It's cold.

So very cold.

All I can do is push myself forward, and my weak body can just try its best to fulfill my wishes, but it became more and more difficult. My hopes and dreams suddenly became a lot simpler. ‘Warmth, mother, safety’. I am too young to die, only just introduced to the wonders of the world. The rain did nothing to help the situation but make my body shut down faster, and the wind blew against me, sending shivers down my spine. All I need to do, is keep moving forward. Currently, my only chance for survival is if my body could make it long enough to find my mother. I haven’t seen her in a day, and my thoughts are filled with all the terrors that could have ended her. She left to get us food, she wouldn’t have had to leave had I not begged her to let me come with her. If I just stayed on Earth and let my mom do her job, we would both be safe right now. ‘I can’t die. Not here, and not now. Please. Some god has to be listening to me’.

My hair is damp and knotted from not taking care of it the past day, my wet clothes only slowed me down more. I nearly thought to ditch them before I realized they were all I had left, all we had left. If I made it out of this without my mom, these damp, cold, clothes would be all I had left to remember her by.

I could feel my senses spike, as I felt fear incarnate follow behind me. This feeling had been coming back, on and off again, but this time was different. I felt like a deer in front of headlights, and I felt the adrenaline course through my body and pushed it beyond its normal limits. I have been walking for nearly a day straight, without food or water, but the adrenaline washed my worries away. My slow walking pace picked up into a jog, and that quickly turned into a sprint. My clothes continued weighing me down, but god dammit I am not going to get eaten by some animal in the middle of what I hope is a forest. I could feel my heart do its job and get the adrenaline throughout the rest of my body, and my speed nearly doubled as I felt the anger, no hate, for this planet. ‘I can’t let it end my story yet. I cannot let it end my mother’s. I need to win this.’

The beast roared behind me, nearly causing me to stumble from the shockwave of its voice. I wouldn’t dare turn back now, no matter what you would offer me. My legs are trying their best, but it seems that their best isn’t enough. I have to go faster, if I don’t... I don’t think a pleasant death awaits behind me. The sound of dirt being trampled over is all I can hear, even over the pouring rain. The beast has to be larger than an elephant, there is no other way something could make a noise of that caliber. ‘Get your head into the game Sean, focus on getting as far away from it as possible’ I brought myself back to reality. It was gaining on me, and I needed to go faster.

My neck-hairs raise and I feel the intense need to duck. I comply just as I hear the air move for the creature's massive arm to pass over me. It was black, and long, with seven digits at the end. Each one had a claw that was longer than my neck and wider than my palm. I think this is the first time I had felt true despair. ‘Heh, guess my mom was right. I am going to die at the hands of some alien monstrosity. Well, in the afterlife at least I can start to take your advice a lot more seriously. Wait, what am I thinking, I need to move!’ I sprang back to my feet to gain a lead on the monster. ‘Maybe I could get far enough ahead to be able to dodge its next attack? The adrenaline is starting to wear off, I need to lose the thing now!’ I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, beating whatever adrenaline remained in the rest of my body. The pain was returning, as was the weight of these damned clothes. My eyes are starting to get heavy, and I felt my chest start to get tight. I had only started running a moment prior, but because of all the built-up exhaustion I was going to die. I don’t know what would be worse, death of exhaustion on an alien planet, or death from becoming monster soup also on an alien planet.

I heard the air split again, but this time it sounded like a whistle. It was quite nice, it reminds me of all the animals we used to keep at home. ‘Man I’m going to miss them’ I felt a tear go down my cheek as different liquid rolled down my shoulder. A stick with feathers at the end of it went all the way through my right shoulder, wait, it has a name. An arrow had punctured all the way through my right shoulder, blood trickling down it steadily. ‘Now I have three different ways to die. Blood loss, exhaustion, and monster soup’ I chuckled to myself as my eyes temporarily closed, and the pain started to spread through my entire right side. It hurts, but I have other things to pay attention too, a giant wooden wall stood around two-hundred feet away from me for instance. ‘Make that four’ I thought to myself as the air split again, this time not as elegant as the arrow had been. Something pushed hard on my arm, a loud snapping sound escaping from it.

