Larry's vision strains as his eyes seem to attempt to adjust. He had just stepped outside of his apartment, preparing to leave for work, when suddenly everything vanished. Not into darkness, but into a seemingly white void, as if everything was made of paper. He attempts to blink, but finds that it has no effect. Larry then tries to reach up to his face, but finds that his hands never appear.
Suddenly, a voice echoes around him, almost as if multiple people are speaking at once. "Mortal soul, your survival is an anomaly. We Progenitors did not expect for an Ascended to exist within L'Rat. I have chosen to send you to another universe, with an altered form, L'Rat, your universe, was destroyed. One that shall be more in tune with the world you should inhabit. I must hurry. Time, even for a being such as myself, is limited. I will contact you once the opportunity arises." Larry listens intently, trying to speak to protest at multiple points, finding no sound forming from where he believed his mouth should be. Then, just as quickly as his vision had changed to white, darkness swallows his awareness.
Larry's senses are abruptly assaulted by the sounds of birds and wind through nearby trees, and the sudden wave of fresh air in his lungs force him to cough hard, curling into a ball in the short grass. It takes several minutes for him to get his breathing under control, his body wracked with pain as if he'd been holding his breath for several minutes, his chest burning lightly as the need for oxygen eases. "Who was-" he begins to ask, pausing as he looks down at himself while starting to stand, quickly noticing a change.
His skin tone was made darker than before, as if he naturally had a tan. His arms, stomach, and legs clearly lacked any muscle or fat, skin and bones easily visible at a glance. What can only be described as tattered rags cover his lower torso, and unknown to Larry his once sapphire eyes and brown hair have been altered, his eyes now showing a deep sea green as black hair sits atop his scalp.
Larry shifts, carefully sitting on the soft grass as his mind races. What of his family? Of his friends? The coworkers he'd grown fond of? What about the other people he would always see but never got to know? Are they all gone? He couldn't know. A different thought, one quietly brewing beneath the others, breaches the front of his mind. How is he going to survive? He barely has any survival knowledge, after all.
Upon having this realization, Larry stands quickly, moving away from the trees. He sees a large, hill filled plains, with seemingly no water stream or sign of civilization. Only grass and hills as far as his eyes can see, swaying with each breeze that passes through. Behind him remains only trees, as he'd woken on the side of a forest that seemed filled with life. The crickets, birds, and various other animal noises make that much clear. A memory of someone offering to teach him how to trap wildlife comes to mind for Larry, and he sighs as he recalls declining the offer.
Larry lets out a heavy sigh, slowly standing and brushing off his legs. He briefly wonders if his bare feet will get cut from trekking through the woods, and he chooses to stick to their outskirts. He turns left, hoping to eventually find either a river or some form of community. "Just in case though.." he mumbles to himself, picking up sticks and fallen leaves as he goes. The sun remains high in the sky as he begins his journey, his footsteps somewhat uneven as he struggles to find strength in his frail body. "More in tune with the world my ass.. Can barely walk," he mutters, gathering mostly sticks as he travels, and a handful more of fallen leaves.
The forest seems to extend for a vast distance, as Larry finds himself walking alongside it for what he can only assume to be hours. He quickly finds himself with an armful of seventeen sticks, and his hands are both clutching whatever leaves they can hold. He pauses, his body heaving as he gasps for air, the sun having moved close to a third of the way across the sky since he started walking. The sounds of the woodlands continued buzzing to his side, while the plains give a gentle whistle of wind. Larry found himself thinking it would be incredibly soothing, if not for the fact that he was desperate in his search for food or shelter. A vague memory of how to tell if berries are poisonous returned to him, though the thought of rubbing food on his skin and waiting left his stomach in a knot. Perhaps it was just the idea of an unprepared meal that left him distressed, though he couldn't keep his focus on locating food. Not now, with his legs feeling as if they were splitting open from the backends.
He carefully kneels to the ground, dropping the sticks into a pile. Some are larger than others, some hollow. Larry frowns, realizing he's uncertain if he can even be successful. The breeze causes him to shiver somewhat violently, and he springs to action. He moves the two hollow sticks next to each other, somewhat away from the others. All of them are around half of Larry's arm span, which he hopes will last the night. He grabs a smaller stick off the ground, and places one end against the hollow sticks. He then places leaves around it, and begins to spin the stick as fast as his arms will allow, only for the twig he's holding to snap. Larry's hand slams into the ground, causing him to recoil in surprise. "I- Fuck! I need this to work, damnit!" He cries out, silently wishing for anyone to be nearby to help him.
Not a minute passes before Larry accepts that he is alone for the time being, and he grabs another stick. This one is thicker than the last. He repeats the prior process, finding this stick remains standing as his arms quickly wear out, and he's left gasping for air. Proceeding to clench his jaws together, Larry forces himself to continue, pausing only for a few seconds as he repeats the process several times. Eventually, after the sun has lowered to the horizon, smoke forms from the leaves.
"Whooo! I did it!" Larry shouts, before his eyes somewhat widen and he covers his mouth. He doesn't know what may be lurking in the woods he's camping in the outskirts of. But he knows he needs to move the rest of the sticks to the now tiny flame, and he promptly does so as quietly as he can manage. As he does this, he feels his body growing weaker and weaker, until finally all the sticks are piled on top of the now stable fire.
