The crowd cheered wildly. An announcer excitedly called out in disbelief, "I don't believe it ladies and gentlemen! If I hadn't been here to see it I would have never thought such a thing to be possible! Terrare "Black Hole'' Shelby, has set a world record with 109 hotdogs eaten in 10 minutes!"
The other competitors looked more awed then disappointed in their loss as they stared at Terrare. He wasn't the kind of person you'd picture eating 109 hotdogs. He was tall and remarkably thin, nearly skeletal, his eyes large and round like dark moons in his thin face. His hair was mud brown and hung like wilted vines around his head. If he put some work in, and didn't look so malnourished, Terrare may have been handsome, but he didn't care enough about his appearance to do so. The competition was over, and he had won, but he didn't look happy. Even when he was being handed his trophy and medal he only had a faint smile for the camera.
Gnawing, ever present hunger ate away at Terrare, even after eating 109 hot dogs. It seemed that no matter what he did he could never fill the void in his stomach. Fed up with the event, Terrare began to leave. He answered a few questions, took a few more pictures, then left. He did the bare minimum that was expected of him even if he didn't want to. There was a small semblance of a champion's pride inside of him, even if it didn't seem like it.
Terrare pushed open the doors of the conference center to a cold snowy exterior. The competition had been delayed causing it to get out much later than expected. He stepped out into the cold and rubbed his hands together before blowing into them. A cold breeze bit at his face and sent a shiver through his thin body. It would be best to get back to his home as fast as possible. Waiting around at the conference center would only bring unwanted attention. He pulled out his phone and called for an uber.
Another gust of cold wind blew through the air. This one was much stronger than the last. There was a loud crack that came from above Terrare. He looked up to see a long icicle fall straight onto his head. Darkness consumed him. A few moments later lights filled his vision as he began to feel a pulling sensation. He could see his body on the ground, first responders at his side, and a crowd of people. He only said one thing in response to this scene.
"Oh no, I died." His voice was soft and hollow. There seemed to be no emotion in it that one would expect from someone who just died.
Blinding light encompassed Terrare, and he heard a high crazy laugh in his ears. The voice spoke to him. "Good luck! You're going to need it! Kihihihihihi!"
Darkness once more. Complete and total darkness. This rapid shifting in lights was starting to get on his nerves. Unfortunately for Terrare it seemed like he still didn't have some time to think about what happened just yet. Intense all encompassing pain shot through his body. It was like he was being squeezed through a tight tube as all of his muscles seemed to contract inwards at once. The pain was inescapable. Then a terrible burning filled his eyes, and what felt like rapid swelling. This was quickly followed by a twisting and bubbling sensation in his gut.
The pain seemed to last a lifetime. Terrare has no way of knowing when it would stop, but he at least hoped that if and when it did stop he may be lucky enough to not be hungry anymore. Before he had died he was hungry all the time, no matter what he did. His hunger had caused so many problems his whole life. Intense bullying, his poor parents having to abandon him because they couldn't afford to feed him, his strange gangly appearance. He just wanted it to be over.
When the pain finally stopped Terrare felt like he was suffocating. He took in a huge breath, and felt his body calm down. It took a few moments for him to gain his sense of touch, but when it returned he could tell he was in shallow water. He opened his eyes slowly. They felt incredibly tender, like they had never been used before. Purple mist glowed softly around him, filling the area around him with an eerie light. It took a few minutes for his eyes to fully adjust to the light, but when it did he saw that he had to be in some sort of cave. Massive walls of wet stone entombed him, and he didn't seem to be alone.
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A massive toad lay in the water with Terrare. It was the largest thing he'd ever seen. He bet that it could have easily crushed a stadium by sitting on it. The monster's skin was covered with massive warts that seemed to leak a thick pus or mucus. Strange hair-like growths covered it's underbelly and chin. Each strand was a different thickness and color from the one next to it, some areas bright with color and others a muddy sea. Vents on the creature's back seemed to be what was creating the mist that filled the cavern. Terrare couldn't tell if the thing was dead or alive, but he didn't particularly want to find out.
The familiar and terrible pain of hunger rolled through Terrare. It started as a small wave in the bottom of his stomach that turned into a tidal wave of pain crashing into his mind. His hunger was not gone unfortunately. In fact, it may be worse than it ever had been. He had to find food to eat, and quickly. He sat up, then tried to stand, but fell forward on his face as he did so. A sinking sensation filled Terrare as he looked down at his legs. They were withered and impossibly thin. Even worse, aside from short stubs, nothing remained of his legs from knee down. In a panic Terrare looked down in the disturbed water. As it came to a still once more he could see the same dark eyes looking back at him that he always did. That was the only thing he recognized however. A dried up husk of a face contained his eyes. He looked over his new body and saw that the entire thing was a husk.
Behind Terrare was a large boulder, and the lower half of his legs stuck out marginally beneath them. A bo staff with a large crack down the middle lay next to him. Not only had Terrare died that day, but he had been seemingly revived in some weird cave with a massive toad monster, as some sort of mutilated mummy, and his hunger was worse than ever. This wasn't how it was supposed to go was it? Wasn't he supposed to be reborn as a child or something? Gain some sort of incredible power? All he had gotten was some of a mummy's body! Not to mention that he still had to put up with that hunger.
"AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH! YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!" Terrare bellowed. He slammed his hands into the water.
The water droplets hit Terrare's face. He licked his incredibly dry lips. He was so thirsty, but was this water safe to drink. For a moment he was distracted from his thirst by the thought of how a mummy could possibly still be, mostly, intact in this underground pond. He quickly pushed that mystery, along with all other thoughts, to the back of his mind. He was so incredibly thirsty. If the water killed him than so be it. Terrare dunked his head into the water and greedily drank it. He had never drank so much water at once in his entire life. Or past life he supposed. Perhaps he was crazy, but he thought he may have even dropped the water level of the pond with how much he drank. As he wiped the water from his face he noticed that his skin felt healthier. He looked into his reflection once more and saw that it was true. He didn't look healthy by any means, but he didn't look like a mummy either.
Water filled Terrare's stomach, but that would only numb his hunger for a bit. He had to eat, but to do that he needed to be able to find food. There was only one thing that he could think of doing. There was a loud CRACK as he picked up the old bo staff and snapped it into two smaller sticks by following the crack. He looked over them more closely and saw intricate carvings of lotus flowers and vines on the staff. It was nice, but he didn't need a weapon. He tore the fabric from the remains of his legs and tied it around each half of the staff and tied them to his legs. He had two peg legs now to replace his old legs. They were poorly made, and uncomfortable to stand on, but they would suffice for now.
Terrare took a deep breath and stood up. It was hard to maintain his balance, but he managed to do it. He was certain that in his old body he wouldn't have been able to stand at all on these, but this body had a strength and finesse to it that he never had. There was only one possible food source that Terrare could see in the cave. The monster. It hadn't reacted to his shouts earlier, so perhaps it was dead? He was hungry enough to risk it. Slowly Terrare waded over to the monster. As he did so he began to breathe in more of the mist. Surprisingly, the mist seemed to curb some of his hunger. Not enough however. He poked at the massive toad with his peg leg. It didn't move. Saliva leaked from the corner of Terrare's mouth now. The leg was thick and ripe, so he leaned down and pulled on the flesh. A large chunk of meat pulled free.
The ease of which the flesh left the monster's bones was a bit concerning. Who knew how long this thing had been sitting in the water. Still, it wasn't concerning enough to deter a hungry Terrare. He lifted the meat to his mouth and bit into it.