disappear into the storm.
—Nononononono it can't be real, I'm dreamingI'mdreamingI'mdreamingI'mdreaming.
—I hate this.
Part 3:
Everything becomes dark, and only after a while, a forest manifests.
Then, in the blink of an eye, a shining light appears in the most spacious area allowed by the forest, this light then manifests itself into a shape that of a human, aged 10 years old, more or less.
Clothes colored green and black, a jacket and sports pants, breaking the palet harmony in the forest.
Einer is still as a statue.
Eyes widened, he touches his body, his face, his head, but mainly the middle parts.
Einer:"A-a dr-dream?"
He utters, Einer then shakes his head slowly.
Einer:"... Impossible."
Einer's POV:
I know for a fact tha'wasn't a dream. It's too real, I'm in the same exact spot when I came to this forest and not only that.
I didn't black out, I saw it all, just going backwards.
Still don' know how it happened, but something's fishy about this forest.
If everything is jus' repeating, then I have to know how it happens.
I came back here after I died, so I think dying here makes me go back in time.
Like a video game character or somethin'.
So this place's a check point.
But then, what's the limit? Did I really go back in time exactly when I got here, or did I got even more backwards... or further?
I have to check.
I stood up, looking for a hole through the trees so that I can see the sun.
And to my surprise, it's afternoon.
This ain't even it, that dark room I was in before, how did I get there? How did I leave it?
... I have to hurry anyways, snow's comin, I don't wanna freeze to death.
I don't even know the village that guy talked abou' so might as well try finding shelter first...
No, maybe if I convince that guy of thinking I'm innocent, he'll help me out.
Nonono, his head's a rock, ain't no way he'll listen to me.
Is he a bad guy? I felt very weak around him and my body being crushed by em.
He's bad news, he's in the forest probably so I gotta hide from em, but shelter's a problem, and food's a problem.
"Ughhhhh"
I'll find shelter, I didn't meet em before I died so I'll look around like before.
I gotta leave this place quickly.
—Einer slapped his face, stood up and started walking, nothing unusual happened except that he didn't go towards the same way prior to his death, he went to the opposite direction as he discerned that no shelter was found near the river.
Einer looked around the forest and carefully check his surroundings in case a threat appears.
But not before long, a white drop came from the sky.
Grey clouds gathered and blocked the incoming sunlight.
Einer's walk came to a halt, and froze in his place.
Looking towards the sky slowly, snow started to fall lightly.
Einer:"...why?"
Unlike the previous snow, this one is rather weak, if anything it wasn't significant at all.
Gauging this,
Einer:"Can't see much of the sky, maybe the snow was slowly catching up to me... Not a problem, at most fifteen minutes must've passed. I still gotta look for a shelter so I'll keep going."
Einer's announced his judgment, then he continued walking.
The snow wasn't strong, and the temperature dropped not by much, with his jacket, he's feeling rather warm.
Einer delved into the forest without hindrance.
...
Einer continued to walk around searching for any shelter or exist.
His pace became even more dull as time went on.
Snow piled up as high as his knees, and the wind unforgivingly raged making it hard to stand up straight.
An exact replica of the previous storm Einer faced.
Temperature included.
With the decrease in sight.
Einer marked trees using stone lying on the ground, and was mapping out his progress by making a checkpoint, a tree he returns to frequently to scout the forest without getting lost.
Unfortunately, the storm made it difficult to maintain proper vision as it ensued, and the drop in temperature further constraints time since Einer isn't well equipped, even with his jacket.
So he decided to choose a directions he hasn't scouted previously.
Also, he is sneaking around trees, placing his back on them and lowering his back to blend with the snow.
That is of course, to hide from the mysterious man.
Einer couldn't figure out how it happened.
His vision being split in a half probably meant that he was cleaved, but how he was cleaved is yet to be answered.
With an abundance of questions and depravity of answers, Einer with his limited knowledge couldn't figure it out, so he is attempting to steer clear from the mysterious man.
Cleaved in a half.
Such an ambiguous death occupied the back of his head.
Even then, he is faced with a dire situation now.
As Einer navigated the unknown plains, night was creeping up from behind.
The forest became completely dark before he could see it coming.
The peaceful sanctuary that once existed is now absent.
Replaced by a dark forest where vision is an illusion.
Snow that covers the legs of travelers.
Wind screaming as it blows. Knocking down those who dare challenge it.
Survival here is difficult.
Animals that once were present went into hiding.
Not a soul could be seen.
Except, Einer.
Pitifully clinging to trees as he walks, purple hands and face.
Eyelashes housing snow and a body that no longer shivers.
Einer:"Not so cold anymore..."
Whispered to himself in a faint sound that quickly was stolen by the merciless wind.
Einer desperately trying to set his foot on the ground, barely reaching the tree in front of him, back leaning so low his mouth is already deep into the snow.
Hands moving as if he's climbing the white layers.
Einer brown eyes, once wide and full of light, are now closing slowly as spark fled his iris.
He found himself in the same situation as before, Einer's determination withered away as he let go of hope.
A snow that will kill him without any intervention, a forest that has no escape, and a man lurking around who will kill him on sight.
He could no longer think about any of this, not even his own survival.
He rather pondered when will he die.
As his body waved around due to the onslaught of wind, Einer started to lose his poise.
Shortly after, he fell to the front clumsily.
But the snow was thick enough to keep him afloat as he slowly picked himself up.