Skill Learned! Fire Starting: Sticks with Kindling Fire Starter Lvl 1! (10 Experience Points gained!)
Skill Description: Enables the Skill Holder to start fires, provided they have the following resources:
Sticks (fifteen or more), dried kindling (dried leaves, dried paper, etc.)
Dismiss
Larry jumps backwards as the box appears before him, practically choking out an "Argh! What the hell?!" As his now pounding heart eases to a steady thumping, he reads the box intently, his mind racing with new ideas. "Dismiss?" he asks, and the box vanishes from sight. "So.. Is it like a video game? That's.. Somewhat weird.. Uh.. Pause? Main menu? Status? Inventory?" Larry decides to call out, only to receive silence as his limbs and eyelids rapidly grow heavier. "Guess I'll um, just try more things tomorrow then. I have to sleep for now though," he mutters, the days exhaustion finally forcing him to the ground. At first he sits, then lays, and almost immediately finds himself asleep.
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Larry's rest is seemingly instantly interrupted, as he finds himself within the bizarre paper-like void again. This time when he blinks, his vision momentarily darkens as normal, and he quickly rubs his eyes with his hands. Questions fly to his mind, desperate for answers that he believed he's owed. "Hey! Who are you?! Was I the only survivor?! What's with the weird skill box stuff that I can't view?!" Larry demands, raising his voice as the questions spill out, his voice cracking on the second question. A momentary hum seems to answer, before the voice from his first time in this void answers.
"Once again I am limited on time. My name is K'Maj. You, as far as I am aware, are the only one who survived. However, where there is one Ascended, others generally exist. I hope for your sake that they were located by the resistance, for if they weren't, they did not survive. Most Progenitors fear the Ascended. You hold the potential to overcome us, given the time. Time I will try to buy for you. The time for our reign to end is long overdue. As for the skills, you should attempt to call out for your description of self." The voice remains silent after these instructions, making it clear it's waiting for Larry to process everything.
"What resistance? How did my.. How did L'Rat get destroyed?!" Larry cries out, tears forming and running down his face as he begins to realize he will likely never see the ones he loved and held so dear again. "Why?! Why couldn't you save others too?! If you can send me to another universe then you should have had enough power to save others!" He demands, his voice straining in pitch as he feels his throat tighten.
The paper-void seems to shake slightly at Larry's words, the voice answering quickly. "I cannot answer all of those questions. Time is limited. Other Progenitors will kill me if they learn of my decisions. Then they will hunt you. They may already be doing so. L'Rat was once a Progenitor. We can become a universe, and reform in order to gain power. It takes immense amounts of time. Forcing a Progenitor to reform can yield amazing, terrible results. L'Rat met their end, and with their end your universe followed. You are a fragment that Ascended beyond the abilities of a Progenitor. The Progenitors are divided. Those who aid the Ascended are in the resistance. Most believe reforming Progenitors should be left alone. There are unfortunately those who do not care for the laws we've established. I must go. I will not be able to check in for much longer now, lest my colleagues become suspicious. Survive, and remain hidden, Mortal. Making waves in the world will no doubt garner the attention of more Progenitors." The voice finishes, leaving Larry to clench his fist. He begins to shout out, as loud as he can, but suddenly the white void vanishes, and his senses are slammed with the environment of the woodlands and plains once more.
The benefit this time, Larry notes, is that he isn't heaving in pain, as he jolts upright. He guesses the sun is in the process of rising, given the faint hints of light blue in the sky. He quickly looks around, finding the fire to be nothing more than cold ashes as his body begins to shake from the frigid breeze blowing in from the plains. He sees the grassy fields coated in a thick fog, his body slightly tensing as he resists the urge to run away from it. He shakes his head, turning back to the woods that appear to blot out the sun further in. He considers his options, before recalling one of the things he was told by K'Maj. "Call out for.. Description of Self? That's kind of a mouth-" Larry begins to complain, but is interrupted by the box that appears before him.
Level: 1
Experience: 10/100 Current Level Cap: 10 Overall Stats: Skills: Titles: HP: 10/10 Unique Skill: Skill Learner Starfallen MP: 10/10
Fire Starting: Sticks with Kindling Fire Starter:
Lvl 1
Ascended Strength: 2 (Decreasing!) Dexterity: 3 (Increasing!) Endurance: 3 (Increasing!) Wisdom: 4 Intelligence: 5 Charisma: 4 (Decreasing!)
Dismiss
Larry stares at the menu in disbelief, unsure of the inner workings of the system. He pauses momentarily, before swallowing his nerves and attempting to press on one of the open spaces. His hand meets some resistance, but after he pushes slightly harder his hand phases through the pop up. He pauses, considering reading more on what everything is, but before he can a sharp pain shoots through his stomach, nearly causing him to collapse to his knees on the spot as the pop up seems to almost blink out of sight. "Shit, fuck, that hurts!" Larry cries out, clenching a fist and punching the dirt beneath him, hoping the ache in his fist will ease the sharp pain he's now in. It provides no relief, and he slowly stands back up. It's clear to him that he has no choice, given the lack of any kind of berry bush on the outskirts of the woods. He looks into the dark woodlands, his knees shaking slightly as he does so. He gulps quietly, thinking to himself that he'll be fine if he's just careful and mindful of his surroundings, and he begins to step towards the woodlands.