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It seems my monster friend decided it was time to end me, but decided I wasn’t weak enough already. My left arm snapped, and my knees buckled as the sheer force of the hit sent me flying into one of the many pretty trees that lined the forest, wait they lined. Oh, during my chase with the beastie I had run onto a road, that explains it. Though I don’t remember the road being made of dirt, nor the trees being orange. I thought I was at my grandmother's house, but clearly something foul was afoot. My vision started clearing, as did my deliriousness, and I was face to face with a monster. I wasn’t at my grandmother’s house, and the adrenaline is gone.

My stomach dropped as death itself greeted me. The beast was tall and ape-like, but it lacked any fur. Its skin was a deep black and pink scars lined its forearms. Whatever shot me with an arrow had clearly tried to do the same to this thing. Its eyes were red, and human. I could see the emotion behind them, that of hunger. ‘If it followed me onto a road, it’s definitely desperate, but why?’ Clearly the delirium had not left me completely, as I started to wonder why in God’s name it would follow me this far, but the thought quickly fled as soon as I saw its face in detail.

It had no features, no nose, no ears, no mouth, no eyebrows, just two scarlet eyes that stared into my very soul. ‘It's not going to eat me, it is going to do something much worse.’ It approached slowly, the ground shaking beneath it. ‘No, please no. I’m fifteen! I can’t die yet!’

“Please… stop… I-I’m begging you.” The beast ignored my pleading. I tried to raise a hand to grovel but was met with immense pain, I wouldn’t even get the luxury of dying painlessly. I looked down, trying to come to terms with my early end as the air split again. Not only that, but I didn’t pay attention to whether it was pleasant or not, but the next sound most definitely wasn’t. A hollow scream echoed from where the beast was, sounding as if someone had gathered thousands of people together, removed their vocal cords, and told them to scream all at once. I looked up to see that one of its crimson eyes had an arrow sticking out of it, black blood streaming out of the socket like a gusher. I chuckled, at least I can die knowing the monster who did this to me suffered. The shot was far from fatal, and the hollow scream was the last thing I heard as my vision started to fade to black. ‘I’ll see you soon mom’

______

Warmth, I could feel warmth again. A warm fire was nearby, that welcomed any, and all, travelers. The afterlife greeted me warmly, and that is all I could ask for. I couldn’t even feel my clothes on anymore, well except my boxers, but that makes some sense. I started to open my eyes, finding it more difficult than I would’ve imagined. They felt heavy, like a grocery bag with a gallon of milk in it. It hurt to open them, it hurt. ‘Am I not dead yet?’ I thought to myself as my eyes began to open. I was greeted with a wooden roof that was illuminated by an orange flame. Pain shoots throughout my entire body, reminding me of what had happened last time I was awake. If this was the afterlife, it really sucked so far. I tried my best to sit up, but only got up a few inches off the ground before my head crashed back into the floor. It hurt, but not as much as everything else. I sighed and began to wait for some confirmation of my state of being. If I was dead then maybe an Angel or Valkyrie would come to see me shortly, after all I did die in battle. Or did you need a weapon to go to Valhalla? ‘Would a spatula count as a weapon?’ My thoughts are interrupted as what sounded like a door opened.

“Oh, hey, can I get some help here?” I said, expecting some kind of reply. I heard a pot drop, and I was able to look up long enough to see someone run out of the door. A pot of water sat on the floor, still holding the door open. The pain came back, so I conceded to lay back flat on the ground. Now that I look around, there’s a bed right beside me, along with a fireplace not too far away, and a pile of something in the corner. It seems like I fell off the bed while… asleep? If I was still alive how did I get here, and if I wasn’t, it seems the afterlife is quite unorthodox. I tried to move my arms again, but found my entire upper body covered in bandages. ‘Damn, I am still alive, I have to be!’, I thought as I tried to find out if that was a good thing or not. ‘If something was able to find me, pick me up, and get me to a wooden room- no, I would die before then. Wait, arrows’ I slowly began to reach a conclusion, much slower than I would like to admit. ‘Fuck me’

It appears the time for thinking was not now, as the door opened fully once more. I wanted so desperately to look, but feared what might await me should I do so. The wooden floor creaks underneath the seemingly massive figure as they approach me, I felt my heart lodge itself into my throat as I couldn’t even scream. The figure, or person rather, was tall. Taller than any man or woman I had met by a good margin. It had… scales? It appeared mostly reptilian with an oblong face. ‘It has a snout! It stands upright! It has… teeth. Sharp teeth’ Any curiosity that remained left me as soon as I saw its mouth open. Its teeth were sharper than anything I had seen before. I felt a shiver go down my spine and the creature… laughed?