Ever so desperately, he moved his arms like an elderly who's nearing their finale, he pushed himself off the layers of snow.
Shaking and clinging to that last bit of life he has left.
Einer found a minute amount strength,
and as he positioned his face forward
"Chit-chit-chit-chit."
A squirrel can be heard
Einer located the sound immediately as it was looking right at him, reflecting on his iris in this dark region.
With tired eyes, mouth burried in snow, and a dead look, Einer stared at the squirrel,
Einer:"...huh?"
He let out a faint sound.
The squirrel is brown, with a darker brown running down its back.
A typical squirrel, but the region of its eyes... abnormal.
Dark veins connected to its eyeballs that were completely black.
With its light body, it easily stood on the snow.
Einer didn't pay attention to all of that.
But soon enough,
"Chit-chit-chit-chit."
"Chit-chit-chit-chit."
"Chit-chit-chit-chit."
"Chit-chit-chit-chit."
"Chit-chit-chit-chit."
"Chit-chit-chit-chit."
"Chit-chit-chit-chit."
"Chit-chit-chit-chit."
An incoming wave of squirrels came.
One by one, gathering around him quickly.
As if a dam has been breached by the water it blocked off.
Within few seconds, they amounted to more than hundreds.
Quickly covering the surrounding area.
Einer turned his head around slowly in confusion, and then moved his hand and grabbed his heart.
This situation got a hold of his remaining awareness.
And that caused him to feel his heart hastening.
He started breathing heavily as he stared directly at the squirrel.
The squirrels amounted to so much their end couldn't be seen.
But Einer only stared at the one in front of him.
Slowly widening his eyes.
A dreadful nothingness filled the air.
Trees caged Einer all alone with the squirrels.
They couldn't be seen, couldn't be grasped, only a shadow of them could be perceived.
The thick layer of leaves blocked off light, leaving Einer in this forest of unknowns.
Einer can only rely on the faint light given off by the eys of the squirrels.
Then,
Einer:"Arghh!!!!"
The squirrel infront of him jumped towards his left eye and bit it, the rest of the squirrels then followed.
"Chit-chit-chit-chit."
"Chit-chit-chit-chit."
"Chit-chit-chit-chit."
"Chit-chit-chit-chit."
Einer:"Argh! Sto-! op!"
Shouting as he was ferociously being torn limb to limb facing the sky.
Blood flowing from his amputated limbs, and soon after squirrel started entering his body.
Einer:"ARGHHHH-!"
Letting out a scream that could be heard even in the ravaging storm, a monstrous shout that pleads for help.
Eating away, gathering around him like ants, going through every corner of his body, even his head.
You could see them crawling from the outside inside his body.
The squirrel tore him, ate him, and licked his blood.
Chit chit chit chit instensified as they consumed his flesh.
Einer no longer could do anything as his brain was already teared apart.
His eyeballs, fingers, ears, without sympathy, were gruesomely removed from his body that was amputated from all sides.
Blood splattered like a fountain, spraying everything circling Einer and the squirrels.
The squirrels teeths were abnormal long, but that nightmarish sight didn't stop there, the blood that their bodies embraced, soon became an attraction that caused them to eat away at each other.
turning away,
what was left of Einer was his skeleton and blood circling it.
The squirrels senseless fighting amongst themselves came to a halt, and they raised their head.
Then, they returned to the trees and disappeared into the forest.
The storm ensued with even more ferociousness.
Covering the slaughter of the lone boy.
The storm continued to get even more stronger.
And the night seems to have yet neared its end.
And Einer, died.
Again.
Part 4:
Everything becomes dark, and only after a while, a forest manifests.
Then, in the blink of an eye, a shining light appears in the most spacious area allowed by the forest, this light then manifests itself into a shape that of a human, aged 10 years old, more or less.
Clothes colored green and black, a jacket and sports pants, breaking the palet harmony in the forest.
Einer positioned himself as a baby.
Einer:"Nonononononononononononono."
Quickly moving his head as he bashes it on the ground over and over.
Einer:"ARGHHHHH!"
He shouted after stopping his movement.
Einer:"What the fuck is going on?! What the fuck is going on?! I cantIcantIcantIcantIcantIcant I CANT!"
Repeating the same thing over and over like a madman, Einer scared of the animals in the vicinity.
Leaving himself alone surrounded by the forest.
He bashed his head on the ground over and over, he started to bleed from his forehead.
Cursing at the ground, shouting off the top of his lung.
Again and again and again.
Crazed eyes with their veins clearly visible.
Einer has long lost his sanity, continuously screaming and hurting himself.
And slowly, his episode slowly reached its finale.
Then, it came to a halt.
The silence came back as the shouts that occupied it have left once Einer stopped.
He kept his forehead on the ground, blood slowly pooring off of his forehead, making a small circle of red on the dirt.
Shortly after,
Einer lifted himself up slowly canceling the baby position he assumed, then headed to a nearby tree walking like he's half asleep with his hands loose and back leaning forwards.
His eyes were, obscure, they were wide but relaxed with his mouth slightly open.
Having reached the tree, he sat slowly and layed on it with his back, pulled his legs together, hugged himself and digged his head into himself.
Silence ensued for a while.
In his solitude, Einer's eyes that were brimmed with hope when he came here,
Now became... pitiful.
No light, no hope, no escape.
No determination, no will to live.
No nothing.
Einer:"I give up."
With a low sound, Einer declares defeat.
In the peaceful sanctuary that is this forest.
Einer sat alone, with no way out.